''Amazing Stories'' is an American

science fiction magazine A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard-copy periodical format or on the Internet. Science fiction magazines traditionally featured speculative fiction in short story, novelette, nove ...

launched in April 1926 by

Hugo Gernsback Hugo Gernsback (; born Hugo Gernsbacher, August 16, 1884 – August 19, 1967) was a Luxembourgish–American editor and magazine publisher, whose publications including the first science fiction magazine. His contributions to the genre as publ ...

's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances in other magazines, including some published by Gernsback, but ''Amazing'' helped define and launch a new genre of

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Vin ...

. As of 2018, ''Amazing'' has been published, with some interruptions, for 92 years, going through a half-dozen owners and many editors as it struggled to be profitable. Gernsback was forced into bankruptcy and lost control of the magazine in 1929. In 1938 it was purchased by

Ziff-Davis Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. First founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, an ...

, who hired Raymond A. Palmer as editor. Palmer made the magazine successful though it was not regarded as a quality magazine within the science fiction community. In the late 1940s ''Amazing'' presented as fact stories about the

Shaver Mystery Richard Sharpe Shaver (October 8, 1907 Berwick, Pennsylvania – November 5, 1975 Summit, Arkansas) was an American writer and artist. He achieved notoriety in the years following World War II as the author of controversial stories that were pr ...

, a lurid mythos that explained accidents and disaster as the work of robots named deros, which led to dramatically increased circulation but widespread ridicule. ''Amazing'' switched to a

digest size Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately , but can also be and , similar to the size of a DVD case. These sizes have evolved from the printing ...

format in 1953, shortly before the end of the pulp-magazine era. It was sold to Sol Cohen's Universal Publishing Company in 1965, which filled it with reprinted stories but did not pay a reprint fee to the authors, creating a conflict with the newly formed

Science Fiction Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whil ...

. Ted White took over as editor in 1969, eliminated the reprints and made the magazine respected again: ''Amazing'' was nominated for the prestigious

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

three times during his tenure in the 1970s. Several other owners attempted to create a modern incarnation of the magazine in the following decades, but publication was suspended after the March 2005 issue. A new incarnation appeared in July 2012 as an online magazine. Print publication resumed with the Fall 2018 issue. Gernsback's initial editorial approach was to blend instruction with entertainment; he believed science fiction could educate readers. His audience rapidly showed a preference for implausible adventures, and the movement away from Gernsback's idealism accelerated when the magazine changed hands in 1929. Despite this, Gernsback had an enormous impact on the field: the creation of a specialist magazine for science fiction spawned an entire genre publishing industry. The letter columns in ''Amazing'', where fans could make contact with each other, led to the formation of science fiction fandom, which in turn had a strong influence on the development of the field. Writers whose first story was published in the magazine include

John W. Campbell John Wood Campbell Jr. (June 8, 1910 – July 11, 1971) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was editor of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' (later called '' Analog Science Fiction and Fact'') from late 1937 until his death ...

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

Howard Fast Howard Melvin Fast (November 11, 1914 – March 12, 2003) was an American novelist and television writer. Fast also wrote under the pen names E.V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson. Biography Early life Fast was born in New York City. His mother, ...

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...

Roger Zelazny Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for ''The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nomin ...

, and

Thomas M. Disch Thomas Michael Disch (February 2, 1940 – July 4, 2008) was an American science fiction author and poet. He won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book – previously called "Best Non-Fiction Book" – in 1999, and he had two other Hugo nomination ...

. Overall, though, ''Amazing'' itself was rarely an influential magazine within the genre after the 1920s. Some critics have commented that by "ghettoizing" science fiction, Gernsback harmed its literary growth, but this viewpoint has been countered by the argument that science fiction needed an independent market to develop in to reach its potential.

Origins

By the end of the 19th century, stories centered on scientific inventions, and stories set in the future, were appearing regularly in popular fiction magazines. The market for short stories lent itself to tales of invention in the tradition of

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 7. Magazines such as ''

Munsey's Magazine ''Munsey's Weekly'', later known as ''Munsey's Magazine'', was a 36-page quarto American magazine founded by Frank A. Munsey in 1889 and edited by John Kendrick Bangs. Frank Munsey aimed to publish "a magazine of the people and for the people, ...

'' and '' The Argosy'', launched in 1889 and 1896 respectively, carried a few science fiction stories each year. Some upmarket "slick" magazines such as ''

McClure's ''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism ( investigative, wa ...

'', which paid well and were aimed at a more literary audience, also carried scientific stories, but by the early years of the 20th century, science fiction (though it was not yet called that) was appearing more often in the

pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

s than in the slicks.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 21–25.Nicholls, Peter, "Pulp Magazines", in Clute & Nicholls, ''Encyclopedia of SF'', p. 979.Ashley, ''Transformations'', p. 155. In 1908, Hugo Gernsback published the first issue of ''

Modern Electrics ''Modern Electrics'' was a technical magazine for the amateur radio experimenter. The magazine existed between 1908 and 1914. History and profile ''Modern Electrics'' was created by Hugo Gernsback and began publication in April 1908. The magaz ...

'', a magazine aimed at the scientific hobbyist. It was an immediate success, and Gernsback began to include articles on imaginative uses of science, such as "Wireless on Saturn" (December 1908).Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 28–29. In April 1911, Gernsback began the serialization of his science fiction novel, ''

Ralph 124C 41+ ''Ralph 124C 41 +'', by Hugo Gernsback, is an early science fiction novel, written as a twelve-part serial in '' Modern Electrics'' magazine, which Gernsback edited, beginning in April 1911. It was compiled into novel/book form in 1925. While it ...

'', but in 1913 he sold his interest in the magazine to his partner and launched a new magazine, ''

Electrical Experimenter ''The Electrical Experimenter'' was an American technical science magazine that was published monthly. It was established in May 1913, as the successor to ''Modern Electrics'', a combination of a magazine and mail-order catalog that had been pub ...

'', which soon began to publish scientific fiction. In 1920 Gernsback retitled the magazine ''Science and Invention'', and through the early 1920s he published much scientific fiction in its pages, along with non-fiction scientific articles.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 29–35. Gernsback had started another magazine called ''Practical Electrics'' in 1921. In 1924, he changed its name to ''The Experimenter'',Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 48–49. and sent a letter to 25,000 people to gauge interest in the possibility of a magazine devoted to scientific fiction; in his words, "the response was such that the idea was given up for two years."Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 47. However, in 1926 he decided to go ahead, and ceased publication of ''The Experimenter'' to make room in his publishing schedule for a new magazine. The editor of ''The Experimenter'', T. O'Conor Sloane, became the editor of ''Amazing Stories''. The first issue appeared on 10 March 1926, with a cover date of April 1926.

Publishing history

1920s

Initially the magazine focused on reprints; the first original story was "The Man From the Atom ''(Sequel)''" by G. Peyton Wertenbaker in the May 1926 issue. In the August issue, new stories (still a minority) were noted with an asterisk in the table of contents. The editorial work was largely done by Sloane, but Gernsback retained final say over the fiction content. Two consultants, Conrad A. Brandt and Wilbur C. Whitehead, were hired to help find fiction to reprint. Frank R. Paul, who had worked with Gernsback as early as 1914, became the cover artist; Paul had produced many illustrations for the fiction in ''The Electrical Experimenter''. ''Amazing'' was issued in the large

bedsheet The bedsheet format (also known as large pulp) was the size of many magazines published in the United States in the first quarter of the 20th century. Magazines in bedsheet format were roughly the size of ''Life'' but with square spines. While the ...

format, 8.5 × 11.75 in (216 × 298 mm), the same size as the technical magazines. It was an immediate success and by the following March reached a circulation of 150,000. Gernsback saw there was an enthusiastic readership for "scientifiction" (the term "science fiction" had not yet been coined), and in 1927 started a Discussions section and issued ''Amazing Stories Annual''. The annual sold out, and in January 1928, Gernsback launched a quarterly magazine, ''

Amazing Stories Quarterly ''Amazing Stories Quarterly'' was a U.S. science fiction pulp magazine that was published between 1928 and 1934. It was launched by Hugo Gernsback as a companion to his ''Amazing Stories'', the first science fiction magazine, which had begun p ...

'', as a regular companion to ''Amazing''. It continued on a fairly regular schedule for 22 issues.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 51–54.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 238. Gernsback was slow to pay his authors and creditors; the extent of his investments limited his liquidity. On 20 February 1929 his printer and paper supplier opened bankruptcy proceedings against him. "Experimenter Publishing Co., Inc., 230 Fifth Avenue – Liabilities approximately $500,000, assets not stated. Principal creditors listed are Art Color Printing Co., Dunellen, N.J., $152,908; Bulkley Dunton Co., $154,406 ..."The bankruptcy is described in detail in Tom Perry, "An Amazing Story: Experiment in Bankruptcy" in ''Amazing Science Fiction'' vol. 51, no. 3 (May 1978), p. 161. It has been suggested that

Bernarr Macfadden Bernarr Macfadden (born Bernard Adolphus McFadden, August 16, 1868 – October 12, 1955) was an American proponent of physical culture, a combination of bodybuilding with nutritional and health theories. He founded the long-running magazine pu ...

, another magazine publisher, maneuvered to force the bankruptcy because Gernsback would not sell his titles to Macfadden, but this is unproven.del Rey, ''World of Science Fiction'', p. 47.Brian Stableford, "Amazing Stories", in Clute & Nicholls, ''Encyclopedia of SF'', pp. 25–26. Experimenter Publishing did not file any defence and was declared bankrupt by default on 6 March 1929; ''Amazing'' survived with its existing staff, but Hugo and his brother, Sidney, were forced out as directors. Arthur H. Lynch took over as editor-in-chief, though Sloane continued to have effective control of the magazine's contents. The receivers, Irving Trust, sold the magazine to Bergan A. Mackinnon on 3 April 1929.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 63–64.

1930s

In August 1931, ''Amazing'' was acquired by Teck Publications, a subsidiary of Bernarr Macfadden's

Macfadden Publications Macfadden Communications Group is a publisher of business magazines. It has a historical link with a company started in 1898 by Bernarr Macfadden that was one of the largest magazine publishers of the twentieth century. History Macfadden Publ ...

.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 76. "Teck Publishing Corp. J Schultz. 522 5th Av. $10,000" Joseph Schultz was the attorney for Macfadden Publications, Inc. Macfadden's deep pockets helped insulate ''Amazing'' from the financial strain caused by the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 77. The schedule of ''Amazing Stories Quarterly'' began to slip, but ''Amazing'' did not miss an issue in the early 1930s. However, it became unprofitable to publish over the next few years. Circulation dropped to little more than 25,000 in 1934, and in October 1935 it switched to bimonthly (publishing every other month).Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 112–116.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 85. By 1938, with ''Amazing'''s circulation down to only 15,000, Teck Publications was having financial problems. In January 1938

took over the magazine and shortly thereafter moved production to Chicago; the April issue was assembled by Sloane but published by Ziff-Davis. Bernard Davis, who ran Ziff-Davis's editorial department, attempted to hire Roger Sherman Hoar as editor; Hoar turned down the job but suggested Raymond A. Palmer, an active local science fiction fan. Palmer was hired that February, taking over editorial duties with the June 1938 issue. Ziff-Davis launched ''

Fantastic Adventures ''Fantastic Adventures'' was an American pulp fantasy and science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1953 by Ziff-Davis. It was initially edited by Raymond A. Palmer, who was also the editor of ''Amazing Stories'', Ziff-Davis's other scien ...

'', a fantasy companion to ''Amazing'', in May 1939, also under Palmer's editorship.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 143–144. Palmer quickly managed to improve ''Amazing's'' circulation, and in November 1938, the magazine went monthly again, though this did not last throughout Palmer's tenure: between 1944 and 1946 the magazine was bimonthly and then quarterly for a while before returning to a longer-lasting monthly schedule.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 119.

1940s

In September 1943

Richard Shaver Richard Sharpe Shaver (October 8, 1907 Berwick, Pennsylvania – November 5, 1975 Summit, Arkansas) was an American writer and artist. He achieved notoriety in the years following World War II as the author of controversial stories that were pr ...

, an ''Amazing'' reader, began to correspond with Palmer, who soon asked him to write stories for the magazine. Shaver responded with a story called "I Remember

Lemuria Lemuria (), or Limuria, was a continent proposed in 1864 by zoologist Philip Sclater, theorized to have sunk beneath the Indian Ocean, later appropriated by occultists in supposed accounts of human origins. The theory was discredited with the di ...

", published in the March 1945 issue, which was presented by Palmer as a mixture of truth and fiction. The story, about prehistoric civilizations, dramatically boosted ''Amazings circulation, and Palmer ran a new Shaver story in every issue, culminating in a special issue in June 1947 devoted entirely to the Shaver Mystery, as it was called.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 178–180. ''Amazing'' soon drew ridicule for these stories. A derisive article by

William S. Baring-Gould William Stuart Baring-Gould (1913–10 Aug 1967) was a noted Sherlock Holmes scholar, best known as the author of the influential 1962 fictional biography, ''Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street: A Life of the World's ...

in the September 1946 issue of '' Harper's'' prompted William Ziff to tell Palmer to limit the amount of Shaver-related material in the magazine; Palmer complied, but his interest (and possibly belief) in this sort of material was now significant, and he soon began planning to leave Ziff-Davis. In 1947 he formed Clark Publications, launching ''

Fate Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

'' the following year, and in 1949 he resigned from Ziff-Davis to edit that and other magazines.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 183–185.

Howard Browne Howard Browne (April 15, 1908 – October 28, 1999) was an American science fiction editor and mystery writer. He also wrote for several television series and films. Some of his work appeared over the pseudonyms John Evans, Alexander Blade ...

, who had been on a leave of absence from Ziff-Davis to write fiction, took over as editor and began by throwing away 300,000 words of inventory that Palmer had acquired before he left. Browne had ambitions of moving ''Amazing'' upmarket, and his argument was strengthened by

Street & Smith Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc. was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as dime novels and pulp fiction. They also published comic books and sporting yearbooks. Among t ...

, one of the longest established and most respected publishers, who shut down all of their pulp magazines in the summer of 1949. The pulps were dying, largely as a result of the success of

pocketbooks Pocketbooks was an indiepop band formed in London in 2006. Their music combined melodic boy/girl harmonies, spiralling guitars and delicate piano lines with a dash of 60s soul. The band first introduced themselves to the world by appearing on th ...

, and Street & Smith decided to concentrate on their slick magazines. Some pulps struggled on for a few more years, but Browne was able to persuade Ziff and Davis that the future was in the slicks, and they raised his fiction budget from one cent to a ceiling of five cents per word. Browne managed to get promises of new stories from many well-known authors, including

and

Theodore Sturgeon Theodore Sturgeon (; born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American fiction author of primarily fantasy, science fiction and horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 reviews and more than 120 sh ...

. He produced a dummy issueA dummy issue is a magazine issue produced to show to potential advertisers or for advance review. See the glossary at this publisher page: in April 1950, and planned to launch the new incarnation of ''Amazing'' in April 1951, the 25th anniversary of the first issue. However, the economic impact of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, which broke out in June 1950, led to budget cuts. The plans were cancelled, and Ziff-Davis never revived the idea.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 220–225.

1950s

Browne's interest in ''Amazing'' declined when the project to turn it into a slick magazine was derailed. Although he stayed involved with ''

'', another Ziff-Davis magazine, he left the editing work on ''Amazing'' to

William Hamling William Hamling (10 August 1912 – 20 March 1975) was a British Labour Party politician. Hamling was educated at Liverpool University and was a signals officer in the Royal Marines during World War II. Hamling contested Southport in 1945, ...

and Lila Shaffer. In December 1950, when Ziff-Davis moved their offices from Chicago to New York, Hamling stayed behind in Chicago, and Browne revived his involvement with the magazine.Ashley, ''Transformations'', p. 7. In 1952, Browne convinced Ziff-Davis to try a high-quality digest fantasy magazine. ''

Fantastic The fantastic (french: le fantastique) is a subgenre of literary works characterized by the ambiguous presentation of seemingly supernatural forces. Bulgarian-French structuralist literary critic Tzvetan Todorov originated the concept, charac ...

