Nat Schachner & Arthur Leo Zagat were a writing duo that got their start in the Gernsback magazines. How they met and began writing together isn’t really know but Terence E. Hanley at Tellers of Weird Tales figures it was probably at school. Both were born in New York City, less than a year apart, both attended City College of New York and studied law and served in the military. At some point they met and produced ten short stories and one novel together before going their separate ways. The works they created as a duo are not as well remembered as their later solo material, largely because they were learning their craft as all writers must. Themes around the class struggle and dictators predominate. They would write for all three major SF magazines of the time: Wonder Stories, Amazing Stories and Astounding, as well as Weird Tales and its sister, Oriental Tales.
The other thing we don’t know, and quite frankly, what I want to know the most, was: what was their method for collaborating. Some of the most famous early SF team writers include Earl and Otto Binder (as Eando Binder) and Jack Williamson and Miles Breuer. Schachner and Zagat are of the same ilk, though they never wrote under a stupid pseudonym like Schachgat or Zagner. Was one of them the “idea man” while the other did the scribbling? Or did they both apply pen to paper? We don’t simply know.
1930
“The Tower of Evil” (Wonder Stories Quarterly, Summer 1930) has Dunton climbing in Tibet when a gigantic vision of a priest scares off his guides. The American tries to get to the figure but a force field stops him. He is snatched up by some mystic force and taken to the Sheik, a mystical leader of a secret organization that has existed since the Mongols. Dunton becomes the servant of the madman who will destroy the world with a plague before he takes over. Dunton destroyed the Sheik with the help of an English woman who has been held captive since being a child. The history of the Assassins obviously inspired this one, with super-science added in to give the Sheik powers. Edmond Hamilton would write something very similar in “The Valley of the Assassins” (Weird Tales, November 1943) thirteen years later.
“In 20,000 A. D.” (Wonder Stories, September 1930) has a man named Tom Jenkins wandering into a time vortex hidden in a wood. On the other side, he finds the world of the far future, which is ruled by floating brains called the Masters. They are ruled by a super-brain called the Jed. They have a slave race of genetically produced slaves called the Robots. (These are not machines but organic creatures.) Tom, of course, helps the Robots to revolt. The Jed decides it doesn’t need any other creatures and begins to disintegrate all the others. Tom rushes back to the vortex to tell the story. He brings a history book back with him. E. F. Bleiler congratulates the authors thus: “Obvious parabolic elements referring to U. S. history and racial matters. Somewhat superior to the rubbishy adventure stories that Schachner and Zagat usually produced. Apart from having intrinsically more interesting subject matter, the story is handled with more craftsmanship.” (Science Fiction: The Gernsback Years, ) Back-handed, but a compliment still..
1931
“Back to 20,000 A.D.” (Wonder Stories, March 1931) has a Robot named Charlie come through the time gate. A group of survivors are trapped in the woods, needing help. Tom Jenkins, and the two scientists who listened to his story last time, Dunn and Chapin, accompany him to the future world of 20,000 A. D. Once there a spaceship shows up from Neptune. Inside is a pilot, Arkon, from a human colony on that planet. In the future, the machines will rise up and drive humans from the Earth. They have a colony on Neptune but since the lizard men who live there need the room, the humans must find a new home. The our heroes from the past, the Neptunians and the Robots take on the Jed, destroying him and securing the planet for the returning Neptunian humans. The story is filled with inconsistencies such as dates but also a human woman that the Jed keeps for breeding purposes. An obvious romantic interest in a story not about romance.
“The Emperor of the Stars” (Wonder Stories, April 1931) has two spacemen, Fries and Burns, go to a counter universe where everything is backwards. Inside a planet, they find a world existing on the inner shell. They are attacked by weird aliens but saved by the Prostaks, jelly-fish like aliens with TV screens on their chests for communication. The men learn that the Prostaks are subject to the Emperor of the Stars. He takes a tribute in slaves every year. The men figure out that this mighty tyrant, in his fantastic crystal ship, is an Earthman. They defeat him with disintegrator rays, sending them back to our universe. The names of the heroes seem to be some tongue-in-cheek fun.
“The Menace From Andromeda” (Amazing Stories, April 1931) is a Wellsian invasion story. Astronmoners detect a comet-like light coming from Andromeda to Earth. The object is named Alcoreth. It drops spores in the Atlantic Ocean and that begin to eat all the ships. The hero, Standish, rescues his girl from a skyscraper that collapses because of the omnivorous goo, then defeats it by introducing cancer cells into the mass. This story received a cover by Leo Morey. The story’s illustration shows Standish rescuing his gal with an airplane.
“The Dead-Alive” (Weird Tales, April-May 1931) was an unusual Horror tale for Farnsworth Wright. Hartley “Buck” Saunders is bummed because his father has died and been buried. He receives a call from a policeman, Detective Sargeant Tim Riley, telling him that his father’s grave has been opened. The evidence is strange for the marks around the grave show no shovel marks but those of many fingers. Buck stakes out the graveyard but sees nothing. Later Ryan reveals that only fresh graves are being targeted. Two cops are posted by two fresh graves. the next morning one cop is dead, the other insane. The dead cop has been strangled, as evidenced by finger prints, by a gangster who was executed two days before the stakeout.
