(To Clark Ashton Smith) by R. O. P. Where is the ancient hidden sphere Where Malanoth is king? What silhouetted towers rear And on the heavens cling? Above the wall that shows no gate The mighty columns loom; Mysterious wonder incarnate Where slumbers ancient doom. Beyond the myriad whirling moons That circle through the skies-- A place described in evil runes, The awesome kingdom lies. And Malanoth, its striped face Obscure and pondering Thinks always in that silent place Of some old, secret thing. * * * * * A DEATH SIGNAL (A True Experience) by Kenneth B. Pritchard My grandfather was on his death bed. A door to his room was closed. Other doors in the house were shut, and at least one was locked or bolted. Some of his family were downstairs. They knew that the end was near; but just when he would pass, they could not tell. What happened next must have put terror into the hearts of the inhabitants. All of a sudden, all the doors in the house opened, whether they were bolted or otherwise! And then, even as they had opened, so they closed! And my grandfather was dead. It seemed as though his death was a signal for someone or something to open and close the doors. What was its meaning? Did something come to take his soul? It is easy to see how Shakespeare's Hamlet spoke strange truths; and that men of science and learning have much to uncover, with the light of the torch of intelligence leading the way into dark corners and shedding an illuminating gleam into the unknown. * * * * * SUBSCRIBE TO THE FANTASY FAN ADVERTISEMENTS Rates: one cent per word Minimum Charge, 25 cents WANTED: November 1932; June, July, October 1933; January, July, 1934 Fantasy Magazine (Science Fiction Digest); and September 1933 The Fantasy Fan. Four dollars for all seven items in one lot. Also the following at rate of four for a dollar: January, April, May, September, November, December, 1933, and April, August, 1934 issues Science Fiction Digest. Judson Chidlow, 509 West 26th Street, Austin, Texas. Back Numbers of _The Fantasy Fan_: September, 1933, out of print; Oct., Dec., 1933--Jan., Feb., Mar., May, June, Aug., Sept., Oct., 1934, 10 cents each. Nov., 1933--Apr., July, 1934, 20 cents each.