'', which appeared in the summer of that year, focused on

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

rather than science fiction and was so successful that it persuaded Ziff-Davis to switch ''Amazing'' from pulp format to digest in early 1953 (while also switching to a bimonthly schedule). Circulation fell, however, and subsequent budget cuts limited the story quality in both ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic''. ''Fantastic'' began to print science fiction as well as fantasy. Circulation increased as a result, but Browne, who was not a science fiction aficionado, once again lost interest in the magazines.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 48–51. Paul W. Fairman replaced Browne as editor in September 1956.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 173–174.Ashley, ''Transformations'', p. 353. Early in Fairman's tenure, Bernard Davis decided to try issuing a companion series of novels, titled ''Amazing Stories Science Fiction Novels''. Readers' letters in ''Amazing'' had indicated a desire for novels, which ''Amazing'' did not have room to run. The novel series did not last; only one,

Henry Slesar Henry Slesar (June 12, 1927 – April 2, 2002) was an American author, playwright, and copywriter. He is famous for his use of irony and twist endings. After reading Slesar's "M Is for the Many" in ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'', Alfre ...

's ''20 Million Miles to Earth'', appeared. However, in response to readers' interest in longer fiction, Ziff-Davis expanded ''Amazing'' by 16 pages, starting with the March 1958 issue, and the magazine began to run complete novels. Fairman left to edit ''

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine ''Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine'' is a bi-monthly American digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction, and mystery fiction. Launched in fall 1941 by Mercury Press, ''EQMM'' is named after the fict ...

'' at the end of 1958, and his place was taken by

Cele Goldsmith Cele Goldsmith Lalli (1933 – January 14, 2002) was an American editing, editor. She was the editor of ''Amazing Stories'' from 1959 to 1965, ''Fantastic (magazine), Fantastic'' from 1958 to 1965, and later the Editor-in-Chief of ''Modern Bri ...

. Goldsmith had been hired in 1955 as a secretary and became assistant editor to help cope with the additional work created when Ziff-Davis launched two short-lived magazines, ''Dream World'' and ''Pen Pals'', in 1956. Ziff-Davis were not confident of Goldsmith's abilities as an editor, so when Fairman left, a consultant, Norman Lobsenz, was hired to work with her. She performed well, however, and Lobsenz's involvement soon became minimal.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 222–226.

1960s

Goldsmith is well regarded by science fiction historians for her innovation, and the impact she had on the early careers of writers such as

and

, but circulation lagged during her tenure. By 1964 ''Fantastics circulation was down to 27,000, with ''Amazing'' doing little better. The following March both ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'' were sold to Ultimate Publishing Company, run by

Sol Cohen Sol Cohen (December 16, 1910 – July 28, 1988) was an American publisher who worked mostly in the science fiction field. Cohen started his long association with Avon Publications in 1947, working as an editor for their comics division from 1947 ...

and Arthur Bernhard." rchase by the Ultimate Publishing Company, Inc., of two science-fiction magazines from Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. 'Amazing Stories'' and ''Fantastic.''nbsp;... according to Sol Cohen, president of Ultimate."Ashley, ''Transformations'', p. 263. Goldsmith was given the choice of going with the magazines or staying with Ziff-Davis; she stayed, and Cohen hired Joseph Wrzos to edit the magazines, starting with the August and September 1965 issues of ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'', respectively. Wrzos used the name "Joseph Ross" on the mastheads to avoid mis-spellings. Both magazines immediately moved to a bi-monthly schedule.Ashley, ''Transformations'', p. 321.Ashley, ''Transformations'', p. 325. Cohen had acquired reprint rights to the magazines' back issues, although Wrzos did get Cohen to agree to print one new story every issue. Cohen was also producing reprint magazines such as '' Great Science Fiction'' and ''

Science Fiction Classics Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

'', but no payment was made to authors for any of these reprints. This brought Cohen into conflict with the

(SFWA), a professional writers' organization formed in 1965. Soon SFWA called for a boycott of Ultimate's magazines until Cohen agreed to make payments. Cohen agreed to pay a flat fee for all stories, and then in August 1967 this was changed to a graduated rate, depending on the length of the story.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 263–267. Harry Harrison had acted as an intermediary in Cohen's negotiations with SFWA, and when Wrzos left in 1967, Cohen asked Harrison to take over. '' SF Impulse'', which Harrison had been editing, had folded in February 1967, so Harrison was available. He secured Cohen's agreement that the policy of printing almost nothing but reprinted stories would be phased out by the end of the year, and took over as editor with the September 1967 issue. By February 1968 Harrison decided to leave, as Cohen was showing no signs of abandoning the reprints. He resigned, and suggested Barry N. Malzberg to Cohen as a possible successor. Cohen knew Malzberg from his work at the

Scott Meredith Literary Agency Scott Meredith, born Arthur Scott Feldman (1923, New York City, NY – 1 July 1992, Manhasset, NY) was a prominent American literary agent, and founder of the Scott Meredith Literary Agency. His clients included famous and successful writers ...

, and thought that he might be more amenable than Harrison to continuing the reprint policy. Malzberg took over in April 1968, but immediately came into conflict with Cohen over the reprints, and then threatened to resign in October 1968 over a disagreement about artwork Malzberg had commissioned for a cover. Cohen contacted

Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Gr ...

, then the president of SFWA, and told him (falsely) that Malzberg had actually resigned. Silverberg recommended Ted White as a replacement. Cohen secured White's agreement and then fired Malzberg; White assumed control with the May 1969 issue.

1970s

When White took over as editor, ''Amazings circulation was about 38,500, only about 4% of which were subscribers (as opposed to newsstand sales). This was a very low ebb for subscriptions; ''Analog'', by comparison, sold about 35% of its circulation through subscriptions. Cohen's wife mailed out the subscription copies from home, and Cohen had never tried to increase the subscriber base as this would have increased the burden on his wife.Ashley, ''Gateways'', p. 72. White worked hard to increase the circulation despite Cohen's lack of support, but met with limited success. One of his first changes was to reduce the

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are list of type ...

to increase the amount of fiction in the magazine. To pay for this he increased the price of both ''Fantastic'' and ''Amazing'' to 60 cents, but this had a strong negative effect on circulation, which fell about 10% from 1969 to 1970.Ashley, ''Gateways'', p. 74.Ashley, ''Gateways'', p. 480. In 1972, White changed the title to ''Amazing Science Fiction'', distancing the magazine slightly from some of the pulp connotations of "Amazing Stories". White worked at a low wage, and his friends often read manuscripts for free, but despite his efforts the circulation continued to fall. From near 40,000 when White joined the magazine, the circulation fell to about 23,000 in October 1975. White was unwilling to continue with the very limited financial backing that Cohen provided, and he resigned in 1975. Cohen was able to convince White to remain; White promised to stay for one more year, but in the event remained as editor until late 1978.Ashley, ''Gateways'', pp. 84–85. ''Amazing'' raised its price from 75 cents to $1.00 with the November 1975 issue. The schedule switched to quarterly beginning with the March 1976 issue; as a result, the 50th anniversary issue had a cover date of June 1976. In 1977, Cohen announced that ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'' had lost $15,000, though ''Amazings circulation (at nearly 26,000) was as good as it had been for several years. Cohen looked for a new publisher to buy the magazines, but in September of the following year sold his half-share in the company to his partner, Arthur Bernhard.Ashley, ''Gateways'', pp. 85–86. White had occasionally suggested to Cohen that ''Amazing'' would benefit from a redesign and investment; he made the same suggestions to Bernhard in early October. According to White, Bernhard not only said no, but told him he would not receive a salary until the next issue was turned in. In late 1978 White resigned, and returned all manuscripts in his possession to their authors, even if copy-edited and ready for publication. White claimed Bernhard had told him to do this, though Bernhard denied it.Ashley, ''Gateways'', pp. 347–348.

1980s to 2000s

Elinor Mavor took over as editor in early 1979. She had worked for Bernhard as an illustrator and in the production department of several of his magazines, though not for ''Amazing''. She had also been an editor at ''Bill of Fare'', a restaurant trade magazine. Mavor had read a good deal of science fiction but knew nothing about the world of science fiction magazines when she took over. She was not confident that a woman would be accepted as the editor of a science fiction magazine, so she initially used the pseudonym "Omar Gohagen" for both ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'', dropping it late in 1980. Circulation continued to fall, and Bernhard refused to consider Mavor's request to undertake a subscription drive, which might have helped. Instead, in late 1980, Bernhard decided to merge the two magazines. ''Fantastics last independent issue was October 1980; thereafter the combined magazine returned to a bimonthly schedule. At the same time the title was changed to ''Amazing Science Fiction Stories''. Bernhard cut Mavor's salary after the merger, as she was editing only one magazine. Despite this, she stayed with ''Amazing'', but was unable to prevent circulation from dropping again, down to only 11,000 newsstand sales in 1982.Ashley, ''Gateways'', pp. 348–355. Shortly after the merger, Bernhard decided to retire, and approached Edward Ferman, the editor of ''

Fantasy and Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...

