Weird Tales Feb 1939 'Death Is An Elephant' Circus Horror Cover
Published in February 1939, as pulp horror fiction reached its commercial peak, this Weird Tales cover illustrates Nathan Hindin's circus thriller 'Death Is An Elephant.' A magnificently caparisoned elephant — adorned in blue, red, and gold ceremonial regalia — rears over a struggling man while terrified women and a grim-faced hero scramble below. The big-top setting crackles with menace, showcasing the pulp era's appetite for exotic danger wrapped in lurid, painterly excess.
A bejeweled, blue-hued circus elephant in full ceremonial armor rearing over a helpless crowd while women scream and a man clutches a knife — this is peak pulp melodrama. The exotic spectacle of a rampaging decorated elephant as death incarnate is gloriously over the top.
“160 pages of eery fiction Weird Tales FEBRUARY 25¢ DEATH IS AN ELEPHANT a thrill tale of the circus By NATHAN HINDIN THE HOUSE WHERE TIME STOOD STILL a fascinating Jules de Grandin story By SEABURY QUINN DONALD WANDREI THOMAS P. KELLEY CLARK ASHTON SMITH MANLY WADE WELLMAN Virgil F[inlay]”
