New Releases Guns+Tacos Season 2 Episode 10: A Taco, A T-Bird, A Beretta and One Furious Night by Ann Aptaker When Maureen learns that Leo “Riddles” Ridley is back in Chicago, the screaming harridan of violence and vengeance is unmuzzled in Maureen’s troubled head. The harridan only quiets when fed steady doses of death, which Maureen is only too happy to provide, especially if Riddles is the on the menu. She’ll make him suffer for his betrayal, for abandoning her to the fate of prison for her work as a member of Riddles’ outfit.
Subscribe to Guns+Tacos Season 2 at Down & Out Books: • Trade Paperback — $32.95 (includes all six digital episodes plus a subscriber-exclusive short story and FREE shipping within the Continental U.S.!) • Digital Formats — $11.95 (includes all six digital episodes plus a subscriber-exclusive short story)
Digest Magazine Blogs R.T. Raichev, whose story “The Other Imelda” will see print in EQMM Nov/Dec 2020 and essay “Murderous Decoys—Philip MacDonald and ‘Loves Lies Bleeding’” appears at Something is Going to Happen.
Gabrial Hart reviews Slow Bear by Anthony Neil Smith at EconoClash Review.
TDE Contributors’ Corner Uncle Jack (Seabrook) and Cousin Peter (Enfantino) review Eerie No. 48, Vampirella No. 25, and Creepy No. 54 at bare•bones e-zine.
Readin’ and Writin’ Finished reading the current issue of Nostalgia Digest (Autumn 2020) this week. Editor/publisher Steve Darnall starts things off with “Reflections of a Golden Age” highlighting 42 milestones over radio’s 100-year history. The issue is packed with entertaining articles, but among my favorites were Wayne Klatt’s “Pleasant Screams” about radio’s horror programs, and the two biographies of Alan Ladd and Raymond Massey, by Walter Scannel and Stone Wallace, respectively.
Also wrapped up Savage Season by Joe Lansdale, the first Hap and Leonard novel. It was great fun, full of action, desperate characters, and lots of heart. If you’ve enjoyed the TV series, the source material is well worth your time.
Received an article from Vince Nowell, Sr. for TDE13 on pulps and digests edited by Robert A.W. Lowndes. I’m still gathering cover images for it, but I’m looking forward to taking it to layout.
Our current issue: The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 is available in print at Lulu.com and Amazon, and in digital formats at Kindle Books and Magzter.
Vintage SF Digest Worlds Beyond Feb. 1951 Inside covers: Contributor Bios Contents Page Jack Vance “Brain of the Galaxy” Lester del Rey “The Deadliest Female” H.B. Hickey “Like a Bird, Like a Fish” Lord Dunsany “The Old Brown Coat” Poul Anderson “The Acolytes” Walter C. Davies “Forgotten Tongue” Richard Matheson “Clothes Make the Man” C.M. Kornbluth “The Rocket of 1955” The Dissecting Table (Book Reviews) Harry Harrison “Rock Diver” Halliday Sutherland “Valley of Doom” In the Next Issue
Worlds Beyond Vol. 1 No. 3 Feb. 1951 Editor: Damon Knight Cover: Van Dongen Interior Art: Harrison, Jannace, Napoli 5.5” x 7.75” 128 pages 25¢
New Releases Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem No. 2 Leah Cutter: Introduction Michele Lang “The Rehab Archipelago” David H. Hendrickson “Bubba’s Blunder” Kari Kilgore “The Fabulous Feats of Billy” Melissa Yi “Sushi À Volonté” Diana Deverell “Gone Gold” Jason A. Adams “Bobby and Pete” Cate Martin “The Fall of La Madrina” Leah R. Cutter “Tiny Dreams” Juliet Nordeen “Libby’s Millions” Our Friends
The Paperback Fanatic No. 44 Contents Page Justin Marriott: Fanatical Thoughts Gil Cohen: One Man Army (Book Preview) Justin Marriott: Disaster 70! Justin Marriott: The Plague Chronicles Justin Marriott: Prose and Cons The Lockdown Reviews
The Paperback Fanatic No. 44 Editor: Justin Marriott Copy Editor: TomTesarek 7” x 10” 64 pages full color Print Only $9.99 JM on Facebook
Digest Magazine Blogs Anthony Perconti: Lovecraft on the Pampas: A Discussion of “There are More Things” by Jorge Luis Borges at EconoClash Review.
TDE Contributors’ Corner Jack Seabrook and Peter Enfantino review Batman No. 329, Detective No. 496, and The Brave and the Bold No. 168 at bare•bones e-zine.
Jack Seabrook’s The Hitchcock Project—Harold Swanton Part Eight: The Twelve Hour Caper at bare•bones e-zine.
TDE Advertisers This week’s enews from Bud’s Art Books leads with Jim Steranko.
Readin’ and Writin’ Barb Goffman delves into word usage issues at SleuthSayers.
A goodly amount of reading occurred this week—all progress on existing reads, so nothing to report here until next time.
Touched up a few more issues of Head for the WIP Roman Scott collection. And several digest SF novels for Steve Carper’s article slated for TDE13. Rick McCollum finished some beautiful artwork for my sword and sorcery yarn.
Our current issue: The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 is available in print at Lulu.com and Amazon, and in digital formats at Kindle Books and Magzter.
Vintage SF Digest Space Science Fiction Vol. 1 No. 2 Sept. 1952 Contents Page Lester del Rey: Editorial Erik van Lhin “Moon-Blind” art by Paul Orban Clifford D. Simak “The Fence” art by Gari Robert E. Howard “The God in the Bowl” (Edited by L. Sprague de Camp) art by Schecterson George O. Smith: Science—Fiction and Fact Michael Sherman “A Matter of Faith” art by Peter Poulton Murray Leinster “The Barrier” art by Paul Orban John Jakes “With Wings” art by Schecterson Coming Events Fletcher Pratt “Official Record” art by Schecterson Theodore L. Thomas “The Revisitor” art by Gari Meet Paul Orban (back cover)
Publisher: John Raymond Editor: Lester del Rey Assoc. Editors: Peter Leavy, John Vincent Art Director: Milton Berwin Cover: Earle Bergey 5.5” x 7.5” 160 pages 35 cents
Read Vince Nowell, Sr.’s article “When Things Go Wrong—The Lester del Rey/John Raymond Fiasco” in The Digest Enthusiastbook seven.
New Releases Weirdbook No. 43 Contents “An American Story” by Darrell Schweitzer “Impervious to Reason, Oblivious to Fate” by John R. Fultz “The River” by Sharon Cullars “Taking Out the Trash” by by D.C. Lozar “Arthur Wardrobe And Asia Anastacia: A Love Story” by Andrew Darlington “Snack Time” by Franklyn Searight “Godlike” by Edward Morris and Konstantine Paradias Ronkonkoma” by Glynn Owen Barrass “The Fury of Angels” by Adrian Cole “Keisha’s Dinosaur” by Nicole Givens Kurtz “Will Home Remember Me?” by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. “You’re Gonna Love This Song” by Michael S. Walker “Frozen Time” by Rivka Jacobs “Lucien Greyshire and the Ghost from Applebee’s” by L.F. Falconer Plus poetry by Jeff Barnes, Maxwell I. Gold, Neva Bryan, Ashley Dioses, K.A. Opperman, Ann K.Schwader, W.D. Clifton, Ngo Binh Anh Khoa, Chad Hensley, Frederick J. Mayer, and Gregg Chamberlain.