'', and Joel Davis, at Davis Publications, among others, about a possible sale of ''Amazing''. Jonathan Post, of Emerald City Publishing, believed he had concluded a deal with Bernhard, and began to advertise for submissions, but the negotiations failed. Bernhard also approached George H. Scithers, who declined, but put Bernhard in touch with

Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax created an ...

of TSR. On 27 May 1982 TSR, Inc. acquired the trademarks and copyrights of ''Amazing Stories''. Scithers was taken on by TSR as editor beginning with the November 1982 issue. He was replaced by

Patrick Lucien Price Patrick Lucien Price is a game designer and editor who worked on the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game from TSR. Early life and education Pat Price was born in Whiting, Indiana. Price earned a B.A. in French and Spanish from Mari ...

in September 1986, and then by

Kim Mohan Kim Rudolph Mohan (May 4, 1949 – December 12, 2022) was an American author, editor and game designer best known for works related to the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. Early life and education Kim Mohan was born in Chicago, Illinoi ...

in May 1991. TSR ceased publication of ''Amazing'' with the Winter 1995 issue,See the individual issues. For convenience, an online index is available at but in 1997, shortly after they were acquired by

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...

, the magazine was relaunched, again with Mohan as editor. This version lasted for only ten issues, though it did include a special celebratory 600th issue in early 2000. The science fiction trade journal ''

Locus Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to: Entertainment * Locus (comics), a Marvel Comics mutant villainess, a member of the Mutant Liberation Front * ''Locus'' (magazine), science fiction and fantasy magazine ** ''Locus Award' ...

'' commented in an early review that distribution of the magazine seemed to be weak. The title proved unable to survive: the last issue of this version was dated Summer 2000. The title was then acquired by

Paizo Publishing Paizo Inc. (originally Paizo Publishing.) is an American role-playing game publishing company based in Redmond, Washington, best known for the tabletop role-playing game '' Pathfinder''. The company's name is derived from the Greek word ''paiz ...

, who launched a new monthly version in September 2004. The February 2005 issue was the last printed; a March 2005 issue was released in PDF format, and in March 2006 Paizo announced that it would no longer publish ''Amazing''. In September 2011, the trademark for ''Amazing Stories'' was acquired by Steve Davidson. Two online issues appeared, in July and August 2012, followed by another in 2014. Davidson relaunched print publication of ''Amazing Stories'' with the Fall 2018 issue with Ira Nayman as editor.

Contents and reception

Gernsback era

Gernsback's editorial in the first issue asserted that "Not only do these amazing tales make tremendously interesting reading—they are also always instructive".Quoted in Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 50. He had always believed that "scientifiction", as he called these stories, had educational power, but he now understood that the fiction had to entertain as well as to instruct.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 50. His continued belief in the instructional value of science fiction was not in keeping with the general attitude of the public towards pulp magazines, which was that they were "trash".Carter, ''Creation of Tomorrow'', p. 3. The first issue of ''Amazing'' contained only reprints, beginning with a serialization of ''Off on a Comet'', by

. In keeping with Gernsback's new approach, this was one of Verne's least scientifically plausible novels. Also included were

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

The New Accelerator "The New Accelerator" is a 1901 science fiction short story by H. G. Wells, first published in ''The Strand Magazine'' in December 1901. The story addresses an elixir, invented by ''Prof. Gibberne'', that accelerates all of an individual's physiol ...

", and

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

's "

The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" is a short story by the American author Edgar Allan Poe about a mesmerist who puts a man in a suspended hypnotic state at the moment of death. An example of a tale of suspense and horror, it is also to a c ...

"; Gernsback put the names of all three authors on the cover. He also reprinted three more recent stories. Two came from his own magazine, ''Science and Invention''; these were " The Man from the Atom" by G. Peyton Wertenbaker and " The Thing from—'Outside'" by

George Allan England George Allan England (9 February 1877 - 26 June 1936) was an American writer and explorer, best known for his speculative and science fiction. He attended Harvard University and later in life unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Maine. England wa ...

. The third was Austin Hall's ''

The Man Who Saved the Earth ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'', which had appeared in ''

All-Story Weekly ''Argosy'', later titled ''The Argosy'', ''Argosy All-Story Weekly'' and ''The New Golden Argosy'', was an American pulp magazine from 1882 through 1978, published by Frank Munsey until its sale to Popular Publications in 1942. It is the first ...

''.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 50–51. In the June 1926 issue Gernsback announced a competition to write a short story to suit a cover drawn by illustrator Frank R. Paul, with a first prize of $250. The competition drew over 360 entries, seven of which were eventually printed in ''Amazing''. The winner was Cyril G. Wates, who sold three more stories to Gernsback in the late 1920s. Two other entrants went on to become successful writers: one was

Clare Winger Harris Clare Winger Harris (January 18, 1891 – October 26, 1968) was an early science fiction writer whose short stories were published during the 1920s. She is credited as the first woman to publish stories under her own name in science fiction mag ...

, whose story, "

The Fate of the Poseidonia ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

", took third place in the competition, and was published in the June 1927 issue as by "Mrs. F.C. Harris". The other notable entrant was A. Hyatt Verrill, with ''The Voice from the Inner World'', which appeared in July 1927. A letter column, titled ''Discussions'' soon appeared, and became a regular feature with the January 1927 issue. Many science fiction readers were isolated in small communities, knowing nobody else who liked the same fiction. Gernsback's habit of publishing the full address of all his correspondents meant that the letter column allowed fans to correspond with each other directly.

Science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

traces its beginnings to the letter column in ''Amazing'' and its competitors, and one historian of the field, author

Lester del Rey Lester del Rey (June 2, 1915 – May 10, 1993) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the author of many books in the juvenile Winston Science Fiction series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and scienc ...

, has commented that the introduction of this letter column "may have been one of the most important events in the history of science fiction".del Rey, ''World of Science Fiction'', p. 45. For the first year, ''Amazing'' contained primarily reprinted material. It was proving difficult to attract new, high-quality material, and Gernsback's slowness at paying his authors did not help. Writers such as H.P. Lovecraft, H.G. Wells, and

Murray Leinster Murray Leinster (June 16, 1896 – June 8, 1975) was a pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an American writer of genre fiction, particularly of science fiction. He wrote and published more than 1,500 short stories and articles, 14 movie ...

all avoided ''Amazing'' because Gernsback took so long to pay for the stories he printed. The slow payments were probably known to many of the other active pulp writers, which would have further limited the volume of submissions. New writers did appear, but the quality of their stories was often weak.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 54–56.

Frederik Pohl Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American science-fiction writer, editor, and fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first published work, the 1937 poem "Elegy to a Dead Satelli ...

later said that Gernsback's magazine published "the kind of stories Gernsback himself used to write: a sort of animated catalogue of gadgets". Gernsback discovered that the audience he had attracted was less interested in scientific invention stories than in fantastical adventures.

A. Merritt Abraham Grace Merritt (January 20, 1884 – August 21, 1943) – known by his byline, A. Merritt – was an American Sunday magazine editor and a writer of fantastic fiction. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 1999, ...

's ''

The Moon Pool ''The Moon Pool'' is a fantasy novel by American writer Abraham Merritt. It originally appeared as two short stories in ''All-Story Weekly'': "The Moon Pool" (1918) and its sequel, "Conquest of the Moon Pool" (1919). These were then reworked in ...

