The Digest Enthusiast – Page 5 – Larque Press | The Digest Enthusiast

News July 3, 2020

News Digest July 3, 2020

New Releases
Black Cat Mystery Magazine No. 6
Contents Page
Michael Bracken: From the Cat’s Perch
Trey R. Barker “Seven Card Joker High”
Robert Guffey “The Loser”
Michael Bracken “Blest Be the Tie that Binds”
John Hegenberger “The Magnificent Score”
Robert Lopresti “Worse than Death”
Patricia Dusenbury “The Last Thing He Remembered”
Laird Long “Paint the Clown Red”
Bryce Walton “The Contagious Killer” (Classic Reprint)

Black Cat Mystery Magazine No. 6 (Vol. 2 No. 2) (June 2019)
Publisher: John Gregory Betancourt
Editor: Michael Bracken
Production Team: Sam Cooper, Steve Coupe, Shawn Garrett, Sam Hogan, Yamini Manikoth
Cover: Uncredited
6” x 9” 132 pages
Print $14.49 Kindle $3.99
Black Cat Mystery website

Analog, Asimov's Ju./Aug 2020 — Analog, Asimov’s Ju./Aug 2020

The Jul/Aug 2020 issues of Analog and Asimov’s are now available. For contents click on their titles.

Pulp Modern editor Alec Cizak provides an update on the fiction digest at No Moral Center and introduces Pulp Modern Flash, a new online genre fiction website.

Tales from the Magician’s Skull No. 4
Contents Page
John C. Hocking “Guardian of the Broken Gem”
Adrian Cole “On Death Seed Island”
James Enge “Masks of Silence”
James Stoddard “Cage of Honor”
C.L. Werner “The Witch’s Hand”
Ryan Harvey “The Dead Queen’s Triumph”
Tom Doyle “Thieves of the Fallen World”
Milton Davis “Apedamak’s Army”
Terry Olson’s Appendix: Game Statistics

Tales from the Magician’s Skull No. 4
Publisher: Joseph Goodman
Editor: Howard Andrew Jones
Cover: Doug Kovacs
Design: Lester B. Portly
Interior Art: Chris Arneson, Randy Broecker, Samuel Dillon, Jannell Jaquays, Doug Kovacs, Brad McDevitt, Russ Nicholson, Stefan Prag
8.5” x 11” 72 pages
Print $14.99

Analog July 1965, If Aug. 1965 — Analog July 1965 and World of If Aug. 1965

Digest Magazine Reviews
Robert Lopresti reviews Mark Thielman’s “A Beastly Trial” from AHMM Jul/Aug 2020 at Little Big Crimes.

Gideon Marcus reviews Analog July 1965 at Galactic Journey.

David Levinson reviews Worlds of If Aug. 1965 at Galactic Journey.

Digest Magazine Blogs
Derek Künsken’s Q&A on “Tool Use by the Humans of Danzhai County” Asimov’s Jul/Aug 2020 at From Earth to the Stars.

P.K. Torrens on his story “Nanoscopic Nemesis” Analog Jul/Aug 2020 at The Astounding Analog Companion.

C.C. Finlay overviews F&SF Jul/Aug 2020 at Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Stephen Mazur is leaving his post as Assistant Editor of F&SF. C.C. Finlay writes a farewell tribute at Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Stephen Mazur interviews Richard Bowes about “In the Eyes of Jack Saul” (F&SF May/Jun 2020) at Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Jacqueline Freimor whose story “That Which is True” debuts in EQMM Jul/Aug 2020 responds to the question: “Where do you get your ideas?” at EQMM’s Something is Going to Happen.

Batman 323, Brave & Bold 162, Detective 490

TDE Contributor Corner
Jack Seabrook and Peter Enfantino review Batman No. 323, The Brave and the Bold No. 162, and Detective Comics No. 490 at bare•bones e-zine.

Jack Seabrook presents The Hitchcock Project—Harold Swanton Part Two: Portrait of Jocelyn at bare•bones e-zine.

The Confession, Eddie's World — The Confession and Eddie’s World

Readin’ and Writin’
(6-28-20) Finished reading The Confession by Domenic Stansberry, Hard Case Crime, 2004 (HCC-006) this week. A criminal psychologist tells his first-hand story of the criminal justice system when he finds himself facing trial for the murder of his lover amid an avalanche of circumstantial evidence.

Second read of the week was Eddie’s World by Charlie Stella, from Stark House Press’ Black Gat imprint. It’s Black Gat Books No. 2. The copyright is 2001, first published by Carroll & Graf. Cover photo by Peter Rozovsky, book design by Mark Shepard.

Eddie is a sometimes gangster, sometimes word processor. He takes on his latest caper mostly to help out a friend who is in deep financial straits. It’s an after-hours heist for $15K in cash, split three ways between Eddie, Tommy, and the inside-gal Sarah. Like the rest of Eddie’s life, things get complicated, get worse, and get hard to see anyway free and clear of the noirish muck he’s mired in. Plot, characters, prose—this one’s terrific from every angle.

Updated several larquepress.com webpages this week, adding The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 and Pulp Modern No. 5 to their respective webpages and a complete redo of the links page.

Barb Goffman shares proofreading tips at SleuthSayers.

DreamHaven Books now has copies of The Digest Enthusiast No. 10–12 and bare*bones No. 1 and No. 2 for sale online and at their landmark store in Minneapolis.

Jack Seabrook wrapped up a terrific article on Mystery Book Magazine author Leo Marr that’s locked in for The Digest Enthusiast No. 13, due in January 2021.

While you’re waiting you might want to check out the current issue that includes an interview with John Shirley about his special issue of Weirdbook No.42. The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 is available in print from select booksellers and Lulu.com–and in digital versions for Kindle and Magzter.

Vintage Crime Digest
Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine Feb. 1959
Brett Halliday: First Appearances
Brett Halliday “Keep Me Out of the Morgue” (Mike Shayne)
Lewis Horne “Strangers in Gideon”
Art Crockett “Murder Begins at Home”
Johnston McCulley “Thubway Tham’s Double Play”
Henry Slesar “Something Borrowed”
John Jakes “The Crooked Three”
Charles Beckman, Jr. “Framed”
Dennis Weigand “Child’s Play”

Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine Vol 4 No. 3 Feb. 1959
Publisher: Leo Margulies
Editorial Director: Cylvia Kleinman
Production: Walter P. Dallas
5.5” x 7.75” 128 pages
Cover Price: 35¢

News June 26, 2020

News Digest June 26, 2020

New Releases
Pulp Modern Vol. 2 No. 5 Summer 2020
Contents Page
Alec Cizak: From the Editor
Andrew Bourelle “Companion”
Peter W.J. Hayes “The Bowie Knife”
Mandi Jourdan “These Violent Delights”
“Doc” Clancy “Ghost Town”
Timothy Friend “Burnin’ Love”
Serena Jayne “Necessary Evils”
Adam S. Furman “Intercession”
Victoria Weisfeld “The Unbroken Circle”
Nils Gilbertson “How to Make a Boulevardier”

Publishers: Uncle B Publications & Larque Press LLC
Editor: Alec Cizak
Design: Richard Krauss
Cover: Rick McCollum
Interior Artwork: Ran Scott
Cartoons: Bob Vojtko
5.5” x 8.5” 132 pages
Print $6.99 Kindle $2.99

Alec Cizak reads the intro to Pulp Modern Vol. 2 No. 5

Editor Alec Cizak reads his introduction to the issue on ACTV.

Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen Jul/Aug 2020

The Jul/Aug 2020 issues of Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen are now available. For contents click on their titles.

Amazing Stories has launched a Kickstarter Campaign to help fund another four issues of the magazine.

Storytime
The second issue of Close to the Bone is out with crime fiction and other genres. Free download.

Digest Magazine Blogs
Robert Reed on “Who Carries the World” from F&SF May/Jun 2020 at Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Robert R. Chase on Immortality and “The Offending Eye” from Analog Jul/Aug 2020 at The Astounding Analog Companion.

Herb Kauderer, whose poem “Bicameral” appears in Asimov’s Jul/Aug 2020, has Questions About the New Inequality at From Earth to the Stars.

