The Complete Guide to Manhunt Part 12

by Peter Enfantino

Continuing an issue by issue examination of the greatest crime digest of all time.

Vol. 2 No. 3 May 1954

144 pages, 35 cents

The Blonde in the Bar by Richard Deming

(6700 words) ** illo: Tom O’Sullivan

Sam's far from the most attractive guy so he's, to say the least, a bit surprised when a doll named Jacqueline picks him up in the bar. His suspicions become founded when the dame drops her scam on him post-coitus. She pleads mercy for her sister, who's been arrested on prostitution charges and Sam just happens to be a cop. Sam's new girl promises a payday of $500 if he comes through but this man is made of sterner stuff. When later he finds that the woman is the front for a mafia hood trying to buy local cops, Sam goes to his boss and sets up a sting. Not much in the way of excitement here, Blonde in the Bar is populated by molls in sheer negligees and hoods who talk tough as channeled through a long-winded Oxford professor ("When we have helped into office the officials we want, we'll be in a position to dictate appointments and promotions in the police department" says one Monk Cartelli!). I do have to say I enjoyed this final exchange between Sam and Jacqueline after Sam lowers the boom:

"Sam, you liked me a lot that- that other night. Can't you- isn't there some way you can give me a break?" "Sure, babe, sure...I can give you a break. I'll take you down to the can just the way you are, instead of stopping first to kick your teeth down your throat."

Murder of a Mouse by Fletcher Flora

(4000 words) **

Charles Bruce murders his wife and stages suicide, not knowing that the woman had plans of her own. A dull story, enlivened a bit by its twist.

The Woman on the Bus by R. Van Taylor

(4000 words) *

A man and his young son offer shelter to a very strange woman. Laughable climax.

Broken Doll by Jack Webb

(6000 words) ** illo: Houlihan

An airport cop catches the strangest case of his career: a beautiful corpse, clad only in a coat left aboard a plane. A slow-paced whodunit with a bizarre wrap-up. One year later, Webb wrote a novel with the same title but otherwise no similarity to the MANHUNT tale. One half of the team from the novel, Detective Golden makes a brief appearance in the short story.

...Or Leave It Alone by Evan Hunter

(5000 words) *** illo: Houlihan

Back in 1954, this harrowing tale of Joey the hophead, and the troubles he encounters while trying to recover his stash, would probably be considered cutting edge fiction. Today it’s still good writing (albeit a padded) from the master of dark crime but its impact is obviously lessened by our everyday exposure to the horrors of drug addiction. Would I still recommend the read? Certainly. But it’s not among Hunter’s best and you can tell the man was paid by the word at times.

Lead Ache by Frank Kane

(11,000 words) **

Johnny Liddell is hired by The Dispatch to investigate the murder of their ace reporter Larry Jensen. The writer was working on a story involving dance clubs and white slavery. Liddell is aided by (beautiful) reporter Barbara Lake, who evidentally looks just as good in a skimpy dress as behind a typewriter.

The Right One by Jonathan Craig

(2000 words) *** illo: Houlihan

Bizarre little short-short about a stripper and the man she picks up at her club. A nasty climax that isn’t telegraphed a bit.

The Old Flame by James T. Farrell

(5000 words) * illo: Tom O’Sullivan

Arnold Benton has a tryst with his ex-sister-in-law and spends 4500 words feeling guilty about it. Literally page after page of “It’s nice to see you, isn’t it?” and “Yes, it’s nice to see you too.” I have no idea why this would be considered for publication in MANHUNT as there is not one line of suspense or criminal activity (unless adultery qualifies) whatsoever. James T. Farrell (1904-1979) was the author of the famous STUDS LONIGAN TRILOGY.

A Clear Picture by Sam S. Taylor

(1500 words) *

A man tries to set up his wife and her lover with tickets to a boxing match. An excellent biography of Sam S. Taylor can be found here: http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=395

You Know What I Did? by Charles Beckman, Jr.

(3000 words) *** illo: Tom O’Sullivan

Joe Allen comes home from work to find his young son missing. Effective tale of violence and revenge.

Mugged and Printed features James T. Farrell, Richard Deming, Jack Webb, and Frank Kane.

Also in this issue: Vincent H. Gaddis’ Crime Cavalcade and Portrait of a Killer #9: Theodore Durrant by Dan Sontup. The Murder Market’s H. H. Holmes reviews several current crime novels including Nothing in Her Way by Charles Williams. “Footprints” by Fred L. Anderson is a non-fiction piece about the use of footprints by police at crime scenes.