Weirdbook Vol. 2 No. 13 Issue 43 August 2020 Publisher/Executive Editor: John Gregory Betancourt Editor: Doug Draa Consulting Editor: W. Paul Ganley Cover: Fotolia Interior Artwork: Allen Koszowski 184 pages, 6” x 9” Print $12.00 , Kindle* Wildside Press website *Not available at the time of this writing
Fantasy & Science Fiction Sep/Oct 2020 Contents “Of Them All” by Leah Cypess “The Shadows of Alexandrium” by David Gerrold “My Name Was Tom” by Tim Powers “The Fairy Egg” by R.S. Benedict “Weeper” by Marc Laidlaw “Do AIs Dream of Perfect Games?” by Angie Peng “The Martian Water War: Notes Found in an Airlock” by Peter Gleick “Little and Less” by Ashley Blooms “The Cry of Evening Birds” by James Sallis “The Dog and the Ferryman” by Brian Trent “This World Is Made for Monsters” by M. Rickert “The Writing of Science Fiction” by Timons Esaias (verse) Books to Look For by Charles de Lint Games by Marc Laidlaw Plumage from Pegasus: Keeping Up with the ISBNs by Paul Di Filippo Television: The Devil in Devs by Karin Lowachee Science: The Science of Printing by Jerry Oltion Coming Attractions Curiosities by Paul Di Filippo
Fantasy & Science Fiction Vol. 139 No. 3 and 4, No. 751, Sep/Oct 2020 Publisher: Gordon Van Gelder Editor: C.C. Finlay Assistant Publishers: Barbara J. Norton, Keith Kahla Assistant Editors: Robin O’Connor, Stephen L. Mazur, Lisa Rogers Contests Editor: Carol Pinchefsky Cover: Bob Eggleton for “The Shadows of Alexandrium” Cartoons: Arthur Masear, Mark Heath, Nick Downes, Bill Long 258 pages, $8.99 on newsstands until Nov. 2, 2020 Fantasy & Science Fiction website
Zandra Renwick, whose “Killer Bisnez” appears in EQMM Sep/Oct 2020, discusses “The Moment Expectations Change” at Something is Going to Happen.
James McArthur writes about “The Devil’s Footprints” for Fate magazine.
Robert Reed on his cover story, “The Ossuary’s Passenger” from Asimov’s Sep/Oct 2020, at From Earth to the Stars.
Storytime David Rachels’ “Death Comes to Uncle Bob” at Pulp Modern Flash.
Close to the Bone provides “The Otsego House” by DAH via their newsletter.
TDE Contributors’ Corner Steve Carper delves into Jetta: Teen-Age Sweetheart of the 21st Century at Flying Cars and Food Pills.
Uncle Jack (Seabrook) and Cousin Peter (Enfantino) review Eerie No. 47, Vampirella No. 24, and Creepy No. 53 at bare•bones e-zine.
Readin’ and Writin’ Since it’s a reference guide, I’ve been slowly making my way through Martin Roth’s (1924–2000) The Crime Writer’s Reference Guide for several months now. He updated it in the early 1990s and this edition was published after his death in 2003. A fair amount of the data is dated, but the concepts remain solid and the author includes plenty of suggestions on how/where to get the latest information on various topics. The reference is divided into sections on Crime, Criminals, Cops, Investigations, The Courts, Prisons, and Language (slang and legal). It also includes an exellent list of further reading books for each of its sections. If one were writing a story set in the early 1990s it would be invaluable to set the stage on then current practices and techology.
Finished reading Unsolved Murders No. 1 from June 1954, the first of only two issues. The first thing that strikes you about this vintage true crime digest is its production values. Printed on a higher grade of paper than newsprint, UM is able to include a generous assortment of quality photographs to support its reports. The writing is also a notch above many of its rivals of its era. If I had to guess why it didn’t catch on, I’d cite it’s lack of closure. Although unsolved murders makes a great hook to grab attention, reading case after case without resolution leaves a void. Somewhat pricy, but worth the splurge, I’m still waiting for a copy of the second issue to surface.
Thoroughly enjoyed a few hours with Paperback Parade No. 108 this week. Full page cover repros dominate this edition, exposing the delights of Pan Books’ Agatha Christie novels (article be Jules Burt), Monarch movie novelizations (article by Bruce Tinkel), the British Tit-Bits crime books (article by Tom Lesser), and Canada’s Westerns and Northerns from Halequin Books (article by Jim Fitzpatrick). Editor Gary Lovisi and Designer Rich Greene round out the issue with news and features on artist Gil Cohen, paperback promotional matchbooks, and Spain’s Celebridades series. Outstanding!
I joined the Rock and a Hard Place fanclub this week, via issue three. Their tag line “A Chronicle of Bad Decisions and Desperate People” aptly sums up the package. The stories here are often crime and often noir, but the magazine also explores characters who may not be criminals in storytime, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they took the plunge somewhere down the line. A great collection of trouble and its aftermath, well worth the support of hardluck story lovers. See my full review in the upcoming TDE13.
Been a tough week motivation-wise. Air quality in the Pacific Northwest has been literarlly off the charts. It rained last night, and the weather people tell us we’re in for big improvements now. I sure hope so, three crises is becoming more than I can handle.
Bright spots: Rick McCollum is working on illustrations for my story, and I completed the retouch repair work on five covers for Steve Carper’s article on Digest SF Novels. Also did clean-up on two more issues of Head for the upcoming Roman Scott collection edited by Marc Myers.
Our current issue: The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 is available in print at Lulu.com and Amazon, and in digital formats at Kindle Books and Magzter.
