Argosy Weekly 'Avalon' by Francis Stevens, August 1920 Cover
A commanding woman in a deep blue gown stands at the top of a staircase, pointing downward with authority — or perhaps accusation — at a cluster of wary, shadowed figures below her. The stained glass window behind her lends the scene an almost gothic grandeur. This is the cover illustration for Francis Stevens' 'Avalon,' a proto-science-fantasy serial from one of pulp fiction's most underrated pioneering voices, often called the 'Mother of Science Fantasy.'
Not your rocket-ships-and-ray-guns pulp — this is moody, atmospheric proto-fantasy pulp at its most literary. The confrontation on the staircase practically drips with mystery and social menace. Francis Stevens writing for Argosy? An absolute holy grail find for early speculative fiction collectors!
“ARGOSY Issued Weekly AVALON by Francis Stevens Author of "The Citadel of Fear," etc. 10¢ A COPY AUGUST 16 $4.00 A YEAR”
