Weird Tales July 1940 — The Professional Corpse Sits Up in His Coffin
Welcome to one of Weird Tales' most darkly comic cover concepts: a dapper, well-groomed man rises with unsettling calm from a flower-draped open casket, while a grieving woman slumps at his side. A 'Rest in Peace' banner and flickering candelabra frame the scene in funeral-parlor grandeur. This cover illustrates H. Bedford-Jones's tale of a 'professional corpse' — a man who fakes death for a living — capturing the magazine's signature blend of macabre melodrama and pulp sensationalism.
The concept — a professional corpse dramatically rising from his own funeral — is deliciously pulpy, but the execution is restrained and almost painterly, lending it an eerie dignity rather than full-throttle hysteria. The floral border softens what could have been genuinely unsettling.
“Frank Gruber's up to the minute Miracle JULY Weird Tales 15¢ Rest in Peace An adventure of a PROFESSIONAL CORPSE —whose livelihood is 'dying' by H. BEDFORD-JONES The Gentle Werewolf by SEABURY QUINN AVONDALE BOOK STORE Buy — Sell Back Number Magazines & Books Hoyt Ave. & 11th St. Muncie, Ind.”
