Farnsworth Wright (1888–1940) will forever be associated with Weird Tales and its sister magazine Oriental Stories (later The Magic Carpet Magazine). He helmed the Unique Magazine from 1924 until shortly before his death in 1940; 13 years that saw the publication of some of the best fiction and poetry by H. P. Lovecraft, C. L. Moore, Robert E. Howard, Mary Elizabeth Counselman, Clark Ashton Smith, Greye La Spina, Seabury Quinn, Leah Bodine Drake, August Derleth, and Robert Bloch, among many others. It can be fairly said that Wright’s editorial tastes defined the magazine for a generation, and both praise and criticism have been heaped upon his name.
Yet before Wright was an editor, he was a writer himself, as an amateur journalist, professional journalist, and professional fiction writer. Some of his later fiction appeared in Weird Tales and Oriental Stories, either under his own name (before he was editor) or under the pseudonym Francis Hard (after he was editor). Rumor has suggested Wright may have silently written or re-written various pieces in Weird Tales, but lacking the business files, no one knows for certain.
Wright’s earliest fiction, however, appeared largely in the Overland Monthly and newspapers. Most of these works haven’t been reprinted since their original publication, and all are, by dint of the date of publication, in the public domain. For the most part, these aren’t works of weird fiction, but small dramas of human interest. Pulp historian John Locke in his book The Thing’s Incredible! The Secret History of Weird Tales reads many autobiographical elements in these early stories, and for those who want more insight into the editorial hand doling out guidance and criticism to Lovecraft & co., these stories provide an interesting sidelight on Wright’s own voice and tastes.
In 1914, Farnsworth Wright graduated from the University of Washington, where he had spent the last two years as managing editor of the University of Washington Daily. He did stints as a journalist at the Seattle Sun and the Chicago Tribune before landing a job as the Chicago correspondent of Musical America. During this stint, Wright would place his first two stories in the Overland Monthly: “Enemies (Feb 1917) and “The Vow” (Aug 1917). World War I loomed, and Wright was drafted, sent overseas to France, where he served as an interpreter, and returned stateside in 1919.
Wright returned to a career in journalism, but published six stories in the Overland Monthly in 1919 and 1920: “Lonesome Time” (Oct 1919), “In the Depths” (Dec 1919), “A Cookery Queen” (Dec 1919), “The Silent Shot” (Feb 1920), “Out of the Frying Pan” (May 1920), and “The Stolen Melody” (Nov 1920). For a couple of years, no more fiction seems to have flowed from Wright’s typewriter, but when Weird Tales solicited stories, Wright answered, with a handful of stories in the early 1923 issues: “The Closing Hand” (Mar), “The Snake Fiend” (Apr), “The Teak-Wood Shrine” (Sep), “An Adventure in the Fourth Dimension” (Oct), and “Poisoned” (Nov). Wright also placed a story in Munsey’s Magazine and the Detroit News, “The Medal of Virtue” (Dec 1923), which would be reprinted in various other newspapers.
Farnsworth Wright wasn’t just writing stories for Weird Tales, he was soon one of the first readers for the magazine alongside Otis Adelbert Kline under editor Edwin Baird, and in 1924 he would move into Baird’s chair as editor of the reorganized magazine. From that point on, Wright published little of his own fiction; either too busy with his other duties, because of his increasing difficulties with Parkinson’s disease, or some combination thereof.
This double-handful of tales showcases Wright as a writer able to identify and write to the needs of the market. While few of these are classics of the form of short fiction, they are competent and informative about Wright’s tastes and style, which he would carry with him into Weird Tales and Oriental Stories.
- “Enemies” (Overland Monthly Feb 1917)
- “The Vow” (Overland Monthly Aug 1917)
- “Lonesome Time” (Overland Monthly Oct 1919)
- “In the Depths” (Overland Monthly Dec 1919)
- “A Cookery Queen” (Overland Monthly Dec 1919)
- “The Silent Shot” (Overland Monthly Feb 1920)
- “Out of the Frying Pan” (Overland Monthly May 1920)
- “The Stolen Melody” (Overland Monthly Nov 1920)
- “The Medal of Virtue” (The Detroit News Dec 1923)
Bobby Derie is the author of Weird Talers: Essays on Robert E. Howard and Others and Sex and the Cthulhu Mythos.
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