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Vault December 8, 2019

Nearly One-and-Done

An excerpt from Steve Carper’s series “One-and-Dones” that appears in The Digest Enthusiast No. 7–9:

Paperback Prices by Graham Holroyd lists two books, D as in Dead, by mystery great Lawrence Treat, and The Lisping Man, by Frank Rawlings, as Atlas Books from the Hercules Publishing Corp. Kenneth R. Johnson’s “The Digest Index” and Hancer’s Price Guide to Paperback Books remove D as in Dead to a separate line of Martin Goodman books, also using the Hercules imprint. Why not put them together? Because D as in Dead is in fact separate. It does not blare “An Atlas Mystery” on the back cover. It is the largest of the three sizes that Atlas used.

Now Available from McFarland: Steve Carper’s Robots in American Popular Culture, a comprehensive reference volume that includes a companion website: robotsinamericanpopularculture.com.

Interviews December 6, 2019

Cauliflower Catnip Merch

Excerpt from the tribute: “The Creative Works of Joe Wehrle, Jr.” from The Digest Enthusiast No. 8, June 2018:

Shown here are the Cauliflower Catnip pinback button, embroidered patch, and plaster bust.

Joe stayed in touch with Harlan Ellison after Clarion, and in early 2017 sent him a copy of an H.P. Lovecraft portrait he’d drawn. Ellison responded, “What a hell of a portrait of Lovecraft! Still, I like the little pinback even more!”

After casting a few of the CC busts, Joe found their production too time consuming, so only a handful were made. He tried hand-painting them but found the irregular surface of the plaster was too difficult to cover.

Joe’s bibliography appears on the Larque Press website.

Opening Lines December 5, 2019

Opening Lines

“The scene is the Hall of the Great Guilty Lovers in Hell— roofed with stars that glitter like the first glances of fatal love, paved with sulfurous cosmic darkness assuage with desire, and walled with distant nebulas and galaxies that intertwine lasciviously.”
“Crimes Against Passion” by Fritz Leiber Gamma Vol. 1 No. 1 1963

Interviews December 3, 2019

Alfred Hitchcock June 2016

An excerpt from Michael Bracken’s interview in The Digest Enthusiast No. 8, June 2018:

The Digest Enthusiast: “Chase Your Dreams,” from AHMM (June 2016), is a great example of a story that evokes an emotional response. What prompts you to include social commentary in a story? Do themes emerge while writing, or are they part of the initial planning process?

Michael Bracken: I rarely start with a theme and never intentionally include social commentary because to do so runs the risk of turning a story into a sermon or, worse, a polemic.

When I let characters react to situations I put them in, sometimes themes emerge that represent beliefs different than my own, and it’s important to let the story be the story and not have a theme forced onto it that fits my beliefs. (Think about all the great noir movies ruined by nonsensical happy endings because movie makers didn’t think audiences would tolerate themes like “life sucks and then you die.”)

“Chase Your Dreams” presents a strong example of what happens when you build characters from the inside out. The protagonist is a closeted gay man in small-town Texas and his clandestine lover,a man who is out and proud of it, disappears. The protagonist is torn between searching for his lover and the realization that by doing so he will out himself. The theme emerges from the actions the protagonist takes and how the other characters react to those actions.

Alfred Hitchcock June 2016
Contents Page
Linda Landrigan’s Editor’s Notes: It Takes a Village
The Lineup
Michael Bracken “Chase Your Dreams”
Sarah Weinman “Death of a Feminist” art by Tim Foley
Willie Rose: The Mysterious Cipher (solution on page 93)
Martin Limón “The King of K-Pop”
Arlene Fisher: Dying Words acrostic puzzle
Janice Law “A Taste of Murder” art by Linda Weatherly
Mysterious Photograph: Words Taking Flight
Brendan DuBois “A Battlefield Reunion”
Erica Wright “Patsy Cline at Harry’s Last Chance Saloon” art by Ally Hodges
Ruth Chessman “Poor Sherm” (Mystery Classic selected and introduced by Jane K. Cleland)
Robert C. Hahn: Booked & Printed
—Death On a Starry Night by Betsy Draine and Michael Hinden
—Capitol Punishment by Andrew Welsh-Huggins
—The Day After Death by Lynn C. Miller
The Story that Won (Dec. 2015) “A Better Plan” by Charles R. McCrary, Jr.
Coming in AHMM Jul/Aug 2016
Directory of Services/Indicia
Solution to the May “Dying Words”
Classified Marketplace