Vintage Crime Digest Mantrap No. 1 July 1956 Contents Page Richard Hardwick “One-Way Cruise” art by Tom O’Sullivan Jack Richie “A Torch for Tess” Dan Sontup “Murder for a Doll” art by Dick Shelton Derek Krull “Stake Out” John R. Starr “Target Sighted” Allen Lang “Body in Blue Jeans” Robert Turner “The Man Who Never Hurried” James J. Dwyer “Hunch” Helen Nielsen “A Bad Night for Murder” art by Ray Houlihan C.L. Sweeney, Jr. “A Certain Kind of Caper” art by Dick Shelton Harold George Shadd “The Escape of Willie Croton” Harry Whittington “The Glass Alibi” Richard Harper “Storm” (from Best Western March 1956)
Mantrap Vol. 1 No. 1 July 1956 Secret Life Publications Publisher: Michael St. John Gen. Manager: R.E. Decker Editorial Director: Walter R. Schmidt Managing Editor: N.F. King Associate Editor: William Manners Art Director: Charles W. Adams Assistant Art Director: Gerald Adams 5.5” x 7.75” 128 pages 35 cents
New Releases Nostalgia Digest Autumn 2020 Contents Steve Darnall “Hello, Out There in Radioland!” Steve Darnall “Reflections of a Golden Age” (cover story) Dan McGuire “At This Theatre Next Week” Chapter Four Jordan Elliott “Man and Superman” (Clayton Collyer) Clair Schulz “Smilin’ Through” (Pegy Lynch) Walter Scannell “This Ladd for Hire” (Alan Ladd) Wayne Klatt “Pleasant Screams” (radio’s scary shows) Alex Udvary “Hollywood Madmen” (Clark & McCullogh) Stone Wallace “Prince of Players” (Raymond Massey) Mail Call Plus, the Radio Program Guide for Those Were the Days and WGN Radio Theatre
Nostalgia Digest Book 46 Chapter 4 Autumn 2020 Editor: Steve Darnall Cover: Mark Braun 5.5” x 8.5” 64 pages, b&w interior $4.50 on newsstands Four-issue subscription $17 Eight-issue subscription $30 Nostalgia Digest website
Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine Sep/Oct 2020 Contents Page Linda Landrigan: A Word of Thanks The Lineup Elliot F. Sweeney “Mrs. White Hart” art by Kimberly Cho Dan Crawford “Storage” Jane Pendjiky “Fruiting Bodies” Mysterious Photograph $25 fiction contest “The Handoff” Christopher Latragna “Call it Sad, Call it Funny” Sharon Jarvis “Who Killed What’s Her Name?” Laurel Flores Fantauzzo: Booked and Printed James Sallis “The Beauty of Sunsets” Wouter Boonstra “Archored” translated from the Dutch by Josh Pachter Steven Gore “Inflection” art by Daniel Zalkus Mark Lagasse: Scrambled Hitch (puzzle, solution on page 192) Arlene Fisher: Dying Words (acrostic puzzle, solution on page 192) Richard Freeborn “Family Harmony” John Paul Davies “Limited Edition” Dave Zeltserman “Past Due” art by Kevin Speidell Michael Nethercott “Old Echoes” Tom Larsen “Buscando Tupac” Bob Tippee “You Said This Was Business” Josh Pachter selects/introduces a Mystery Classic: “Thubway Tham’s Hoodoo Roll” by Johnston McCulley (Detective Story Magazine Nov. 12, 1921) Lee Lofland’s Case File: Excited Delirium The Story That Won (May/Jun) “Never a Dull Moment in the Kitchen” by Rosemary Herbert Coming in AHMM Nov/Dec 2020 Directory of Services/Indicia
Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine Vol. 65 No. 9 & 10 Sep/Oct 2020 Publisher: Peter Kanter Editor: Linda Landrigan Managing Editor: Jackie Sherbow Senior Director of Art & Production: Porter C. McKinnon Senior ADs: Victoria Green, Thomas Slosser Cover: Erika Steiskal 192 pages $7.99 on newsstands until Oct. 20, 2020 Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine website
Amazing Selects No. 3: Adrift in the Sea of Souls by David Gerrold Contents Page Adam-Troy Castro’s Introduction: The Sprung Chicken Steve Davidson’s Publisher’s Note: David Gerrold David Gerrold “Adrift in the Sea of Souls” David Gerrold “The White Piano” David Gerrold “Jacob in Manhattan” Author’s Afterword About the Author Art the Artist: M.D. Jackson
Amazing Selects No. 3 Publisher: Steve Davidson Cover and interior artwork M.D. Jackson 5.5” x 8.5” 170 pages Print $8.99 Kindle $8.99 Amazing Stories website
Also out is Mystery Weekly Magazine Sep. 2020, with stories by Nick LeGrand, Edward Lodi, Joseph S. Walker, Benjamin Mark, William Burton McCormick, Shea E. Butler, Stan Dryer, and Eric B. Rurark. Available in print $7.99 and Kindle $3.99
Digest Magazine Reviews John O’Neill gives an overview of the “Big 5” digests for Sep/Oct 2020 at Black Gate.
Robert Lopresti reviews Joseph S. Walker’s “Golden Lives” from Mystery Weekly Magazine Sep. 2020 at Little Big Crimes.
David Levinson reviews Worlds of If Oct. 1965 at Galactic Journey.
Kevin Tipple reviews Mystery Weekly Magazine April 2020 at Kevin’s Corner.
Digest Magazine Writers’ Updates Alan Dean Foster, whose “The Treasure of the Lugar Morto” appears in Analog Sep/Oct 2020, talks about writing at The Astounding Analog Companion.
Iris Hockaday, whose story “The Thunderstorm” appears in EQMM Jul/Aug 2020, reflects on “mystery” at Something is Going to Happen.
Jason Sandford on “The Eight-Thousanders” from Asimov’s Sep/Ocy 2020 at From Earth to the Stars.
Storytime Charlie Cancel’s “R/amitheasshole Posted by Tammy Whammy 2 Hours Ago” at Pulp Modern Flash.
Josh Pachter reads his “The Secret Lagoon” from EQMM Sep/Oct 2019 at Podomatic.
Zine Scene Jim Main’sBrain Freeze No. 5 was released this week. Its contributor list is too long to re-create here, but includes TDE illustrator Rick McCollum. The 52-page zine is available for $6.25 post paid from: Main Enterprises PO Box 93 New Milford, CT 06776
TDE Contributors’ Corner Jack Seabrook and Peter Enfantino review The Brave and the Bold No. 167, Batman No. 328, and Detective No. 495 at bare•bones e-zine.
Richard Kellogg sent a press release for his new book: Barry Baskerville’s Christmas Mystery (Airship 27, 2020) by Richard Kellogg and lavishly illustrated by Gary Kato, is now available from Amazon.com. In the seventh entry of this series of mysteries for children, Barry uses all his skills of observation and deduction to identify a thief who has been stealing Christmas trees from the lawns of the residents of Watsonville. Young readers will learn about the methods used by Sherlock Holmes while improving their own problem-solving skills. Sherlockians will find the book a great holiday gift for their children and grandchildren.
Jack Seabrook’s The Hitchcock Project—Harold Swanton Part Seven: Bang! You’re Dead at bare•bones e-zine.
Readin’ and Writin’ Alec Cizak offers creative writing tips on plotting at ACTV.
Did a fair about of reading this week, but didn’t finish any one of the books or digests currently in play. More next week.
Finished retouching the pages of Head No. 1 for Marc Myer’s upcoming Roman Scott collection.
This week’s progress on TDE13: Steve Carper sent nearly a dozen cover scans for his upcoming article on digest SF novels. Jack Seabrook tapped Walker Martin for help securing the final images from Mystery Book Magazine No. 16, for Jack’s article on Leo Marr. And the color work on Bob Vojtko’s six gag cartoons was completed. Four will appear on one page I’ve dubbed “Zowie” in tribute to the Lopez digest magazine from the 1970s.
Our current issue: The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 is available in print at Lulu.com and Amazon, and in digital formats at Kindle Books and Magzter.