Tom Mead, author of “The Indian Rope Trick” in EQMM Jul/Aug 2020, discusses locked room mysteries at Something is Going to Happen.

TDE Contributors’ Corner
Steve Carper explores the Harden Planetarium at Flying Cars and Food Pills.

Uncle Jack (Seabrook) and Cousin Peter (Enfantino) review Vampirella No. 17, Eerie No. 40, and Creepy No. 46 at bare•bones e-zine.

Readin’ and Writin’
There’s no other magazine I can think of like Nostalgia Digest. It’s kind of like TV Guide, only for radio; radio from its golden era celebrated anew every Saturday on WDCB and WGN, on air and online. The quarterly Digest shares the schedules and synopsis of all the shows and rounds out every issue with nearly a dozen articles on celebrities, popular culture, and history. The Summer 2020 edition, which I read this week, is the all-vintage swimsuit issue, featuring celebrities Ava Gardner, Doris Day, Anne Baxter, Kirk Douglas, Loretta Young, Alexis Smith, Jackie Cooper, Leila Ernest, Kay Stewart, Eddie Bracken, Richard Conte, Gene Tierney, Beryl Vaughn, Jimmy Durante, Maureen O’Hara, Marie Windsor, and Ginger Rogers. The articles on Keir Dullea, Andy Griffith, Jack Pearl, wartime baseball, the Chautauqua movement, and Jimmy Stewart were all enlightening and entertaining. My thanks to Editor, Publisher, and Host Steve Darnall for another great issue, and for all you do to keep old time radio and those thrilling days of yesteryear alive!

Also read the second issue of Verdict, for a work-in-progress article. Haven’t decided yet if it’s for The Digest Enthusiast No. 13, or elsewhere. Verdict No. 2 a terrific issue of a terrific magazine. Sad it only lasted four issues. Some strong entries here by Samuel Blas, Bruno Fischer, Dorothy B. Hughes, Henry Kane, Cornell Woolrich and of course Rex Stout, whose Neo Wolfe novel Fer De Lance is serialized.

Many thanks to Kevin Tipple for highlighting Michael Bracken’s story “El Despoblado” in The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 at The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog.

Thanks also to David Haden of Tentaclii, an H.P. Lovecraft blog, for including The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 in a post this week.

Received comp copies of the new issue of The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 from the printer and began mailing them out to contributors. This time the printed book was produced by Lulu.com and I’m very pleased with the results. Their all-new website and new standard color option enabled this edition to include a full color interior at a reasonable, if not inexpensive, price. The book is available in print at lulu.com and for Kindle and Magzter. Among many other features is Lester del Rey’s The Five Ages of Science Fiction by Ward Smith.

Uncategorized June 19, 2020

News Digest Juneteenth 2020

New Releases
bare•bones No. 2 Spring 2020
Contents Page
Peter Enfantino and John Scoleri’s Dueling Editorials
Paul M. Riordan interview: Richard Matheson and the Western
John Scoleri’s Soy Leyenda: The Spanish Adaptation of Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend
Peter Enfantino’s The Lunatic Odyssey of Johnny Rock: The Sharpshooter
Gilbert Colon’s “Book One” of Lin Carter’s “People of the Dragon” Saga
Peter Enfantino’s Shock Mystery Tales
Richard Krauss’ Digging Into Crime Digests
Peter Enfantino’s Slease Alley
John Scoleri’s Captain Action at DC Comics
S. Craig Zahler’s The Spider Master of Men!
David J. Schow’s R&D
About the Contributors

bare•bones No. 2 Spring 2020
Editors: Peter Enfantino, John Scoleri
Layout: John Scoleri
Cimarron Street Books
6” x 9” 106 pages
Print $9.95

Occult Detective Magazine No. 7
Contents Page
John Linwood Grant’s Editorial
Cliff Biggers’s In Memorial: Susan Hendrix Biggers
Debra Blundell “Uxmal” art by Mutartis Boswell
Paul St. John Mackintosh “Ghost in the Machine”
Jonathan Raab and Matthew M. Bartlett “Pause for Station Identification” art by Luke Spooner
Aaron Vlek “The Case of the Signet Ring” art by Bob Freeman
Steven Philip Jones’ Dirk Pitt: Occult Detective?
W*ll**m H*pe H*dgs*n “The Thing in the Bedroom”
D.J. Tyrer “The White Sickness” art by Autumn Barlow
Nancy A. Hansen “Smoake and MIrrors”
Bobby Derie’s Conan and Carnacki: Robert E. Howard and William Hope Hodgson
Tanya Warnakulasuriya “Mama G”
Julie Frost “Dash Thy Foot” art by Russell Smeaton
Brandon Barrows “Beyond the Faded Shrine Gates”
Colin Fisher “A Night in Gorakhpur”
Dave Brzeski’s Cold Cases: Grimm: Ghost Spotter/Doctor
Reviews
Describin’ the Scribes

Occult Detective Magazine No. 7 May 2020
Editors: John Linwood Grant and Dave Brzeski
Cover: Sebastian Cabrol
Cathaven Press
6” x 9” 196 pages
Print $10.95

Digest Magazine News
Michael Bracken with news on Black Cat Mystery Magazine, Guns + Tacos, and his anthologies at SleuthSayers.

Emily Hockaday, Trevor Quachri, and Sheila Williams announce and 2019 AnLab and Asomiv’s Reader’s Award Winners at both Asimov’s From Earth to the Stars and The Astounding Analog Companion.

Tim Lucas recalls the debut of his digest at Video Watchdog.

Digest Magazine Stories
Robert Lopresti backgrounds his “Library of Poisonville” cover story from AHMM Jul/Aug 2020 at SleuthSayers.

Rebecca Zahabi discusses “Birds Without Wings” from F&SF May/Jun 2020 at Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Read about Tom Jolly’s return to Analog Jul/Aug 2020 with “Stick and Stones” at The Astounding Analog Companion.

Claire Ortalda, whose story “The Recipe Box” appears in EQMM Jul/Aug 2020, examines “murder as entertainment” at Something is Going to Happen.

Hollis Joel Henry on “The Last Water Baron” from Asimov’s Jul/Aug 2020 at From Earth to the Stars.

Digest Magazine Reviews
Gideon Marcus reviews Fantasy & Science Fiction July 1965 at Galactic Journey.

Mark R. Kelly reviews Galaxy Novel No. 3: Prelude to Space by Arthur C. Clarke at Black Gate.

Gabriel Hart reviews Possession starring Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neil at EconoClash Review.

Storytime
Alec Cizak reads Sandra Seamans’ “Survivor’s Guilt” on ACTV.

Thomas Pluck’s “The Cucuzza Curse” at Rusty Barnes’ Tough Crime.

Alec Cizak reads his story, “Useful Things,” on ACTV.

TDE Contributors’ Corner
Jack Seabrook and Peter Enfantino review Batman No. 322, The Brave and the Bold No. 161, DC Special Series No. 21, and Detective Comics No. 489 at bare•bones e-zine.

Jack Seabrook’s The Hitchcock Project—Harold Swanton Part One: Premonition at bare•bones e-zine.

Readin’ and Writing’
This weeks reads included the digest, Sword and Sorcery Annual, featured last week as the Vintage Fantasy Digest. It’s a collection of short stories well worth seeking out in secondary markets, since most were carefully plucked from early 1960s issues of Fantastic. All that is except the Conan adventure, which dates back to 1934, via Weird Tales. If you enjoy swashbuckling adventures mixed with the supernatural this collection is a treasure chest of riches.

Also finished the audiobook edition of Little Girl Lost by Richard Aleas, read by L.S. Ganser. Print version from Hard Case Crime, book HCC-004, with a stunning cover by Robert McGinnis. It’s Aleas’ debut novel that delivers a thoroughly engaging investigation of the murder of stripper Miranda Sugarman, college sweetheart of John Blake, now private investigator—a case Blake is pursuing on his own. Although they’d lost track of each other over the years, he feels a deep sense of loss with her passing. He knows he can’t bring her back, but at least he can help bring her killer to justice, and perhaps give himself some closure as well. A top-notch PI novel.