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Vol. 61 No. 6 June 2016
Publisher: Peter Kanter
Editor: Linda Landrigan
Senior Assistant Editor: Jackie Sherbow
VP Art & Production: Susan Mangan
Senior AD: Victoria Green
Cover: Chuntisel/iStockphoto
112 pages $4.99
Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine website

Interviews November 18, 2019

Groundhog Files

Excerpt from the tribute: “The Creative Works of Joe Wehrle, Jr.” from The Digest Enthusiast No. 8, June 2018:

In 1991, Joe Wehrle, Jr. produced a mini comic loosely based on the famous Punxsutawney Groundhog, featuring a groundhog detective. “I think it was a bit too far off the beaten path for most of the local populace. Most would rather have had a coloring book,” said Joe. Groundhog Files was a 24-page comic that Joe produced in a limited run. In 2015, Joe reprinted the comic at about one-half of its original digest-size.

Most of Joe’s self-published works were hand-bound. Quantities were low, which makes them rare and highly collectible. If you’re lucky enough to find a copy of one, I advise you to grab it. His publications were always something truly special.

Joe’s bibliography appears on the Larque Press website.

Interviews November 17, 2019

Out of the Gutter No. 2

The Modern Journal of Pulp Fiction and Degenerate Literature
Endorsements
Title Page
Masthead and Indicia
Matthew Louis: From the Editor
Contents Pages

Flash
John McFetridge “Plugged”
Albert Tucher “Tipping is Optional”
Christs Faust “Hit Me”
Stephen Rogers “Drive Thru”
Matt Wallace “Notes”
Keith Gilman “Bunker Hill”
r2 “Yellow Pellets”
Jacob Kohl “The One That Got Away”

Approximately 10 Minute Read Dept.
William Boyle “Neighborhood Girl”
Michael Bracken “Professionals”
Paul A Toth “For All I Know”
J.D. Smith “The Flower Girl”
Rey A. Gonzales “Bad Luck
Clair Dickson “The Pleasure Business”
Grant McKenzie “White Volcano”
M.C. O’Connor “Tweaker”

Gangland
John Rickards “Vengeance is Mine”
Ken Goldman “Fat Larry’s Night With the Alligators”
Mark Marquez “To Get to Uncle Johnny’s”
E.E. Howard “The Thug We Love”
The Classic American Gangster (comic)

15 to 20 Minute Read Dept.
Rick McMahan “Out On the Razor’s Edge”
Steve Alten “Lost in Time”
William Carl “Rumble”
Julie Wright “Devil, Me and Cherry B”

Nonfiction
Edwin Decker: Guzzle and Go, Goddamnit
Seth Ferranti: Adventures of a Meth Monster
Dale Bridges: Hooked

Other
Mind of My Own
Li’l Dahmer
Submission Guidelines
Notes on Contributors

Out of the Gutter No. 2 Summer 2007
Chief Editor: Matthew Louis
Deputy Editors: DZ Allen, Dale Bridges, Hana K. Lee
Finance: Joel Huck
Associate Publisher: Hassan Brubuddy
Publicity: Barney Stims
European Editor: Offenbach Stutz
5.5” x 8.5” 200 pages Originally $13.50
Out of the Gutter Online

An excerpt from Michael Bracken’s interview in The Digest Enthusiast No. 8, June 2018:

The Digest Enthusiast: In “Professionals,” the narrator is a gay prostitute. In “My Sister’s Husband,” Pulp Adventures No. 27 (Fall 2017) the narrator is a middle-aged woman. How do you ensure your characters act and speak authentically, with respect to their gender, sexual orientation, race, etc.?

