"The Corpse on the Grating," however, was
merely Poe's "Fall of the House of Usher" done over, and not
half so well.

As for the sort of tales I like, here they are in order of
preference:

1. Tales of weird mystery--Merritt's "Moon Pool" and his
others; Taine's "White Lily."

2. Interplanetary Adventure--"A Columbus of Space," by
Serviss; "The Skylark of Space," by Smith.

3. "Different stories," that defy classification, based on
new ideas of science--most of Wells' short stories are
examples. 4. Detective, Fourth Dimension, and air
adventure--only well done.--Jack Williamson, Box 661 Canyon,
Texas.

_A Brick or Two_

Dear Editor:

For the last three years we have been reading any and all of
the various Science Fiction magazines which have appeared
upon the market. We therefore feel that we are as well
qualified as anyone to offer the criticism and advice that
follows.

First, the stories. We feel that it would be a good idea to
get your stories from the same authors whose work has been
and is being accepted by the other magazines in this field.
In one case you have already done this, and I consider his
stories to be the best in each issue. I believe that you
will be forced to do this eventually, anyhow, because the
people who read this magazine will naturally be readers of
the others also, and will therefore, be used to the
standards set by those publications. Then, you should have
someone who is well qualified to pass upon the science in
the stories.

Second, the cover design and the pictures at the beginning
of each story. Up to this time the cover and inside pictures
have contained many mistakes. The cover of the March issue
was especially atrocious. In the first place a voyager in
outer space would find it jet black and studded with stars,
instead of blue and apparently empty, except for a few
tremendously oversize planets, a moon with entirely too many
craters, and a total eclipse of the sun with a very much
distorted corona visible beside the earth. Illustrations by
your cover artist also appear in another publication, but
these are much superior to the ones in Astounding Stories.
Here also a scientific advisor would be welcome.

Third, I think it would be a good idea to have a dep