'', which began serialization in May 1927, was an early success; there was little or no scientific basis to the story, but it was very popular with ''Amazings readers. The covers, all of which were painted by Paul, were garish and juvenile, leading some readers to complain. Raymond Palmer, later to become an editor of the magazine, wrote that a friend of his was forced to stop buying ''Amazing'' "by reason of his parents' dislike of the cover illustrations"."Discussions", ''Amazing Stories'', October 1928, p. 662; quoted in Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 56. Gernsback experimented with a more sober cover for the September 1928 issue, but it sold poorly, and so the lurid covers continued. The combination of poor quality fiction with garish artwork has led some critics to comment that Gernsback created a "ghetto" for science fiction,Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 58. though it has also been argued that the creation of a specialized market allowed science fiction to develop and mature as a genre.del Rey, ''World of Science Fiction'', p. 80. Among the regular writers for ''Amazing'' by the end of the 1920s were several who were influential and popular at the time, such as

David H. Keller David Henry Keller (December 23, 1880 – July 13, 1966) was an American writer who worked for pulp magazines in the mid-twentieth century, in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. He was also a psychiatrist and physician to shell- ...

and Stanton Coblentz, and some who would continue to be successful for much longer, most notably Edward E. Smith and

Jack Williamson John Stewart Williamson (April 29, 1908 – November 10, 2006), who wrote as Jack Williamson, was an American list of science fiction authors, science fiction writer, often called the "Dean of Science Fiction". He is also credited with one of t ...

. Smith's ''

The Skylark of Space ''The Skylark of Space'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Edward E. "Doc" Smith, written between 1915 and 1921 while Smith was working on his doctorate. Though the original idea for the novel was Smith's, he co-wrote the first part o ...

'', written between 1915 and 1920, was a seminal

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and soci ...

that found no ready market when ''Argosy'' stopped printing science fiction.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 60. When Smith saw a copy of the April 1927 issue of ''Amazing'', he submitted it to Sloane, and it appeared in the August–October 1928 issues. It was such a success that Sloane requested a sequel before the second installment had been published. It was also in the August 1928 issue that "Armageddon – 2419 AD", by

Philip Francis Nowlan Philip Francis Nowlan (; November 13, 1888 – February 1, 1940) was an American science fiction writer, best known as the creator of Buck Rogers. Biography Nowlan was born on November 13, 1888. While attending the University of Pennsylvania, N ...

, appeared; this was the first appearance of

Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily US newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, books ...

in print.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 61–62.

Sloane, Palmer, Browne and Fairman

Sloane took over full control of the content of ''Amazing'' when Gernsback left in 1929.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 64. He was infamous for his slow response to manuscripts, and when ''

Astounding Stories ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...

'' was launched in January 1930, with better rates and faster editorial response, some of Sloane's writers quickly defected.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 69. Little of quality appeared in ''Amazing'' during Sloane's tenure,del Rey, ''World of Science Fiction'', p. 62. though "The Lost Machine", an early story by

John Wyndham John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (; 10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969) was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names ...

, appeared in April 1932, under Wyndham's real name of John Beynon Harris.

and

sold their first stories to Sloane; Campbell's "When the Atoms Failed" appeared in the January 1930 issue, and Fast's "Wrath of the Purple" was printed in the October 1932 issue.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 113. Raymond Palmer, who took over in 1938 after production of the magazine was moved to Chicago, was less interested in the educational possibilities of science fiction than Sloane had been. He wanted the magazine to provide escapist entertainment, and had no interest in scientific accuracy. His terse instruction—"Gimme Bang-Bang"—to one pulp writer sums up his approach. Palmer disposed of almost all of Sloane's accumulated inventory, instead acquiring stories from local Chicago writers he knew through his connections with science fiction fandom.del Rey, ''World of Science Fiction'', pp. 114–115.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 112.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 116–117. He also added features such as a "Correspondence Corner" and a "Collectors' Corner" to appeal to fans, and introduced a "Meet the Authors" feature, though on at least one occasion the featured author was a pseudonym, and the biographical details were invented. An illustrated back cover was tried, and soon became standard.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 118–119. In 1939 Palmer acquired

's first sale, "

Marooned off Vesta "Marooned off Vesta" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. It was the third story he wrote, and the first to be published. Written in July 1938 when Asimov was 18, it was rejected by '' Astounding Science Fiction'' i ...

".John Clute & Malcolm Edwards, "Isaac Asimov", in Clute & Nicholls, ''Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'', p. 56. In the 1940s, several writers established themselves as a stable of reliable contributors to ''Amazing''. These included

David Wright O'Brien David Wright O'Brien (1918–1944) was an American fantasy and science fiction writer. A nephew of Farnsworth Wright, editor of Weird Tales, he was 22 years old when his first story ("Truth Is a Plague!") appeared in the February 1940 issue of Ama ...

and

William P. McGivern William Peter McGivern (December 6, 1918 – November 18, 1982) was an American novelist and television scriptwriter. He published more than 20 novels, mostly mysteries and crime thrillers, some under the pseudonym Bill Peters. His novels wer ...

, both of whom wrote an immense amount for Ziff-Davis, much of it under house names such as Alexander Blade.

John Russell Fearn John Russell Fearn (1908–1960) was a British writer, one of the first to appear in American pulp science fiction magazines. A prolific author, he published his novels also as Vargo Statten and with various pseudonyms including Thornton Ayre, P ...

became a prolific contributor, using the pseudonyms "Thornton Ayre" and "Polton Cross".del Rey, ''World of Science Fiction'', p. 116. Palmer also encouraged long-time science fiction writers to return, publishing pulp authors such as

Ed Earl Repp Ed Earl Repp (1901–1979) was an American writer, screenwriter and novelist. His stories appeared in several of the early pulp magazines including ''Air Wonder Stories'', '' Science Wonder Stories'' and ''Amazing Stories''. After World War II ...

and

Eando Binder Eando Binder is a pen name used by two mid-20th-century science fiction authors, Earl Andrew Binder (1904–1965) and his brother Otto Binder (1911–1974). The name is derived from their first initials ''(E and O Binder).'' Under the Eando nam ...

. This policy did not always meet with approval from ''Amazings readers, who, despite a clear preference for action and adventure stories, could not stomach the work of some of the early pulp writers such as Harry Bates.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 176–177. The first Shaver Mystery story, "I Remember Lemuria", by Richard S. Shaver, appeared in the March 1945 issue. Shaver claimed that all the world's accidents and disasters were caused by an ancient race of deros (short for "detrimental robots") who lived in underground cities. This explanation for the world's ills, coming towards the end of World War II, struck a chord with ''Amazings readership. Palmer received over 2,500 letters, instead of the usual 40 or 50, and proceeded to print a Shaver story in every issue. The June 1947 issue was given over entirely to the Shaver Mystery.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 179–180. From March 1948 the Shaver Mystery was dropped as a regular feature of the magazine, at Ziff's insistence. Palmer left the following year, and Browne, his successor, "was determined to make sure that the lunatics were no longer in charge of the asylum", in the words of science fiction historian Mike Ashley.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', pp. 184–185. Browne had acquired some good-quality material in the process of planning the launch of a new slick version of ''Amazing'', and when the plan was abandoned this material appeared in the continuing pulp version. This included "Operation RSVP" by

H. Beam Piper Henry Beam Piper (March 23, 1904 – ) was an American science fiction writer. He wrote many short stories and several novels. He is best known for his extensive Terro-Human Future History series of stories and a shorter series of "Paratime" alt ...

, and " Satisfaction Guaranteed" by Isaac Asimov. Despite the cancellation of the planned change to a slick format, news had reached the writing community of ''Amazings new approach, and Browne began to receive much better material than Palmer had been able to publish. The existing stable of ''Amazing'' writers, such as

Rog Phillips ''Rog'' () is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language romance thriller film directed by Himanshu Brahmbhatt, written by Mahesh Bhatt and produced by Pooja Bhatt. The film stars Irrfan Khan, Himanshu Malik and Ilene Hamann. Plot Uday Singh Rathod is a ...

and Chester S. Geier, were replaced by writers such as

Fritz Leiber Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Rober ...

Fredric Brown Fredric Brown (October 29, 1906 – March 11, 1972) was an American science fiction, fantasy, and mystery writer.D. J. McReynolds, "The Short Fiction of Fredric Brown" in Frank N. Magill, (ed.) ''Survey of Science Fiction Literature'', Vol. 4 ...

, and

Clifford D. Simak Clifford Donald Simak (; August 3, 1904 – April 25, 1988) was an American science fiction writer. He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master, and the Horror W ...

