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nknown (also known as Unknown Worlds) was a pulp fantasy fiction magazine, edited by John W. Campbell, that was published from 1939 to 1943. Unknown was closely associated with the science fiction magazine Astounding Science Fiction, which was also edited by Campbell at the time; many authors and illustrators contributed to both magazines.

In keeping with its relation to Astounding Science Fiction, the style and approach of the stories in Unknown was a hybrid between those of fantasy and science fiction. The premises of many of the stories were caused by unexpected, and often humorous, situations in which a traditional fantasy creature or concept is introduced into an otherwise ordinary world. For example, in de Camp’s "Nothing in the Rules", the manager of a swimming team tries to win a race by including a mermaid on the team.

Other stories take the opposite trope of applying a scientific logic in a traditional fantasy setting; the Harold Shea series is based upon the premise that traditional fantasy worlds, such as those in Norse mythology, are based upon the rules of mathematical logic.

Unknown also included some science fiction which used the themes of traditional fantasy. For example, Darker than You Think uses the premise that werewolves exist, but that they are not supernatural, and explains the traditional beliefs about them without using fantasy.

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[edit] Publication details

From its first issue until the end of 1940, the magazine was published on a monthly basis. From February 1941 through its demise, Unknown came out bi-monthly. From February 1940 through August 1941, the magazine went by the title Unknown Fantasy Fiction, and for the rest of its publication run, it was known as Unknown Worlds. Money was saved on the last few issues by printing them without an illustration on the cover. Wartime paper shortages were blamed for the cancellation of the magazine.

In 1948, an anthology called From Unknown Worlds was edited by Campbell and published by Street and Smith in an attempt to see whether the market would support a resurrected Unknown, but nothing came out of it. The anthology collected stories previously published in Unknown and was available as a pulp size paperback and reprinted as a hardcover in Great Britain in 1952.

In 1963, Pyramid Books published a paperback anthology of eleven Unknown stories called The Unknown. It was edited by D. R. Bensen, who also edited a second paperback anthology of five Unknown stories for Pyramid called The Unknown Five in 1964. The anthologies were reprinted in 1970 and 1978, respectively.

Isaac Asimov's story "Author! Author!" was accepted by Campbell for publication in Unknown, but the magazine was cancelled before it could appear. It eventually appeared in The Unknown Five.

[edit] Notable contributions

Unknown also published the first science fiction or fantasy stories by Leiber ("Two Sought Adventure"), Sturgeon ("A God in a Garden"), and James H. Schmitz ("Greenface").

[edit] Further reading