Vol. 2 No. 4 June 1954

144 pages, 35 cents

Skip a Beat by Henry Kane

(16,500 words) *1/2 illo: Tom O’Sullivan

PI Peter Chambers is summoned to the home of famous columnist Adam Woodward and hired on as the writer’s bodyguard. Woodward is about to out someone very famous as a communist and he’s sure that violence may follow. Before the commie rat-bastard can be named though, Woodward is plugged full of holes. Since the corpse is all paid up, Chambers decides to investigate. “Skip a Beat” is yet another PI story that takes way too long (about 16,500 words too long, atcually) to state the obvious. The only saving grace here is a nasty bit of carnage during a fight between Chambers and a hired gun:

I knocked the gun out of his hands, yanked him up, swung from the bottom and it caught him on the mouth. It ripped the skin off my knuckles but it knocked his teeth clean through his upper lip, and he looked like he was smiling some sort of ghastly unearthly smile, the blood all over him, before he went down. I put a finger in his collar and got him up. I garbbed the lip between my thumb and forefinger and grabbed it clear.

Points South by Fletcher Flora

(3500 words) ** illo: Houlihan

After losing thousands in a poker game, Andy Corkin loses his cool and belts a connected man. He’s told he has 24 hours to live so he starts living.

My Enemy, My Father by John M. Sitan

(1500 words) ** illo: Houlihan

A nasty short-short about a teen warring with his domineering father.

The Choice by Richard Deming

(5000 words) ***1/2

Climbing the political ladder, three or four rungs at a time, George Kenneday begins clean and naively believes he remains clean despite “little favors” he grants to the local syndicate. Through the years, those favors become bigger and Kenneday’s excuses become exponentially bigger. A strange, fascinating study of political corruption, with just a bare minimum of dialogue, topped with a slap in the face climax.

Double by Bruno Fischer

(7000 words) **1/2 illo: Tom O’Sullivan

Detective Gus Taylor is a particularly violent cop when he needs to be. Right now he feels the need. He’s convinced that actress Holly Laird killed her producer John Ambler, but can’t get the girl to confess. So he harrasses her, beats her, and when that doesn’t work he goes after her boyfriend. “Double” is a strange case: it goes way out there with its subject matter but then pulls back and softens its stance with its cotton candy climax. Too soft for my tastes.

Butcher by Richard S. Prather

(4000 words) ***

Shell Scott stumbles his way into the serial killer known as “The Butcher” when he’s driving home one night and happens upon a dismembered leg. He then aids the police to find the killer when it’s revealed the limb belonged to a young girl Shell knew. Extremely graphic for its time and tackling a subject that wasn’t addressed much (yet) in the sexual predator/serial killer.

A harder edge than we’re used to seeing in a Shell Scott story and Prather would have never gotten away with his final line in today’s “politically correct” climate.

No Vacancies by Craig Rice

(6000 words) *

John J. Malone, lawyer fro the people, is hired by a man accused of murdering his social butterfly wife. JJ instinctively knows the man is innocent. How does he know? The coffee he drinks? He just knows. I could go on about the telecasted plot devices, the wildy irrational coincidences, the “with-it” hip dialogue, and the obligatory expository, but it would just read like I was rerunning my last review of a John J. Malone story.

Die Like a Dog by David Alexander

(4000 words) **

Skid row bum Jack drinks his days away until he meets an interesting man with a blond old dog and a story about a faded starlet.

There is no Mugged and Printed this issue. Featured are Crime Cavalcade by Vincent H. Gaddis and Dan Sontup’s Portrait of a Killer #10: Rose Palmer. H. H. Holmes’ The Murder Market includes reviews of Richard Powell’s classic Say It With Bullets and Wade Miller’s South of the Sun. “Homicide, Suicide, or Accident?” by Fred L. Anderson is another study of police procedures and crime scene investigations.

The Complete Guide to Manhunt Part 11

by Peter Enfantino

Continuing an issue by issue examination of the greatest crime digest of all time.

Vol. 2 No. 1 January 1954

160 pages, 35 cents

Guilt-Edged Blonde by John Ross MacDonald

(4500 words) **

Lew Archer is hired by Nick Nemo to be his bodyguard but Nick is gunned down before Lew can guard his body. Not one to turn a blind eye to a paying customer (even if that customer is a corpse), Lew sticks around to see if he can smoke out Nemo’s killer.

The Six-Bit Fee by Richard Deming

(4000 words) *

Manville Moon investigates the murder of a crime writer.

Finish the Job by Frank Kane

(6000 words) ** illo: Tom O'Sullivan

Johnny Liddell muscles and guns his way to the man who killed Barney Shields. Not nearly as riveting as its prequel, “The Icepick Artists” (Dec 1953), “Finish the Job” is redeemed by a refreshingly nasty climax. When Liddell decides the police won’t bring Barney justice, Johnny runs over the bad guys in his rented Buick.

