black mask magazine

April 1927 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

May 1927 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

~ J. Edgar Ambler, “The Buzzard”, ‘The Buzzard & the Cracker, criminals’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Tom Curry, “The Stick-Up Club”, 8^th of 23 with Macnamara (Mac), NYPD 1^st grade dick, 13^th of 39 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “In Full Account”, 16th of 73 Ed Jenkins stories, last of 3 with ‘The Girl with the Mole’, reprinted in Dead Men’s Letters (1990, Carroll & Graf anthology of Jenkins stories), 25th of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “$106,000 Blood Money” Continental Op [21st of 25], sequel to “The Big Knock-Over”, in the 2/1927 issue, reprinted with its prequel as Blood Money (Tower, 1943), reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), 30^th of 51 stories in BM

~ (Charles John) Cutcliffe Hyne, “The Liner and the Iceberg”, 7th of 8 yarns with Captain Kettle

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

~ Riblew Reelhew, “Eyes of the Night”, ‘Dandy Dan, nimble & nimble-witted crook’, 2nd of 2 stories under this pseudonym, Wilber Wheeler reversed

~ Victor Shaw, “For a Girl Like That”, ‘Western detective’, 1st of 5 stories in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “South of Savannah”, 4th of 7 ‘Chuck Reddington story; airplanes & machineguns’, 12th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

August 1939 issue ~ cover art by Edgar A. Whitney

August 1939 issue

cover art by Edgar A. Whitney

better image than previously posted

~ Frederick C. Davis, “All Roads Closed”, ‘kidnapping & amnesia’, 9^th of 16 stories in BM

~ Mindret Lord, “The Tattooed Tramp”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Roger Torrey, “Hay Time”, ‘11th (of 14) in Pat McCarthy series, with Marge Chalmers often his “sidekick”; he is ex-NYC cop, ex-agency man (Chicago & St. Louis) who dislikes cops’, 38th of 50 appearances in BM

~ Lawrence Treat, “Swampers’ Gold”, ‘pirate treasure’, 4th of 5 stories in BM

~ Edward S. Williams, “Bloody Answers”, ‘Corporal John Harmon, State Trooper, narrator’, 5th of 8 appearances in BM

~ Cornell Woolrich, “Men Must Die”, 12th of 24 (22 original) stories to appear in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

March 1947 issue ~ cover art by Albert Drake

March 1947 issue

cover art by Albert Drake

better image than previously posted

~ Dale Clark, “The Corpse with the Bloody Nose”, last of 28 O’Hanna stories, last of 32 appearances in BM

~ Merle Constiner, “Dead on Arrival”, ‘Luther McGavock, private detective; he works Atherton Browne who heads a Memphis-based agency, 10^th of 11 of the McG stories; usually rural setting’, reprinted in Let the Dead Alone: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Luther McGavock (Steeger, 2020), 11^th of 12 stories in BM

~ Robert C. Dennis, “Out of This World”, 2nd of 6 with ‘William (Willie) Carmody, Confidential Investigations & Margaret O’Leary, writer, Hollywood, WC is first-person narrator’, 2nd of 10 stories in BM

~ William Campbell Gault, “A Murder for Mac”, reprinted in Hot-House Homicide: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Mortimer Jones (Steeger, 2925), 2nd of 5 with PI Mortimer Jones, 3^rd of 9 stories in BM

~ Coleman Meyer, “You’ll Never Grow Old”, ‘Hill Cartright, auto racer, tells it’, author’s 1^st of 2 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

January 15, 1934 British edition ~ cover art by James Nivison McArdle

January 15, 1934 British edition

cover art by James Nivison McArdle – same as the US edition

contains all but two of the US edition’s stories

March 1930 issue ~ cover art by J.W. Schlaikjer

March 1930 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by J. W. Schlaikjer

~ Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield), “Death in the Pasig”, Jo Gar, 2^nd of 24 in BM, reprinted in The Hard-Boiled Omnibus (1946), reprinted in West of Guam: The Complete Cases of Jo Bar (Altus Press, 2013)

~ Dashiell Hammett, “The Hat Trick”, Ned Beaumont, 1st of 4 stories that will go together to make up The Glass Key (published 1931), 41^st of 45 stories in BM

~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “Boom Town”, 12th of 32 with Stuart “Black” Burton, ‘square-shooting gambler from the Southwest, often entangled with the law’, 16th of 39 stories in BM

~ Horace McCoy, “Frost Rides Again”, 5th of 14 Frost stories with ‘Capt. Jerry Frost, Texas (Air) Ranger’, 6^th of 17 stories in BM, reprinted in The Black Mask Boys (1985, Morrow) as “Frost Flies Alone”

~ Earl and Marion Scott, “Bitter Business”, 3rd of 6 stories with ‘Phil Craleigh, once brilliant lawyer, now a drunk, given to bouts of reform’, 12th of 17 stories in BM as a couple

~ Peter G. Thomas, “The Bell in the Fog”, ‘River pirates in NYC’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Oval Face”, ‘Mal Ourney; part 4 (of 5), ‘The Crime Breeders’, presented as separate stories rather than conventional serial’, published in hardcover in 1930 by Knopf as Green Ice, 38th of 67 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

