Ghost Claims His Partner – Weird Tales 'The Last Waltz' November 1940
A newsstand browser in 1940 would have been stopped cold by this lush, unsettling tableau: a translucent blue specter in Civil War uniform materializes from crimson curtains to claim a dark-haired woman in a billowing ball gown, while a dark-suited mortal man watches with cold unease. The cover illustration for Seabury Quinn's 'The Last Waltz' drips with romantic dread — Gothic atmosphere rendered in warm gouache tones that make the ghost's pallid blue flesh all the more chilling against the fiery orange skirts.
Romantically menacing and beautifully composed, this cover earns its pulp credentials through sheer Gothic drama — a ghost literally caressing a woman's face while the living look on helplessly. It belongs equally on a dorm room wall and in a pulp art retrospective.
“All Stories New and Complete — No Reprints NOVEMBER Weird Tales 15¢ AUGUST W. DERLETH H. BEDFORD-JONES ROBERT BLOCH A ghost claims his partner "The Last Waltz" SEABURY QUINN”
