Marvel Tales and Unusual Stories

A spaceship silhouetted behind the text of the flyer
Cover of the flyer announcing Unusual Stories

Marvel Tales and Unusual Stories were two related American semi-professional science fiction magazines published in 1934 and 1935 by William L. Crawford. Crawford was a science fiction fan who believed that the pulp magazines of the time were too limited in what they would publish. In 1933, he distributed a flyer announcing Unusual Stories, and declaring that no taboos would prevent him from publishing worthwhile fiction. The flyer included a page from P. Schuyler Miller's "The Titan", which Miller had been unable to sell to the professional magazines because of its sexual content. A partial issue of Unusual Stories was distributed in early 1934, but Crawford then launched a new title, Marvel Tales, in May 1934. A total of five issues of Marvel Tales and three of Unusual Stories appeared over the next two years.

Fiction included work by well-known writers, including the first publication of Robert E. Howard's "The Garden of Fear"; a story by H. P. Lovecraft, "Celephaïs", that had previously only appeared in a literary magazine; and Clifford D. Simak's "The Creator", which had been rejected by professional markets because of its religious theme. By the start of 1936, Crawford had plans to expand his enterprise, including newsstand distribution for Marvel Tales and the publication of a series of pamphlets and hardcover books, but his finances were unequal to his ambitions, and no further issues of the magazines appeared.