Cosmic Stories and Stirring Science Stories

The magazines ceased publication in late 1941, but Wollheim was able to find a publisher for one further issue of Stirring Science Stories in March 1942 before war restrictions forced it to close again.

[2] In late 1940, Donald A. Wollheim, an active science fiction fan and aspiring editor and writer, noticed a new magazine titled Stirring Detective and Western Stories on the newsstands.

He wrote to the publishers, Albing Publications, to see if they were interested in adding a science fiction title to their list, and he was invited to their office.

Wollheim later recalled the meeting:[3] It was a father and son, the son in his twenties, and the father in his fifties; they were operating out of a desk in the corner of an advertising office, and what they had was credit from one of the news companies [distributors], Kable or one of those outfits, and they said, 'We don't have any capital, but if you can put the magazine together for nothing, we can go up to fifteen bucks for art, and we can do it.

Wollheim had announced a planned newsstand date of 15 December 1940, but according to Damon Knight's later recollection the magazine appeared in January 1941.

Some months later Wollheim was able to find another publisher, Manhattan Fiction Publications, and a fourth issue of Stirring appeared, dated March 1942.

[8][note 2] In the event he was able to start paying small amounts to his authors after the first couple of issues; Kornbluth was paid for several of his later stories for the two magazines, though the rates were well below half a cent per word.

[8] Wollheim was a member of the Futurians, a group of New York science fiction fans, many of whom were also starting to be published writers.

[3][5][12] Other stories from later issues that have been well-received include "The Long Wall", by Lowndes; "The City in the Sofa", "What Sorghum Says", "The Golden Road", and "The Words of Guru", all by Kornbluth; "The Real Thrill" by Blish; and "The Goblins Will Get You", by Michel.

[3][5] As well as stories from the Futurians, Wollheim was able to obtain some material from established names in the field, including David H. Keller and Clark Ashton Smith.

Keller occasionally gave material to fan magazines, and Wollheim would have been aware of this when he began looking for free stories.

[8] Wollheim was fortunate in obtaining a good deal of artwork from Hannes Bok, later to become a popular artist in the field.

[15] For the February 1941 issue of Stirring Science Stories, the $15 art budget went to Leo Morey, an established artist.

[16] The cover has been described by sf historian Mark Rich as "excellent ... [it] accurately illustrates a scene" from "Interference", a story by Kornbluth published under the pseudonym "Walter C.