Over My Dead Body by Harold Q. Masur

(4500 words) **

Lawyer Scott Jordan comes home from a fishing trip to find out one of his girlfriends, Delia Harley, has been murdered. It turns out the girl had recently found out she was adopted at a very young age and her biological parents, now both dead, had been very wealthy. One of the surviving relatives wanted to make sure no one discovered that Delia would be next in line for the inheritance,

The Wrong Touch by Henry Kane

(13,000 words) **

PI Peter Chambers is hired by an underworld figure to prove the murdered man in his study is not his handiwork. Overlong, but a nice double twist at the climax.

...And Be Merry by Craig Rice

(500 words) *

Billed as “a John J. Malone story,” this is nothing more than a fragment. Malone is called to the apartment of a woman who’s been posioned with cyanide but the cops can’t find a trace around the apartment. Eventually, the path leads to the woman’s psychiatrist who spills the beans: the woman loved to lick her wallpaper. Yep.

Pattern for Panic by Richard S. Prather

(27,500 words) **** illo: Tom O'Sullivan

Shell Scott’s in Mexico helping the wife of an army general. Seems the beautiful senora has inadvertently made a blue movie and her co-star is back to blackmail her. But is blackmail the real story here? Meanwhile, Shell is mixed up in a subplot involving an eccentric scientist who has invented a deadly nerve gas and has been kidnapped by men who would use that nerve gas to further their political futures. A delirious cocktail of snakes, mad scientists, torture, two-timing babes and a rollicking action-filled climax that sees Shell Scott doing his best Count Dracula impersonation. Author Prather’s hatred of communism is driven home time and again throughout the story.

Shortly after PATTERN appeared in MANHUNT, it was submitted to Gold Medal, who turned it down. Not wishing to miss out on a sale, Prather changed Scott’s name to Cliff Morgan and sold it to Berkeley, who published it in 1955. It was later reissued in 1961 (with the Scott name re-inserted) by Gold Medal.

There was no Mugged and Printed this issue. Dan Sontup's Portrait of a Killer was also a no-show. There was a Crime Cavalcade by Vincent H. Gaddis. There were 16 extra pages in this issue, ostensibly to fit in the Prather novel.

Vol. 2 No. 2 February 1954

144 pages, 35 cents

Runaway by Richard Marsten

(9500 words) ** illo: Tom O'Sullivan

Johnny Trachetti is the suspect in the murder of gang member Angelo (The Wop) Brancusi. Johnny didn’t do it but he knows the cops will pin it on him so they can close the case early. So he runs…and runs…and runs from mishap to mishap. If it seems like a condensed version of a longer story, especially in its rushed climax, that’s because it is. A few months after “Runaway” appeared in Manhunt, Gold Medal released an expanded version, retitled Runaway Black.

The Rope Game by Bryce Walton

(5000 words) ***

Larry used to have a way with the gals but now spends his time at the bottom of a bottle. Ten thousand dollars gets him to clean up his act for at least enough time to run a con on a beautiful woman. He needs to get her in compromising positions for some photos her husband can use against her in divorce court. Great character study. Larry seems to be on the brink of redeeming himself but can a guy this far in the gutter really change his ways?

Deadlier than the Mail by Evan Hunter

(5000 words) *1/2

By his sixth outing, the “solve crime and hit the bottle” routine is growing weary not only for Matt Cordell and Manhunt readers but also, I think, for Evan Hunter himself. “Deadlier Than the Mail” is a lazy tale about the theft of welfare checks during Christmas. There’s not a lot to it and the “snappy patter” between characters is forced and embarrassing:

“How old are you, Fran? Sixteen?” 

“Nineteen, if you’re worried about Quentin Quail. Hey, boy, what is it with you? You still got eyes for that bitchy wife of yours?”

“Can it, honey.” 

“Sure, so carry the torch. Let me help you burn it brighter, boy. I need the dough.”

“Because your old man’s checks have been lifted?” 

“Sure, but that don’t cut my ice, boy. The old man never gave me a cent anyway. The holidays are coming and I use what I’ve got to get what I want.”

She cupped her breasts suddenly, reaching forward toward me. “Come on, boy, it’s good stuff.” 

“I’m on the wagon.” I paused. “Besides, I’m broke.” 

“Mmm. Well, I ain’t Santa Claus.”

That kind of awful dialog (so awful that, if I didn’t know better, I’d suspect that Hunter was farming out work to beginning writers) and a ludicrous expository damn this entry to the bottom of the Matt Cordell bottle.