Vintage Science Fiction Digest Galaxy Aug. 1977 Inside front cover by James R. Odbert Contents Page Calendar James Patrick Bean’s Editorial: Galaxy and the Galaxy Harbert Charles Petley “…and Earth So Far Away” art by Stephen Fabian Frederik Pohl: Postscript to Gateway Charles Sheffield “Perfectly Safe, Nothing to Worry About” Jerry Pournelle, PhD: A Step Farther Out (science fact) Frank Herbert “The Dosadi Experiment” Richard E. Geis: The Alien Viewpoint art by Tim Kirk Arsen Darnay “Pheromonal Fountain” Spider Robinson: Galaxy Bookshelf Jay Brandon “The All-Soul is Calling Quinlan” art by Stephen Fabian Directions (letter pages) Galaxy/If SF Mart (classified ads)
Galaxy Science Fiction Vol 38 No. 6 August 1977 Publisher: Arnold E. Abramson Editor: James Patrick Baen Art Director: Stephen Fabian Assistant Editor: Elaine Will Science Editor: J.E. Pournelle, PhD Contributing Editor: Spider Robinson Consulting Editor: Theodore Sturgeon Cover: Kelly Freas 5.25” x 7.75” 160 pages $1.25
New Releases Asimov’s Science Fiction Sep/Oct 2020 Contents Page Sheila Williams’ Editorial: Forty-Fourth Annual Readers’ Awards’ Results Robert Silverberg’s Reflections: The Road Not Taken James Patrick Kelly’s On the Net: Meet Your Subliminal Self Jane Yolen “Gretel’s Bone” (verse) Kristine Kathryn Rusch “Maelstrom” Robert Frazier “Photograph #51” (verse) Leah Cypess “A Sideways Slant of Light” Robert Reed “The Ossuary’s Passenger” Bruce Boston “Incomplete Adaptation” (verse) Ian Tregillis “When God Sits in Your Lap” Cadwell Turnbull “Shock of Birth” Jason Sanford “The Eight-Thousanders” David C. Kopaska-Merkel “A Rare and Wondrous Thing” (verse) M. Bennardo “A Vengeful Revenant” Michael Meyerhofer “In Horror Movies, Whenever Someone Gets Their Soul Sucked Out” (verse) R. Garcia y Robertson “Escaping Real Time” Michael Libling “Robyn in Her Shiny Blue Coffin” Next Issue Y.M. Pang “Mangy White Dog” Gregory Frost “Traveling On” Rich Larson “The Conceptual Shark” Josh Pearce “Self-Assembly Required”(verse) Gray Rinehart “Flare Shack” Fred D. White “Dawn Fiddler” (verse) Peter Heck: On Books Mary Soon Lee “Cavall” (verse) Erwin Strauss: SF Conventional Calendar
Asimov’s Science Fiction Vol. 44 No. 9 & 10, whole No. 536 & 537, Sep/Oct 2020 Publisher: Peter Kanter Editor: Sheila Williams Managing Editor: Emily Hockaday Editorial Assistant: Rae Purdom Senior Director of Art & Production: Porter C. McKinnon Senior Art Director: Victoria Green Cover: Maurizio Manzieri 208 pages, $7.99 on newsstands until Oct. 20, 2020 Asimov’s website
Paperback Parade No. 108 A production glitch on this issue forced the cover of the last issue onto this one. The workaround is a “dustjacket” correction. Not ideal, but now it’s a “highly collectible” edition! Contents Page Gary Lovisi’s Paperback Talk Jules Burt “Agatha Christie in Vintage Pan Paperbacks” Rich Greene “Gil Cohen’s She Adventure” Bruce Tinkel “Monarch Movie Tie-In Paperbacks” Gary Lovisi “The Celebridades Series from Spain” Rich Greene “Matchless Paperbacks” Tom Lesser “Tit-Bits Crime Fiction Library” Jim Fitzpatrick “Harlequin Westerns and Northerns”
Paperback Parade No. 108 Aug. 2020 Editor: Gary Lovisi Designer: Richard Greene ~5.5” x 8.5” 96 pages, full color throughout $15 + postage for a single issue $40 for three-issue subscription Gryphon Books website
The Best of Manhunt 2 is out from Stark House Press. Content Includes: Peter Enfantino’s Foreword: For the Love of Manhunt Jon L. Breen: Introduction Jon L. Breen: On the Passing of Manhunt Robert Turner: Life and Death of a Magazine Jeff Vorzimmer: 35 stories collected from the pages of the magazine
The Best of Manhunt 2 Publisher: Greg Shepard Editor: Jeff Vorzimmer Art Director: Mark Shepard 5.5” x 8.5” 424 pages Print $21.95 Kindle $5.49
Not a Digest Also out from Stark House Press are the latest two books from their Black Gat Books paperback series: No. 26 Dead Wrong by Lorenz Heller No. 27 Little Sister by Robert Martin
Digest Magazine Writers’ Updates Natalia Theodoridou on “The Shape of Gifts” from F&SF Jul/Aug 2020 at Fantasy & Science Fiction.
Barb Goffman on the appeal of epistolary stories like her “Dear Emily Etiquette” in EQMM Sep/Oct 2020 at SleuthSayers.
M.L. Clark who wrote “Seeding the Mountains” for Analog Sep/Oct 2020, interviews two Colombian SF creators invested in broadening the scope of Colombian SF at The Astounding Analog Companion.
Pulp Literature shares their latest e-news, which includes development details on their upcoming podcast series Pulp Lit Pulpit. Read the entire e-newsletter here.
Violet Welles whose “Round-Trip Runaways” appears in EQMM Sep/Oct 2020 discusses “How Anxiety Draws Me to Mystery” at Something is Going to Happen.
Ian Tregillis on “When God Sits in Your Lap” from Asimov’s Sep/Oct 2020 at From Earth to the Stars.
Digest Magazine Reviews Catherine Dilts reviews AHMM Jul/Aug 2020 at Catherine Edits. (Thanks, Kevin Tipple.)
Alan Cranis reviews The Best of Manhunt 2 at Bookgasm.
Storytime Michael Bracken’s “I Would Do Anything for You” at Pulp Modern Flash.
TDE Contributors’ Corner Uncle Jack (Seabrook) and Cousin Peter (Enfantino) review Eerie No. 46, Creepy No. 52, and Vampirella No. 23 at bare•bones e-zine.
Readin’ and Writin’ This week I read Darrell Schweitzer’s essay for the Milford Series: Conan’s World and Robert E. Howard. I have mixed feelings about it. Schweitzer praises Howard’s work throughout, but he also spends considerable wordage on complaints of laziness, repetition, weak plotting, etc. Overall, the negatives overshadow the positives. It didn’t leave me anxious to dive back into Howard’s work, and as a fan, that’s not the feeling one ought to walk away with. That said, the essay is well-researched, tracing the history of stories recast and retitled until publication and/or reprinted. It also covers stories and partials edited/reworked by L. Sprague de Camp and others. Schweitzer includes useful recaps of all of Howard’s Conan stories and well as ratings that run from “excellent” to “pretty bad.”
Marc Myers, Jonathan Falk, and I (and a few others) are working on a collection of the late Roman Scott’s comics and zines. Marc sent page scans of the work, and I’ve begun the production work, squaring images and clean-up. Thus far I’ve completed Oddities Comix and the full run of Oddities (No. 1–7).
Spent a few hours this week coloring the six cartoons Bob Vojtko sent in for The Digest Enthusiast No. 13, due out in January 2021.
Bud Plant’s Fall 2020 Incredible Catalog is out. Download your copy from Bud’s Art Books.
Our current issue: The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 is available in print at Lulu.com and Amazon, and in digital formats at Kindle Books and Magzter.
