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Richard Matheson

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Gamma No. 5

Gamma No. 5

Inside Front Cover art by William F. Nolan
Contents Page
(Charles E. Fritch) Across the Editor’s Desk
Ron Goulart “Nesbit”
Sylvia Dees and Ted White “Policy Conference” art by Luan Meatheringham
Charles Beaumont “Auto Suggestion”
Chester H. Carlfi “Welcome to Procyon IV”
Richard Matheson “Interest” art by Bernard Zuber
George Clayton Johnson “Lullaby and Goodnight”
Ray Bradbury “A Careful Man Dies” (New Detective Magazine Nov. 1946*)
Steve Allen “The Late Mr. Adams” (Fourteen for Tonight, Holt, Rinehart and Wilson 1955)
Dennis Etchison “Wet Season”
Inside Back Cover art by Burt Shonberg

Gamma Vol. 2 No. 5 (3) (Whole No. 5) Sept. 1965*
Editor-Publishers: Charles E. Fritch and Jack Matcha
Cover: John Healey
5.25” x 7.75” 128 pages 50¢

*From Galactic Central and Vince Nowell, Sr.’s article “Gamma: New Frontiers in Fiction” from The Digest Enthusiast No. 8 June 2018.

Western Magazine No. 3

Western Magazine No. 3

Contents
Richard Matheson “Son of a Gunman” art by Borgos
Paul E. Holland “Power Within”
C. William Harrison “Ride a Rough Mile” art by M. Baker
Marvin De Vries “Fiddle-Foot Man” art by M. Baker
Alfred D. Geto “Old Nevada’s Cache”
J.L. Bouma “Meet Me in Boothill”
Elmore Leonard “Jugged” art by Borgos
Joseph Chadwick “The Untamed Breed”

Western Magazine Vol. 1 No. 3 Dec. 1955
Publisher: Martin Goodman
Editor: Harry Widmer
Business Manager: Monroe Froehlich
Art Director: Mel Blum
Art Editor: Robert C. O’Neill
Cover: M. Engel
~5.5” x 7.75” 160 pages 35¢

Read Peter Enfantino’s story-by-story recap of Western Magazine in The Digest Enthusiast No. 8.

Gamma No. 2

Gamma No. 2

Contents
Dorothy B. Hughes “The Granny Woman”
Robert Bloch “The Old College Try”
Francesca Marques “Michael”
Richard Matheson “Deus Ex Machina”
William Faulkner “The Kid Learns”
Jack Matcha “King’s Jester”
William Shakespeare & Ib Melchior “Here’s Sport Indeed!” (verse)
Burt Shoneber’s Portfolio
William F. Temple “The Undiscovered Country”
Robert Sheckley: The Gamma Interview
Charles E. Fritch “Castaway”
Charles Beaumont “Something in the Earth”
William F. Nolan “I’m Only Lonesome When I’m Lonely”
The Editors: A Note on Ernest Hemingway
Ray Bradbury “Sombra y Sol”

Gamma No. 2 1963
Editor & Publisher: Charles E. Fritch
Executive Editor: & Publisher: Jack Matcha
Managing Editor: William F. Nolan
Cover: Morris Scott Dollens
5.25” x 7.75” 128 pages 50¢

Gamma No. 1 1963

Gamma No. 1 1963

Gamma 1 New Frontiers in Fiction
Contents
Charles Beaumont “Mourning Song”
Fritz Leiber “Crimes Against Passion”
Ray Bradbury “Time in Thy Flight”
Tennessee Williams “The Vengeance of Nitocris”
A.E. van Vogt “Itself!”
Charles E. Fritch “Venus Plus Three”
Ray Russell “A Message From Morj”
William F. Nolan “To Serve the Ship”
The Gamma Interview: Rod Serling
George Clayton Johnson “The Freeway”
Herbert A. Simmons “One Night Stand”
Kris Neville “As Holy and Enchanted”
John Tomerlin “Shade of Day”
Forrest J. Ackerman “The Girl Who Wasn’t There”
Ray Bradbury “Death in Mexico” (verse)
Richard Matheson “Cresendo”

Gamma No. 1 1963
Editor & Publisher: Charles E. Fritch
Executive Editor: Jack Matcha
Managing Editor: William F. Nolan
Cover: Morris Scott Dollens
5.25” x 7.75” 128 pages 50¢

Richard Matheson’s The Frigid Flame

Story splashpagePublisher Martin Goodman started both Non-Pareil (Justice) and the Lion paperback book line, so it’s no surprise the novels featured in the digest magazine first appeared as Lion paperbacks a few years earlier. The seventh, and final story in Justice Amazing Detective Mysteries #3, October 1955 is Richard Matheson’s “The Frigid Flame,” which was first published as Someone is Bleeding by Lion in 1953.

Matheson is best remembered for his science fiction and horror novels, but he wrote suspense and thrillers too, and this one could be labeled as such—or noir. Young Davie Newton falls hard for the beautiful, but unpredictable Peggy Lister, a young woman with a past. The story is ripe with action and plot twists, and Matheson’s excellent writing does a good job selling the sometimes melodramatic events and dialogue. The mystery here is whether the story is true noir, or a crime drama that wraps things up with a happy ending—and you won’t know for sure until the final page.

Someone is Bleeding coverJames Reasoner’s Rough Edges and Admiral Ironbombs’ Yellowed and Creased cover reviews of the paperback version of the story.

“The Frigid Flame” gives this issue of Justice a strong finish, but overall I’d give the previous edition from July 1955, a slight edge.

Peter Enfantino provides synopses for all four issues of Justice in The Digest Enthusiast book five.