On the publishing side of things, I finished up the Kindle and Magzter versions of Pulp Modern Vol. 2 No. 5, due for launch in print and digital formats on June 23, 2020. Authors include Andrew Bourelle, Peter W.J. Hayes, Mandi Jourdan, “Doc” Clancy, Timothy Friend, Serena Jayne, Adam S. Furman, Victoria Weisfeld, and Nils Gilbertson. Interior art by Ran Scott. Cartoons by Bob Vojtko. Cover by Rick McCollum. Editor Alec Cizak has produced a trailer that captures mood.

I ordered contributor copies of The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 in bulk as the logistic costs are slightly better to have them all sent here than to parse them out individually from Lulu.com. Above is the opening spread of the interview with artist and writer Tony Gleeson, who also provided the cover and plenty of beautiful illustrations from his Amazing and Fantastic days with Sol Cohen and Ted White.

Vintage Adventure Digest
Short Stories A Man’s Magazine April 1958
Contents Page
Richard Howells Watkins “Strange Ship” (Sea Story)
T.T. Flynn “Eyes That See” (Railroad)
Theodore Sturgeon “The Professor’s Teddy Bear” (Fantasy)
Myron David Orr “The Voodoo Priestess” (New Guinea)
Murray Leinster “Poor Devils” (Science Fiction)
Carl Jacobi “The Commission of Captain Lace” (Pirate Story)
Frank Bonham “Plague Boat” (Adventure)
Albert George “Castoff Jockey” (Race Track)
Don Ward “Young as Texas” (Western)

Short Stories A Man’s Magazine Vol. 220 No. 2 April 1958
Publisher: Leo Margulies
Editorial Director: Cylvia Kleinman
Production: Walter P. Dallas
5.5” x 7.75” 128 pages
Cover price 35¢

Uncategorized June 12, 2020

News Digest June 12, 2020

New Release
The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 June 2020
Contents:
• Interviews with Tony Gleeson (Fantastic, Amazing Science Fiction, Mike Shayne, Personal Crimes) and John Shirley (Weirdbook, Fantastic, The Crow, Constantine, Wetbones).
• Lester del Rey’s Five Ages of Science Fiction by Vince Nowell, Sr.
• Born of Other Worlds, it’s Science Stories, the digest Ray Palmer “tossed in your lap with little or no ceremony.”
• News and dozens of cover previews from around the world of digests, direct from the magazines’ editors, publishers, and writers.
• Mike Chomko and William Lampkin untangle the fate of PulpFest 2020 and The Pulpster.
• Richard Krauss exhumes the true crime sensation: Fotocrime.
• Steve Carper rediscovers the remarkable Photoplay Editions.
• Ward Smith spotlights Digest Science Fiction Novels.
• New fiction by Michael Bracken, Rick Ollerman, and Joe Wehrle, Jr. with artwork by Rick McCollum, Marc Myers, and Michael Neno.
• Reviews of Amazing Selects, bare•bones No. 1, EconoClash Review No. 5, Guns + Tacos Season One, Lake County Incidents, and Paperback Fanatic No. 43.
• Plus over 100 digest magazine cover images, first issue factoids, cartoons by Bob Vojtko, and more.
• Cover by Tony Gleeson, 160 pages, published in full color by Larque Press.
Print $18.99
Kindle $4.99
Magzter $4.99

Digest Magazine Reviews
Robert Lopresti reviews Luke Foster’s “Seat 9B” from Mystery Weekly Magazine June 2020 at Little Big Crimes.

James Reasoner reviews Commando: Mask of Death at Rough Edges.

Storytime
Victoria Dalpe’s “The Girl” on JD Graves’s Podcast No. 4 at EconoClash Review.

William Boyle’s “Unsatisfied” at Rusty Barnes’ Tough Crime.

Alec Cizak reads his story “The Space Between” at ACTV.

Digest Magazine Blogs
Holly Messinger on “Byzantine” from F&SF May/Jun 2020 at Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Kevin Mims compares and contrasts The Black Death by Gwyneth Cravens and John S. Marr with the current pandemic on EQMM’s Something is Going to Happen.

TDE Contributors’ Corner
Uncle Jack (Seabrook) and Cousin Peter (Enfantino) review Vampirella No. 16, Eerie No. 39, and Creepy No. 45 at barebones e-zine.

Readin’ and Writin’
John Floyd offers writing Do’s and Don’ts as SleuthSayers.

James W. Ziskin counts words to motivate “butt-in-chair” writing at Criminal Minds.

Two for the Money by Max Allen Collins and Paperback Parade No. 107

Read Hard Case Crime HCC-005 this week. Two for the Money works as a title for the story, and even better as the description of this two-fer reprint of the Curtis OPB novels “Bait Money” and “Blood Money.” In his afterword, author Max Allan Collins provides the details on the originals and how they came to be paired under the Hard Case Crime imprint. I kinda wish it had been a Foreword. The redundant recap of key plot points from the first novel in the second are more forgivable when you have the facts. Nonetheless, the two represent Collins’ first published novel: “Bait”—and, “Blood,” if not his second, certainly another early effort. Both are serviceable, but felt padded with over-long descriptions and several fully rendered scenes that could’ve easily been summarized in a paragraph or two instead of a whole chapter.

Also managed to fit in a reading of Paperback Parade No. 107. Designer Richard Greene dominates this edition of PP, sharing his collection of paperbacks set in the South Pacific—the Hawaiian islands, Fiji, Tahiti, and Tiki-inspired pop culture. A refreshing, well-researched read. Even his regular “Matchless Paperbacks” feature follows suit with James Michener’s Hawaii. Paperback Talk by Gary Lovisi is always a fun mix of new releases, LOCs, and collectors’ addendums to previous articles. Gary’s piece on the Spanish space operas Luchadores Del Espacio (Space Fighters) is a rare treat, loaded with background and over 40 cover images from the series! Another terrific issue rounded out with pieces on Denis Hughes, Hard Case Crime, and Robert A. Heinlein.

Alec Cizak’s Pulp Modern Vol. 2 No. 5 was finalized this week he’s ordered proof prints ahead of its June 23rd release date.

Vintage Fantasy Digest
Sword & Sorcery Annual 1975
Contents Page
Robert E. Howard “Queen of the Black Coast” (Conan) art by Steven E. Fabian
Sam Moskowitz’s L. Sprague de Camp: Sword and Satire
John Jakes “The Pillars of Chambalor” (Brak) art by Gray Morrow
Michael Moorcock “Master of Chaos” (Earl Aubec) art by Virgil Finlay
Robert Arthur “The Mirror of Caglisastro” art by Dan Adkins
Fritz Leiber “The Cloud of Hate” (Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser) art by Leo R. Summers
Ursula K. Leguin “The Masters” art by Dan Adkins
Roger Zelazny “Horseman” art by Leo R. Summers

Sword & Sorcery Annual 1975
Ultimate Publishing Co.
Editor: Sol Cohen
Cover: Steven E. Fabian
5.25” x 7.75” 128 pages
Cover price 75¢

News June 5, 2020

News Digest June 5, 2020

New Releases
Nostalgia Digest Summer 2020
Contents
Steve Darnall “Hello, Out There in Radioland!”
A Few Moments with . . . Keir Dullea
CeleBio: Barbara Stanwyck (Paramount Pictures, 1949)
Randy Turner “What it was was Mayberry” (The Andy Griffith Show)
Al Doyle “Play Ball?” When baseball’s top players went to War, a wave of youngsters. veterans and amputees ensured the game would go on.
Garry Berman “Vass You Dere, Sharlie?” Jack Pearl and the rise and fall of Baron Munchausen.
Dan McGuire “At This Theatre Next Week” Chapter Three
David Rutter “Summers of Enlightenment” How the Chautauqua movement conquered America…by offering its citizens “all things in life.”
Swimsuit Spotlight: Ava Gardner, Doris Day, Anne Baxter, Kirk Douglas, Loretta Young, Alexis Smith, Jackie Cooper, Leila Ernest, Kay Stewart, Eddie Bracken, Richard Conte, Gene Tierney, Beryl Vaughn, Jimmy Durante, Maureen O’Hara, Marie Windsor, and Ginger Rogers.
Annette Bochenek “Our (Every)man in Hollywood” James Stewart became a movie star, but never forgot his small-town roots.
Mail Call

