Coven 13
Published by Camelot Publishing Company out of LA and under the editorship of Arthur H. Landis, Coven 13 was an American fantasy and horror magazine that did not have a long run, only 4 issues. In its original incarnation, it was a digest-sized affair, four bimonthly issues in all between September 1969 and March 1970, with a focus on “Witchcraft, Horror, [and] The Supernatural.” William Stout, the staff artist, was responsible for much of the publication's look. For his part, Landis had no qualms about stating he intended for Coven 13 to fill a void left by the likes of Weird Tales or Unknown Worlds, though with a more modern slant on the occult and supernatural. Kinda makes it perfect for what I am doing here really.
That is not to say the magazine vanished after March 1970. It was picked up by William L. Crawford’s Fantasy Publishing Company, with Gerald W. Page as the new editor. Come early 1971 and issue #5, it was renamed Witchcraft & Sorcery: The Modern Magazine of Weird Tales. Leaving no doubt on which legacy it wanted to embrace. Six further issues were put out in an irregular fashion until 1974, making ten in all across the two names. But the first four from the Coven Daysays are something of a unit unto themselves, and they are what I propose to examine this October.
The tonal shift from Coven 13 to Witchcraft & Sorcery is enough to consider them two different magazines. Coven 13 was more about modern horror and the supernatural. Witchcraft & Sorcery was closer to the pulps of old, with more fantasy. Both titles have their fair share of Appendix N authors, so exploring these two should be interesting.
Coven 13, Issue #1, Sept. 1969
Our first issue dates back to September 1969. Our cover price is 60 cents.
The magazine promises all-new stories of WITCHCRAFT, THE SUPERNATURAL, and HORROR!
The editorial by Arthur H. Landis pretty much tells what he wants out of this, something akin to Weird Tales. The feel of this magazine is certainly right. He wants to honor the old writers, who he thinks deserve much more credit in the literary landscape than they do (or rather did then, they do now), and invite new authors to contribute stories of the same sort.
So already I get a solid Appendix N feel out of this magazine. Hard to say what D&D could have become if this had been in the mix. Spoiler, I know what it would have become and I have been writting that material for years.
Up first, we have Odile by Alan Caillou with art by William Stout. Caillou became a prolific script writer and actor. Stout has art everywhere. The women of the small villiage of Petit Gruet do not like Odile Lautrec, not one bit. She is accused of stealing men and dancing naked under the moon, so she must be a witch. Then the trouble begins and doesn't end even after Odile is dead. Set in 1936 (and told from the perspective of much later on) it is a great modern witch tale.
Joseph Harris's Potlach is next, also illustrated by William Stout. Here, the devil takes up in Country Club. In Markham Town! by Jack G. Levine is a tale of gothic horror in the post-atomic age and how the monsters are still out there.
The Postman Always... is a quick little tale of the Devil in modern times by Richard P. Flanagan. And followed by a Faustian tale Of Brides & Brimstone by Lenore Betcker and more art by William Stout.
Spell of Desperation by G. Kissinger brings Black and White Magic to the modern age and is a great example of what Coven 13 was really trying to do: mixing magic, modern times, horror, and the gritty feel of the pulps of the 1970s. Though the tale is still rough by 21st-century standards.
James H. Keaveny's is an odd one out. Let There Be Magick! is not a modern tale, but set on a planet named Camelot. So both fantasy and futuristic. It's a bit of Sword & Planet with magic. It is also explicitly Part 1 of 5.
With Issue #1 done, I admire the direction Coven 13 was going in. Either it was on the cusp of the prevailing Zeitgeist of the Occult Revival of the 1970s (which I have typically placed at its peak in 1973 with the release of "The Exorcist") or just a little bit before it. Likely before it.
I think the reason that Coven 13 didn't become more prominant during this time was due to the rise of cheap paperback novels. Something I have detailed before.
We still have a few more issues to go, so plenty still to talk about.
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