. Browne also discovered several writers who went on to success in the field, publishing first stories by

Walter M. Miller Walter Michael Miller Jr. (January 23, 1923 – January 9, 1996) was an American science fiction writer. His fix-up novel, '' A Canticle for Leibowitz'' (1959), the only novel published in his lifetime, won the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel. ...

Mack Reynolds Dallas McCord "Mack" Reynolds (November 11, 1917 – January 30, 1983) was an American science fiction writer. His pen names included Dallas Ross, Mark Mallory, Clark Collins, Dallas Rose, Guy McCord, Maxine Reynolds, Bob Belmont, and Todd Har ...

John Jakes John William Jakes (born March 31, 1932) is an American writer, best known for American historical and speculative fiction. His Civil War trilogy, ''North and South'', has sold millions of copies worldwide. He is also the author of The Kent Fam ...

, Milton Lesser and

Charles Beaumont Charles Beaumont (January 2, 1929 – February 21, 1967) was an American author of speculative fiction, including short stories in the horror and science fiction subgenres.Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, "Beaumont, Charles" in David Pringle, ed., '' ...

, all within nine months in late 1950 and early 1951.Ashley, ''Time Machines'', p. 225. Browne was disappointed by the cancellation of the planned slick version, however, and to some extent reverted to Palmer's policy of publishing sensational fiction. In 1952, for example, he serialized the anonymous ''Master of the Universe'', which purported to be a history of the future from 1975 to 2575. With the change to digest size in 1953, Browne once again attempted to use higher-quality fiction. The first digest issue, dated April–May 1953, included stories by

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...

Robert Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

Richard Matheson Richard Burton Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is best known as the author of '' I Am Legend'', a 1954 science fictio ...

, and

. Further well-regarded stories appeared over the course of 1953, including Arthur C. Clarke's "

Encounter in the Dawn "Encounter in the Dawn" (also known as "Expedition to Earth") is a short story by English writer Arthur C. Clarke, first published in 1953 in the magazine ''Amazing Stories''. It was originally collected in the anthology '' Expedition to Ear ...

", and Henry Kuttner's "Or Else". Subsequent budget cuts meant that Browne was unable to sustain this level. As in the 1940s, ''Amazing'' gained a stable of writers who appeared frequently, though this time the quality of the writers was rather higher—it included Harlan Ellison,

, and

Randall Garrett Gordon Randall Phillip David GarrettGarrett, Randall
in ''

Cele Goldsmith

's tenure as editor began with the opportunity to showcase two very well-established writers:

E.E. Smith Edward Elmer Smith (May 2, 1890 – August 31, 1965), publishing as E. E. Smith, Ph.D. and later as E. E. "Doc" Smith, was an American food engineer (specializing in doughnut and pastry mixes) and science-fiction author, best known for the ' ...

and

. Smith's ''The Galaxy Primes'' was serialized from March to May 1959. Asimov's first published story "

" had appeared in the March 1939 ''Amazing'', and Goldsmith reprinted it in March 1959 along with a sequel "

Anniversary An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints ...

" and Asimov's comments. She soon began to publish some of the better new writers.

Cordwainer Smith Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger (July 11, 1913 – August 6, 1966), better known by his pen-name Cordwainer Smith, was an American author known for his science fiction works. Linebarger was a US Army officer, a noted East Asia scholar, and a ...

's "Golden the Ship Was—Oh! Oh! Oh!" appeared in April; and by the middle of the following year she had managed to attract stories from

Robert Sheckley Robert Sheckley (July 16, 1928 – December 9, 2005) was an American writer. First published in the science-fiction magazines of the 1950s, his many quick-witted stories and novels were famously unpredictable, absurdist, and broadly comical. ...

Alan E. Nourse Alan Edward Nourse (August 11, 1928 – July 19, 1992) was an American science fiction writer and physician. He wrote both juvenile and adult science fiction, as well as nonfiction works about medicine and science. His SF works sometimes focused ...

Gordon R. Dickson Gordon Rupert Dickson (November 1, 1923 – January 31, 2001) was a Canadian-American science fiction writer. He was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2000. Biography Dickson was born in Edmonton, Alberta, ...

, Robert Bloch, and

James Blish James Benjamin Blish () was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is best known for his '' Cities in Flight'' novels and his series of ''Star Trek'' novelizations written with his wife, J. A. Lawrence. His novel '' A Case of Conscie ...

. The changes she made were enough to bring

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

back as a subscriber; he read the June 1961 issue, which, he wrote to her, "caused me to think I had been missing something."Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 222–223; quoting an unpublished letter from Heinlein to Goldsmith. In September 1960 ''Amazing'' began to carry

Sam Moskowitz Sam Moskowitz (June 30, 1920 – April 15, 1997) was an American writer, critic, and historian of science fiction. Biography As a child, Moskowitz greatly enjoyed reading science fiction pulp magazines. As a teenager, he organized a branch o ...

's series of author profiles, which had begun in ''Fantastic'', the sister magazine. The following month the cover and logo were redesigned. In April 1961, the 35th anniversary of the first issue, Goldsmith ran several reprints, including by

and

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...

. Goldsmith had little previous experience with science fiction, and bought what she liked, rather than trying to conform to a notion of what science fiction should be. The result was the debut of more significant writers in her magazines than anywhere else at that time: she published the first stories of

Piers Anthony Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob (born 6 August 1934) is an American author in the science fiction and Fantasy (genre), fantasy genres, publishing under the name Piers Anthony. He is best known for his :Xanth books, long-running novel series set in ...

and

, among many others. Award-winning stories published during Goldsmith's editorship include Zelazny's " He Who Shapes", a novella about the use of dream therapy to cure phobias. It was serialized in the January and February 1965 issues, and won a Nebula Award from the newly established

. Goldsmith often wrote long, helpful letters to her authors: Zelazny commented in a letter to her that "Most of anything I have learned was stimulated by those first sales, and then I learned, and possibly even learned more, from some of the later rejections". Disch and Le Guin have also acknowledged the influence Goldsmith had on their early careers`;Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 224–225. Zelazny's quote is from his personal letter to Cele Lalli (Goldsmith) from March 20, 1965, quoted in Ashley p. 225. Le Guin called her in 1975 "as enterprising and perceptive an editor as the science fiction magazines ever had". Goldsmith's open-minded approach meant that ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'' published some writers who did not fit into the other magazines. Philip K. Dick's sales to magazines had dropped, but his work began to appear in ''Amazing'', and Goldsmith also regularly published David R. Bunch's stories of Moderan, a world whose inhabitants were part human and part metal. Bunch, whose stories were "bewildering, exotic word pictures" according to Mike Ashley, had been unable to sell regularly elsewhere. The cover art for ''Amazing'' had been largely supplied by

Ed Valigursky Ed, ed or ED may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ed'' (film), a 1996 film starring Matt LeBlanc * Ed (''Fullmetal Alchemist'') or Edward Elric, a character in ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' media * ''Ed'' (TV series), a TV series that ran fro ...

during the late fifties, but during the early sixties a much wider variety of artists appeared, including

Alex Schomburg Alexander A. Schomburg, born Alejandro Schomburg y Rosa (; May 10, 1905Alejandro Schomburg Y Rosa

, Leo Summers and

Ed Emshwiller Edmund Alexander Emshwiller (February 16, 1925 – July 27, 1990) was an American visual artist notable for his science fiction illustrations and his pioneering experimental films. He usually signed his illustrations as Emsh but sometimes used E ...

Frank Paul Frank Rudolph Paul (; April 18, 1884 – June 29, 1963) was an American illustrator of pulp magazines in the science fiction field. A discovery of editor Hugo Gernsback, Paul was influential in defining the look of both cover art and interior ...

, who had painted all the covers for the first few years of ''Amazing'', contributed a wraparound cover for the April 1961 35th anniversary issue; this was his last cover art for a science fiction magazine.