The Disaster by Emmanuel Winters

(1500 words) ** illo: Dick Francis

Steve Obel tries to cope with the fact that his cowardice led to the death of 28 men in a mining accident.

I’m a Stranger Here Myself by Craig Rice

(9000 words) *

Charlie Bekker wakes from a night of drinking and whoring (or so he thinks from the evidence) and finds himself in the company of a dead model. Running from the scene, he happens into the bar frequented by one John J. Malone. The lawyer is a bit upset since he’s just found out the star witness in one of his big cases has been found dead in a motel room. Yep, that’s right. In the small, coincidental world of JJ Malone, everything ties together and the news gets out fast (though Rice notes that Bekker stumbles into the bar just a few hours after he finds the dead girl, Malone is already reading about in the paper!). Once Charlie confesses his innocence to Malone, the lawyer does what any lawyer would do: he puts the man up in a hotel, gets him a job, and tells him to lay low, all on pro bono. John J then devises a plan of coincidences and ludicrous twists and turns. Surely this story could have been told in half the space.

Heels are for Hating by Fletcher Flora

(6000 words)**

Jackie Brand just wants a little dough so that he can retire from boxing and he and his wife can start their own business. When Jackie is offered ten grand to take a fall in his next fight, he greedily accepts but then finds himself trapped in a war between underworld goons. As Flora states towards the end of the story: “…he’s learned of my double-cross. Or is it a triple-cross? It’s getting too damn complex to follow.” Indeed. Flora again enters the world of sports betting that he excelled at in his novel, The Hot Shot, but this time the results are a bit too talky.

The Onlooker by Robert Turner

(1000 words) *

Blake’s world comes apart when he witnesses his woman making love to a soldier. No surprise ending here.

Comeback by R. Van Taylor

(3000 words) ****

Six years after being involved in a hit-and-run that left him an amnesiac, Fred Stevens is living the good life with his wife Marge and son Billy until he notices a strange man following him, appearing wherever he goes. Finally the man presents his case: he claims Fred was actually a vicious gangster named Johnny until he lost his memory. Now the man wants his half of the cut of $150,000 they stole on their last job. Fred pleads with the man that he knows nothing about the money but the goon’s not taking “no” for an answer. A tense little short story that reminded me a bit of David Cronenberg’s excellent film A History of Violence. "Comeback" and History share an equally brutal climax.

Mr. Chesley by Robert Zacks

(1000 words) **

Mr. Chesley’s about to pay dearly for his heroin trafficking.

Shadow Boxer by Richard Ellington

(5500 words) *1/2 illo: Tom O'Sullivan

PI Steve Drake is hired by ex-con Jack Cordello to find his sweetheart, missing since he went into the stir three years before. Drake discovers the girl is alive and very well off. Ellington manages to avoid most of the usual PI trappings that I’ve moaned about before but he just can’t help himself when it comes to the big finale expository. An expository I’m still trying to figure out.

The Man who Found the Money by James E. Cronin

(2600 words) **** illo: Tom O'Sullivan

William Benson finds a money clip containing 92 thousand-dollar bills and, after thinking it over a couple times, does what any good sam would do: he goes to the police. He soon finds he should have done what 98% of the planet would have done. Well-done, with a nasty bite in its climax. Faithfully adapted in 1960 for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, starring Arthur Hill as the hapless Benson. Amazingly, this is Cronin's only Manhunt story. In fact, I can't find any further stories by the author.

Also in this issue: Mugged and Printed features bios on Craig Rice, Richard Marsten, Evan Hunter, and Richard Ellington; Dan Sontup's Portrait of a Killer #8 focuses on Richard Coffey; H.H. Holmes' Murder Market reviews several new books; Crime Cavalcade by Vincent H. Gaddis; and Leonard S. Gray's "Holdup Man" is a very short story that ends with a quiz for the reader.

Foreign Editions:

Various Australian editions of Manhunt began appearing in October 1953. The first, running monthly for 13 issues through October 1954 retained the Manhunt title but further incarnations were retitled. Verdict Detective Story Monthly appeared for 9 issues, beginning in March 1955. A third, Phantom Suspense-Mystery Magazine appeared sometime in the 1950s (the issues are undated but most of the contents listed on the cover appeared in Manhunts from 1954. The later two magazines also reprinted stories from rival digest magazines of the period. The first issue of Verdict includes "All at Once, No Alice" by Cornell Woolrich (originally from the March 2, 1940 Argosy and reprinted in the November 1951 Ellery Queen) while Phantom reprinted "Sudden Death" by Max Franklin/Richard Deming (from Pursuit, November 1955).

The British got into the act as well in August 1953. 13 issues appeared through September 1954.

