Lovecraft, and the increasingly popular, action-driven genre of Campbellian science fiction. In her work of the 1930’s and 40’s, Moore functioned as a bridge between the moody, cosmic horror of Weird Tales writers like H.P. And incidentally, Moore got many of her best stories published in Astounding. This common wisdom fails to account for Catherine Moore, whose beautifully written, sensuous stories are centered on characters’ conflicted mental states as they experience desire and seduction.
Moore features ten stories that are essential reading for any fan of Golden Age science fiction.Ĭommon science fiction wisdom has it that the genre became more focused on psychology, sex, and literary sophistication in the 1950’s with the rise of magazines like Galaxy and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, which departed from the stern genre requirements of John Campbell, the impresario of science fiction’s Golden Age who reigned from his perch as editor of Astounding Science Fiction. Moore managed to thrill fans with sensuous, complex, character-focused stories about desire, love, and women. In a genre featuring techno-fantasies of omnipotent super-scientists rationally masterminding the world, to the delight of fawning female props, Catherine L. For a mere quarter, I picked up this ridiculous piece of art, but along with it I scored some of the very finest stories ever to come out of the Golden Age pulp magazines of the 1930’s and 40’s: The Best of C.L. This cover features a blond hero in a failed Halloween costume that includes tights, cape, and blue leotard, staring past a naked medusa who is attempting, without much success, to strike an erotic pose while fondling a very phallic snake.
My luckiest find at my local library’s discarded book sale bears one of the most embarrassing science fiction covers I’ve ever seen – a remarkably high bar to reach.
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