Avon Fantasy Reader

Avon Fantasy Reader

Cover of the first issue. At the base of the, a zombie-like figure peering at the viewer over a wall or other flat object. Other objects in the image are a skull, a distant full moon and a ghost-like figure emanating from a list of authors.

Avon Fantasy Reader #1
Editor Donald A. Wollheim
Categories Fantasy, Science fiction
Frequency Three issues per year
First issue 1947
Final issue
— Number		 1952
18
Company Avon
Country United States
Based in New York
Language English

Avon Fantasy Reader was a digest size magazine (sometimes classed as a series of anthologies) which reprinted science fiction and fantasy literature by now well-known authors. It was edited by Donald A. Wollheim and published by Avon. The magazine had one spin off, Avon Science Fiction Reader, with which it merged on its cancellation to become Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader.

Writers

Avon strived to bring readers little known stories by then little recognized writers such as H. P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, C. L. Moore, A. Merritt, Murray Leinster and William Hope Hodgson. Avon Fantasy Reader was published from 1946 to 1952 and had 18 issues in full.[1]

Stories

It was sold at many newsstands around the United States. The back cover of Avon Fantasy Reader carried this blurb:

Past, Present, or Future or whatever sector of time and space you prefer, you'll find the stories in these pages encompass the entire universe of imagination. From the eerie, spook-haunted corridors of ancient Asian castles to the water-choked avenues of Atlantean kingdoms... From the sinister sands of icy Martian deserts to the thunderbolt battles of future's interplanetary rockets. Neither the invisible energy of atom nor the monstrous matter of the Milky Way present barriers to the mind that author these amazing fantasies. There are no boundaries to the astonishment, thrills and chills you'll meet in the pages of... the Avon Fantasy Reader!

The majority of the fiction published in Avon Fantasy Reader were reprints of works published in pulp magazines.

Spin offs

In 1951 Avon launched a sister title, Avon Science Fiction Reader, featuring reprints of science fiction.[2] This magazine lasted just three issues before being cancelled in 1952. In January 1953, both magazines merged to become Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader, which lasted for two issues before being cancelled as well in April of the same year.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Encyclopedia of Fantasy by John Clute and John Grant, Orbit, 1997.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Stephensen-Payne, Phil. "Avon Fantasy Reader". Galactic Central. Retrieved 2012-11-26.

External links

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