Avon Fantasy Reader No. 3
Edited by Donald A. Wollheim
Avon Book Company
1947
1st Printing
By the third issue, the final reference to publication frequency appears in a house ad (the first issue had a definite date in the indicia and stated that it was published "every other month"). Subsequent issues have not indication of frequency, which may have been a way to try to increase the on sale time, or due to financial considerations, but I'm really not sure. Frequency of later issues varied. There were two months lapsing between issues 3 and 4, and some later issues had as much as six months pass between issues.
Added to the mix this time are H.P. Lovecraft and C.L. Moore, both included, according to Wollheim's introduction, due to reader demand. Wollheim also stresses in the introduction that all stories in the Reader must not be overly familiar to the reader. To this end, and in presenting stories that are "off-trail," this issue succeeds quite well.
Moore's "Black Thirst" is an SF story with twist on the vampire theme and also the tale that istroduces her character, Northwest Smith. Lovecraft's "The Silver Key" is an out and out fantasy with no horror overtones, something that would surprise the unknowing readers of the time. There is also a new short story by Stephen Grendon (who is described as a "protegé" of Dereleth, but may have been Dereleth himself writing under a pseudonym), "Bishop's Gambit", which would definitely qualify as not overly familiar.
The rest of the issue is filled out by an A. Merritt oddity, a non-SF story by H.G. Wells, a tale of Asia by Frank Owen, the story of a man who lives in a department story by John Collier, Wollheim's own story "Mimic" and a vampire tale entitled "Homecoming" by (then) up and comer Ray Bradbury, which had been published that same year in another magazine... Mademoiselle (talk about oddities).