Since I don't own any of these foreign editions, I can't compare contents. In fact, all my info for these came from Galactic Central.

We'll cover Bloodhound (the later British Manhunt reprinting from the 1960s) at a later date.

The Complete Guide to Manhunt Part 10

by Peter Enfantino

Continuing an issue by issue examination of the greatest crime digest of all time.



Vol. 1 No. 12 December 1953
144 pages, 35 cents
cover by Uppwall

Black Pudding by David Goodis
(8000 wds) ** illo: Houlihan
After serving ten years in prison for boss-man Riker, all that Ken wants to do is forget. Forget that he served the time, forget that Riker set him up, and forget that the boss stole Ken’s wife, Hilda. Unfortunately, Riker and his boys didn’t forget Ken and they hound him until Ken is forced to strike back. Not a great story, “Black Pudding” does work up a few exciting moments in its climax. Certainly doesn’t stand with Goodis’ best work. The third and last of Goodis’ Manhunt stories, “Black Pudding” was reprinted (as “Sweet Taste”) in Vol. 13 No. 1. Dramatized on the short-lived USA Network series, The Edge, in 1989, starring Patricia Arquette.

Switch Ending by Richard Marsten
(4000 wds) ****
Danny does time for big man Nick. When he’s released, he goes to Nick to collect the fifty grand Nick had promised to pay for Danny’s silence. When Danny gets there, he finds, to his dismay, that Nick’s new bodyguard is Danny’s JD son. Just as Donald E. Westlake saves his nastiest stuff for his Richard Stark psuedonym, it would seem that Evan Hunter allows his dark alter ego Richard Marsten to drain the brake lines. Hunter’s most violent, no-holds-barred, novel in my opinion is Big Man, written under the Marsten name. Big Man (Perma, 1959) has a mob storyline much like “Switch Ending” and an ending just as downbeat.

Killing on Seventh Street by Charles Beckman, Jr.
(2000 wds) *
Stereotypical pantywaist Charles Leighton murders a mugger who’s attempting to rape Charles’ wife. Suddenly, weak-kneed Charles is the town hero. Only problem is, he needs to fantasize the murder to keep impotence at bay. This escalates to more murder.

Murder Marches On! by Craig Rice
(4000 wds) **
The inimitable John J. Malone must infiltrate a marching band of funeral workers to receive a list of names and a grand. Murder and yawns follow. This is 1950s cookie cutter: the tough protagonist (PI, lawyer, cop, etc.) who’s thinking about the stacked beauty he’s meeting that night (blonde, brunette, redhead, etc.), who happens into danger and then gets put under suspicion by the chief detective on the case (who really knows the protagonist is innocent but busts his balls anyway). Heard enough?

Sucker by Hunt Collins
(2000 wds) ****
Harley is accused of raping and murdering his kids’ babysitter, so he gets the best lawyer he can find: his best friend Dave. Hot shot lawyer Dave is convinced his friend is innocent and defends him in court. After Harley is found innocent, Dave is startled to realize that he did the wrong thing. “Sucker” precedes by a couple of decades the Matthew Hope series of novels Hunt Collins aka Evan Hunter wrote under the Ed McBain name. “Sucker” very much reminds me of the Hope series. By the end of 1953, Manhunt had become a McBain story factory.

The Wife of Riley by Evan Hunter
(7500 wds) ** illo: Tom O'Sullivan
Mr. and Mrs. Steve Riley just want a room to crash in after a long, grueling road trip. Unfortunately, they happen onto a dangerous bordello masquerading as a roadside motel. The proprietor has just murdered his prize redhead and, lucky for him, Mrs. Riley is a dead ringer for the corpse.

Richest Man in the Morgue by Harold Q. Masur
(4500 wds) *
Scott Jordan opens his door to find a man in a hindu costume with a knife in his back. What did the man want with Jordan? The intrepid lawyer, who never seems to practice law, puts on his cape and tights and becomes Scott Jordan, Private Op to find out. I’ve often wondered while reading these Jordan stories, why Masur went to the trouble of making Jordan’s profession law (other than for the gimmick, that is) when the rest of the tired plotlines contain all the trappings found in PI stories: the attractive but troubled girl who falls instantly for our hero; the blunt object used (often repeatedly) on our hero’s titanium steel skull; the police detective pal who’s always giving our hero a hard time but in a jovial way; and, of course, the two page expository used to tie up all the loose ends we hadn’t guessed at.

