Fritz Lieber

"I must apologize for this possibly boresome burst of verbosity! But genuine devotees of the weird are rare."

Thus ends a letter to Fritz Lieber, Jr. written Nov. 9, 1936

In that same letter he says, "I've always held two cardinal principles regarding weird fiction: that the structure & rhythm of the language should reflect & promote the tension, menace, gloom, dreamlike qulaity, cumulative mood-flow & climactic suspense of the theme; & that an air of absolute realism should be preserved (as if one was preparing an actual hoax instead of a story) ..."

[Fritz Lieber and H P Lovecraft: Writers of the Dark, ed. by Ben J. S. Szumskyj and S T Joshi, Wildside Press, Holicong, Pa/NJ., 2004, p. 15, 17]