Plus, the Radio Program Guide for Those Were the Days and WGN Radio Theatre

Nostalgia Digest Book 46 Chapter 3 Summer 2020
Editor: Steve Darnall
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

Mystery Weekly Digest June 2020
Contents Page
M.C. Tuggle “The Calculus of Karma”
Martin Hill Ortiz “Afterglow”
Luke Foster “Seat 9B”
Carl Robinette “Nothing Doing”
Allan Durand “Ancient Cypress”
Arthur Vidro “Gli or Nogt?”
Robert Lopresti “In Praise of My Assassin”
Tammy Huffman “Angels Stirring”
Peter DiChellis “Gallery Thief” (A You-Solve-It)

Mystery Weekly Magazine No. 58 June 2020
Publisher: Chuck Carter
Editor: Kerry Carter
Cover: Robin Grenville-Evans
7.5” x 9.75” 94 pages
Print $6.99 Kindle $3.99
MWM Website

The history of Los Angeles figures prominently in Paul D. Marks’ just-released novel, The Blues Don’t Care (Down & Out Books). In his post this week he shares research on The Rex, a gambling boat anchored just beyond the three-mile limit, at SleuthSayers. Paul writes about The First Two Pages of the new novel at Art Taylor’s blog.

Digest Magazine Reviews
Paul Fraser reviews The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction and the F&SF issues from whence the stories came at SF Magazines

Kevin Tipple reviews Mystery Weekly Magazine Feb. 2020 at Kevin’s Corner.

James Reasoner reviews Commando: Codename Warlord at Rough Edges.

David Levinson reviews Worlds of If July 1965 at Galactic Journey.

Storytime
Nick Kolakowski’s “Scapegoat” at Rusty Barnes’ Tough Crime.

Charlotte Platt’s story “Meet the Family,” read by JD Graves for PodClash No. 3 at EconoClash Review.

Robert Lopresti posts his story “Nobody Gets Killed” from AHMM Mar/Apr 2018 at his blog.

Digest Magazine Blogs
Richard Larson discusses hi story “Warm Math” from F&SF May/Jun 2020 at Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Robert Lopresti talks about his “In Praise of My Assassin” from MWM June 2020 at SleuthSayers.

Janet Hutchings ponders “Reading in a Time of Crisis” at EQMM’s Something is Going to Happen.

TDE Contributors’ Corner
Jack Seabrook and Peter Enfantino review Batman No. 321, The Brave and the Bold No. 160, and Detective Comics No. 488 at bare•bones e-zine.

Jack Seabrook reviews “The Monkey’s Paw—A Retelling” from The Alfred Hitchcock Hour at bare•bones e-zine.

Zine Scene
Jim Main set out to publish a new mini comic called Brain Freeze and put out a call for SF-inspired contributions. The response was tremendous, but as they arrived he worried the repro size wouldn’t really do justice to the detailed artwork many artists sent in. So he jumped up to digest-manga-size, splitting the book into two parts to accommodate all the material. Brian Freeze No. 1 parts A and B are $3.00 each postage paid. Part A features comic and illos by John Lambert, Kevin Duncan, Verl Holt Bond, Steve Shipley, Doug Holverson, Bob Vojtko, Doc Boucher, Jon Lawrence, and Brian D. Leonard. While Part B features Jason Bullock, Jerzy Szotek, Carl Taylor, George Lane III, Tony Lorenz, and more from Steve Shipley, Jon Law- rence, John Lambert, Doug Holverson, and Brian D. Leonard. Contact Jim via FaceBook for more ordering info.

Readin’ and Writin’
Haven’t read a novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs in quite a few years so I decided to revisit the author with an Ace paperback edition kicking around for nearly as long. The Eternal Savage, originally titled The Eternal Lover. The science fiction aspect of this one is time travel, the necessary element that allows a prehistoric man to visit the jungles of Lord Greystoke. But Tarzan is mentioned only in passing, the caveman, Nu is the hero. He shares the spotlight with Nat-ul, the impossibly beautiful female lead. The plot and romance are serviceable, it’s the adventure and action where Burroughs excels and The Eternal Savage was quite satisfying, if not the best of others I’ve read long ago.

Bud Plant's Incredible Catalog early summer 2020

Finished reading Fate No. 735 on Monday night. Editor Phyllis Galde use her editorial to honor the memory of her friend and co-editor Rosemary Ellen Guiley who passed in July 2019. Susan Swan serves as Senior Editor on this edition that includes articles on animals lost on the Titanic, encounters with Shadow People, Sumerian “Gardener’s Sin,” the Devil’s footprints, monster hotspot Payson, Arizona, crystal skulls, UFO theories, a history of tattooing, and plenty of other true reports of the strange and unknown. In sum: a welcome edition for Spring 2020.

Finally, I read Black Gat Book No. 20: Madball by Fredric Brown. Crimes among the carneys. Stellar cast of cronies caught in a web of avarice, cons, lust, and murder. A classic novel, reprinted in a beautifully designed new package, still leveraging the best of the past, but with bright, white paper stock the first edition never glimpsed in the madball.

Lulu.com has shipped the proof of TDE12 and I anxiously await its arrival.

TDE Advertisers
The latest Bud Plant’s Incredible Catalog (Early Summer 2020) arrived this week and I was happy to see it included a listing for The Digest Enthusiast No. 11. Sign-up to Bud’s weekly eNewsletter or download the catalog at Bud’s Art Books.

Vintage Western Digest
Zane Grey Western Magazine Dec. 1969
Leo Margulies: The Open Trail (introduction)
Contents Page
Romer Zane Grey “The Other Side of the Canyon”
Clay Ringold “A Question of Faith”
James McKimmey “Showdown at Blue Bluff”
Paul Clane “Even Shoot-Out”
Walter Dallas’ A Carload of Killers
Zane Grey “The Camp Robber” (A Zane Grey Masterpiece)
Owen Wister “Timerline”
Gil Brewer “Pawnee”
C. Hall Thompson “Gun Smart”

Zane Grey Western Magazine Vol.1 No. 3 Dec. 1969
Publisher: Leo Margulies
Editorial Director: Cylvia Kleinman
Advisory Editor: Romer Grey
Advisory Editor: Dr. Loren Grey
5.25” x 7.75” 128 pages
50¢ cover price

News May 29, 2020

News Digest May 29, 2020

New Releases
Ellery Queen May/June 2020
Contents Page
Richard Helms “Noble Rot” art by Mark Evan Walker
Steve Steinbock: The Jury Box
—Second Sister by Chan Ho-Kei
—The Plotters by Un-Su Kim
—The Circus by Jonas Karlsson
—The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo
—The Godmother by Hannelore Cayre
—Paris in the Dark by Robert Olen Butler
—Queen of Bones by Teresa Dovalpage
Susan Dunlap “Quality Control”
Dean Jobb’s Stranger Than Fiction: The Two Will Wests
R.T. Raichev “Rassendyll’s Grave”
Benjamin Percy “House of Ash”
Shelly Dickson Carr “Nantucket Undertow”
Tom Tolnay “Rhododendron”
Judy Clemens “Safe”
Kristopher Zgorski: Blog Bytes
Alaric Hunt “Borrowed Brains” (Black Mask)
Marilyn Todd “Beyond the Tree Line”
N.W. Barcus “The Workaholic” (Dept. of First Stories)
Michael Berg “Travelers’ Rest” (Passport to Crime) Translated from the Dutch by Josh Pachter
Jim Weikart “The Frog”
Keith McCarthy “The Perfect Crime”
Wynn Quon “Art in Pieces” (Dept. of First Stories)
2019 Readers Award
Toni L.P. Kelner “Rage Warehouse—Ire Proof”
David Dean “Shadow Lane”
Katherine Hall Page “The End of the Line” art by Laurie Harden
Jane Smith “Annie Oakley” (verse)
Dean Jobb’s Stranger Than Fiction Online: Preview
Indicia
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine May/June 2020 Vol. 155 No. 5 & 6, Whole No. 944 & 945
Publisher: Peter Kanter
Editor: Janet Hutchings
Managing Editor: Jackie Sherbow
Senior Director Art & Production: Porter C. McKinnon
Senior AD: Victoria Green
Cover: Neil Webb