The Quiet Room by Jonathan Craig
(3000 wds) ****
Bad cop Streeter and his partner have a great thing going: they roust prostitutes, get lists of their johns, and then blackmail the men. Darkest, bleakest 1950s noir you can find, “The Quiet Room” is capped by the one of the most downbeat finales you’re likely to read. Craig would have fit in well with the dark crime writers of today. Obviously, the producers of the Showtime TV anthology, Fallen Angels, agreed. “The Quiet Room” was very effectively and faithfully adapted in 1993 by director Steven (Out of Sight, Ocean's Eleven) Soderbergh, starring Joe Mantegna as Streeter and Bonnie Bedelia, deliciously evil as his sadistic partner. The episode was released on vhs as Fallen Angels Volume 2. Criminally, a legitimate dvd release has yet to happen though bootlegs can be found here and there. “The Quiet Room” evokes the equally bleak “Services Rendered” by Craig from the May 1953 issue.


The Coyote by David Chandler
(2000 wds) *
A sadistic father forces his son to shoot a coyote. Cliched story with predictable outcome. “The Coyote” does have an opening line that might bring a leer: “Mama told me to see Beaver...”. Though he only wrote one story for Manhunt (“The Coyote” was reprinted under the title "Killer Instinct" in the August/ September 1966 issue), David Chandler also saw stories published in Collier's during the 1950s.

Wife Beater by Roy Carroll
(3000 wds) *** illo: Tom O'Sullivan
Patrolman Tom Rivas and his partner answer a domestic dispute call to find a huge man beating his wife Cherry. Having a history with wife beaters (his mother was brutally murdered by his father when Tom was a child), Tom reacts violently before arresting the man. When Cherry refuses to press charges against her husband, Rivas takes the law into his own hands and guns down the brute. Tom then tries to change Cherry’s life from bad to good but discovers it’s not all that easy. Perhaps ahead of its time in its treatment of a very controversial subject (the idea that some women can’t find sexual satisfaction without being abused), “Wife Beater” is a tough read.




The Icepick Artists by Frank Kane
(5500 wds) ***
PI Johnny Liddell is hired by the Seway Indemnity Company, a firm losing a lot of money through fraud on the piers. Their main investigator has just turned up minus eyeballs, courtesy of the titular madman. Liddell’s job is to find out who’s behind the murder and further the mastermind behind the fraud. Well-paced, humorous, and gory as all hell:
The thin man aimed for the right eye, jabbed. The blade sank almost to the handle. Shields’ body jerked as the icepick bit into his brain, slumped back. The thin man held the body erect, sank the blade into its chest a dozen times.

Pretty graphic stuff for 1953. Interesting note: folllowing the story there’s a note from the editor informing readers that author Frank Kane deliberately ended the story with many questions unanswered as the sequel to “The Icepick Artists” would be appearing the following month.

The Insecure by R. Van Taylor
(2000 wds) ** illo: Houlihan
Kay panics when her husband doesn’t come home from work. Panic turns to terror when she finds her son is missing as well. Seems rushed but 2000 words doesn’t leave a lot of room for the characterization this sort of psychological suspense needs.

This issue's "Mugged and Printed" features Frank Kane, Harold Q. Masur, David Goodis, and David Chandler.

Alos featured are Vincent H. Gaddis' "Crime Cavalcade" and "Portrait of a Killer: Tillie Gburek" by Dan Sontup.






THE 10 BEST MANHUNT STORIES OF 1953

1 The Collector Comes After Payday – Fletcher Flora (August)
2 The Quiet Room – Jonathan Craig (December)
3 Throwback – Donald Hamilton (August)
4 Switch Ending – Richard Marsten (December)
5 Services Rendered – Jonathan Craig (May)
6 Sucker – Hunt Collins (December)
7 I’m Getting Out – Elliot West (July)
8 As I Lie Dead – Fletcher Flora (February)
9 Kid Kill – Evan Hunter (April)
10 The Professional Man – David Goodis (October)

Richard Matheson - The Original Stories: The Science Fiction Digests Part 4

by John Scoleri

In the first eight parts of this ongoing series, I looked at Richard Matheson's short fiction appearances in Playboy, the Sci-Fi Pulps, the Mystery Digests, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Gauntlet Chapbooks and the first, second and third batch of Science Fiction Digests. We return now with the fourth part of the Science Fiction digests Matheson contributed to.

The Original Stories - Part 9: If, Imagination and Worlds Beyond

The bulk of Matheson's short stories originally appeared in science fiction digests like those featured in this installment.

"Brother To The Machine"
If - Worlds of Science Fiction
November 1952, Vol. 1 No.5

Subsequent appearances: Shock II, Duel: Terror Stories, Collected Stories TP v1

Editorial Comment: The dawning of intelligence is sometimes the greatest tragedy of all.