Vintage SF/Fantasy Digest Fantastic October 1970 Contents Page Ted White: Editorial Dean R. Koontz “The Crimson Witch” art by Jeff Jones Greg Benford “The Movement” art by Gray Morrow David R. Bunch “A Glance at the Past” art by Dan Adkins Barry N. Malzberg: As Between Generations Alexei Panshin: Science Fiction in Dimension David Wright O’Brien “Spook for Yourself” art by J. Jackson from Fantastic Adventures Jan. 1942 Michael Juergens: Fantasy Fandom Fantasy Books reviewed by Fritz Leiber and Hank Stine According to You (Letters) Jay Kinney’s Fantastic Illustrated: 2000 A.D. Man Classified Market Place
Fantastic Vol. 20 No. 1 October 1970 Publisher: Sol Cohen Associate Publisher: Arthur Bernhard Editor: Ted White Associate Editor: Arnold Katz Assistant Editor: Alan Shaw Art Director: Harry Lee Cover: Gray Morrow 5.5” x 7.5” 144 pages 60 cents
New Releases Ellery Queen Sep/Oct 2020 Contents Page Doug Crandell “Baby Drop Box” art by Mark Evan Walker Kristopher Zgorski: Blog Bytes Steve Steinbock: The Jury Box Anna Scotti “What the Morning Never Suspected” Dean Jobb’s Stranger Than Fiction: Arthur Conan Doyle and the Mutineers Joseph S. Walker “Chasing Diamonds” Marilyn Todd “Burning Desire” Jim Allyn “Things That Follow” (Black Mask) Dale C. Andrews “Four Words” Violet Welles “Round-Trip Runaways” (Dept. of First Stories) Dean Jobb’s Stranger Than Fiction Online: Preview Asibe Taku “The Dashing Joker” (Passport to Crime) Translated from the Japanese by Yuko Shimada; adapted by John Pugmire Libby Cudmore “All Shook Down” Michael McGuire “Los Colores” Jane Jakeman “The Oxford Ghosts” Gregory Fallis “Terrible Ideas” Zandra Renwick “Killer Biznez” L.A. Wilson, Jr. “The Last True Love” Alexandria Blaelock “The Perfume of Peahes” (Dept. of First Stories) Barb Goffman “Dear Emily Etiquette” art by Jason C. Eckhardt Brendan DuBois “The Homecoming” Indicia
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Sep/Oct 2020 Vol. 156 No. 3 & 4, Whole No. 948 & 949 Publisher: Peter Kanter Editor: Janet Hutchings Managing Editor: Jackie Sherbow Senior Director Art & Production: Porter C. McKinnon Senior AD: Victoria Green Cover: Brian Stauffer 192 pages $7.99 on newsstands until October 20, 2020 Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine website Dean Jobb’s Stranger Than Fiction
EconoClash Review No. 6 Contents Page J.D. Graves: Welcome Thrill Seekers Daniel Marcus “Jesus Christ Superstore” Preston Lang “Party Bus” Serena Jayne “Chet-Shaped Lure” John Kojak “The Good Squad” Donald Jacob Uitvlugt “The Night Jake Addison Saved the World” Robb T. White “The Curse of the Temple Topaz” Paul McCabe “Seven Flutes” J.D. Graves “Don’t Panic” Chris Fortunato “You WIll be Very Happy Here” Cheap Thrills Biographies
On Tuesday, Down & Out Books released the third episode of Guns + Tacos Season Two: Four Shrimp Tacos and a Walther P38 by Alec Cizak. Series created and edited by Michael Bracken and Trey R. Barker.
Guns + Tacos Season Two Subscriptions: • Trade Paperback—$32.95 (includes all six digital episodes plus a subscriber-exclusive short story and FREE shipping within the Continental U.S.) • Digital Formats—$11.95 (includes all six digital episodes plus a subscriber-exclusive short story)
Other authors in Season Two include: Eric Beeter, Michael Bracken and Trey R. Barker, Ann Aptaker, Ryan Sayles, and Mark Troy.
Michael Libling on “Robyn in Her Shiny Blue Coffin” from Asimov’s Sep/Oct 2020 at From Earth to the Stars.
Cheryll Jones interviews Fate editor Phyllis Galde at Coast to Coast.
TDE Contributors’ Corner Jack Seabrook and Peter Enfantino review The Untold Legend of Batman No. 3, Batman No. 327, The Brave and the Bold No. 166, and Detective No. 494 at bare•bones e-zine.
Jack Seabrook’s The Hitchcock Project—Harold Swanton Part Six: Museum Place at bare•bones e-zine.
Readin’ and Writin’ Happy to report I finished reading the outstanding Switchblade No. 12 this week. I wrote a full review that will appear in The Digest Enthusiast No. 13 in January 2021. With twelve issues and two special editions Switchblade has become a dependable haven for hard-hitting independent fiction. Its list of authors provides a who’s who of rising stars of dark crime fiction. This edition adds further bloody evidence of its usual five-star killer status.
Also read the Stark House Press imprint Black Gat Books’ editon of Stranger at Home by Leigh Brackett writing as George Sanders. Classic crime fiction that solidly captures the era in which it was written: 1946. Great characters chase an intriguing mystery, bodies mount and suspects dwindle until its suspenseful, satisfying conclusion.
Finally, I completed reading Occult Detective Magazine No. 7, which I had begun last month. In his editorial/introduction to the issue co-editor John Linwood Grant lays out the zine’s original vision: “…to explore this sub-genre with open minds and open hearts. Nothing—as long as it had both a supernatural, strange or weird element and an investigative one—as necessarily out of bounds.”
It helps to review the ground rules and set expectations for a magazine titled “Occult Detective.” There are several tales that fit Grant’s wider definition of the zine’s mission and give its editors a wider net from which to select stories. This edition is another strong entry in the series. My favorite tales were those by D. J. Tyrer, Nancy A. Hansen, and Brandon Barrows. The fiction is supported by articles on Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt, Conan and Carnacki, Grimm: Ghost Spotter from Golden Age Comics, and reviews of occult detective novels and comics. If you like this sub-genre, ODM will provide several sessions of great entertainment.
Bob Vojtko sent in six new gag cartoons for the next Digest Enthusiast. Great stuff—can’t wait to see them in print this January.
Our current issue: The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 is available in print at Lulu.com and Amazon, and in digital formats at Kindle Books and Magzter.
