One of the most famous and enduring of the pulp magazines (see entry under 1930s—Print Culture in volume 2), Weird Tales was founded in 1923 by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lassinger to give a voice to writers who might otherwise have no outlet for their dark dreams and wild imaginings. The magazine played a central role in the development of today's literary genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

The magazine struggled to find an audience in its first two years, but then a change in editor signaled an improvement in its fortunes. Its unique editorial goals and the fact that it paid better than any of the other pulps (so called because of the extremely cheap paper that was used to produce them) allowed Weird Tales to attract the work of writers who would become giants of the field.

In the 1920s, the "first...