February 1, 1923 issue ~ cover art by A. Rose

February 1, 1923 issue

cover art by A. Rose

~ Eustace Hale Ball, “The Trail of the Scarlet Fox”, part 2 of 6 parts with various subtitles, BM debut, 2nd of 13 appearances in BM

~ Drayton Dunster, “Her Gold and Her Pearls”, 2^nd of 9 stories in BM

~ Eliza Mae Harvey, “The Last Snow”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ W.H. Holmes, “Creeping Death”, ‘A Complete Mystery Novelette’, 1^st of 3 stories in BM

~ Francis James, “Sinister Images”, Prentice, Harvard-trained criminologist turned policeman (‘the young Central Office Man’) with Police Chief Shannon, 1st of 4 parts, 3rd of 20 appearances in BM

~ A. Kandel, “Eulogy on a Rare Theme”, ‘brief-brief’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Roy L. McCardell, “A Million A Year”, last of 4 parts, 4^th of 5 appearances in BM

~ Marr Murray, “Hades and Return”, ‘South Sea story‘, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “After Ten Thousand Miles”, 1^st of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, ‘(see pp. 38-39 for data on CS); no effort has been made to sustain the supposed veracity of series; see also under Joseph Gallomb, Glenn G. Gravatt, & Robert Lee Heiser’, 1^st of 49 total articles in BM

~ Horace Winston Stokes, “The Devil’s Hollow”, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Joe Taylor, “The Fixer”, 4th of 12 tales in ‘My Underworld’ series, billed as fiction, 4^th of 13^th appearances in BM

~ N.H. Wilson, “The Head of Clampini”, ‘Daytime story’, author’s sole appearance in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

February 1935 issue ~ cover art by Fred Craft

February 1935 issue

cover art by Fred Craft

better image than previously posted

~ Dwight V. Babcock, “Murder After Midnight”, ‘Al, bodyguard, 2^nd story in series’, 4^th of 21 stories in BM

~ W.T. Ballard, “Confessions Means Death”, 1^st of 2 with radio host/”people’s pal” Jimmy DeHaven, 12^th of 43 stories in BM

~ Clue Club, “Clue Club Mystery Story Contest”, ‘short-lived contest sponsored by Warner Bros & BM with prizes, etc.; not indexed beyond this issue’

~ George Harmon Coxe, “Casey – Detective”, 8^th of 27 with Flashgun Casey, 8^th of 31 stories in BM

~ Raymond Jae Moffatt, “Dunnigan of the Morning Call”, ‘cub reporter & cops’, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Frederick L. Nebel, “It’s a Gag”, 29th of 37 with Captain Steve MacBride and local reporter Kennedy, reprinted in Too Young to Die: Complete Cases of MacBride & Kennedy, v.3 (Altus, 2013), 57 of 67 stories in BM

November 1937 issue ~ cover art by Stockton Mulford

November 1937 issue

cover art by Stockton Mulford

better image than previously posted

~ W.T. Ballard, “Friends Sometimes Kill”, “Don Tomaso Sherman, narrator: 2^nd DTS story”, 28^th of 43 stories in BM

~ H.W. Guernsey, “Late Harvest”, ‘mushrooms, e.g. morel (nightshade)’, 2nd of 4 stories in BM

~ Baynard H(ardwick) Kendrick, “Burial Mound”, 4th of 14 stories with Mikes Standish (Stan) Rice, ‘The Hungry’[?], all set in Florida

~ Roger Torrey, “One Good Turn”, ‘Shean Connell, private peep; 3rd of 4 SC stories’, reprinted in Just Nice Girl: The Complete Black Mask Cases of Shean Connell, Vol. 1 (Steeger, 2025), 31st of 50 appearances in BM

~ Edward S. Williams, “Leave the Door Open”, ‘Peter Nelson, young MD, in the slums’, 3rd of 8 appearances in BM

~ Cornell Woolrich, “Cab, Mister?”, 7th of 24 (22 original) stories to appear in BM

October 1926 issue

October 1926 issue

~ Carl Clausen, “The Turquoise Ring”, last of 3 stories in BM

~ Cyril J. Conrad, “A Breath of Suspicion”, only story in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Buzzard Bait”, 2^nd of 7 with Black Bear, 18^th of 99 stories in BM

~ Donald MacGregor, “Full Speed Ahead”, last of 10 stories

~ Lt. Col. J.H. [John Henry] Patterson, D.S.O., “The Man-Eaters of Tsavo”, 1^st of 7 serialized parts of this ex-British Army officer’s account of building a railway in Kenya, 1898-1899; book published in 1927

~ Hal Rammel, “So Spake the Prophet”, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Sarah Harbine Weaver, “A Knight’s Night Out”, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

July 1926 issue ~ cover art by Dodge

July 1926 issue

cover art by Dodge

~ Carroll John Daly, “The False Clara Burkhart”, 14^th of 53 with Race Williams, reprinted in Them That Lives By Their Guns: The Collected Hard-Boiled Stories of Race Williams, Vol. 1 (Altus Press, 2015), 22nd of 71 appearances in BM

~ William Colt MacDonald, “Romney Gets the Dope”, Western, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Howard E. Morgan, “The Prisoner at Silver City”, 2^nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “The Knife”, last of 20 stories in BM

~ Harry Emmons Rolfe, “Tin Cans”, ‘short-short’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ George Surrey, “The King of Pearls”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Black Air”, 4th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]