April 1921 issue ~ cover art by William Grotz

April 1921 issue

cover art by William Grotz

~ John Baer, “Partners in Crime”, 4th of 24 stories in BM

~ Hamilton Craigie, “The Lap of the Lady”, shop lifting and female impersonation, last of 7 solo stories in BM

~ Eric A. Darling, “The Pigtail of Wi-Wing-Ho”, ‘Chinese; diamond hidden in pigtail’, last of 5 stories in BM

~ Walter Deffenbaugh, “The Second Safe”, ‘safe-cracker, narrator’, 2nd of 14 stories in BM

~ Ford Douglas, “The Mardi Gras Souvenir”, ‘”Complete Mystery Novelette”, 1st-person narrator’, 1st of 4 stories in BM

~ Gaius Drew, “Murder Magic”, ‘Benson the Houseman’, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ Clinton [aka Charles] Harcourt, “The Hold-Up on Napoleon Boulevard”, ‘Barney Fagan, thief’, 5th of 6 stories in BM

~ Marc Edmond Jones, “Death’s Bridegroom”, author’s only appearance in BM

~ C.S. Montanye (Carleton Stevens), “What the Moonlight Revealed”, 8th of 29 stories in BM

~ Hubert de Tavanne Roussel, “The Stained Paper”, ‘short-short’, and “The Yellow Stripe”, ‘set in the Kalahari Desert (South Africa)’, 2nd and 3rd of 7 stories in BM

~ Ward Sterling, “The Riddle of the Tattooed Men”, 1st of 2 stories in this issue (see Ward), 7th of 16 stories under this name in BM

~ John D. Swain, “Mahogany Brogues”, ‘cocaine addict kills bully on NYC subway’, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ Harold Ward, “Under the Crimson Skull”, ‘two detectives & Cora Morgan, “government operative’, 2nd story in this issue, 13th of 29 stories under this name in BM [19th and 20th of 46 stories in BM under three different names – Ward Sterling and H.W. Starr]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

June 1920 issue ~ cover art by William Grotz

June 1920 issue – third issue

cover art by William Grotz

~ Hamilton Craigie, “The Dead Ringer”, 2nd of 7 solo stories in BM

~ Eric A. Darling, “That Thing on the Bed”, 1st of 5 stories in BM

~ Schuyler Hamilton, “Run to Earth”, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Clinton [aka Charles] Harcourt, “The Chest of Delicious Curves”, 2nd of 6 stories in BM

~ Harry C. Hervey, Jr., “The Black Menace”, 2nd of 8 appearances in BM

~ William H. Kofoed, “The Scarlet Mask”, 1st of 3 stories in BM [under this name?]

~ Maurice Level, “The Confession”, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ H.T. MacKender, “The Coward”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ C.S. Montanye (Carleton Stevens), “The Final Raid”, 2nd of 29 stories in BM

~ Charles F. Oursler and John I. Pearce, “The Hand of Judas”, authors’ only appearance in BM

~ Edward E. and Dorothy S. Rose, “The Night of November 7th”, authors’ only appearance in BM

~ Valentine Williams, “The Mystery of the Brown Leather Suit-Case”, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

May 1921 issue ~ cover art by Archie Gunn

May 1921 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by Archie Gunn

~ John Baer, “The Struggle in the Dark”, 5th of 24 stories in BM

~ Walter De Leon, “Marked By the Moon”, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ Paul Everman, “A Call at Carnagy’s”, ‘short-short’, 3rd of 4 stories in BM

~ Clinton [aka Charles] Harcourt, “The Reflection in the Mirror”, last of 6 stories in BM

~ Julian Kilman, “The Fugitive”, 5th of 6 stories in BM

~ William H. Kofoed, “The Foot on the Skylight”, last of 3 stories in BM [under this name?]

~ Robert K. Lennox, “The Price of Vanity”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Lloyd Lonergan, “The Hunch”, 1st of 8 stories in BM

~ C.S. Montanye (Carleton Stevens), “ The Telegram”, and “Told By a Card”, 2 stories in this issue, 9th and 10th of 29 stories in BM

~ Angus Perkerson, “Ether”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Hubert de Tavanne Roussel, “The Trap”, ‘short-short’, 4th of 7 stories in BM

~ Anthony M. Rud, “The Farson Enigma”, 2nd of 2 stories in BM

~ Harold Ward, “Out of the Jaws of Death”, ‘short-short’, 14th of 29 stories under this name in BM [21st of 46 stories in BM under three different names – Ward Sterling and H.W. Starr]

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

September 1924 UK issue ~ cover art by L.L. Balcom

September 1924 UK issue

cover art by L.L. Balcom

most contents the same as US Sept. 1924

~ C.S. Montanye (Carleton Stevens), “The Dragon Fly”, 14th of 29 stories in BM [US Jan.’23]

~ Royce Brier, “Black and Blue”, ‘set in Mexico’, last of 5 stories in BM

~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Accommodatin’ a Lady”, 1st of 10 Bob Larkin stories, 1st person narrator, author’s first appearance in BM under this name (see June, 1924), 2nd of 99 stories in BM

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Women, Politics and Murder”, the Op [11th of 25], reprinted in The Big Book of the Continental Op (Vintage, 2017), in The Girl with the Silver Eyes: The Complete Black Mask Cases of the Continental Op, vol.2 (Steeger, 2023), 18th of 51 stories in BM

