Weird Tales Aug 1925 – 'Black Medicine' Fire Ritual Cover by Arthur J. Burks
A newsstand browser in 1925 would have been jolted by this lurid, firelit tableau — two wild-eyed figures silhouetted against a roaring blaze, one pointing into the darkness with an expression of supernatural terror. The cover illustration for Arthur J. Burks' 'Black Medicine' pulses with primal dread, rendered in hot reds and flickering whites against deep shadow. A crowd of onlookers lurks in the background, lending the scene a ritualistic, ceremonial menace perfectly calibrated for Weird Tales' brand of exotic horror.
Lurid, firelit, and dripping with exotic menace, this cover embodies the Weird Tales house style of visceral shock — it belongs on a dorm wall next to a black light poster, but its raw painterly energy also earns it a place in any serious pulp art survey.
“Weird Tales / The Unique Magazine / VOL. VI, NO. 2 / AUGUST, 1925 / 25 CENTS / BLACK MEDICINE by Arthur J. Burks / Stories by MURRAY LEINSTER, SEABURY QUINN and OTHERS”
