As a child Williamson enjoyed storytelling to his brother and two sisters. As a young man, he discovered the magazine "Amazing Stories", established in 1926 by Hugo Gernsback, after answering an ad for one free issue. He strove to write his own fiction and sold his first story to Gernsback at age 20: "The Metal Man" was published in the December 1928 issue of "Amazing". During the next year Gernsback published three more of his stories in the new pulp magazines "Science Wonder Stories" and "Air Wonder Stories", and separately published "The Girl from Mars" by Miles J. Breuer and Williamson as "Science Fiction Series #1". His work during this early period was heavily influenced by A. Merritt, author of "The Metal Monster" (1920) and other fantasy serials. Noting the Merritt influence, Algis Budrys described "The Metal Man" as "a story full of memorable images".