Reprint era and Ted White

When Sol Cohen bought both ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'' in early 1965, he decided to maximize profits by filling the magazines almost entirely with reprints. Cohen had acquired second serial rights from Ziff-Davis to all stories that had been printed in both magazines, and also in the companion magazines such as ''Fantastic Adventures''. Joseph Wrzos, the new editor, persuaded Cohen that at least one new story should appear in each issue; there was sufficient inventory left over from Goldsmith's tenure for this to be done without acquiring new material. Readers initially approved of the policy, since it made available some well-loved stories from earlier decades that had not been reprinted elsewhere.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 263–264. Both of Wrzos's successors, Harry Harrison and Barry Malzberg, were unable to persuade Cohen to use more new fiction.Ashley, ''Transformations'', pp. 266–267. When Ted White took over, it was on condition that the reprints be phased out. This took some time: for a while both ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'' continued to include one reprint every issue; with the May 1972 issue the transformation was complete, and all stories were new. As well as eliminating the reprints, White reintroduced features such as a letter column and "The Clubhouse," a

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

review and fannish news column. He continued the book review column, and a series of science articles by

Gregory Benford Gregory Benford (born January 30, 1941) is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is professor emeritus at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. He is a contributing editor of ''Reas ...

and David Book. White also redesigned the look of the magazine, making it, in sf historian Mike Ashley's words, "far more modern and sophisticated".Ashley, ''Gateways'', pp. 70–74. White was willing to print a variety of fiction, mixing traditional stories with more experimental material that was influenced by the British New Wave or by 1960s

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

. In 1971 he serialized

's ''The Lathe of Heaven'', about a man whose dreams can modify reality. One writer influenced by this was

James Tiptree, Jr. Alice Bradley Sheldon (born Alice Hastings Bradley; August 24, 1915 – May 19, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author better known as James Tiptree, Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 to her death. It was not publicly known ...

, who later wrote that "after first plowing into the first pulpy pages of the 1971 ''Amazing'' in which ''Lathe'' came out, my toe-nails began to curl under and my spine hair stood up."Ashley, ''Gateways'', pp. 74–76. The quote is from ''Universe SF Review'', September/October 1975, quoted by Ashley on p. 76. White's willingness to experiment led to ''Amazing'' running more stories with sexual content than other magazines. One such story, White's own "Growing Up Fast in the City", was criticized as pornographic by some of ''Amazings readers. Other stories, such as Rich Brown's "Two of a Kind", about the violent rape of a black woman and the subsequent death of her rapists, also led to controversy. White printed more conventional fiction as well, much of it high quality. The magazine was nominated for the

Hugo award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

(a readers' award, named for Hugo Gernsback) for best editor three times during his tenure (1970, 1971 and 1972), finishing third each time.Ashley, ''Gateways'', pp. 82–83. White's ability to attract new writers suffered because of the low rates he paid: one cent per word, as compared to three or five cents per word at the leading competitive magazines. To compensate, White cultivated new writers whose experimental work was not selling elsewhere. He made a deal in 1971 with

Gordon Eklund Gordon Eklund (born July 24, 1945 in Seattle, Washington) is an American science fiction author whose works include the "Lord Tedric" series and two of the earliest original novels based on the 1960s '' Star Trek'' TV series. He has written under ...

, who was hesitating to become a full-time writer because of the financial risks. White agreed to buy anything Eklund wrote, on condition that Eklund himself believed it was a good story. The result was that much of Eklund's fiction appeared in ''Amazing'' and ''Fantastic'' over the next few years.Ashley, ''Gateways'', pp. 78–79. ''Amazings reputation had been for formulaic science fiction almost since it began, but White was able to take the magazine to a higher standard than any other editor except Cele Goldsmith,Gunn, ''New Encyclopedia'', p. 16. and gave ''Amazing'' a respected position in the field.Gunn, ''New Encyclopedia'', p. 503. His successors were not able to maintain the same level of quality.

After Ted White

When Elinor Mavor took over, in early 1979, she had no experience with science fiction magazines, and was unaware of the history of bad feeling within the science fiction community about the poor payments for reprinted stories. She was given an extremely limited budget to work with, and had few stories on hand to work with initially, and as a result her first issues contained several reprints. Mavor experimented in her first year with some new ideas, such as starting a story on the back cover in order to hook readers into buying the magazine to finish the story. She also began a serial story in graphic format that used reader input to continue its plot. It was not a success and "thankfully", according to Mike Ashley, the experiment was terminated after only three episodes. Over time Mavor was to some extent able to reverse the negative perceptions of ''Amazing'' among established authors, but she was initially forced to work primarily with newer writers. Early discoveries of hers include

Michael P. Kube-McDowell Michael Paul Kube-McDowell (born August 29, 1954), also known as Michael McDowell or Michael P. McDowell, is an American science fiction and non-fiction author. Background Born Michael Paul McDowell on August 29, 1954 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvani ...

, John E. Stith and Richard Paul Russo. In a notice published in her first issue, she asked readers for help in assembling news, reviews and fan information, and soon added columns that covered these areas. In 1981

began a series of opinion columns. The artwork was of high quality, including work by Stephen Fabian, and later by David Mattingly. After the merger with ''Fantastic'', Mavor continued to draw well-known writers to the magazine, including

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both ...

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

, and

Brad Linaweaver Bradford Swain Linaweaver (September 1, 1952 – August 29, 2019) was an American science fiction writer, film producer, actor, and magazine publisher. Over a 40-year career, he completed a body of work including novels, short stories, and scree ...

's ''Moon of Ice'', which appeared in March 1982, was nominated for a Nebula Award; Martin's ''Unsound Variations'', which had appeared the issue before, was nominated for both a Nebula and a Hugo award. Historian

James Gunn James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker and executive. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with ''Tromeo and Juliet'' (1997). He then began working as a directo ...

's assessment of ''Amazing'' in the 1980s is that Mavor, Scithers and Price, who between them edited ''Amazing'' for a decade, were unable to sustain the standards established by Ted White in the 1970s.

Brian Stableford Brian Michael Stableford (born 25 July 1948) is a British academic, critic and science fiction writer who has published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published under the name Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped ...

, by contrast, comments that both Scithers and Price made efforts to publish good material, and that the packaging, from 1991 onwards, was perhaps the best presented of any science fiction magazine. With the Wizards of the Coast relaunch in 1998 the contents, under editor Kim Mohan, became more media-focused. The initial plan was to have two or three stories per issue based on films, TV, and games. The 600th issue, in early 2000, included a Harlan Ellison story, as well as a story from the 100th issue, the 200th issue, and so on, up to the 500th issue.

Pamela Sargent Pamela Sargent (born March 20, 1948) is an American feminist, science fiction author, and editor. She has an MA in classical philosophy and has won a Nebula Award. Sargent wrote a trilogy concerning the terraforming of Venus that is sometim ...

also contributed a story. The Paizo publishing relaunch, in 2004, was even more focused on media content than the Wizards of the Coast version had been, with much more movie and comics-related material than science fiction. Several well-known authors appeared in the first issue, including Harlan Ellison,

Bruce Sterling Michael Bruce Sterling (born April 14, 1954) is an American science fiction author known for his novels and short fiction and editorship of the ''Mirrorshades'' anthology. In particular, he is linked to the cyberpunk subgenre. Sterling's first ...

, and

Gene Wolfe Gene Rodman Wolfe (May 7, 1931 – April 14, 2019) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith. He was a prolific short story writer and nove ...

. Paizo also ran a

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

for the magazine. The fiction received positive reviews, but Paizo soon put the magazine on temporary hold, and canceled it permanently the following year. The title remained in limbo until Steve Davidson's online version appeared in 2012.

Influence on the field

''Amazing Stories'' was influential simply by being the first of its kind. In the words of science fiction writer and critic

Damon Knight Damon Francis Knight (September 19, 1922 – April 15, 2002) was an American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He is the author of "To Serve Man", a 1950 short story adapted for ''The Twilight Zone''.Stanyard, ''Dimensions Behind th ...

, the magazine was "a snag in the stream of history, from which a V-shape spread out in dozens and then in hundreds of altered lives".Knight, ''Futurians'', p. 2. Many early fans of the field began to communicate with each other through the letter column, and to publish

s—amateur fan publications that helped establish connections among fans across the country. Many of these fans in turn became successful writers; and the existence of an organized science fiction fandom, and of writers such as

, Arthur C. Clarke, and Isaac Asimov, who came to writing directly from fandom, can be dated to the creation of ''Amazing Stories''. After the first few years, when there was little or no competition, ''Amazing Stories'' never again led the field in the eyes of critics or fans. Despite its long history, the magazine rarely contributed much to science fiction beyond the initial creation of the genre,Aldiss, ''

Trillion Year Spree ''Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction'', commonly referred to as ''Trillion Year Spree,'' is a book by Brian W. Aldiss and David Wingrove published in 1986. The book is an expanded version of Aldiss's 1973 ''Billion Year Spree: The ...

