Submitted by Kuttner on January 6, 1937, the 3500-word terror-tale “Master of the Damned” was serialized in three issues ( July 1937, Vol. 1 No. 2, Winter 1937 Vol. 1 No. 3, and November 1938 Vol. 1 No. 4) of John Weir’s hectographed fanzine FANTASMAGORIA. The story involves witches, warlocks and . . . well, here’s Mr. Kuttner’s chilling prose to give you a sample:
Incubi and succubi leaped and cried beside shrieking hags. Warlocks bestrode yelling mooncalves that cavorted through the throng, and demons and familiars mingled with the coven. A monstrous, bloated head, leering and chuckling, crawled past on spidery legs, and in its wake crept a thing like a monstrous turtle, save that human hands and feet propelled the creature on its way. Curiously deformed toads and serpents squirmed underfoot, and great cats, monstrously altered, capered in the wake of their masters. I saw a headless thing, with a grinning face growing on its belly, rush up to the altar, carrying a tall black candle, and light it from the red flame that sprang, apparently, from the ground itself before the altar.
YIKES! And there are 3,380 more words to the story!! Speaking of which, how can you get a copy of “Master of the Damned”? Well, if you’ve placed a preorder for DESIGNS FOR DREAMING: THE EARLY KUTTNER, VOLUME THREE, then you’re already in line to receive it! You read that correctly: “Master of the Damned” is available as an exclusive chapbook shipping with all preordered copies of DESIGNS FOR DREAMING at no extra charge!
So, get on board, smash that Preorder link, and make your Kuttner book kollection something that everyone will krave!
