Harold Warner Munn was born in Athol Massachusetts in 1903. He began writing in the 1920s and wrote fantasy, horror and poetry.

The Werewolf of Ponkert appeared in Weird Tales in 1925, and there is a fascinating connection between this story and H. P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft had suggested the idea of telling a werewolf story from the werewolf’s point of view, and Munn took up the challenge.

And he didn’t stop with one story. The world Munn created eventually grew into his Tales of the Werewolf Clan, with additional stories appearing in Weird Tales over the next several years. Munn would also write King of the World’s Edge, The Ship from Atlantis, and Merlin’s Ring.

This one is unusual because we’re not watching villagers hunt a mysterious monster. We’re inside the mind of the man who becomes the monster and remembers what happened afterward.

From the July 1925 issue of Weird Tales, here’s H. Warner Munn’s The Werewolf of Ponkert.

Next on The Weird Tales Reborn Podcast, A forgotten civilization struggles to understand why the stars no longer match its ancient maps, while a stranded sailor discovers that its inhabitants cannot even see him. But the island’s most terrifying secret waits inside a temple, where a desperate people have turned to something far more dangerous than their calculations. The Uncharted Isle by Clark Ashton Smith.

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To be fair today’s story was actually written by H.P. Lovecraft and Wilfred Blanch Talman. When our story was published in Weird Tales it was credited solely to Talman.

As the story goes, in the summer of 1926, Talman submitted the draft of Two Black Bottles to Lovecraft, who revised it—especially the dialogue. Talman reportedly wasn’t entirely satisfied with the revisions but accepted them.

So, a year later, the story was published in the August 1927 issue of Weird Tales magazine on page 251, Two Black Bottles by H. P. Lovecraft…

Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, Along the quiet Devon coast, something stirs beneath the waves—something with tentacles, teeth, and a hunger for flesh. When it rises, the seaside will never be the same… The Sea Raiders by H. G. Wells.

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Welcome to the very first episode of Weird Tales Reborn. I’m Scott Miller, and if my voice sounds familiar, you may know me as the host of The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.

For more than a century, the name Weird Tales has meant strange places, supernatural mysteries, dark fantasy, horror, bizarre creatures and stories that simply refused to fit neatly into any other category. And that is exactly what Weird Tales Reborn is all about.

We’re going back to the original pages of the legendary magazine and bringing those forgotten stories to life again, one story at a time. And there is only one place we could possibly begin.

Weird Tales was introduced to the world with its March 1923 issue. Open that very first issue, turn past the opening pages, and on page 7 you arrive at the first story ever presented to readers of Weird Tales.

The Dead Man’s Tale by Willard E. Hawkins.

Hawkins was born in Fairplay, Colorado, in 1887. He was an author, editor and public speaker who founded a magazine for writers that eventually became known as The Author & Journalist. He continued writing for decades, with stories appearing in science fiction and fantasy magazines into the 1950s.

More than a hundred years ago, this was where Weird Tales began. And more than a hundred years later, it is where Weird Tales Reborn begins too.

From the March 1923 issue of Weird Tales, turn to page 7, The Dead Man’s Tale by Willard E. Hawkins…

Next on The Weird Tales Reborn Podcast, A prosperous merchant is forced into a secret brotherhood whose members hunt as beasts and obey an ancient master who can reach into their minds. When that obedience threatens the people Wladislaw loves most, escaping the pack may require him to turn its own savage nature against it. The Werewolf of Ponkert by H. Warner Munn.

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Journey into forgotten worlds of cosmic horror, dark fantasy, supernatural terror, ancient mysteries, strange creatures, and things that were never meant to be discovered. These are classic stories from the magazine that helped define weird fiction and introduced generations of readers to some of the most imaginative storytellers of the 20th century.

Each episode resurrects a story from the pages of Weird Tales, professionally narrated and presented for a new generation of listeners.

Weird Tales Reborn is hosted and narrated by Scott Miller, creator and host of The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, the #1 science fiction podcast in 43 countries.

The old stories are waiting.

The strange lives again.

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