Stuart byline, in which a method of eliminating friction proves the ultimate weapon against invaders from outer space. wonder stories had been sold by Gernsback to Standard Magazines and now appeared as thrilling wonder stories. Campbell arranged with the editor, Mort Weisinger, for a series of stories under his own name, built around the charac-ters of Penton and Blake, two fugitives from Earth. The best of the group was the first, Brain Stealers of Mars (thrilling wonder stories, December, 1936), concerning Martians capable of converting themselves into an exact replica of any object or person. They provide a knotty problem for the visitors from Earth. This story and those that followed had the light note of humor and the wacky alien creatures which Stanley G. Weinbaum had recently made so popular. Closest in quality to Night and Twilight proved to be Forgetfulness (astounding stories, June, 1937), in which earthmen landing on a distant planet assume that a race is decadent because it has deserted the automatic cities and mighty power devices that man, in his current state of pro-gress, associates with civilization.
Influential as well as entertaining was his novelette of the Sam, Out of Night (astounding stories, October, 1937). A matriarchal society of aliens who have conquered the earth and have ruled it for 4,000
years are challenged by Aesir, a black, amorphous mass vaguely in the shape of man, ostensi-bly personifying humanity's unified yearnings past and present. This device was picked up by Robert A. Heinlein in Sixth Column, where it helps to route the Asiatic con-querors. Cloak of Aesir, a sequel, demonstrated the use of psychol-ogy in driving the "people" of the Sam from their domination of Earth, and terminated the short series in astounding science-fiction for March, 1939. Tremaine's duties had been expanded to cover editorial directorship of top-notch, bill barnes, romance range, clues, and a number of other Street & Smith periodicals. To assist him, he hired an editor for each of the magazines. Campbell's availability, his skill as a writer, and his intensive if limited editorial experience with Carleton Ellis put him in line for the position with astounding. He was put on the payroll of Street & Smith in September, 1937. Inevitably his writing, except for special occasions, had to cease. F. Orlin Tremaine left Street & Smith in May, 1938, as the result of internal politics. Campbell was completely on his own, and there would be less time than ever.
Few authors ever made their literary exit more mag-nificently than did Campbell. From the memories of his childhood he drew the most fearsome agony of the past: the doubts, the fears, the shock, and the frustration of repeatedly discovering that the woman who looked so much like his mother was not who she seemed. Who goes there? Friend or foe? He had attempted the theme once before, employing a light touch, in Brain Stealers of Mars. This time he was serious. Who Goes There?
(astounding science-fiction, August, 1938) deals with an alien thing from outer space that enters the camp of an Antarctic research party and blends alternately into the forms of the various men and dogs in the camp. The job is to find and kill the chimera before, in the guise of some human being or animal, it gets back to civilization.
An impressive display of writing talent, Who Goes There? is in one sense one of the most thrilling detective stories ever written. The suspense and tension mount with each para-graph and are sustained to the last. Reading this story inspired A. E. van Vogt to turn to science fiction with Vault of the Beast, a direct take-off on the idea. In Europe, Eric Frank Russell picked up the notion in Spiro, one of his most effective stories. RKO, altering the story considerably, pro-duced it as a profitable horror picture called The Thing (1951).
A few more Stuart stories would sporadically appear. The Elder Gods (unknown, October, 1939), a swiftly paced
Influential as well as entertaining was his novelette of the Sam, Out of Night (astounding stories, October, 1937). A matriarchal society of aliens who have conquered the earth and have ruled it for 4,000
years are challenged by Aesir, a black, amorphous mass vaguely in the shape of man, ostensi-bly personifying humanity's unified yearnings past and present. This device was picked up by Robert A. Heinlein in Sixth Column, where it helps to route the Asiatic con-querors. Cloak of Aesir, a sequel, demonstrated the use of psychol-ogy in driving the "people" of the Sam from their domination of Earth, and terminated the short series in astounding science-fiction for March, 1939. Tremaine's duties had been expanded to cover editorial directorship of top-notch, bill barnes, romance range, clues, and a number of other Street & Smith periodicals. To assist him, he hired an editor for each of the magazines. Campbell's availability, his skill as a writer, and his intensive if limited editorial experience with Carleton Ellis put him in line for the position with astounding. He was put on the payroll of Street & Smith in September, 1937. Inevitably his writing, except for special occasions, had to cease. F. Orlin Tremaine left Street & Smith in May, 1938, as the result of internal politics. Campbell was completely on his own, and there would be less time than ever.
Few authors ever made their literary exit more mag-nificently than did Campbell. From the memories of his childhood he drew the most fearsome agony of the past: the doubts, the fears, the shock, and the frustration of repeatedly discovering that the woman who looked so much like his mother was not who she seemed. Who goes there? Friend or foe? He had attempted the theme once before, employing a light touch, in Brain Stealers of Mars. This time he was serious. Who Goes There?
(astounding science-fiction, August, 1938) deals with an alien thing from outer space that enters the camp of an Antarctic research party and blends alternately into the forms of the various men and dogs in the camp. The job is to find and kill the chimera before, in the guise of some human being or animal, it gets back to civilization.
An impressive display of writing talent, Who Goes There? is in one sense one of the most thrilling detective stories ever written. The suspense and tension mount with each para-graph and are sustained to the last. Reading this story inspired A. E. van Vogt to turn to science fiction with Vault of the Beast, a direct take-off on the idea. In Europe, Eric Frank Russell picked up the notion in Spiro, one of his most effective stories. RKO, altering the story considerably, pro-duced it as a profitable horror picture called The Thing (1951).
A few more Stuart stories would sporadically appear. The Elder Gods (unknown, October, 1939), a swiftly paced
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