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Rich Horton's Market Summaries:
Summary: Weird Tales, 2005
Weird Tales managed only one issues this year, having switched publishers to Wildside Press. John Betancourt rejoins the editorial staff, which is now again a triumvirate, with Betancourt, Darrell Schweitzer, and George Scithers.
There were 6 stories in this issue for a total of about 30,000 words of fiction. However, about 12,000 of those words were devoted to the first part of a two-part serialized novella, William F. Nolan's "Ripper". I'll hold off on counting that story until it is finished, presumably in 2006. There are also two reprints, Darrell Schweitzer's "The Most Beautiful Dead Woman in the World", first published in Interzone in 2003, and Clark Ashton Smith's "The Face in the River", written in 1930 but not published until fairly recently in the Journal of Clark Ashton Smith Studies. That leaves three complete new stories, all short, about 12200 words.
The new stories are all at least enjoyable. Notably, one is by Jack Williamson, "Ghost Town". Another is by Jack Ketchum. The best is "The Invading Spirit", by Fred Chappell, about a couple of children and the rather gruesome things they get up to.
