black mask magazine

1941, “I Wake Up Screaming”

August 1941 issue of Black Mask Magazine visible

based on the novel of the same name by Steve Fisher

released on October 31, 1941

October 14, 2014

August 1935 issue ~ cover art by Rudolph Belarski

August 1935 issue

cover art by Rudolph Belarski

~ William Donald Bray, “Death Dances”, last of 4 Britt Hardsley stories, of the Carneal Construction Co., ‘man of murder and mystery’, 1^st person narrator, 11^th of 12 stories in BM

~ George Harmon Coxe, “Mixed Drinks”, 13^th of 27 with Flashgun Casey, 13th of 31 stories in BM

~ James Duncan, “Cook Bait”, 2nd of 3 with Ivor Small – investigations, “He was fat without being fat enough to gain a livelihood as a professional fat man”, 2nd of 10 stories in BM

~ John Lawrence, “Broadway Babe”, ‘King Carrick, ex G-man‘, 2^nd of 14 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Die-Hard”, 31st of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Winter Kill: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.4 (Altus, 2013), 60 of 67 stories in BM

~ Theodore A. Tinsley, “Behind the Column”, ‘12th (of 25) Jerry Tracy capers, columnist on the (NYC) Planet, ‘mixer with poor and rich, the crooked and the straight, trailer of trouble and happiness’, reprinted in Murder Maze: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jerry Tracy, vol.2 (Steeger 2022),13th of 26 stories in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “Dangerous Crossing”, ‘3rd (of 5) of George Killeen, private ‘tec in L.A., & 1^st-person narrator; with Lieutenant McFee, Homicide’, ‘Killeen plays at “framing the framer”’, 18th of 50 appearances in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

September 1927 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

September 1927 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

~ Katherine Brocklebank, “Snowbirds”, 2^nd of 7 stories in BM

~ Tom Curry, “Jungle Thieves”, ‘Venezuela & Federal Agents on the chase’, 11^th of 39 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “This Way Out”, 14th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, “First [of 3] of Ed Jenkins’ thrilling adventures with ‘The Girl with the Mole’” [consecutive issues], reprinted in Dead Men’s Letters (1990, Carroll & Graf anthology of Jenkins stories), (title repeats 3/1937, but is different story), 23rd of 99 stories in BM

~ (Charles John) Cutcliffe Hyne, “The Escape”, 5^th of 8 yarns with Captain Kettle

~ Don Livingston, “No Grandstand Play”, ‘Western‘, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “China Silk”, ‘introducing Buck Jason – booze runner extraordinary’, ‘1^st of 3 with BJ’, reprinted in Street Wolf (Altus Press, 2014), 4 of 67 stories

~ Lt. Col. J.H. [John Henry] Patterson, D.S.O., “The Man-Eaters of Tsavo”, 6th of 7 serialized parts of this ex-British Army officer’s account of building a railway in Kenya, 1898-1899; book published in 1927

~ Riblew Reelhew, “The Robbing of Mind Tai Low”, ‘Chinatown character outwits crook’, 1^st of 2 stories under this pseudonym, an anagram of Wilber Wheeler

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Sky-High Odds”, ‘3^rd of 7 Chuck Reddington story; airplanes & machineguns’, 11th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

~ Erika Zastrow, “Joe’s Woman”, ‘in street-dialect’, 1^st of 3 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

(first copy of this title found in a dozen years of searching)

September 1938 issue ~ cover art by James Lunnon

September 1938 issue

cover art by James Lunnon

~ Walter E. Burton, “The Stamp of Guilt”, ‘murder & philately’, 2^nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Murder Masquerade”, last of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, last of 39 stories in BM

~ H. Randolph Peacock, “Dead Man’s Prints”, last of 3 with Otto, department store dick, making $40 a week at Klineman’s, 3rd of 4 stories in BM

~ H.H. Stinson, “Ol’ Devil O’Hara”, 6th of 14 with ‘Ken O’Hara, fighting reporter on Los Angeles Tribune’, 9th of 27 stories in BM

~ Theodore A. Tinsley, “Make It Murder”, ‘22nd (of 25) Jerry Tracy capers, columnist on the (NYC) Planet, ‘mixer with poor and rich, the crooked and the straight, trailer of trouble and happiness’, reprinted in Station K-I-L-L: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jerry Tracy, vol.3 (Steeger, 2024), 23rd of 26 stories in BM

~ Donald Wandrei, “Corpse on the Campus”, ‘murder at Midville State University’, 4th of 6 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

September 1928 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

September 1928 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

~ William Donald Bray, “The Red Mackinaw”, ‘mining yarn’, 2^nd of 12 stories in BM

~ Tom Curry, “Murder Chains”, part 1 of 2, ‘gangster yarn; John Furnel, alias The Grand Street Kid; see p. 128 for data on & photo of TC’, 16^th of 39 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “The Snarl of the Beast”, 21^st of 53 with Race Williams, last of 4 part serial, published as a novel in 1927 as The Snarl of the Beast, reprinted in The Snarl of the Beast: The Collected Hard-boiled Stories of Race Williams, v.2 (Altus, 2016), 30th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Bob Du Soe, “The Kid on Number Twenty”, 1^st of 3 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Where the Buzzards Circle”, 4^th of 7 Black Barr, 26th of 99 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Yellow Smoke”, 7th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, 9th of 39 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “A Grudge is a Grudge”, ‘among crooks, that is; police dick’, reprinted in Street Wolf (Altus Press, 2014), 8 of 67 stories in BM