Vintage Crime Digest Pursuit No. 7 Contents Page Johnston McCulley “Fate Rides the Cyclone” R. Van Taylor “Revenge is for the Dead” H.A. DeRosso “May Lady Weeps” Stephen Marlowe “Flypaper” August Derleth “The Case of the Lost Dutchman” Hunt Collins “Joker” Robert Carlton “One Lethal Evening” Bram Norton “Rider Wanted”
Pursuit Detective Story Magazine No. 7 January 1955 Publisher: J.A. Kramer Editor: L.B. Cole Associate Editor: Phyllis Farren 5.5” x 7.5” 128 pages 35 cents
Current Releases Analog Sep/Oct 2020 Contents Page Sheila Williams’ Anniversary Retrospective Editorial Lewis Padgett “Mimsy Were the Borogoves” (reprint) Jason Kahler “After National Geographic” (verse) James Van Pelt “Minerva Girls” Derek Kunsken’s Science Fact: The Science Behind The House of Styx Holly Lyn Walrath “Yes, Antimatter is Real” (verse) John J. Vester “Where There’s Life” art by Kurt Huggins Sean McMullen “The Chrysalis Pool” Aimee Ogden “A Skyful of Wings” Jacob C. Cockcroft “Going Small” Beth Goder “True Colors” John G. Cramer’s The Alternate View: Where’s All the Antimatter? Stephen S. Power “Drive Safely” Wang Yuan “Casualties of the Quake” translation by Andy Dudak Dan Reade “The Home of the King” art by Tomislav Tikulin In Times to Come Joel Richards “City” M.L. Clark “Seeding the Mountain” Jay Werkheiser “The Writhing Tentacles of History” Alan Dean Foster “The Treasure of the Lugar Morto” Richard A. Lovett’s The Alternate View: The Post-Coronavirus “New Normal” James Sallis “Schools of Thought” Mary Soon-Lee “The Boy Who Went to Mars” Sarina Dories “I, Bigfoot” art by Mark Evans Adam-Troy Castro “Draiken Dies” art by Soo Lee Don Sakers: The Reference Library Brass Tacks (Letters) Anthony Lewis: Upcoming Events
Analog Science Fiction and Fact (Astounding) Vol. 140 No. 9 & 10 Sep/Oct 2020 Publisher: Peter Kanter Editor: Trevor Quachri Managing Editor: Emily Hockaday Editorial Assistant: Rae Purdom Senior Art Director: Victoria Green Cover: Soo Lee 208 pages, $7.99 on newsstands until Oct. 20, 2020 Analog website
bare•bones No. 3 Contents Page W.D. Gagliani’s epic overview of the original Planet of the Apes films, novel and sequel novelizations Craig Miller recalls being on-set for Conquest of the Planet of the Apes John Scoleri looks at the Apes adaptations from Screen Stories Jack Seabrook interviews collector Walker Martin Matthew R. Bradley’s look at Ray Bradbury’s Elliott Family J. Charles Burwell on the Western Noir novels of H.A. DeRosso Don D’Ammassa’s Overlooked Library returns Peter Enfantino Digs into Crime Digests S. Craig Zahler ducks into Sleaze Alley David J. Schow’s latest installment of his R&D column looks at Monster Movies
bare•bones No. 3 Summer 2020 Editors: Peter Enfantino, John Scoleri Layout: John Scoleri Cimarron Street Books 6” x 9” 107 pages Print $9.95
Jul/Aug 2020 Digests
Digest Magazine Writers Update Alexandria Blaelock, whose story “The Perfume of Peaches” appears in Ellery Queen Sep/Oct 2020, muses about The Thin Grey Line at Something is Going to Happen.
Ana Hurtado on her story “Madre Nuestra, Que Estás en Maracaibo” from F&SF Jul/Aug 2020 at Fantasy & Science Fiction.
Trace Evidence previews the writers and stories for AHMM Sep/Oct 2020.
Digest Magazine Review Gideon Marcus reviews Fantasy & Science Fiction Sep. 1965 at Galactic Journey.
Storytime M.E. Purfield shares his story “Bumper” at Rusty Barnes’Tough Crime.
TDE Contributors’ Corner Uncle Jack (Seabrook) and Cousin Peter (Enfantino) review Eerie No. 45, Vampirella No. 22, and Creepy No. 51 at bare•bones e-zine.
Readin’ and Writin’ I’m slowly making my way through Martin Roth’sThe Crime Writer’s Reference Guide and ran across this gem on page 182: “A crime is a wrong that affects the community in its aggregate capacity. A tort is a wrong apart from contract, which affects persons in their individual capacity. One is a public wrong, whereas the other is a private wrong. In the case of a crime, the wrongdoer is liable to criminal prosecution, whereas in the case of a tort, the offender is liable only to a civil action by the person injured.”
Finished reading bare•bones No. 2, an excellent follow-up to its debut issue. Lots of good stuff on the work of Richard Matheson by Paul M. Riordan, Matthew Bradley and co-editor John Scoleri, who also provides an article/review of DC’s Captain Action comics; co-editor Peter Enfantino’s pieces on The Sharpshooter paperbacks, another peek down Sleazy Alley, and follow-on to his article on the Shock Mystery Tales digests from TDE4, about the final bedsheet editions; Gilbert Colon on Lin Carter’s “People of the Dragon”; S. Craig Zahler on select issues of The Spider pulps; and David J. Schow explains the pile-up on production credits and endless writers’ meetings. Full disclosure: I dig into crime digests Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine (Feb–Jun 1957) in this issue.
Marc Myers is creating a new collection of work by the late Roman Scott. The hardcover format book will include all the content from his Oddities and Head zines. The volume will include recollections by Jonathan Falk and Todd Mecklem. I began the preliminary work on the layout this week.
Marc also completed a beautiful collage to illustrate a new story by Robert Snashall for The Digest Enthusiast No. 13, due in January 2021.
The current issue: The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 is available in print at Lulu.com and in digital formats at Kindle Books and Magzter.
Vintage Humor Digest Cracked Digest No. 1 Oct. 1986 John Severin “Sagebrush” Contents Page Editor’s Note Keny Gamble “Rambozo” Bill Everett “Pushbutton War” “Cat Gifts” Vic Martin “Hudd & Dini” “Ultra-Realistic Dolls” Charlie Rodrigues “Cannibal Chuckles” Sean Powers “School for TV Wrestlers” McCartney “Hurry Ups” John Severin “Celebrities’ Screen Idols” McCartney “Surfing U.S.A.” John Severin “Beach Ballon” Charlie Rodrigues “Take Me Out to the Old Cracked Ball Game” “Cracked Lens” (photo gags) Bill Ward “Cracked Interviews the Magic King” John Severin “Silly Things We Do…” Howard Nostrand “Foggy Night in Minnesota” John Severin “The Cracked Late Late Late Late Movie: The Towering Infernal” John Severin “Sagebrush” John Severin “Rare Old Shut Ups” (back cover)
Cracked Digest No. 1 Oct. 1986 Editor-in-Chief: Michael Delle-Femine Art Director: Barry Shaprio Editorial Assistance: Mort Todd 5.5” x 8.25” 148 pages $2.00
New Releases Mystery Weekly Magazine Aug. 2020 Contents Page Bill Kelly “Lucid” Josh Pachter “The Odds Are Good” Michael Bracken “Bone Soup” Gerard J. Waggett “Suicide Insurance” Leone Ciporin “The Power of the Dog” Rachel Amphlett “A Grave Mistake” Michael Mallory “Only the Desperate Come Here” David Bart “A Little Housecleaning” Bruce Harris “A Numbers Game” (You-Solve-It)
Mystery Weekly Magazine No. 60 Aug. 2020 Publisher: Chuck Carter Editor: Kerry Carter Cover: Robin Grenville-Evans 7.4” x 9.7” 85 pages Print $7.99 Kindle $3.99 MWM Website
Jul/Aug 2020 Digests
Digest Magazine Writers’ Roundup David Erik Nelson discusses his F&SF Jul/Aug 2020 cover story, “All Hail the Pizza King and Bless His Reign Eternal,” at Fantasy & Science Fiction.
