WESTERN STORY - October 1953

 

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. 

EXCITING WESTERN - October 1953

 

EXCITING WESTERN
British Edition, Vol. II, No. 9
Atlas Publishing, October 1953

The British edition of Exciting Western started by taking it contents from the American pulp of the same name with the occasional stories sourced from other American western pulps. As time went on most of the stories came from other western pulps. This is the case with this issue of Exciting Western as all the contents, except one, were taken from the Spring 1953 issue of Thrilling Ranch Stories. The other tale, Fiddle-Foot was taken from Exciting Western, March 1953. 

The opening novella is Rustler’s Run by Lewis B. Patten. Burt Norden is doing his best to look after his mother whose gone into a state of depression since her husband died. Burt is sweet on one of the neighbouring rancher’s daughters, Lucy, but the path to true love isn’t running smoothly. Lucy’s mother is dying and another young man, Mitch Riorson is showing interest in her. Mitch is always picking fights with Burt and they are getting more vicious each time fists fly. It seems it won’t be long before one kills the other. On top of all this is the mystery of missing cattle. Patten’s portrayal of human emotion is first class and his action scenes are well depicted. The story was a little predictable, but even so, still made for an exciting read.

Next comes the short story Fiddle-Foot by Ben Frank (real name Frank Bennett). Freddy had some strange help: a stuffed gorilla, a pet skunk – and Stella’s red-hot skillet! This tale is told in a light-hearted tone throughout and contains quite a few amusing scenes. It tells the story of how the Foster Memorial Museum came to be in the basement of the Courthouse in Mumblepeg. It involves a couple of old-timers, an attractive housekeeper, and a stolen windmill, as well as the already mentioned gorilla, skunk and skillet. This story would fall into the category of comedy westerns, and I felt that it was the perfect length for this type of tale, any longer and it would have outstayed its welcome. 

Paul Randell Morrison’s novelette Grip of the West followed. This is set in the time of automobiles and telephones, but once the opening scene is played out, I could easily imagine it as a western taking place in an early time period. The main character is well-to-do Gary Cortland who, whilst drunk, is dumped on a train heading west as a prank. Cortland ends up working on a ranch, saving the day when a river threatens to burst its banks, and falls in love with the rancher’s daughter, Peggy. Cortland also discovers that he enjoys the harder life of a cowboy than living in a city where everything is done for him. All through the story I was waiting to see if Cortland would get revenge on his two friends who put him on the train and how he does that was amusing and just. Entertaining.

The fourth and final tale in this issue of Exciting Western is the short story The Ranger Takes a Wife by Frank P. Castle. Flounces and frills, ruffles and lace – To her they were pretty. To him a disgrace! Tough rancher Chris Talley decides he needs a wife to keep house and do chores. A homeless girl struggling to survive fits the bill and after a quick wedding they are married. That’s when differences in their outlook to life emerge, things Chris can’t accept. There’s also the Guerra family who Chris believes are cattle thieves. More trouble erupts when his wife Loretta befriends Victoria who is one of the Guerra clan. This is a tough tale that contains some harsh dialogue and scenes. I was never sure how this tale would end. The conclusion was a little to perfect as Chris changes his viewpoint all too suddenly. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading the story and would like to check out more of Castle’s work.

The last page is taken up with the article Rope Rascality by Ferris Weddle. I usually don’t read these parts of the pulps but I did this time. It proved to be a collection of tall tales of when a lasso was used, a couple of which made me smile. 

Overall, this was an enjoyable issue of Exciting Western. For me, the best two stories were those by Patten and Castle.