~ Henry Wallace Phillips, “The Killing Nerve”, ‘Western’, 1^st of 8 with Red Saunders, 3rd of 12 stories in BM

~ Erika Zastrow, “The Crook Who Wanted To Be Straight”, 2nd of 3 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

August 1928 issue ~ cover art by H.C. Murphy

August 1928 issue

cover art by H.C. Murphy

better image than previously posted

~ Tom Curry, “The Master”, 7^th and last DeVrite, with Mac, 26^th of 39 stories in BM

~ Carroll John Daly, “Rough Stuff”, 25^th of 53,‘Race Williams vs. The Hidden Hand; Pt. 3 of 5 loosely organized 5-pt. serial’, reprinted in The Snarl of the Beast: The Collected Hard-boiled Stories of Race Williams, v.2 (Altus, 2016), 37th of 71 appearances in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Fangs of Fate”, 5^th of 7 Black Barr, 33rd of 99 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Hell to Pay”, ‘Chicago hood; 1^st -person narrator’, reprinted in Street Wolf (Altus Press, 2014), 12 of 67 stories in BM

~ Stephen Payne, “Night-Riding Ruddy”, ‘Western; with Ruddy Ingersoll‘, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Lester Reynard, “Ritzie Gets Clever”, ‘Western; Deputy ‘Happy’ Collins & girl, Ritzie’, 1^st of 5 stories in BM

~ Everett H. Tipton, “El Tigre Was Bad”, ‘Bobby Warren, reporter, in Juárez (Chihuahua)’, 6th of 7 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “High Death”, ‘Mac, Ben Greed; 3rd of 6 in Border Brand series’, reprinted in Border Brand (Steeger, 2024), 23rd of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

February 1921 issue

February 1921 issue

cover art by William Grotz?

better image than previously posted

features image of cover from June 1920 issue – which was by Grotz

~ John Baer, “An Omen of Ill-Luck”, 2^nd of 24 stories in BM

~ Walter Deffenbaugh, “The Lizard”, 1^st of 14 stories in BM

~ Harold De Polo, “There’s Always Something Lacking”, 1^st of 6 stories in BM

~ Alexis Dolman, “An Admirable Man”, ‘short-short’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Carl Glick, “The Shot in the Dark”, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ H.W. Haward, “Who Challoner?”, ‘the name may be Harward; in any case, possibly a pseud. of Harold Ward’, only appearance by this name in BM

~ Harry C. Hervey, Jr., “Can This Thing Be?”, 6th of 8 appearances in BM

~ Chauncey C. Hotchkiss, “ The Wrong Box”, author’s only story in BM

~ J.C. Kofoed, “Fear”, 7^th of 9 stories in BM

~ J.J. Stagg, “The Mystery of the Stains”, author’s debut and 1^st of 11 stories in BM

~ Ward Sterling, “The Letter in Pedro’s Skull”, 1st of 2 stories in this issue (see Ward), 5th of stories under this name in BM

~ Arthur Tuckerman, “Cross-Channel”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Harold Ward, “The Trego Circus Mystery”, 2^nd story in this issue, 11th of 29 stories under this name in BM [15^th and 16th of 46 stories in BM under three different names – Ward Sterling and H.W. Starr]

cover art by Rafael DeSoto

1947 Avon digest, Murder Mystery Monthly, #46

cover art by Rafael deSoto

better image than previously posted

August 1951, debut issue

July 1935 issue ~ cover art by Rudolph Belarski

July 1935 issue

cover art by Rudolph Belarski

better image than previously posted

~ William Donald Bray, “Hot Gold”, 3^rd of 4 Britt Hardsley stories, of the Carneal Construction Co., ‘man of murder and mystery’, 1^st person narrator, 10th of 12 stories in BM

~ George Harmon Coxe, “Buried Evidence”, ‘Tom Wade with Flashgun Casey’, 12^th of 27 with Flashgun Casey, 12^th of 31 stories in BM

~ B.B. Fowler, “A Frame Should Stick”, ‘Red Candless, reporter’, 1^st of 2 stories in BM

~ Dick Moreland, “Blue Dandy”, ‘Jim Delf, owner of Blue Dandy Kennels‘, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Theodore A. Tinsley, “Murderer’s Guest”, ‘11th (of 25) Jerry Tracy capers, columnist on the (NYC) Planet, ‘mixer with poor and rich, the crooked and the straight, trailer of trouble and happiness’, 12th of 26 stories in BM. Reprinted in South Wind: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jerry Tracy (Steeger Books, 2021).

~ Roger Torrey, “Nose Trouble”, ‘3rd of 4 stories starring 1^st-person narrator Mike O’Dell, ex-wrestler, now bodyguard’, 17th of 50 appearances in BM. Reprinted in South Wind: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Jerry Tracy (Steeger Books, 2021).

~ Thomas Walsh, “Death Can Come Hard”, ‘Dr. Ed French, interne, 1^st-person narrator’, 5th of 6 stories in BM

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’, 1^st 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…; 1^st of 3 stories in issue in which he figures’, 1^st 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”, 1^st 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, 1^st 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