Adam Ford on the secret origin of his poem “Dog Day Afternoon” from Asimov’s Jul/Aug 2020 at From Earth to the Stars.
James Morrow on “Bible Stories for Adults, No. 37: The Jawbone” from F&SF Jul/Aug 2020 at Fantasy & Science Fiction.
Tom Purdom talks ray guns, personality mods, and quotes about his story “We All Lose if They Take Mizuba” from Asimov’s Jul./Aug 2020 at From Earth to the Stars.
Digest Magazine Reviews Robert Lopresti reviews “Only the Desperate Come Here” by Michael Mallory from Mystery Weekly Magazine Aug. 2020 at Little Big Crimes.
Suz Jay reviews Pulp Modern Vol. 2 No. 5 and awards it 4.5 stars at Goodreads.
Victoria Silverwolf reviews Fantastic Sept. 1965 at Galactic Journey.
James Reasoner reviews Commando: Raging Metal at Rough Edges.
Storytime Alec Cizak reads three poems from The Five-Two on ACTV.
TDE Contributors’ Corner Jack Seabrook and Peter Enfantino review Batman No. 326, The Brave and the Bold No. 165, Detective Comics No. 493, and The Untold Legend of Batman No. 2 at bare•bones e-zine.
Jack Seabrook presents The Hitchcock Project—Harold Swanton Part Five: “Summer Shade” (adapted from an AHMM Oct. 1960 story) at bare•bones e-zine.
Zine Scene Jim Main’s latest mini comic Brain Freeze No. 4 is available for $5.00 postage paid from Main Enterprises PO Box 93, New Milford, CT 06776. The 40-page issue includes work by well over a dozen cartoonists including John Lambert, Brad W. Foster, Doug Halverson, and many, many others.
Also, Michael Neno’sHorse Crime Comics mini comic is now available at Nenoworld.
Readin’ and Writin’ Finished listening to Victor E. Frankl’s Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything this week. The book consists of three lectures Frankl gave shortly after his liberation from concentration camps after WWII on the meaning of life. Surprisingly uplifting and of course, thought provoking.
Also read the second edition of Amazing Selects with Edmond Hamilton’s Captain Future starring in The Guns of Pluto by Allen Steele. This adventure is the second installment of Steele’s trilogy of The Return of Ul Quorn, sequel to Avengers of the Moon. Great read with clever plotting. Can’t wait to get my eyeballs on the conclusion. Plus this edition includes a bonus reprint of Hamilton’s “The Harpers of Titan,” a story in which the Brain takes center stage, with the rest of the crew in supporting roles.
Finished writing an article/review of Flying Eagle’s 1953 digest magazine Verdict and submitted it to Peter Enfantino of Cimarron Street books for a future edition of bare•bones.
Also gained feedback on my sword and sorcery story “The Children of Aldwier” from my writing group. After some tweaks, the story will appear in TDE13, scheduled for January 2021.
Karl awarded The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 a five-star rating on Goodreads this week. Thank you, Karl! The issue is available in print from Lulu.com (and amazon), and in digital formats for Kindle and Magzter.
Vintage SF Digest Thrilling Science Fiction No. 24 April 1972 Contents Page Ivar Jorgenson “Children of Chaos” Les Collins “The Seventh Planet” art by Schroeder C.H. Thomas “World Beyond Pluto” art by Novick Henry Slesar “Legacy of Terror” art by Virgil Finlay Tom Godwin “Cry From a Far Planet” art by Martinez O.H. Leslie “The Creators” A. Bertram Chandler “It Started with Sputnik” art by Llewellyn G.L. Vendenberg “Moon Glow” A. Morris & Malcolm Smith “The Thing on the Moon”
Thrilling Science Fiction No. 24 April 1972 Ultimate Publishing 5.25” x 7.75” 132 pages 60¢
New Releases Pulp Modern Flash debuts with C.W. Blackwell’s “Memories of Fire.”
Rock and a Hard Place No. 3 Contents Page Albert Tucher’s The Rule of Three (Foreword) Jeremiah Kniola “Chicken” Claude Lehumiere “Off the Road” RHP Editorial Board: Far from Noir: A Tribute to Jonathan Elliott C.W. Blackwell “Dig Deep the Midnight Furrows” Jen Conley “He Will Kill You” Alexandros Plasatis “Made in China” Richard Risemberg “The Parking Lot” L.R. Casazza “Repeat Offender” Todd Robinson “Mr. Important” Robb T. White “Barn Find” Alison Garsha “In Real Life” Mark Krajnak “Between a Habit and a Dream” Gabrielle Nelson “Lost Dog Dreams” Donald D. Shore “Portrait of Temptation” Tammy Euliano “In Need of a Heart in Texas” David Rachels “Oscar Montoya Leaves” Contributors’ Biographies
Rock and a Hard Place No. 3 Spring/Summer 2020 Editor-in-Chief: Roger Nokes Managing Editor: Jay Butkowski Producing Editor: Jonathan Elliott Associate Editors: Nikki Dolson, Katrina Robinson, Albert Tucher Production: Christopher Nokes Visual Artists: Richard Risemberg, Andrew Novak, Jay Butkowski, Stephen J. Golds, Rob Tucher, Mark Krajnak, Diane Krauthamer Cover: Andrew Novak 6” x 9” 176 pages Print $12.99 Kindle $2.99 WebsitePatreon
Digest Magazine Reviews Kevin Tipple reviews Crime Syndicate Magazine No. 1 at Kevin’s Corner.
David Levinson reviews Worlds of If Sept. 1965 at Galactic Journey.
Jul/Aug 2020 Digests
Digest Magazine Writer News The August Fate Monthly Newsletter reports the next issue of Fate is underway. Until then, read about other Fate productions available now.
Rati Mehrotra on her story “Knock Knock, Said the Ship” from S&SF Jul/Aug 2020 at Fantasy & Science Fiction.
Richard Schiffman discusses his poem “Planets” from Asimov’s Jul/Aug 2020 in his Q&A at From Earth to the Stars.
D.M. Barr interviews Ann Aptaker about her novella “A Taco, a T-Brid, a Beretta, and One Furious Night,” from Guns + Tacos Season 2 at Novel Concepts. (Fast forward to 19:30 if you’d like to skip the intros.) Thanks, Michael Bracken.
Storytime Alec Cizak reads his five of his L.A. poems at ACTV.
TDE Contributors’ Corner Uncle Jack (Seabrook) and Cousin Peter (Enfantino) review Vampirella No. 21, Eerie No. 44, and Creepy No. 50—and pick Warren’s Best (and Worst) from 1968–1972 at bare•bones e-zine.
Paul D. Marks interviews about his novel The Blues Don’t Care at Mystery Playground. (Thanks, Kevin Tipple.)
James Reasoner, Paul Bishop, and Robert Vaughan discuss writing at Wolfpack Publishing.
Tony Gleeson reviews Paul Gleeson’sScreams From My Father on Goodreads.
Jack Seabrook’s annual update (2020) of The Hitchcock Project at bare•bones e-zine.
