Margaret Brundage's Serpent-Menaced Nude, Weird Tales Nov. 1935
Embodying the most provocative conventions of weird-fiction pulp covers, this Margaret Brundage pastel depicts a terrified nude woman encircled by three coiling, spotted serpents against a lurid crimson and violet inferno backdrop. The figure's dark hair and dramatic, wide-eyed expression telegraph helpless dread — a signature Brundage motif that made Weird Tales newsstand-notorious. The illustration accompanies Robert E. Howard's Conan story 'Shadows in Zamboula,' directly evoking that tale's serpentine horrors and exotic menace.
A nearly naked woman ringed by three living serpents against hellfire — Brundage packs maximum visceral dread into a single frozen moment of vulnerability and supernatural threat. This is the Weird Tales formula at its most shameless and visually effective.
“Weird Tales NOV. 25c SHADOWS IN ZAMBOULA stark horror in the sinister house of Aram Baksh by ROBERT E. HOWARD DOCTOR SATAN spreads icy terror in Detroit "THE CONSUMING FLAME" Paul Ernst Leslie F. Stone E. Hoffmann Price Brundage”
