Shaver Mythos

Richard S. Shaver (1907 - 1975) was a welder in the early 1930s in a Ford factory in Wisconsin. He later claimed that this was where he first started hearing the voices--voices warning him of vast caves under the earth, where lurk the dero: prehistoric, devolved cannibals who prey on our minds with ancient super-science. Also in the mix: lost continents, hollow planets, starships the size of a moon, titanic god-like races of beings, and even sexy aliens.

It all started with Amazing Stories, and its editor, Ray Palmer. Shaver wrote a story which was the genesis of "I Remember Lemuria". This was reworked by Palmer into the first story in this series. It was published in the March, 1945 issue of Amazing as "I Remember Lemuria". There were over twenty sequels set in the Shaver universe, published between 1945 and 1948.

Some fans were appalled at Shaver's tall tale, a drama which was played out in the letters page of Amazing. Finally in December, 1948, Palmer was pressured by management; Shaver was banned from the magazine, and Palmer quit as editor of Amazing Stories. Shave maintained to the last that his story was true. He remained friends with Palmer until they both died in 1975.