A ghostly Frankenstein Monster face hovers amidst lightning over its bookish creator on the September 1991 cover of Fate magazine.
The painting, by N. Taylor Blanchard, is serviceable, its narrative clear enough, though The Monster’s appearance is distinctly Hollywoodian rather than literary, and the woman looks absolutely nothing like Mary Shelley.
The accompanying article, Mother of Frankenstein, ruminated on whether psychic powers led to the writing of Mary Shelley’s "horror classic". The author, Pauline Saltzman, was a contributor to Fate magazine for over forty years.
Still published today, Fate, a magazine devoted to paranormal phenomena, was first launched in 1948 under the direction of Curtis Fuller and Amazing Stories editor Ray Palmer. Its famous and wildly successful first issue featured a cover article by Kenneth Arnold, the man who coined the expression “flying saucers”.
In January 1962, the magazine carried another Frankenstein-themed article called “The Legend of the Golem: The First Frankenstein”, written by Ted Lowell.
Fate magazine website.
A gallery of all the Fate magazine covers.
2 comments:
Pierre-
"Ray Palmer," of course, was immortalized as DC's (second) "Atom"!
Best,
-Craig W.
Indeed! And by the way, Palmer was quite a character. Worth googling to learn about him.
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