Arthur Josephus Burks (September 13, 1898 – May 13, 1974) was an American Marine officer and fiction writer. Burks was born to a farming family in Waterville, Washington. He married Blanche Fidelia Lane on March 23, 1918, in Sacramento, California, and was the father of four children: Phillip Charles, Wasle Carmen, Arline Mary, and Gladys Lura. He served with the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and began writing in 1920. After being stationed in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

and inspired by the native

voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

rituals he'd learned about from Haitian prisoners in a military jail, Burks began to write stories of the supernatural that he sold to the magazine ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, pri ...

'' in 1924. In late 1927 he resigned from the Marine Corps and began writing full-time. He became one of the "million-word-a-year" men in the pulp magazines by virtue of his tremendous output. He wrote approximately 800 stories for pulp magazines. He was known for being able to use any household object that someone would suggest to generate the plot of a story. His byline was commonplace on magazine covers. He wrote primarily in the genres of aviation, detective, adventure, science fiction, sports (primarily boxing), and weird menace. Two genres he was ''not'' to be found in were love and westerns. He wrote several series, including the Kid Friel boxing stories for the magazine '' Gangster Stories'', and the Dorus Noel undercover-detective stories for ''

All Detective Magazine All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

'', set in Manhattan's Chinatown. His productivity decreased during the late-1930s. He resumed active military duty as the U.S. joined

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and eventually retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Burks relocated to

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in parad ...

in Lancaster County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, in 1948, where he continued to write until his death in 1974. Throughout the 1960s, he wrote many works on metaphysics and the paranormal. During his later years, he lectured on paranormal activities and gave psychic readings.

Bibliography

Selected Short stories

*"The Invading Horde", ''Weird Tales ''(November 1927) *"Monsters of Moyen",''

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 ...

'' (April 1930) *"The Place of the Pythons",''

Strange Tales ''Strange Tales'' is a Marvel Comics anthology series. The title was revived in different forms on multiple occasions. Doctor Strange and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. made their debuts in ''Strange Tales''. It was a showcase for the science ...

'' (September 1931) *"Guatemozin the Visitant", ''Strange Tales'' (November 1931) *"The Room of Shadows",''

'' (May 1936) *"The Discarded Veil" (1937) *"The Golden Horseshoe", (1937) *"Hell Ship", ''Astounding Stories'' (August 1938) *"Survival",''

Marvel Science Stories ''Marvel Science Stories'' was an American pulp magazine that ran for a total of fifteen issues in two separate runs, both edited by Robert O. Erisman. The publisher for the first run was Postal Publications, and the second run was published b ...

'' (August 1938) *"Exodus",'' Marvel Science'' (November 1938) equel to "Survival"*"West Point of Tomorrow",''

Thrilling Wonder Stories ''Wonder Stories'' was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Stor ...

'' (September 1940) *"The Far Detour",''

Science Fiction Quarterly ''Science Fiction Quarterly'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine that was published from 1940 to 1943 and again from 1951 to 1958. Charles Hornig served as editor for the first two issues; Robert A. W. Lowndes edited the remainder. ...

''(Winter 1942) *"Black Harvest of Moraine", ''Weird Tales'' (January 1950)

Books

*''The Splendid Half-Caste'' (1925) (first novel) *''Walter Garvin in Mexico'' (1927) (with Brigadier-General Smedley D. Butler) *''Rivers Into Wilderness'' (1932) (under penname Burke MacArthur) *''Land of Checkerboard Families'' (1932) *''Here Are My People'' (1934) (family history) *''The Great Amen'' (1938) *''Who Do You Think You Are?'' (1939) (a metaphysical treatise) *''Bells Above the Amazon, the Life of Hugo Mense Adventurer of the Spirit'' (1951) *''The Great Mirror'' (1952) *''Look Behind You (Tales of Science, Fantasy, and the Macabre)'' (1954) (collects 6 stories) *''Sex the Divine Flame'' (1961) *''Human Structural Dynamics'' (1964) *''

Black Medicine ''Black Medicine'' is a collection of stories by American writer Arthur J. Burks. It was released in 1966 by Arkham House in an edition of 1,952 copies and was the author's first book published by Arkham House. All but one of the stories had o ...

'' (1966) (

Arkham House Arkham House is an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had ...

) *''En-Don: The Ageless Wisdom'' (1973) *''The Crimson Blight'' (2005) Black Dog Books *''Grottos of Chinatown: The Dorus Noel Stories'' (2009) (Off-Trail Publications) *''PULP TALES PRESENTS #14: THE CRIMSON BLIGHT and Other Stories'' (2009) Pulpville Press *''The Osilians'' (2012) Pulpville Press *''Earth, The Marauder'' (2012) Pulpville Press *''Man-Ape: Two Tales from the Pulps'' (2012) Wildside Press *''Cathedral of Horror and Other Stories: The Weird Tales of Arthur J. Burks: Volume #1'' (2014) (

Ramble House Ramble House is a small American publisher founded by Fender Tucker and Jim Weiler in 1999. The press specializes in reprints of long-neglected and rare crime fiction novels, modern crime fiction, 'weird menace' / 'shudder pulps' - short story co ...

) *''Masters of the Weird Tale: Arthur J. Burks'' (2018) (

Centipede Press Centipede Press is an American independent book and periodical publisher focusing on horror, weird tales, crime narratives, science fiction, gothic novels, fantasy art, and studies of literature, music and film. Its earliest imprints were Cocytus ...

) *''The Black Falcon'' (2021) Age of Aces *''Masters of Horror, vol 4: Arthur J. Burks—Wizard of Weird Tales'' (2022) Armchair Fiction/Sinister Cinema.

Critical Appraisal

E. F. Bleiler described Burks' novel ''The Great Mirror'' (1952) as "pretty bad". He stated of the collection ''Look Behind You'' (1954) "In terms of content and format this is one of the low points in American fan publishing". Bleiler described Burks' collection ''Black Medicine'' (1966) as "a weak collection. The Caribbean stories show racial bias to the point of grotesqueness, and most of the other stories are routine pulp fiction. The Desert of the Road"has points of interest, and Bells of Oceana"is worth reading for a certain baroque, exuberant overkill of horror."E. F. Bleiler, "The Guide to Supernatural Fiction." Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 1983, pp. 91-92.

References

Sources

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External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burks, Arthur J. 1898 births 1974 deaths 20th-century American novelists Pulp fiction writers American horror writers American fantasy writers American crime fiction writers American male novelists United States Marine Corps officers United States Marine Corps personnel of World War I United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II 20th-century American male writers People from Waterville, Washington