192 pages
$7.99 on newsstands until June 16, 2020
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine website
Dean Jobb’s Stranger Than Fiction

EQMM and AHMM Mystery Value Pack-8 $7.95
Mystery Double Issue Value Pack-12 $15.95
EQMM and AHMM Mystery Value Pack-16 $12.95

Paperback Parade No. 107, Hot Lead All-Review Special

Paperback Parade No. 107
Contents Page
Gary Lovisi: Paperback Talk
Richard Greene: Aloha Tiki Paperbacks
Gary Lovisi’s Space Fighters: Luchadores Del Espacio Series
Philip Harbottle: The Return of Rex Brandon
Jim Fitzpatrick: Hard Case Crime Editions of PBOs
Richard Greene’s Matchless Paperbacks: Hawaii
Jon D. Sartz: Robert A. Heinlein
Gary Lovisi: Heinlein Paperbacks

Paperback Parade No. 107 May 2020
Editor: Gary Lovisi
Designer: Richard Greene
~5.5” x 8.5” 112 pages, full color throughout
$15 + postage for a single issue
$40 for three-issue subscription
Gryphon Books website

Hot Lead: Most Wanted All-Review Special
A special issue loaded with over 200 reviews of western paperbacks arranged by era: 1920–1959, 1960–1969, 1970–1979, 1980–1989, and 1990+. Also includes the essays: Top 10 Western Authors, Gold Medal Overview, and The Lovesome Dove Saga. Foreword by Chuck Dixon. Introduction by Justin Marriott.
7” x 10” 168 pages
Print Only $7.99

Digest Magazine Reviews
Victoria Silverwolf reviews Fantastic June 1965 at Galactic Journey.

Gideon Marcus reviews Analog June 1965 at Galactic Journey.

Storytime
John M. Floyd’s “Saving Mrs. Hapwell” at Kings River Life. (Thanks Kevin R. Tipple.)

Digest Magazine Blogs
Joseph Bruchac on “An Indian Love Call” from F&SF May/Jun 2020 at Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Toni L.P. Kelner on “Rage Warehouse—Ire Proof” from EQMM May/Jun 2020 at Art Taylor’s First Two Pages.

The same Toni L.P. Kelner discusses her varying approaches to writing short stories at EQMM’s Something is Going to Happen.

TDE Contributors’ Corner
Uncle Jack (Seabrook) and Cousin Peter (Enfantino) review Eerie No. 38 and Creepy No. 44 at bare*bones e-zine.

TDE Advertisers
From the Fantasy Illustrated website: David Smith was born near Anaheim California in 1954 a few months before the opening of Disneyland. Raised in the Orange/Los Angeles County area in the 1950’s and ‘60’s he was influenced with a steady diet of pop culture. At the age of 14 he started working for the late John McLaughlin at The Book Sail in old downtown Anaheim. It was here that he was first exposed to the likes of old comic books from the 1940’s ,pulp fiction, vintage magic books signed by Houdini, and lots of old and rare books.

Dave worked there from 1969 to 1972 and again from 1976 to 1979 after The Book Sail had moved to the city of Orange. In 1979 he left to open his own store, Fantasy Illustrated about 1.5 miles from Disneyland in Garden Grove. From inception until he sold the store location (keeping the name) to Mile High Comics in 1994, Dave maintained one of the largest selections of vintage comic book and Pulp magazines in the Orange County area.

Wanting a change of pace he moved out of state, negotiated a deal with the owner of Rocket Comics of Seattle Washington and on Jan 1 1995 became owner of that store. In 1999 Dave found what would become the famous Yakima Pedigree collection of hundreds of ultra high grade pulps. These are considered some of the finest condition pulps known to exist.

Around 9-11 he closed down Rocket Comics as a brick and mortar store and continued dealing full time as Fantasy Illustrated doing mail order out of his house near Mill Creek Washington where he lives with his wife Kelli. Visit Fantasy Illustrated.

Readin’ and Writin’
Finished reading Will Murray’s pulp history tome: Wordslingers this week. The author himself describes the work in his introduction: “What follows is a species of oral history, employing found quotes, developed so that the author recedes into the role of omniscient organizer, sometimes disappearing altogether, in order to allow the participants of the past to spin the saga of their literary labors.”

The writers and editors—and occasionally the publishers—tell their tale in hundreds of timely quotes gleaned from dozens of sources, most often magazines like Writer’s Digest. Like any business riding waves of high- and low-demand these western fictioneers were constantly postulating market changes and how their writers needed to update their approach to maintain or goose sales. Murray does a phenomenal job documenting the rapids and whirlpools along this 40-some-years journey. For die-hard pulp fiction historians this volume is a treasure.

The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 is complete. A proof copy is in process and I’ll make an official announcement of its availability here as soon as I approve the proof via lulu.com.

I tried several times to finalize the book on both IngramSpark.com and the newly improved Lulu.com site and encountered issues on both. It took three days for one of them to fix the hang-ups, so I went with that one: Lulu.com. Each company has certain pluses and minuses, but I’m happy to try Lulu on this edition, as last issue was/is printed through Ingram. I will link to the book on Lulu’s site this time because it removes the middleman (amazon, etc.) where most of the sales revenue goes. Lulu seems to make its profit on printing rather than printing and distribution.

The first color edition I created was an alternate version of book ten, so I could see first-hand what the standard color option looked like. (Great!) That special edition is available only from Lulu.com in case any readers want one of their own. The Digest Enthusiast No. 10C (full color) $16 at Lulu.com

Work is also very close to complete on Pulp Modern No. 5, which is now scheduled for a June 23, 2020 release.

Vintage Western Digest
Zane Grey Western Magazine Nov. 1969
Leo Margulies: The Lure of Zane Grey (introduction)
Contents Page
Romer Zane Grey “Gun Trouble in Tonto Basin”
Noel M Loomis “The St. Louis Salesman”
James Oliver Curwood “The Beloved Murderer”
Ben Smith “The Man Who Stole a Horse”
Zane Grey “Fantoms of Peace” (A Zane Grey Masterpiece)
Walter Dallas’ Gunfighters Saddlemate
Gunnison Steele “When the Dessert Gods Laughed”
Bill Pronzini “Sawtooth Justice”

Zane Grey Western Magazine Vol.1 No. 2 Nov. 1969
Publisher: Leo Margulies
Editorial Director: Cylvia Kleinman
Advisory Editor: Romer Grey
Advisory Editor: Dr. Loren Grey
5.25” x 7.75” 128 pages
50¢ cover price

News May 22, 2020

News Digest May 22, 2020

New Releases
Mystery Weekly Magazine May 2020
Contents Page
James Nolan “The Rusted Beetle”
Martin Zeigler “Letter Man”
Alec Cizak “The Don Juan of Eldorado”
Steve Schrott “Paying Your Dues”
Bruce McAllister “Creatures of Our Desire”
Martin Hill Oritz “The Left-Handed Pistol”
Stacy Woodson “Desperate Letters” (A You-Solve-It)

Mystery Weekly Magazine No. 57 May 2020
Publisher: Chuck Carter
Editor: Kerry Carter
Cover: Robin Grenville-Evans
7.5” x 9.75” 88 pages
Print $6.99 Kindle $3.99
MWM Website

Rock and a Hard Place No. 2, Conan Companion

Rock and a Hard Place No. 2 Winter/Spring 2020
Fiction, essay, poetry, and art contributors are listed at the Rock and a Hard Place Mag website.

Editor-in-Chief: Roger Nokes
Managing Editor: Jay Butkowski
Producing Editor: Jonathan Elliott
Associate Editor: Nikki Dolson
Associate Editor: Katrina Robinson
Associate Editor: Albert Tucker
6” x 9” 156 pages
Print $12.95 Kindle $2.99

The Conan Companion
This full-size (8.5” x 11”), full color collector’s guide by Richard Toogood traces the path of Conan from pulps to paperbacks and devotes a chapter to each publisher: Lancer, Sphere, Berkley, Ace, Bantam, and Tor. Complete with an introduction by Roy Thomas, this 107-page volume is available for $14.92 from the usual places.

