Other Worlds Science Stories

The title of this post war science fiction pulp has a complex history - it was actually used for two different magazines, both edited by Raymond Palmer, but from different publishers.  This cover is from the magazine's first incarnation, published by Clark Publications (owned by Palmer), from 1949 until 1953, alongside Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy.  With Clark Publications in financial difficulty, in 1953 Palmer set up a new company in partnership with a Chicago businessman and started to publish Universe Science Fiction and Science Stories.  When his partner lost interest, Palmer set up yet another company to take over publication of the two magazines.  In 1955, he effectively combined the two magazines into a new Other Worlds, which continued the numbering of both the original and Universe.  This continued as a science fiction pulp until 1957, when it became Flying Saucers From Other Worlds, the following year it dropped both the 'Other Worlds' from the title and any remaining fiction, focusing entirely on UFOs.  In this latter form, it lasted until 1976.

The cover above, from October 1951, both prefigures Palmer's subsequent interest in UFOs with its 'I Flew a Flying Saucer' story title and harks back to a previous interest with its listing of Richard Shaver as one of the featured authors.  Shaver gained notoriety in the late forties with a series of claims of having been contacted by beings from 'Lemuria', a lost underground kingdom that still influenced and manipulated earth history.  These were claims were originally published as fiction in Amazing Stories Science Fiction while under Palmer's editorship. Over time, their description changed from being fiction to being fictionalised accounts of Shaver's supposed actual experiences.  For a while these proved popular and threatened to dominate Amazing's pages, along with fiction using elements from Shaver's fantasies by other authors.  Eventually Palmer set up Clark Publishing, (while still editing Amazing for Ziff-Davis), initially to publish a magazine devoted entirely to the paranormal: Fate.  Finally leaving Ziff-Davis, the two science fiction titles, Other Worlds and Imagination, being added to Clark's line-up.  With the demise of Clark, Fate was bought by Palmer's co-editor and co-founder, Curtis Fuller.  It remains in publication.  Palmer himself instigated another, similar, magazine for his new company: Mystic (later Search).

The question of whether Palmer actually believed in paranormal mysteries such as Shaver's stories, or the later Flying Saucer craze, or merely cynically exploited wider interest in them as a means to boost sales, has been the subject of frequent debate.  The fact is that Palmer was a very successful and canny pulp magazine editor, with a keen awareness of changing public tastes.  He took over the editorship of Amazing in 1939, while still in his teens and quickly turned around the fortunes of the venerable pulp, which was increasingly seen as old fashioned and had been eclipsed by Astounding as the top science fiction pulp.  While many established readers resented the more juvenile tone and emphasis upon action-adventure orientated stories brought by Palmer's editorship, the fact is that sales improved.  He rightly saw that, in the relatively small market for science fiction pulps, it was pointless trying to replicate Astounding's more serious and intellectual approach, so instead moved to corner the more juvenile end of the market.  Likewise, the whole Shaver phenomenon moved the magazine into another new market segment, at a time when other science fiction pulps, like Planet Stories, for instance, were encroaching into the action-adventure end of the market.  Flying saucers subsequently became big news and, once again, Palmer spotted the opportunity and got in on the ground floor.  It should also be remembered that Palmer wasn't the only science fiction editor dabbling with pseudo science around this time: the much venerated John W Campbell of Astounding was, despite the magazine's supposed rationalist approach, devoting a lot of time to L Ron Hubbard's Dianetics in its pages, a subject no less bizarre and questionable than either the 'Shaver Mystery' or flying saucers.