The Martian Horrors of Clark Ashton Smith, Part 3

 

cover art by Frank R Paul

Read/Watch 'em In Order #184

Smith's third trip to Mars can, I think, be considered to be in the same universe as the story "The Vaults of Yoh-Vambis." And like that story, it went through some pre-publication shenanigans before being published in a diluted form.

Before being published in the February 1933 issue of Wonder Stories, it had been rejected by Weird Tales. Strange Tales was his next try, but that magazine folded. He then tried Wonder Stories, but the editor there demanded the story be expanded to give it more "scientific explanation." The ending was also, as Smith himself put it, "cruel and monstrous."

Smith didn't want to make these changes. He felt (and he was right, by golly) that the story worked best if the horrors encountered on Mars were inexplicable rather than given a psuedo-scientific explanation. He was convinced that the horrific ending was appropriate to the story. He was right about that as well.

Smith tried and failed one more time to sell the story to Weird Tales. He then reluctantly the revisions needed to get it published in Wonder Stories. He refused to change the ending, but when it was published, he was shocked to discover that the ending had been toned down with an editorial re-write.

The story in its original form is great. Three human prospectors on Mars take shelter in a cavern during a sandstorm. They find an apparently bottomless abyss with a path running down the side. Unwisely, they decide to explore the path. What happens next... well, this is another case where I don't want to spoil anything.

Here's a link to the original story, titled "The Dweller in the Gulf." I also got the background information about the publication history from this site. Anyway, make sure the lights are on when you read this one. And, for gosh sake, don't go spelunking on Mars!