Category: action fiction

May 1920 issue ~ cover art by William Grotz

May 1920 issue – second issue published

cover art by William Grotz

~ Frank Blighton, “The Hop on Hyperspace”, ‘Hyperspace is a dog’, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ Hamilton Craigie, “Receipted in Full”, ‘Headnote is worth (partially) quoting from: “ 
Another typical Black Mask complete novelette
which represent[s] the very best mystery fiction
printed in America today. Novelty of plot, nervous suspense and ingenious solutions are the keynotes
; 1st of 3 stories in issue in which he figures’, 1st of 7 solo stories in BM

~ Hamilton Craigie & Walter Grahame, “According to Specifications” and “The Jest Ironic” (2 stories by this pair)

~ Ashton Crowell, “The Prison Clock Strikes Nine”, ‘prison setting’, only appearance in BM

~ Captain Frank Cunningham, “The Best New Books”, ‘Regular column which reviewed new mystery & detective novels; also called “The New Mystery Books”; not indexed beyond this point.’

~ Schuyler Hamilton, “The Silvered Sentinel”, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ Clinton [aka Charles] Harcourt, “The Necklace of the Pharaohs”, 1st of 6 stories in BM

~ Greye La Spina, “The Seventh Step”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Maurice Level, “In the Light of the Red Lamp”, ‘short-short‘, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ C.S. Montanye (Carleton Stevens), “Looking Out for Orchid”, ‘narrated by vaudevillian in dialect’, debut, 1st of 29 stories in BM

~ John Irving Pearce, Jr. and Joseph Faus, “The Belled Boomerang”, only joint appearance by these authors in BM, for JIP, see Oursler

~ Merlin Moore Taylor, “The Wheel Within the Wheel”, author’s debut in BM, 1st of 8 appearances in BM

~ Harold Ward, “The ‘Tail’ of a Cat”, 2nd of 29 stories under this name in BM [2nd of 46 stories in BM under three different names– Ward Sterling and H.W. Starr]

~ Valentine Williams, “The Mystery of the Missing Finger”, ‘Desmond Okewood, British Secret Service’, 1st of 2 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

September 1922 issue ~ cover art by William Grotz

September 1922 issue

cover art by William Grotz

~ John Baer, “The Murderer’s Name and Address”, 22nd of 24 stories in BM

~ M. Hernaiz Becerra, “The Ordway Suicide Mystery”, only story in BM

~ Hubert Raymond Carter [prename also given as Herbert], “The House with Silver Shutters”, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Frederick C. Davis, “The Living Dead”, 1st of 16 stories in BM

~ Meredith Davis, “Velvet Tips”, 1st of 3 stories in BM

~ Jack J. Gottlieb, “Eyes That See Not”, ‘North, a criminal, & poetic justice’, 5th of 8 stories in BM

~ Robert Hannan, “The Thirteenth Victim”, ‘short-short’, only appearance in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “The Seven Gilded Balls” and “Poisoned Gas”, author’s 1st and 2nd of 20 stories in BM

~ Howard P. Rockey, “Madge the Mouse”, 4th of 5 stories in BM

~ J.J. Stagg, “The Broken Melody”, last of 11 stories in BM

~ Harold Ward, “Dollars and Scents”, ‘Complete Mystery Novelette’, 27th of 29 stories under this name in BM [43rd of 46 stories in BM under three different names – Ward Sterling and H.W. Starr]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

April 15, 1932 Canadian edition ~ cover art by cover by Gerard C. Delano

April 15, 1932 Canadian edition

cover art by cover by Gerard C. Delano

(date, contents, and cover art same as US)

October 15, 1923 issue ~ cover art by Lewis Kennerly

October 15, 1923 issue

cover art by Lewis Kennerly

better image than previously posted

~ Edwin Baird, “Keep it Dark” short-short, last of 3 stories in BM

~ Eustace Hale Ball, “Little Miss Muffet – 1923”, 9th of 13 stories in BM

~ Royce Brier, “The Thirteenth Tack”, ‘Spider Klein, criminal’, 2nd of 5 stories in BM

~ Ray(mond King) Cummings, “T. McGuirk Tries the Luck Charms”, ‘7th of 14 McGuirk stories, billed as “the quaintest character in the Underworld” & honest, more of less’, 7th of 15 stories in BM

~ Drayton Dunster, “Aided and Abetted by the Law”, 8th of 9 stories in BM

~ ‘Peter Collinson’ (Hammett), “Slippery Fingers”, 1st story in this issue, ‘see p. 127 for letter by DH & discussion of story’, last of 4 stories under this name in BM, though Hagemann doesn’t note it, 2nd of 25 Op stories reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), reprinted in Zigzags of Treachery: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, Vol. 1 (Steeger, 2023), though Hagemann does not list this as an Op story, 4th of 51 total stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Crooked Souls”, the Op [3rd of 25], 2nd of 2 stories in this issue but 5th of 51 total stories in BM, reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), reprinted in Zigzags of Treachery: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, Vol. 1 (Steeger, 2023)

~ Robert Lee Heiser, “Fifty Dollars a Peep”, ‘alleged to be true’

~ Jones Jones, “The Talented Burglar”, author’s sole appearance in BM [hard to believe that name is correct]

~ J. Fortune Reade, “At the Bottom of It”, ‘A Strange Detective Problem’, 2nd of 3 stories in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Riddle of Room 14”, 17th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 18th of 49 total articles in BM

~ J. Paul Suter, “Beyond Justice”, ‘daytime story’, 2nd of 19 appearances in BM

~ Joe Taylor, “The Doublecross”, 10th of 12 tales in ‘My Underworld’ series, 11th of 13th appearances in BM

~ Merlin Moore Taylor, “The Young Squirt”, ‘advertised as “A Complete Mystery Novelette”’, 4th of 8 appearances in BM

~ Edward Parrish Ware, “The Snitch”, 1st of 9 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop