The Canadian Stf. and Fantasy Scene
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| Title: | The Canadian Stf. and Fantasy Scene |
| Creator: | Leslie A. Croutch |
| Date(s): | July 1942 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Science Fiction |
| Topic: | Science fiction in Canada |
| External Links: | Hosted online by fanac.org. Spaceways #29 pp. 7-8. July 1942. |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Canadian Stf. and Fantasy Scene was a 1942 essay by Leslie A. Croutch in which he explained the state of pro science fiction in Canada.
Uncanny Tales had been published since November of 1940, beginning as a small magazine the size of a Reader's Digest, and going large format in May of 1941. It mostly reprinted material that had appeared in "the cheaper grades of American stf. prozines". Thomas P. Kelley, the original editor, had a falling out with the other staff around that time and started the single-issue Eerie Tales, which shared a name with a short lived US magazine. Kelley told Croutch that it did well and he gave up on it due to a lack of time, but another source said the issue was a commercial failure.
In October 1941, a large publication by the name of Science Fiction appeared, with the masthead of the American publication by the same name. Robert A. W. Lowndes, editor of the American Science Fiction, didn't explain the full circumstances to Croutch, but said the Canadian version was reprinting material from Science Fiction and Future Fiction. In January 1942, Popular Publications of Canada started issuing a Canadian version of Astonishing Stories that also printed material from Super Science Stories. American News issued a Canadian edition of Weird Tales, which reprinted vol. 36, no. 3 of the American version. It had a cover of "The Shadow over Innsmouth" that Croutch considered better than anything the American Weird Tales had printed in a while.
Croutch closed with the rumor that Street & Smith were planning to start printing something big over the summer. Canadian fans were theorizing that it might be an edition of Unknown Worlds and Astounding, and that Uncanny Tales might start reprinting from Amazing. He didn't think Science Fiction would keep publishing in Canada, and Uncanny Tales was set to move to a bi-monthly schedule if not quit altogether, due to some confusing government regulations on the pulps. As far as fantasy went, fans often relied on the Toronto Weekly Star, which printed some stories like W. J. Passingham's When London Fell.