Storytime
Gary Hoffman’s “No Secret Ever Stays Hidden” at Kings River Life. (Thanks, Kevin Tipple.)

Cameron Mount reads “Silo” on the EconoClash Review’s Podclash.

Alec Cizak reads his story “Worms” on YouTube.

Digest Magazine Reviews
Robert Lopresti reviews “Borrowed Brains” by Alaric Hunt from EQMM May/Jun 2020 at Little Big Crimes.

Paul Fraser reviews Astounding Science Fiction Nov. 1944 at SF Magazines.

Matthew Wuertz reviews Galaxy Oct. 1954 at Black Gate.

Gideon Marcus reviews F&SF June 1965 at Galactic Journey.

James Reasoner reviews Commando: Destination Siberia at Rough Edges.

Gabe Dybing reviews highlights from Dell’s May/Jun 2020 SF digests at Black Gate.

Digest Magazine Blogs
Ray Nayler on his story “Eyes of the Forest” from F&SF May/Jun 2020 at Fantasy & Science Fiction.

G.O. Clark on his poem “Miles to Go Before We Rest” from Analog May/Jun 2020 at The Astounding Analog Companion.

Katherine Hall Page whose “The End of the Line” appears in EQMM May/Jun 2020 discusses mystery and cooking at Something is Going to Happen.

TDE Contributor’s Corner
Jack Seabrook and Peter Enfantino review Batman No. 320 Feb. 1980 at bare•bones e-zine.

Jack Seabrook’s The Hitchcock Project: Morton Fine and David Friedkin Part Four adapt “Thou Still Unravished Bride” by Avram Davidson from EQMM Oct. 1958 at bare•bones e-zine.

Readin’ and Writin”
Barb Goffman discusses “Where to Start” at SleuthSayers.

Most of my reading this week centered on Will Murray’s Wordslingers, which I will recap briefly next week if I’ve finished it by then. Also proofread most of The Digest Enthusiast. Yes, I do proofread every page and caption. Unfortunately, it’s never perfect and I inevitably find typos as soon as an issue is published. Such is the fate of a small-time operator like Larque Press. Going through the whole issue felt great and I hope it will be one our readers enjoy.

As mentioned earlier this year, the print version of TDE11 is printed via IngramSpark. I purchased an “announcement” for it in January for their catalog, Ingram Advance, and just this week received a PDF copy of the May 2020 edition. Their nearly 200-page catalog goes out to hundreds of booksellers every month. Of course, this is a terrible year for booksellers, but I hope it helps raise awareness of my humble efforts.

Vintage Western Digest
Zane Grey Western Magazine Oct. 1969
Leo Margulies: They Live Again! (introduction)
Contents Page
Romer Zane Grey “The Rider of Distant Trails”
Frank Gruber “The Store”
Joe Gores “Gunman in Town”
Talmage Powell “Rawhider’s Woman”
Zane Grey “The Horses of Bostil’s Ford” (A Zane Grey Masterpiece)
Gil Brewer “The Mountain Kid”
Walter Dallas’ Tombstone: Too Tough to Die
Wiliiam MacLeod Raine “Doan Whispers”

Zane Grey Western Magazine Vol.1 No. 1 Oct. 1969
Publisher: Leo Margulies
Editorial Director: Cylvia Kleinman
Advisory Editor: Romer Grey
Advisory Editor: Dr. Loren Grey
5.25” x 7.75” 128 pages
50¢ cover price

News May 15, 2020

News Digest May 15, 2020

May Digests
Fantasy & Science Fiction May/June 2020
Contents Page
Tom Cool and Bruce Sterling “Hornet and Butterfly”
Leah Cypess “Stepsister”
Ray Nayler “Eyes of the Forest”
Jane Yolen “Mab’s Wedding” (verse)
Charles de Lint: Books to Look For
—Carbon by Andrew Vachas
—In Restless Dreams by Wren Handman
—Comics Will Break Your Heart by Faith Erin Hicks
—Well of Magic by BR Kingsolver
—Stray Bats by Margo Lanagan and Kathleen Jennings
James Sallis’ Books
—Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea by Sarah Pinsker
—All Worlds are Real by Susan Palwick
—Meet Me in the Future by Kameron Hurley
Paul Di Filippo’s Plumage from Pegasus: Faster, Publisher! Binge! Binge!
Holly Messinger “Byzantine”
Rich Larson “Warm Math”
Joseph Bruchac “An Indian Love Call”
Rebecca Zahabi “Birds Without Wings”
Mary Soon Lee “First Contact” (verse)
Marc Laidlaw’s Games
—Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
—A Plague Tale: Innocence
Karin Lowachee’s Films: The Disease of Class Divisions
Jerry Oltion’s Science: Starlink, Star Junk
F&SF Competition No. 99 “Ignorance is Bliss”
F&SF Competition No. 100 “The Lowest Form of Humor”
Richard Bowes “In the Eyes of Jack Saul”
Robert Reed “Who Carries the World”
M. Rickert “Another F*cken Fairy Tale”
Coming Attractions
F&SF Market Place
Paul Di Filippo’s Curiosities: Hackenfeller’s Ape by Brigid Brophy

Fantasy & Science Fiction Vol. 138 No. 5 and 6, No. 749, May/June 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: Maurizio Manzieri “Who Carries the World”
Cartoons: Kendra Allenby, Bill Long, Arthur Masear
258 pages, $8.99 on newsstands until July 6, 2020
Fantasy & Science Fiction website

The Dark City April 2020
Contents Page
James Blakey “How to Become a Successful 21st Century Cybercriminal (In Five Easy Steps)”
Nicky Johnson “The Darkest of Games”
Michael Chandos “The Happy Ending”
Roger Leatherwood “Green is the Only Color”
Stef Donati “Only a Mother”

The Dark City Crime and Mystery Magazine Vol. 5 No. 3 April 2020
Editor & Publisher: Steve Oliver
Contributing Editors: Barbara Curtis, Darin Krogh
5.5” x 8.5” 120 pages $6.99
The Dark City Mystery Magazine website

2020 Dell Mystery Magazines
Virtual Awards Celebration and Presentation of the EQMM Readers Award

Storytime
The new online issue is out at Flash Bang Mysteries. (Thanks, Kevin Tipple.)

John M. Floyd’s “Flue Sesaon” at Shotgun Honey. (Thanks, Kevin Tipple.)

Rob McClure’s “Against the Grain” at Rusty Barnes’ Tough Crime.

Digest Reviews
Gideon Marcus reviews Galaxy June 1965 at Galactic Journey.

Robert Lopresti reviews “Noble Rot” by Richard Helms (EQMM May/Jun 2020) at Little Big Crimes.

James Reasoner reviews Commando: J-for-Judas at Rough Edges.

John Boston reviews Amazing June 1965 at Galactic Journey.

Victoria Silverwolf reviews Worlds of Tomorrow July 1965 at Galactic Journey.

TDE Contributors’ Corner
Uncle Jack and Cousin Peter review Creepy No. 43, Vampi No. 15, and Eerie No. 37 at bare•bones e-zine.

Peter Enfantino reviews Strange Tales No. 19, Spellbound No. 15, Mystery Tales No. 12, Menace No. 4, and Men’s Adventures No. 22 at bare•bones e-zine.

Digest Magazine Blogs
Tom Cool and Bruce Sterling on their story “Hornet and Butterfly” from F&SF May/Jun 20202 at Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Sarah Gallien discusses the origins of her poem “The New Planet” from Analog May/Jun 2020 at The Astounding Analog Companion.

R.T. Raichev examines Agatha Christie’s first and last short stories at EQMM’s Something is Going to Happen.

Rick Wilber and Brad Aiken on “Ithaca” from Asimov’s May/Jun 2020 at From Earth to the Stars.

TDE Advertiser Spotlight
Fans of nail-biting, genre fiction and reference works about same, should sign up for Stark House Press’s newsletter and browse the Stark House Press website. Check out their $5 warehouse sale now, bargain abound.