'', p. 205. though Gernsback himself is commemorated in the name ''Hugo'', which is the almost universally used term for the

World Science Fiction Society Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, durin ...

's annually presented Science Fiction Achievement Awards.Franson and DeVore, "History", p. 3.Nicholls, Peter, "Hugo", in Clute & Nicholls, ''Hugo'', p. 595. Gernsback has also been called the "Father of Science Fiction" for his role in creating ''Amazing Stories''.See, for example, the titles of Moskowitz, ''Hugo Gernsback: Father of Science Fiction'', and Siegel, ''Hugo Gernsback: Father of Modern Science Fiction''.

Publication details

Editors

Bibliographers do not always agree who should be listed as editor of any given issue of ''Amazing''. For example, Gernsback was in control for the first three years, but Sloane performed all the editorial duties related to fiction, and he is sometimes described as the editor. Similarly, later editors were sometimes under the supervision of editorial directors. Bernard Davis held the title of "Editor" of all Ziff-Davis magazines when at that company, with the actual editing of the magazines done by respective "Managing Editors".The table below, and the charts above, generally follow the mastheads in the magazines, with short notes added. More details are given in the publishing history section, above, which focuses on when the editors involved actually obtained control of the magazine contents, instead of when their names appeared on the masthead. *

(April 1926 – April 1929). Sloane performed almost all the editorial duties related to fiction. * Arthur Lynch (May 1929 – October 1929). As under Gernsback, Sloane was essentially the editor during Lynch's tenure. * T. O'Conor Sloane (November 1929 – May 1938) * Raymond A. Palmer (June 1938 – December 1949) *

(January 1950 – August 1956). Fairman actually took over editorial duties with the May or June 1956 issue.Fairman began writing the editorials with the May 1956 issue, and in the July 1956 editorial he explained that Browne was on a two-month contract in Hollywood, writing scripts for ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

''. In the August editorial he announced that the change was permanent, and in the September 1956 issue Fairman was listed as editor on the masthead for the first time. See , , , * Paul W. Fairman (September 1956 – November 1958) *

Cele Goldsmith Lalli Cele Goldsmith Lalli (1933 – January 14, 2002) was an American editor. She was the editor of ''Amazing Stories'' from 1959 to 1965, ''Fantastic'' from 1958 to 1965, and later the Editor-in-Chief of ''Modern Bride'' magazine. Biography Golds ...

(December 1958 – June 1965). Norman Lobsenz was introduced as editor, but in fact Cele Goldsmith did all the editorial work. When she married she used her married name of Cele Lalli.Lobsenz was introduced in the November 1958 editorial, as if he were the editor. His title was editorial director. According to Mike Ashley, who corresponded with Cele Lalli, he was brought in as a consultant, wrote the editorials and story blurbs, met intermittently with Goldsmith, and read the stories she selected, but "she was soon left alone to edit the magazines as she saw fit". See , and Ashley, ''Transformations'', p. 222. * Joseph Ross (August 1965 – October 1967). A pseudonym for Joseph Wrzos. * Harry Harrison (December 1967 – September 1968) * Barry N. Malzberg (November 1968 – January 1969) * Ted White (March 1969 – February 1979) * Elinor Mavor (May 1979 – September 1982). From May 1979 – August 1981 Mavor used the pseudonym Omar Gohagen; subsequently she used her real name. * George H. Scithers (November 1982 – July 1986) *

(September 1986 – March 1991) *

(May 1991 – Winter 1995 and Summer 1998 – Summer 2000) *

Dave Gross Dave Gross () is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. He is also a magazine editor, and has held the position of Editor-in-Chief at ''Star Wars Insider'' and at ''Amazing Stories''. Career Dave Gross, Michael Mikae ...

(September 2004 – December 2004) * Jeff Berkwits (January 2005 – March 2005) * Steve Davidson (July 2012 – August 2018) * Ira Nayman (August 2018 - November 2022) * Lloyd Penney (November 2022 to present)

Other bibliographic details

''Amazing'' began as a bedsheet format magazine and remained so until October 1933, when it switched to pulp size. With the April–May 1953 issue ''Amazing'' became a digest.Tuck, "''Amazing Stories''", p. 535. Seven issues in the early 1980s, from November 1980 to November 1981, were a half-inch taller than the regular digest size, but thereafter the magazine reverted to the standard digest format. In May 1991 the magazine returned to a large format, but this lasted only until the Winter 1994 issue, and the next three issues were digest-sized again. When the magazine reappeared in 1998, it was in bedsheet format and remained that size until the very end. The last issue, March 2005, was distributed only as a PDF download, never as a physical magazine. The volume numbering contained some irregularities: the numbering given in the tables above appears to be in error for the period from 1979 to 1983, but in fact it is given correctly in the table. Vol. 27 no. 8 was a single issue, not two, as it seems to be from the table; it was dated Dec 1953/Jan 1954. The title of the magazine changed several times: Two different series of reprints of ''Amazing'' appeared in the United Kingdom. First came a single undated issue from Ziff-Davis, in November 1946. In June 1950,

Thorpe & Porter Thorpe & Porter (widely known as T & P) was a British publisher, importer, and distributor of magazines and comic books. At first, the company was known for repackaging American comics and pulp magazines for the UK market. Later on, it became a pu ...

began a second series that lasted until 1954, and totalled 32 issues. The Ziff-Davis issue and the first 24 issues from Thorpe & Porter were pulp-sized; the last eight were digests. The Thorpe & Porter issues were undated, but the pulp issues were numbered from 1 to 24, and were initially bimonthly. The March 1951 issue was followed by April and November, however, and in 1952 issues appeared in February, March, April, June, July, September and November. 1953 saw nine pulp issues, omitting only March and May; and with December came the change to digest-size and a perfectly regular bimonthly schedule that lasted until February 1955. These last eight issues were numbered volume 1, numbers 1 to 8. There was also a Canadian edition, which lasted for 24 issues, from September 1933 to August 1935, from Teck Publications; these were identical to the US editions except that the front covers were overprinted with "Printed in Canada on Canadian Paper". A Japanese edition ran for seven issues in mid-1950, selecting stories from ''Fantastic Adventures'' as well as from ''Amazing''. From 1940 to 1943, and again from 1947 to 1951, copies of ''Amazing Stories'' were rebound, three at a time, and resold as ''Amazing Stories Quarterly''. A total of 27 of these issues appeared; they should not be confused with the magazine of the same name which ran from 1928 to 1934 as a companion to ''Amazing Stories''. Several anthologies of stories from ''Amazing'' have been published, including:John Clute, "Martin H. Greenberg", in Clute & Nicholls, ''Encyclopedia of SF'', pp. 522–523.

Media crossovers

Director

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

licensed the title for use on an American television show called ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances ...

'' that ran from 1985 to 1987. In 2020, a revival of the show debuted on

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

. Between 1998 and 2000, ''Amazing Stories'' published a series of short stories based upon the ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' franchise. In 2002, these stories were reissued by

Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing ...

in the collection ''Star Trek: The Amazing Stories''.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*
''Amazing Stories'' issue checklist
with cover scans
''Amazing Stories'' in "The Pulp Magazine Archive"
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

*
Amazing Stories
' on the

Internet Speculative Fiction Database The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) is a database of bibliographic information on genres considered speculative fiction, including science fiction and related genres such as fantasy, alternate history, and horror fiction. The ISFDB ...

{{CurrentAmericanSFMagazines 1926 establishments in the United States Science fiction magazines published in the United States Hugo Gernsback Magazines established in 1926 Magazines published in Arizona Magazines published in Chicago Magazines published in New Hampshire Magazines published in New York City Magazines published in Washington (state) Magazines published in Wisconsin Pulp magazines Science fiction magazines established in the 1920s Shaver Mystery Wizards of the Coast magazines

Origins

Publishing history

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s to 2000s

Contents and reception

Gernsback era

Sloane, Palmer, Browne and Fairman

Cele Goldsmith

Reprint era and Ted White

After Ted White

Influence on the field

Publication details

Editors

Other bibliographic details

Media crossovers

See also

Notes

References

Sources

External links