When Ooze debuted in 1923 in the first issue of the classic horror and fantasy magazine Weird Tales, it became the cover story—and a legendary tale that readers would talk about for years to come. Along with works by Otis Adelbert Kline, Farnsworth Wright (who would later become the editor), W.H. Holmes, Harold Ward, and many others, the self-style “Unique Magazine” would continue for decades and welcome such authors as Robert E. Howard (of Conan the Barbarian fame), H.P. Lovecraft (creator of the Cthulhu Mythos), Robert Bloch (author of Psycho), and many, many more.

Here is that first classic tale—along with a new introduction by former Weird Tales editor John Betancourt.