Magazine Review: Strange Tales September 1931

Magazine Review: Strange Tales September 1931 edited by Harry Bates Strange Tales was published as a direct competitor to Weird Tales, the top fantastic/occult story pulp magazine of the time, starting with this issue in 1931. It had more of an action slant to its editorial policy as compared to the more idea-heavy stories of… Continue reading Magazine Review: Strange Tales September 1931

Book Review: The Pocket Book of Science Fiction

Book Review: The Pocket Book of Science Fiction edited by Donald A. Wollheim In the introduction to this 1943 anthology, Donald A. Wollheim talks about “the theory of outrageous hypotheses” which helps science progress by asking, “this is not true but what if?” These ten stories are most assuredly fictional, but point to places to… Continue reading Book Review: The Pocket Book of Science Fiction

Book Review: The Shadow #61: The Triple Trail & Murder Genius

Book Review: The Shadow #61: The Triple Trail & Murder Genius edited by Anthony Tollin It’s time for more exciting pulp reprints of the mystery man known as the Shadow! “The Triple Trail” is by Walter B. Gibson, the original Maxwell Grant. Stanton Treblaw, collector of letters written by notable people, has been contacted by… Continue reading Book Review: The Shadow #61: The Triple Trail & Murder Genius

Movie Review: The Kennel Murder Case

One of these adorable dogs is about to die.

Movie Review: The Kennel Murder Case (1933) directed by Michael Curtiz With October over, let’s take a look at a non-horror film! Among amateur detective Philo Vance’s (William Powell) many interests is his Scottie terrier, Captain. He’s entered the purebred canine in the Long Island Kennel Club’s dog show. Captain fails to make it into the… Continue reading Movie Review: The Kennel Murder Case

Book Review: Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures Volume 2

Book Review: Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures Volume 2 by Louis L’Amour with editorial material by Beau L’Amour Disclaimer: I received an Advance Uncorrected Proof of this book through a Goodreads giveaway to facilitate the writing of this review. No other compensation was requested or offered. As an uncorrected proof, there will be changes made in… Continue reading Book Review: Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures Volume 2

Magazine Review: High Adventure #166: The Big Foot Murder Mystery

Magazine Review: High Adventure #166: The Big Foot Murder Mystery by Edgar Wallace This time the pulp reprint magazine only has one story, which originally appeared in Complete Detective Novel Magazine in October, 1929. It was one of twelve novels Edgar Wallace (Richard Horatio Edgar Freeman) had published that year! One publisher claimed that nearly… Continue reading Magazine Review: High Adventure #166: The Big Foot Murder Mystery

Book Review: The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch Volume 3

Book Review: The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch Volume 3 by Robert Bloch Robert Bloch (1917-1994) was a prolific author of horror, science fiction and mystery works. (You may have seen, read or at least heard of Psycho.) This volume, originally “Selected Stories” and by no means complete, features 39 stories published between 1960 and… Continue reading Book Review: The Complete Stories of Robert Bloch Volume 3

Magazine Review: Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine December 1978

Magazine Review: Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine December 1978 edited by Sam Merwin Jr. Private eye Michael “Mike” Shayne was created in 1939 by David Dresser, writing under the name “Brett Halliday”. The books were long-running and popular, and in 1956 Dresser licensed the character to a puiblishing company to be the headliner of a digest-sized… Continue reading Magazine Review: Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine December 1978

Book Review: The Beast with Five Fingers

Book Review: The Beast with Five Fingers by W.F. Harvey W.F. Harvey (1885-1937) was born in Yorkshire, of Quaker family, and became a doctor. However, his health was poor and he was often unable to practice, so he wrote short stories on the side, many of them falling generally into the “weird” category. This volume… Continue reading Book Review: The Beast with Five Fingers

Magazine Review: High Adventure #160: Ten Detective Aces Special

Magazine Review: High Adventure #160: Ten Detective Aces Special edited by John P. Gunnison Ten Detective Aces started publication in 1928 under the title The Dragnet Magazine and primarily featured gangster stories. Public interest in gangsters as a separate subgenre was fading, so in 1930 the magazine started featuring more general crime and detective stories under the title Detective-Dragnet Magazine, and in 1933 switched to Ten… Continue reading Magazine Review: High Adventure #160: Ten Detective Aces Special