Readin’ and Writin’ Robert Lopresti, author of more than 70 published short stories, shares insights on how to write, edit and sell a short story via Zoom.com on August 8, 2020 at 10:00 AM (CST). Click on “Join a Meeting” and enter Meeting ID: 841-5192-7887.
Spent a fair amount of time retouching cover images for TDE13 this week.
Began reading Occult Detective Magazine No. 7, but several pages came loose during the process. I’ve purchased a lot of books printed by CreateSpace/KDP and this is the first time I ever saw this problem. Poor bindery work from the Coppell, Texas operation. Amazon agreed to accept the return, but I had to send the copy back before I finished reading it. Hope the next copy is back to KDP’s usual quality.
The follow-up was Nostalgia Ventures’ The Shadow No. 3 with “The Red Blot” and “The Voodoo Master.” “Blot” was good, but not one of the stronger entries in the series (3-stars). “Voodoo” on the other hand was voted the all-time favorite in 1937 by the original magazine’s readers. No wonder, it’s a 5-star Shadow adventure with supernatural elements, mystery, lots of action, twists, and plenty of ink for The Shadow’s supporting cast of Harry Vincent, Hawkeye, Cliff Marsland, Burbank, and Rutledge Mann.
For those looking for more digest magazine history, consider Vince Nowell, Sr.’s piece on digest-size Science Fiction Novels in The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 (June 2020). The issue is available in print from Lulu.com (or amazon) and in digital formats for Kindle and Magzter.
I should also mention amazon has slashed their margins on issue No. 11, so if you suffered sticker shock on our first full color print edition, now is a bargain-bustin’ time to buy.
Vintage True Crime Digest Unsolved Murders June 1954 Contents Page Editorial Eleanor Taulman “Atomic Murder” Justin Gilbert “In Shadow of President” Paging the Mikado Arthur Wiesen (contents page) Don Porter (page 24) “Fallen Star” Beating the Rap Joanna Gershonoff “Stalin’s Bloody Boudoir” Yosh Witorff “Death in the Dimout” How G-Men Disarm ‘Em William T. Brannon “$2,000,000 Torture” Jose Schorr “Be Your Own D.A.” Jonathan Lord “Locked Out of Life” Louis I. Freed “His Number Was Up” Douglas Larsen “26,000 Suspects” Crime Fighter Hall of Fame Craig Rice “Voodoo Doll” Elgar Dolson “Not Big Enough for His Hat”
Unsolved Murders Vol. 1 No. 1 June 1954 Editor & Publisher: Lou Shainmark Managing Editor: Don Porter Art Director: I.S. Mann 5” x 7.25” 128 pages saddle-stitched 35¢ cover price
New Release Switchblade No. 12 Russell Highland “The Great Morality” (verse) Contents Page Scotch Rutherford: Editor’s Corner
Sharp & Deadly Short Fiction E.F. Sweetman :Sorry Not Sorry” C.W. Blackwell “From Dusk to Blonde” Jon Zelazny “Radio Sutch” D.K. Latta “Forwarded Mail” Walter Sandville “Sealing the Deal” Elliot F. Sweeney “A Dirt Hit” William R. Soldan “Like a Diamond in the Sky” Nathan Pettigrew “Aileen of Savanne Road” Andrew Miller “They Call Me Cuban Pete”
Quick & Dirty Flash Fiction Patrick Whitehurst “Henrietta’s Calming Way” Albert Tucher “A Glitch in the Universe” Preston Lang “The High Notes” Serena Jayne “Checking Out”
Switchblade Person of Interest: Chris McGinley Author Bios & Acknowledgements
Digest Magazine Writer News Jay Werkheiser discusses his Science Fact article: Alien Biochemistry for Analog Jul/Aug 2020 at The Astounding Analog Companion.
Joseph S. Walker, whose story “Chasing Diamonds” will appear in EQMM Sep/Oct 2020 muses on “The Page Where It Happens” at Something is Going to Happen.
Storytime Alec Cizak reads three poems by Robert E. Howard at ACTV.
TDE Contributors’ Corner Jack Seabrook and Peter Enfantino review The Untold Legend of Batman No. 1, Batman No. 325, The Brave and the Bold No. 164, and Detective Comics No. 492 at bare•bones e-zine.
Jack Seabrook’s The Hitchcock Project—Harold Swanton Part Four: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge at bare•bones e-zine.
Kristin Kisska interviews Josh Pachter about the “dying message” at SleuthSayers.
Zine Scene The third issue of Jim Main’sWhat Ever is out. This time, features include The Last Omega Men: Legends Compared by Michael House, Origins of Thundarr the Barbarian by Will Murray, a review of the series Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth, and Fandom Central reviews. The piece on Thundarr includes artwork by TDE contributor Michael Neno. What Ever No. 3 is available for $8.50 (PPD) from Main Enterprises.
Readin’ and Writin’ This week I read Tales From the Magician’s Skull No. 4 with eight all new sword and sorcery yarns. It’s a beautifully designed and illustrated full-size magazine. Included are stories by John C. Hocking, Adrian Cole, James Enge, James Stoddard, C.L. Werner, Ryan Harvey, Tom Doyle, and Milton Davis. Honestly, if you enjoy S&S you cannot go wrong with this issue, it’s terrific. My only complaint is that I wish it were published in an easier-to-handle digest size.
Also read Mourn the Hangman by Harry Whittington this week. The edition shown here is A Graphic Mystery No. 46, a paperback original first published in 1952. A Private Investigator arrives home to find his wife murdered. He immediately puts his worst judgements to work and finds himself suspect number one for the crime. He spends the rest of the novel avoiding arrest and desperately trying to discover who killed his wife. The book is well written, but the PI reviews and reflects on his emotional trauma too many times. Without all the redundancy the pacing and urgency would have made a stronger novel.
Completed the initial layouts on Gary Lovisi’s article on Falcon Books and my review of Sword & Sorcery Annual for The Digest Enthusiast No. 13 this week. Also spent several hours retouching Mystery Book Magazine covers.
The unique phenomenon of pocket-size (4” x 6”) magazines propagated newsstands in the 1950s. Most filled their pages with pin-ups of models, aspiring actresses, and stars of burlesque. Only a handful were dedicated to true crime stories like Fotocrime.
The brainchild of editor and publisher Jackson Burke, Fotocrime sought the sensational horrors of butchers, mobsters, and serial killers amping up fears of trill-killing juries and a continually degenerating society.
Read the whole sensational report in The Digest Enthusiast No. 12, available in print from Lulu.com and digital formats for Kindle and Magzter.
Vintage Crime Digest Sure Fire Detective Stories April 1958 Contents Page Pete McCann “A Challenge for the Killer!” Art Crockett “Death Couldn’t Reach Me!” Ray Dunham “The Edge of Terror!” Jack Oleck “Death with a Stranger!” Don Unatin “Dead: Do Not Disturb!” Mitch Clark “Murder is an Accident!” Bill Ryder “Hell on Wheels!” Al James “Steel Clad Alibi!” Hal Crosby “The Face of Death!” G.G. Revelle “Love Me Hard!”
Sure Fire Detective Stories Vol. 2 No. 2 April 1958 Pontiac Publications Cover: Carl Pfeufer 5.5” x 7.5” 112 mags 35¢ cover price