Digest Magazine Podcasts
ECR Podclash episode one “Recompense” by William R. Soldan.

Pulp Lit Newsletter
The May 2020 edition of the Pulp Literature e-news is out.

Readin’ and Writin’
Paul D. Marks (TDE11 interview) writes about the L.A. locations in his new novel The Blues Don’t Care at SleuthSayers.

Chris Rhatigan offers One Approach to Writing Short Stories at Do Some Damage. (Thanks, David Nemeth.)

Read the Hard Case Crime edition of Top of the Heap by Erle Stanley Gardner this week. Originally written as by A.A. Fair in 1952, this is No. 13 of his Donald Lam/Bertha Cool series. Lam somehow manages a driving narrative while methodically untangling an intricate plot. Fortunately, the weakest link, his partner Cool, intended to add comic relief, is a minor part of the action. Beginning, middle, and end, a fully satisfying murder mystery. More about Lam and Cool at Thrilling Detective.

Artist Ran Scott delivered four illustrations this week, which were added to the latest rev of Pulp Modern Vol. 2 No. 5. Booked (InDesign function) all of the individual articles for The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 and created the first digital proof. Laid out its cover that features an illustration Tony Gleeson painted on spec for Sol Cohen for Amazing Science Fiction back in the mid-1970s. Rick McCollum completed the art for Rick Ollerman’s story. Sent ads to Switchblade and EconoClash Review for PM5 and TDE12—and another one for TDE12 for The Pulpster. A productive week for Larque Press.

Vintage Crime Digest
The Saint Detective Magazine Oct.-Nov. 1953
Contents Page
Leslie Charteris “The Spanish Cow”
Octavus Roy Cohen “Let Me Kill You Sweetheart”
Clarence Budington Kelland “Case of the Rival Familiars”
William Campbell Gault “Sweet Rolls and Murder”
Arthur Conan Doyle “The Professor Had a Key”
Morris Cooper “A Murder of No Importance”
Edgar Wallace “The Magic of Fear”
Rufus King “The Wreath From the Sky”
Cornell Woolrich “It Had to Be Murder”
Hayden Howard “Murder on San Afet”
Ben Hecht “The Doting Burglar”

The Saint Detective Magazine Vol. 1 No. 4 Oct.-Nov. 1953
President: H.L. Herbert
Publisher: Leo Margulies
Editor: Sam Merwin, Jr.
Supervising Editor: Leslie Charteris
192 pages, cover price 50¢

News May 8, 2020

News Digest May 8, 2020

May Digest Magazines
Alfred Hitchcok’s May/Jun 2020
This issue marks the introduction of former police detective Lee Lofland’s new column Case Files, “offering insights into the working lives and daily realities of those involved in law enforcement.”
Contents Page
Linda Landrigan: Trapped! (introduction)
The Lineup
Joseph S. Walker “Etta at the End of the World” art by Kimberly Cho
Jeff Cohen “The Question of the Befuddled Judge”
Ken Brosky “Airless Confinement”
Parker Littlewood “Buck Solves the Case”
Arlene Fisher: Dying Words (acrostic puzzle, solution on page 192)
Robert Lopresti “Shanks Saves the World” art by Kevin Speidell
Mark Lagasse: Scrambled Plum (puzzle, solution on page 105)
Joslyn Chase “The Wolf and Lamb”
Laurel Flores Fantauzzo: Booked and Printed
—The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell
—Anti-Social by Andrew Marantz Viking
—Phantom Lady by Christina Lane
Elizabeth Zelvin “Reunion”
Mysterious Photograph $25 fiction contest “Never a Dull Moment in the Kitchen”
Michael Bracken “Sleepy River”
Bob Tippee “A Bias for Action”
John G. Wimer “Probable Cause”
Mark Thielman “The Case of the Cereal Killer” art by Enan Liang
Sarah Weinman “Limited Liability”
Eve Fisher “Brother’s Keeper”
Janice Law “The Client”
Russell Atwood selects/introduces a Mystery Classic” “A Gross Miscarriage of Justice” by Joyce Porter
Lee Lofland’s Case Files
The Story That Won (Jan/Feb) “Famous Last Words” by S.D. Burke
Coming in AHMM Mar/Apr 2020
Directory of Services/Indicia
Classified Marketplace

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Vol. 65 No. 5 & 6 May/Jun 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: Bastien Lecouffe Deharme
192 pages
$7.99 on newsstands until June 16, 2020
Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine website
AHMM and EQMM Mystery Value Pack-8 $7.95
AHMM and EQMM Mystery Value Pack-16 $12.95
Mystery Double Issue Value Pack-12 $15.95

Analog May/Jun 2020
Emily Hockaday’s Anniversary Retrospective Editorial: Here There Be Women
Anne McCaffrey “Weyr Search” (90th Anniversary Retrospective Reprint)
G.O. Clark “Miles to Go Before We Rest” (verse)
Neal Asher “Moral Biology”
Richard A. Lovett’s Science Fact—Space Dust: How an Asteroid Altered Life on Earth . . . Millions of Years Before the Dinosaurs
Tom Jolly “A Breath of Air” art by Soo Lee
Sarah Gallien “The New Planet” (verse)
Dominica Phetteplace “Candida Eve”
John G. Cramer’s The Alternate View: Is the Universe a Hypersphere?
Aimee Ogden “To Persist, However Changed”
James Sallis “Net Loss”
Phoebe Barton “A Compass in the Dark”
In Times to Come
Eric Cline “It Was a Tradition When You Turned 16”
Ramona Louise Wheeler “Calm Face of the Storm” art by Mark Evans
Derek Künsken “The House of Styx” Part II art by Eldar Zakirov
Don Sakers: The Reference Library
—The Oppenheimer Alternative by Robert J. Sawyer
—Accepting the Lance by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
—Frozen Orbit by Patrick Chiles
—The Blood-Dimmed Tide by Michael R. Johnson
—Starborn & Godsons by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Steven Barnes
—The Renegat by Kristine Karthryn Rusch
—Vulcan’s Forge by Robert Mitchell Evans
—The Collapsium by Wil McCarthy
—Gremlins Go Home by Ben Bova & Gordon R. Dickson
Brass Tacks (Letters)
Anthony Lewis: Upcoming Events

Analog Science Fiction and Fact (Astounding) Vol. 140 No. 5 & 5 May/Jun 2020
Publisher: Peter Kanter
Editor: Trevor Quachri
Managing Editor: Emily Hockaday
Editorial Assistant: Rae Purdom
Senior Art Director: Victoria Green
Cover: Donato Giancola
208 pages, $7.99 on sale until June 16, 2020
Analog website
SF Value Pack-8 $7.95
SF Double Issue Value Pack-12 $15.95
SF Value Pack-16 $12.95

Digest Magazine Blogs
C.C. Finlay previews the May/Jun issue of F&SF at Fantasy and Science Fiction.

Michael Bracken talks catalyst about “Sleepy River” from AHMM May/Jun 2020 at SleuthSlayers. (Click on the note page for a larger, readable view.)

Shelly Dickson Carr discusses writing at EQMM’s Something is Going to Happen.

Leah Cypess on “Stepsister” from F&SF May/Jun 2020 at Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Linda Landrigan remembers Angela Zeman at AHMM’s Trace Evidence.

Worlds of If June 1965, Commando: Across the Fence

Digest Magazine Reviews
David Levinson reviews Worlds of If June 1965 at Galactic Journey.

James Reasoner reviews Commando: Across the Fence at Rough Edges.

Scott posted the cover of Leisure Detective Magazine No. 9 at The Nick Carter & Carter Brown Blog.

TDE Contributors’ Corner
Jack Seabrook and Peter Enfantino explore Batman in the 1980s at bare•bones e-zine.

Jack Seabrook’s The Hitchcock Project: Morton Fine and David Friedkin Part Three: Crimson Witness at bare•bones e-zine.

Storytime
Nils Gilbertson’s “Feelin’ Like Hell” at Rock and a Hard Place.

