WESTERN STORY
British Edition, October 1953, Vol. VIII, No. 10
Atlas Publications
Cover art by Norman Saunders
From the March 1953 issue the British Edition of Street & Smith’s Western Story Magazine had a name change to Western Story on the front cover and spine but the inside named it as Western Story Magazine. The October 1953 issue is subtitled incorporating Star Western Magazine. All the stories and cover art are taken from the American June 1953 issue of Star Western Magazine, which you can see below.
This issue opens with the novelette Rough, Tough – and Kissable! by Art Lawson. I’ve not read anything by this author before so was keen to give him a go. Drifter Hugh Warden finds himself mistaken for an Association man brought in to investigate cattle rustling. Warden denies this is who he is, saying he’s just passing through on the way to his niece’s wedding, but is he telling the truth? Whilst in the area Warden gets himself involved with two very different women; one who’s tough and seems to want to kill him, and the other being a homely girl a man could settle down with. Art Lawson has created some great characters for this story that contains some lively action scenes and includes some neat twists to the tale – even if I did see a couple of them coming. Of course, Warden gets the girl at the end, but which one? Sorry, I can’t give that away here as it would be a major spoiler. On the strength of this story, I would read Lawson again.
Next comes another novelette One Hell of a Blonde by Frank P. Castle. Iris arrives to lay claim to Bob Drummond’s ranch, saying it’s hers even though he has the deeds for it. Iris is not the only problem Drummond has. His neighbouring rancher, Sellers, wants his ranch too, and is trying all kinds of dirty tricks to get it. Why he wants it is anyone’s guess, and the author keeps the reason a secret until the very end, thus ensuring I kept turning the pages. This is only my second read of a story by Castle, and like the last one, I enjoyed it a lot. The mystery element, cracking dialogue, well described fight scenes, and some later surprises made this a memorable tale.
The Devil’s Daughter by Will Cook is the first short story. A wagon train is heading across the mountains as winter snows threaten to cut them off. Elder Mercy won’t listen to advice and also orders a pregnant woman, Victoria, who’s been rescued from the Arapahoe, one of whom is her baby’s father, to be cast out into the snows to perish for having been with a heathen. One man, Mel Holden, stands up for her and ends up leaving the train with her. Soon the wagons are in difficulty and Mercy has to ask Holden for help if any of them are to survive. Will Holden help a man who can banish people and leave them to die without a second thought? Cook’s story raises some interesting questions and I enjoyed seeing how they would be dealt with. I did feel it was a shame the story wasn’t longer so they could be explored in more depth. As it was, I found the tale to be a satisfactory read.
When Olga was old enough to be courted, one rough-handed suitor brought her a box of candy, a second brought her a ring, and a third – and the gentlest – six .45 bullets! This is the blurb for the next short story, Bride for an Outlaw Bride! by Frances H. Ames. It certainly had me intrigued enough to want to read this story. The three men arrive within minutes of each other at Olga’s home on her sixteenth birthday to ask, or take, her as a wife. Olga’s parents get them all to sit down for a meal that is filled with tension that threatens to erupt into violence. This it does, although that happens outside the house and the victor claims Olga. This is the second story I’ve read by this Ames and I enjoyed it as much as the previous one. His ability to build suspense is excellent and his fight scenes are well written. I look forward to reading more of his work soon.
The last tale is another short story, Girl of Outlaw Valley by Theodore J. Roemer. A girl, Rita, is taken from a stagecoach during a robbery. The gang leader, Quant, wants her for himself so decides to take her to their hideout. Already having a woman waiting there for him, he tells one of the gang members who hates women to pretend the stolen girl is his, as Quant knows his woman will kill both him and the girl if she suspects anything. Quant aims to come to Carlson’s cabin one night and take Rita. I’ve not read anything by Roemer before and I will say he certainly knows how to build an air of impending doom. The fear Rita feels comes over strongly. As the story progresses, I was soon wondering if Carlson would protect the girl, especially as it seems she knows who he really is and why he hates women so much. Everything comes together in an exciting moment of violence that brought the story to an end I expected. Roemer’s tale finished this issue of Western Story with another entertaining read.
As you’ll see from the cover art below of the original Star Western publication it shouts Big Romances of the West above the title. That statement is a little misleading as there isn’t any more romance in these stories than can be found in other western pulps. I guess the only thing it tells you is that someone is going to end up riding into the sunset with the female lead. In such short stories I’m always amazed how people that have never met each other before so readily commit themselves to each other and fall in love so quickly without really knowing anything about the other person. Due to this I often find the falling in love elements a little hard to believe, but I can look past that and enjoy these pulps for what they are.
Overall, this issue of Western Story was very readable and I enjoyed all the stories with Frank P. Castle’s tale being my favourite.