"Descent"
If - Worlds of Science FictionMay 1954, Vol. 3 No.3

Subsequent appearances: Collected Stories HC, Shores of Space, Collected Stories TP v2

Editorial Comment: How would you spend your last day under the sun?...Here's what happened in the livesof three young couples who would be part of that great underground exodus on the morrow...

Illustration by Alan Anderson

 Notes: This issue also features the story "Prominent Author" by Philip K. Dick.

"Being"
If - Worlds of Science Fiction
August 1954, Vol. 3 No. 6

Subsequent appearances: Collected Stories HC, Shores of Space, Duel: Terror Stories, Collected Stories TP v2

Editorial Comment: That It landed on Earth was perhaps destiny. That Les and Marian were making their trip in August was perhaps coincidence. That Ketter kept a zoo was perhaps unfortunate. However, It was hungry—and Les and Marian were making their trip and Ketter kept a zoo... A horror story you'll read with shivers down your spine!

Illustration by Virgil Finlay

 Notes: Matheson told Stanley Wiater in collected stories that he adapted his story for American International Pictures that went unproduced. Celebrated hackmeister Larry Buchanan's It's Alive! was an unauthorized adaptation of the story. This issue also features the stories "Exhibit Piece" by Philip K. Dick and "The Joy of Living" by William F. Nolan.

"Drink My Red Blood..."
Imagination
April 1951, Vol. 2 No. 2

Subsequent appearances (as "Blood Son"): Collected Stories HC, Shores of Space, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet: Horror Stories, Bloodlines, Collected Stories TP v1

Table of Contents Comment: Jules was a strange little boy with a peculiar ambition: he wanted to be a vampire...


Editorial Comment: Then there's Richard Matheson who created quite a stir in Tony Boucher's book The Magazine of Fantasy an Science Fiction. You'll find a little shocker by Matheson in this issue. It's a bit on the grim side, and we think it's a story you won't easily forget. If you like this type of tale, let us know. It's not really science-fiction—or fantasy either. It's—off-trail. But whatever you choose to call it, we though it was quite good. Care for more?

Story Comment: People in the neighborhood avoided Jules. For he was not like other children; his one fond wish in life was to become an immortal-vampire!

Illustration by Ramon Raymond

Notes: This issue also includes "The Hungry House" by Robert Bloch (later adapted to the classic Thriller episode "The Hungry Glass").

"Letter To The Editor"
Imagination
January 1952, Vol. 3 No.1

Subsequent appearances (as "Advance Notice"): Collected Stories HC, Shock Waves, Collected Stories TP v1

Table of Contents Comment: We usually tear up letters warning of a Marian attack—but here's one with proof!

Editorial Comment: Letters warning of an invasion of Earth find their way into the editorial waste basket. But this one offered some proof to back it up!

Illustration by Herb Ruud

Notes: "Letter to the Editor," as it appeared in Imagination, was addressed to "Bill" (Imagination editor William L. Hamling) and signed "Dick." The story was followed by this editorial statement:

Editor's Note:

The above letter certainly sounds like a good gag. And we, like the rest of you readers enjoy a practical joke once in a while. Martains about to invade, indeed! We listen to the radio quite a bit and we haven't heard a single report of lights clustering around the moon—have any of you?

So ok, Dick's letter is a joke...

But we noticed one funny thing we could check on. Remember Dick said IMAGINATION had been published for five years? That got us thinking. So we took a look at the date of the letter and the postmark. They were the same. The envelope is postmarked  November 6, 1955.

Now how did the post office ever make such a silly mistake?

—The Editor.

When reprinted as "Advance Notice" the editor was changed to an agent, his name was changed to Don (like Matheson's agent Don Congdon), the writer's name was changed to Burt (Matheson's middle name is Burton), and the magazine changed to Grisly Space Stories. In his interview with Wiater in Collected Stories, Matheson notes he must have been foreseeing the future, in that Don was selected before Don Condgon was his agent. It appears he's misremembering, as the original story had so many changes when collected in Shock Waves in 1969 (by which time Congdon was his agent). Matheson also refers to a reference in the story, "We'll kill a Matheson story and stick in your piece instead," which was absent from the original publication.

"The Man Who Made The World"
Imagination
February 1954, Vol. 5 No.2

Subsequent appearances: Collected Stories HC, Collected Stories TP v2

Editorial Comment: The patient was obviously deranged, but Dr. Janishefsky had to make sure first. So he sat back in his chair and began to question...

Notes: Matheson is rather dismissive of this story in his comments to Wiater in Collected Stories. This issue also features John Christopher's "Rocket to Freedom."

"Clothes Make The Man" 
Worlds Beyond
February 1951, Vol. 1 No. 3

Subsequent appearances: Collected Stories HC, Shores of Space, Button, Button, Collected Stories TP v1

Editorial Comment: Which is really the stronger—yourself, or the carefully-composed image you present to the world?