Michael Bracken: I’m never certain that they do, and can only hope that they come close enough that readers will accept any mistakes I make.

The key, though, is to build characters from the inside out rather than from the outside in. Regardless of our gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religious beliefs, and whatever else divides us, we share many commonalities. We want to love and be loved. We want to feel safe and free from fear. We want to be happy and healthy. We want to be appreciated by our families and respected by our peers. The list goes on and on.

If we build characters from the inside out, the characters will “speak” appropriately and more genuinely than if we build characters from the outside in and rely on stereotypes or presume that all women speak one way and all gay men speak another.

Additionally, I try to minimize the use of jargon. A police office will use terminology from her job differently than a doctor, which is different still from a barista. Only a word or two is necessary for the reader to catch those differences.

Vault November 13, 2019

X Marks the Dot

An excerpt from Steve Carper’s series “One-and-Dones” that appears in The Digest Enthusiast No. 7–9:

Guinn Company
Muriel Stafford had a syndicated newspaper column that did handwriting analysis of the stars, and not surprisingly X Marks the Dot stars a newspaper columnist solving a murder using handwriting analysis. Not only was Stafford enough of a name for her picture to fill the back cover, but as the ultimate gimmick, each of the suspects’ handwriting was reproduced inside the book so the reader could play along.

Now Available from McFarland: Steve Carper’s Robots in American Popular Culture, a comprehensive reference volume that includes a companion website: robotsinamericanpopularculture.com.

News November 9, 2019

Collage Art Mini

Marc Myers, frequent contributor to The Digest Enthusiast, has released Mulmig 2, a 16-page pocket-size collection of unsettling collage images. Its indicia indicates it’s a tribute to Abcess Grenk No. 4, another collage-zine published 36 years ago.

The Cambridge Dictionary translates the German word “mulmig” as “An uneasy feeling about the matter from the start.”

Marc created several pieces to illustrate “The Good Soldier” by Vince Nowell, Sr. for The Digest Enthusiast No. 11 due in January 2020.

Mulmig 2 is available for $2.00 postage-paid. Click on the link: Marc Myers to arrange purchase.

News November 1, 2019

Squint 7

Tom Brinkmann writes about unusual off-the-beaten-path magazines, digests, and tabloids. A regular contributor to The Digest Enthusiast, his latest article, “The Creature from the Black Lagoon with The Seven Year Itch,” appears in issue ten. Tom is also an illustrator and publisher. His latest artzine, Squint 7, features 16 pages of his amorphic images and portraits presented in classic mini-comics’ format. Send inquiries to Tom at vaioduct at aol dot com.

Two volumes of Tom’s book, Bad Mags, were published in 2008 (Vol. 1) and 2009 (Vol. 2). Now out of print, copies are still available in secondary markets.

Interviews October 26, 2019

Cartoon Trader

Excerpt from my tribute, “The Creative Works of Joe Wehrle, Jr.” from The Digest Enthusiast No. 8, June 2018:

“In 1989, my wife Karen and I came up with the idea of producing a monthly Cartoon Trader, which would focus on the buying and selling of newspaper comic strips, the way the Comics Buyer’s Guide mainly concerns itself with comic books. Unfortunately, we were never able to get enough ads to make it a really substantial-looking monthly or to make it the self-supporting venture we’d hoped for, so we had to discontinue it after just a few issues. We did create several continuing features for the magazine, though—classic cartoonist trading cards, retrospectives, paper dolls (Trina Robbins sent us some outfits!) and a monthly page of original comic strips.”

Today, Cartoon Trader’s ads offer only a passing glance at yesterday’s prices, but Joe and Karen loaded each Trader with such charming original content it’s still fun to read today.

Joe’s bibliography appears on the Larque Press website.