This leads to Ryan and Saunders to setting out their own stakeout. The cop brings a cavalry sword along. They discover five ghoulish zombies and fight them to escape. The sword proves a better weapon than their guns. When Buck wakes up from a five day bout of temporary insanity (check SAN loss!) , he finds his girl, Ruth Forsythe, at the hospital. She returns to her empty family home and is attacked by the zombies, and their master. It is Jim Carruthers, Saunders’ old rival for Ruth’s hand. The brilliant scientist disappears with the girl. (The illustration C. C. Senf chose for this scene with the faces Ruth sees outside her window. Kinda phoning it in, CC.)
Buck rushes to Ruth’s house and finds her gone. He also finds a piece of map with Birdkill in the Catskills circled. Off Buck goes, to hang out with the locals. He hears of a man loaded down with fragile boxes that has taken up house in the abandoned mill on Black Mountain. Buck brings Ryan in and together they thwart the mad scientist who is resurrecting bodies for his evil plan, which he enjoys telling our hero, of course. In business, the highest cost is for labor. Carruthers plan to enslave the dead to work. Buck has to find the radio device that controls the zombies to finish it. This is ultimately an SF story but the horrific events make it better suited to WT.
“The Death-Cloud” (Astounding Stories, May 1931) reads more like a Hero Pulp than Science Fiction. In the future, during a war between the US and USSR, secret agent Bolton takes on the job of discovering a secret Russian weapon. Bolton, Like the Avenger (who is still eight years away) can adjust his face and body to impersonate anyone. Once across enemy lines he has to deal with his nemesis, The Ferret. After several captures and escapes, Bolton destroys the Zeta Ray generators.
“The Revolt of the Machines” (Astounding Stories, July 1931) could almost be an explanation of the machine revolt mentioned in “Back to 20,000 A. D. though it doesn’t end right for that. On an Earth frozen by a new ice age, the humans dwell at the equator. They have divided into two groups, the aristos and the prolats. To make life better, the prolats build a self-running technology for everyone. The aristos betray them, with no intention of sharing their luxury with the masses. In revenge, Keston sets a man-hating machine to rule over the machine tech. Humans are driven back into savagery, living on the ice. Keston, saves everyone when he figures out how to drop a glacier on the control machine. He regrets having to destroy such a fine piece of technology. Once again we see the class war that will surface again.
“Venus Mines, Incorporated” (Wonder Stories, August 1931) is a Space Western involving a solar system with rival planets. On Venus, two men, Prenger and Haldane, receive a box with a claim to an invaluable stake in a jovium mine. The Martians, who murdered the original owner, capture the men and try to force the secret out of them. Prenger lies and says he dumped the box near an asteroid. While the Martians are looking for the box, the two men take over their ship and escape. Rootin’ tootin’ action! (Later on in their careers, both authors would write actual Westerns.)
“The Song of the Cakes” (Oriental Stories, Autumn 1931) is based on an ancient Chinese prophecy. An old priest is desperate as the Chin Tatars take over China. Mangu, an officer, spares his life when he reveals a closet full of treasure. The old man insists on speaking to the head man himself, the Khan. To the ruler, the priest tells of the prophecy that says when a child sits on the throne the dynasty will reign for ever. The Khan rewards him with wealth, which he doesn’t get to enjoy for the old man is killed immediately after receiving it. The Khan’s baby boy is brought and placed on the throne. Securing the fate of his empire, the Khan kills himself. I suspect this tale was written specifically for Wright’s Oriental Stories. It has the kind of exotic background with a horrific element that magazine was made for.
“Exiles of the Moon” (Wonder Stories, September October November 1931) was the duo’s big finale, a novel serialized over three issues of Wonder Stories. Once again the class struggle is front-and-center. Workers escape the Aristos for the moon. On the lunar surface, the rebels find the remains of dead civilization. It was destroyed because of an oxygen-eating mineral. They use this white substance to sue for peace with Earth. Bleiler again: “…Not very good. Apart from the cops and robbers version of the class struggle, the story is both cliched and clumsily presented.”
Conclusion
1932 saw the pair going their separate ways. I am not sure what the reason for this was, but it ultimately proved a good thing. Schachner’s later writing developed better Science and presentation. Isaac Asimov speaks of his work helping to inspire The Foundation stories in Before the Golden Age (1974) wrote:
Schachner was one of my favorite writers for the Tremaine Astounding…Schachner was alive to the gathering dangers of the 1930s and the mounting threat of Nazi Germany. His stories were filled with social problems therefore, with himself always on the side of the democratic angels.
Nat Schachner & Arthur Leo Zagat did not write together again though they would appear in the same venues: with Schachner’s first solo tale being “Pirates of the Gorm” in Harry Bates’ Astounding, May 1932, and Zagat (taking two years off from writing) returning with “Black Laughter” and “Blood in Primrose Lane” as Grendon Alzee in the same issue of Dime Mystery Magazine, March 1934. Both men would spend the next years writing for the Detective, Western, and especially the high-paying Shudder Pulps, along with Science Fiction. Each carved a distinguishing solo career, with Zagat becoming more famous for his Detective fiction, and Schachner giving up Pulp altogether in 1941 to write historical biographies.
