Weird Tales Oct 1934 – C.L. Moore's 'The Black God's Kiss' Cover — art by Margaret Brundage — Weird Tales — 1930s
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Weird Tales Oct 1934 – C.L. Moore's 'The Black God's Kiss' Cover

Against a blazing vermillion background, a massive jet-black idol — smooth, featureless, and monstrously vast — envelops a red-haired woman in a pale slip dress who leans into its obsidian face in an eerie, compelled kiss. The figure's sheer scale dwarfs its captive, suggesting ancient, irresistible supernatural power. This is the debut of C.L. Moore's iconic Northwest Smith story featuring Jirel of Joiry, rendered in bold gouache with a lurid, hypnotic tension between beauty and dark divinity.

Category: Magazine Cover
Publication: Weird Tales
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Decade: 1930s
Country: United States
Coolness: 9/10

The sheer audacity of a woman kissing a colossal black idol against a screaming red backdrop is peak pulp excess — every square inch radiates forbidden-god energy. Margaret Brundage's sensational composition packs supernatural menace, erotic tension, and mythic horror into one unforgettable image.

Text in image:

Weird Tales OCTOBER, 1934 OCT. 25c Vol. 24, No. 4—25c THE BLACK GOD'S KISS the weirdest story ever told By C. L. MOORE also H. BEDFORD-JONES and others WEIRD TALES

Public domain. This vintage illustration is free of known copyright restrictions — free to download, share, and reuse for any purpose.

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