The Eyes Have it!

I forget who it was, but years ago I read an article by someone who speculated that the pulp magazines of the 30s and 40s may have fueled at lot of the things that took over the imaginations of the American public in the 50s.

With the Purple Invasion of Operator 5, along with all the other cults, masked armies, wild crime hoards bent on taking over the country faced by him, and others like him, such as The Spider and Secret Agent X, unknowingly primed the public's mind for J. Edger Hover and his all pervasive Red Menace.

And then there were all those saucer shaped space ships showing up on the covers and inside Air Wonder Stories, Science Wonder Stories, Amazing Stories etc... and then the UFO mania of the 50s.

Okay... and?

Well a lot of people have forgotten this, but in the early lore of glowing things seen in the sky, when people said they saw people, or critters getting out of them they were a mixed bunch indeed, with things from ten foot call, “ace of spade headed” giants, to four foot tall “brains with glowing eyes,” to hairy trolls, and more, along with many accounts, of “blonde Nordic” or “dusky foreign” types.

Then Whitley Strieber and his Über creepy Grays come along, and that was it for two thirds of all accounts after that.

Now take a look at this issue of Weird Tales from September of 1952, the cover is by the great Virgil Finlay (July 23, 1914 – January 18, 1971) illustrating a poem by H. P. Lovecraft.

Close enough for me. I'm not saying this proves anything, about anything, I'm just saying it is interesting. Coincidence? Fiction being used to mystery monger? Images entering the collective conscious? Finlay on to something and using it in his art? Beats me. Just thought I would put this up for a view and a thought.

Oh... and here is another one from Mr. Finlay. Any thoughts from the David Icke camp?