~ Francis James, “The Long Hand of Middleton”, Prentice, Harvard-trained criminologist turned policeman, 16th of 20 appearances in BM

~ Jud Pierce, “Sunrise”, ‘short-short’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ Ray Raymond, “The Curse of the Long Tooth”, ‘South Seas mystery’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The Rough Diamond”, 33rd of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 34th of 49 total articles in BM

~ George A. Wright, “The Mountain Comes to Mohammad”, author’s only appearance in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

November 1922 issue ~ cover art by A. Rose

November 1922 issue

cover art by A. Rose

~Eustace Hale Ball & Earl Derby, “Dead Men Do Tell!”, ‘The First of the Black Mask Daytime Stories – not to be read at night by people with weak nerves.” EHB’s debut in BM

~ Carl Clausen, “The Careful Alibi”, ‘Complete Novelette’, 2nd of 3 stories in BM

~ Frederick Ames Coates, “Bottled Judgment”, last of 5 stories in BM

~ Peter Condet, “The Indorsed Check”, ‘baseball background’, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ Thomas Ewing Dabney, “Tom Shepherd and the Rat”, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ Marie Eisenbrandt, “The Breaking Point”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ John Hanlon, “A Shred of Yellow Paper, ‘short-short, less than a half page‘, 1st of 3 stories in BM

~ Roy L. McCardell, “A Million A Year”, 1st of 4 parts, 1st of 5 appearances in BM

~ J.R. McCarthy, “Payment As Promised”, ‘short-short’, author’s only appearance in BM

~ John McColl, “But She Looked Lovely”, ‘poem’, 1st of 3 works in BM

~ C.S. Montanye (Carleton Stevens), “The Goat”, 13th of 29 stories in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “Shark-Bait”, ‘short-short‘, 5th of 20 stories in BM

~ A. Rose, “A Substitute for Blood”, ‘story illus. by author who also designed cover of issue’, author’s sole story in BM

~ Joe Taylor, “The Life of a Hold-Up Man”, ‘1st (of 12) tales in ‘My Underworld’ series; JT is advertised as ‘ex-automobile bandit’ with 15 years’ experience in crime; early on, listed as fact; later, as fiction; see p. 40 for photo-portrait of JT’, 1st of 13th appearances in BM

~                         Sally Dixon Wright, “The House on the Dunes”, author’s only appearance in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[cover updated 11/8/25]
























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July 1939 issue ~ cover art by J. George Janes

July 1939  issue

cover art by J. George Janes

~ W.T. Ballard, “Death in the Zoo”, 32nd of 43 stories in BM

~ Maurice Beam, “Death Swing”, ‘stunt fliers’,(thought to possibly be a pseud. of Robert Leslie Bellem), 2nd of 7 with this name in BM

~ C.S. Montanye (Carleton Stevens), “Framed for Hanging”, 28th of 29 stories in BM

~ Stewart Sterling (pseud. of Prentice Winchell), “Kill a Man Dead”, 2nd of 3 stories with Vince Mallie, 2nd of 12 stories

~ H.H. Stinson, “Murder Sweepstakes”, 7th of 14 with ‘Ken O’Hara, fighting reporter on Los Angeles Tribune’, ‘see pg. 7 for letter from HHS about O’H’, 12th of 27 stories in BM

~ Cornell Woolrich, “Borrowed Crime”, reprinted in The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories (Vintage, 2010), 11th of 24 (22 original) stories to appear in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

February 1, 1924 issue ~ cover art by Onestus Uzzell

February 1, 1924 issue

better image than previously posted

cover art by Onestus Uzzell

~ Carl Asher, “And This Is How It Is”, ‘short story; “a satire”’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ John Ayotte, “Rifles”, ‘Capt. Ayotte has departed Hawaii in fact & fiction’, 8th of 10 stories in BM

~ Ray(mond King) Cummings, “T. McGuirk, Movie Actor”, ‘8th of 14 McGuirk stories, billed as “the quaintest character in the Underworld” & honest, more of less’, 8th of 15 stories in BM

~ Charles M. Green [pseud. of Erle Stanley Gardner], “The Verdict”, last of 3 stories in BM under this name

~ Dashiell Hammett, “Night Shots”, ‘the Op [3rd of 22] or as BM bills him ‘Mr. Hammett’s nameless detective’, 6th of 45 stories in BM

~ C.S. Montanye (Carleton Stevens), “The Sandalwood Box”, 5th of 10 with ‘Captain Valentine, that ‘attractive European scalawag’, adventurer and rascal’, 21th of 29 stories in BM

~Jennings Perry, “The Master of the Maisie”, 1st of 2 stories in BM

~ Herman Petersen, “That Yellow Devil”, 1st of 2 parts, ‘Madame Pinar, Eurasian’, 16th of 20 stories in BM

~ Henry Serrano, “The Ghost of the Hesperides”, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Don Cameron Shafer, “The Hunters”, ‘tiger-hunting in India’, author’s sole appearance in BM

~ Charles Somerville, “The ‘Cat’ Detective’, 24th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series

~ Edward Parrish Ware, “The Kid’s Hole Card”, ‘Western’, 3rd of 9 stories in BM

©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

[cover updated 11/8/25]