Advertiser Spotlight
Digest, paperback, pulp, and comic collectors may want to request a subscription to the free monthly Modern Age Books all-picture catalog. It’s a great source for collectibles with accurate grading, speedy service, and great prices. Request a subscription here.

Readin’ and Writin’
Book Trailer for Lake County Incidents by Alex Cizak. I wrote a short review of the book on Goodreads, but see my full version in the upcoming TDE.

Read this week: The Hard Case Crime edition of Fright by Cornell Woolrich. A beautifully written noir crime story with a socko finish.

Finished writing my article on Fotocrime this week and laid out the pages. The Digest Enthusiast No. 12 is getting close to final so I sent out many requests to digest magazine editors for news updates, the final step of content creation. There are some great things in the works!

Vintage SF Digest
Space Science Fiction Feb. 1953
Contents Page
Lester del Rey: An Editorial on Immortality
H. Beam Piper “Ullr Uprising” part one of two, art by Paul Orban
William Morrison “The Hunters” art by H.R. van Donge
Coming Events
Milton A. Rothman’s Solution Unknown
George O. Smith’s Book Reviews Science: Fact and Fiction
H.B. Fyfe “Exile” art by Ed Emshwiller
John Christopher “Relativity” art by Ed Emshwiller
Poul Anderson “Security” art by Alex Ebel
Take-Off (Letters of Comment)
In Memoriam: Earle Bergey

Publisher: John Raymond
Editor: Lester del Rey
Assoc. Editor: John Fell, John Vincent
Art Director: Milton Berwin
Cover: Alex Ebel
5.5” x 7.5” 160 pages
35¢ cover price

Read Vince Nowell, Sr.’s article “When Things Go Wrong—The Lester del Rey/John Raymond Fiasco” in The Digest Enthusiast book seven.

News May 1, 2020

News Digest May 1, 2020

April Digest
Asimov’s Science Fiction May/Jun 2020
Contents Page
Cady Coleman with Susan Alzner of Shift7 Guest Editorial: Will NASA’s Next Generation Spacesuit Fit You?
Robert Silverberg’s Reflections: The One that Gets You Hooked
Jane Yolen “Ode to Cassini” (verse)
James Patrick Kelly’s On the Net: Two Dooms
Eleanor Arnason “Tunnels”
Alice Towey “The River”
Sandra Lindow “Darning” (verse)
Ian R. Macleod “The Mrs. Innocents”
Jenny Blackford “Feeding Time” (verse)
Brad Aiken & Rick Wilber “Ithaca”
David Gerrold & Ctein “Ronni and Rod”
Dominica Phetteplace “Digital Witness”
James Gunn “Against the Stars”
Ian Watson “Brave New World by Oscar Wilde”
Robert Borski “How an Astroarcheologist Celebrates the Fourth of July” (verse)
Evan Marcroft “Pax Mongolica”
Suzanne Palmer “Hot New Collectible” (verse)
Tegan Moore “Perfect Blue”
Ruth Berman “The Riches of the Cloud Country” (verse)
Bruce McAllister “The Voice”
R. Garcia y Robertson “Living in Wartime”
Norman Spinrad’s On Books: Modern Chinese Science Fiction—Windows into China
• Invisible Planets edited and translated by Ken Liu
• Waste Tide by Chen Qiufan, translated by Ken Liu
• China Dream by Ma Jian, translated by Flora Drew
Next Issue
Erwin Strauss: SF Conventional Calendar

Asimov’s Science Fiction Vol. 44 No. 5 & 6, whole No. 532 & 533, May/Jun 2020
Publisher: Peter Kanter
Editor: Sheila Williams
Managing Editor: Emily Hockaday
Editorial Assistants: Deanna McLafferty, Rae Purdom
Senior Director of Art & Production: Porter C. McKinnon
Senior Art Director: Victoria Green
Cover: Anna & Elena Balbusso
208 pages, $7.99 on newsstands until June 16, 2020
Asimov’s website
Asimov’s/Analog Value Pack-8
Asimov’s/Analog Value Pack-16

Digest Magazine Reviews
Victoria Silverwolf reviews Fantastic May 1965 at Galactic Journey.

James Reasoner reviews Commando: Codename Warlord at Rough Edges.

Gideon Marcus reviews Analog May 1965 at Galactic Journey.

Digest Magazine Blogs
The May/June issue of AHMM is previewed at Trace Evidence.

Robert Lopresti discusses his story “Shanks Saves the World” in AHMM May/Jun 2020 at Trace Evidence.

Gabino Iglesias interviews Wendy Heard at EconoClash Review.

Amanda Hollander on “A Feast of Butterflies” from F&SF Mar/Apr 2020 at Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Jim Weikart on the International Association of Crime Writers at EQMM’s Something is Going to Happen.

Eleanor Arnason on “Tunnels” from Asimov’s May/Jun 2020 at From Earth to the Stars.

Aimee Ogden on her story “To Persist, However Changed” from Analog May/Jun 2020 at The Astounding Analog Companion.

Nostalgia Digest Back Issue Sale
Spring cleaning unearthed a cache of 2013–2017 back issues at Nostalgia Digest HQ. Fill in your collection here (scroll down), while supplies last.

TDE Contributors’ Corner
Peter Enfantino & Jack Seabrook review Warren’s Sept/Nov 1971 titles at bare•bones e-zine.

Peter Enfantino reviews Marvel/Atlas Horror Comics from June 1953 at bare•bones e-zine.

Fate Fundraiser
Support the oldest continuous running magazine of its kind: Fate Magazine. Editor and publisher Phyllis Galde has been at the helm since 2001, but at present Fate is experiencing legal action from an outside force that threatens our ability to continue. The proceeds from your purchase of a Fate t-shirt will go towards legal defense expenses to protect Fate.

We are happy to work with the artists Savage Bear Studios to bring you a must have Fate design on a 100% high quality cotton t shirt. Minimum donation $25 USD. Order today. Please allow a bit more time for shipping and handling during this time.

“A heartfelt thanks to all our loyal readers and subscribers for your support through the years.” —Phyllis Galde

Nostalgia Digest Spg 2020 and Constantine

Readin’ and Writin’
Finished reading the latest issue of Nostalgia Digest this week. Those Were the Days will celebrate its 50th Anniversary this year. Due to the pandemic, the special live event that had been scheduled for May 2nd, will be rescheduled. Nonetheless, this issue of Nostalgia Digest provides an interview with Chuck Schaden, who started the weekly radio show in 1970, as well as a enthralling excerpt from his memoir: Chuck Schaden’s Radio Days—Adding Decades to the Golden Age of Radio (Hall Closet Press, 2019).

Other issue highlights include articles on Tina Cole of Hawaiian Eye and My Three Sons, Raymond Burr, and movie star Jean Arthur. Another satisfying edition of Nostalgia Digest. Keep ‘em coming Steve Darnall!

Inspired by the special all-John Shirley issue of Weirdbook, I picked up a copy of the novelization of Constantine, also by Mr. Shirley, and read it this week. It’s terrific. A beautifully written, action-packed, supernatural, adventure story.

Spent a few hours working an my article about Fotocrime for the next issue of The Digest Enthusiast, and worked in edits from Alec Cizak for the next Pulp Modern—both digests scheduled for June release.

Vintage Western Digest
Western Magazine February 1958 (final issue)

L.L. Foreman “Showdown at Saber Pass”
In a double-crossing, cold-blooded game of cattle empire—a young, beautiful girl was the helpless pawn. And Lobo Turner was king of gunslingers.

Gardner F. Fox “Gunswift”
Returning from a self-imposed exile, Con Mallard had need of his notorious gun rep to combat the savage welcome his old neighbors had waiting for him.

Joseph Chadwick “Trail-Town Raiders”
The tough town of Rawson prepared its tricks and its heady temptations for the unsuspecting trail-driver Riordan—who had acquired plenty of steam to let off.

Ed Montgomery “Robber’s Reunion”
When Cowhide County elected a sheriff, hardcases took over the vote getting.

Western Magazine Vol. 5 No. 1 Feb. 1958
Publisher: Martin Goodman
Editor: Harry Widmer
Business Manager: Monroe Froehlich, Jr.
Art Director: Mel Blum
~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.