Illustration unredited

Notes: The following contributor information is included on the inside back cover of this issue:

Richard Matheson tells us, "I was born of man and woman in the month of February of 1926. In New Jersey. In a house. My parents were exiled to Brooklyn when I had just begun to acquire the knack of dripping green. In this happy environment I spent my youth attending many public schools and one technical high school where I learned to hate science. This later proved helpful in writing science-fiction.

After working in a defense plant for a time, I enlisted in the Army hoping to become a second lieutenant. Later I found out what I had missed by not becoming a second lieutenant. I am still very grateful.

My hobbies are song writing, swimming, reading reection slips and sending unpublished letters to editors. I am not and never have been a member of the Communist Party. I vote straight Vegetarian ticket and love small dogs and cats. And my seven nieces and one nephew.

I wrote my first story when I was seven. Anti-war legislation willing, I shall write my last at about ninety-six."

There's more to come! Stay tuned for future installments of Richard Matheson - The Original Stories.

The Complete Guide to Manhunt Part 9

by Peter Enfantino

Continuing an issue by issue examination of the greatest crime digest of all time.

Vol. 1 No. 10 October 1953

The Girl Behind the Hedge by Mickey Spillane

(3500 words) *** illos: Tom O'Sullivan

Walter Harrison’s suicide is explained by his good friend Duncan. Decidedly un- Spillane-ish with an ending that would not sit well with today’s politically correct crowd.

Squeeze Play by Richard S. Prather

(4500 words) ***

Ann Crane’s husband Leroy has gone missing. She’s concerned because Leroy was an accountant for bigtime Mob man Wallace Hackman. Enter Shell Scott. Though the plot revolves around Leroy and Hackman, the emphasis on the brutal exchanges between Scott and Hackman’s right hand man, Pretty Willis.

Balanced Account by Richard Deming

(4000 words) *** illo: Don Rico

Gerlad Mason is accused of rape by the beautiful teenage girl next door. After his name is dragged through the mud by the press, the girl admits Mason never touched her. Mason decides that since he’s had to pay for his new rep, he may as well earn it.

Dead Heat by Robert Turner

(4500 words) **

Sadistic horse owner Lew Winters blackmails his jockey into fixing races.

The Idiot by Harold Cantor

(3500 words) ***

The occupants of Happy Dell Resort play a sick joke on a retarded young man. This is one of those rare stories that leads the reader to believe it’s going down one path but effectively veers down another. Though I’ve read stories very similar to this in the past (the obvious being Steinbeck’s OF MICE AND MEN), the author gets extra credit for making his main protagonist both likeable and loathsome. “The Idiot” has all the earmarks of an ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS episode.

Professional Man by David Goodis

(8500 words) ***1/2 illo: Tom O'Sullivan

Elevator operator by day, hit man by night, Freddy Lamb is the best at what he does. He’s got the best girl in town too, but his boss has his eyes on her. When Freddy’s gal gives the cold shoulder to the chief, Freddy gets his next assignment: wipe out the dame. If written by an optomist, “Professional Man” would find Freddy offing his boss but, since this nasty little tale is penned by David Goodis, there’s no happy ending waiting on the last page. Downbeat slices of criminal life like this are what made Goodis such a hit in the 1950s and a favorite among hardcore crime readers to this day. Filmed by acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh (TRAFFIC, ERIN BROCKOVICH, OCEAN’S ELEVEN) for the Showtime series FALLEN ANGELS in 1995, starring Peter Coyote and Brendan Fraser.

Summer is a Bad Time by Sam S. Taylor

(4500 words) *1/2

Walt only wants to make his wife Della happy so he lets her accompany him on a business trip. Turns out that Della only wants to meet up with her side guy in one of Walt’s towns. Nothing new here, but the story is slightly redeemed by an overly sadistic revenge finale. Sam S. Taylor (1903-1994) wrote five stories for MH and four novels in the 1940s and 1950s, three originally in hardcover for Dutton (SLEEP NO MORE (1949), NO HEAD FOR HER PILLOW (1952), and SO COLD, MY BED (1953)) and one in paperback for Gold Medal (BRENDA (1952) under the psuedonym Lehi Zane .

Response by Arnold Marmor

(1000 words) ** illo: Houlihan

Jose Abrardo, police chief on a small island, is constantly feeling pressure from mobsters to allow gambling on his island. He’s not one to bow to ressure. It’s tough to appraise stories that are only a thousand words long, but “Response,” like most of the other short-shorts has nothing new to add to crime literature.

Where’s the Money? by Floyd Mahannah

(4000 words)** illo: Don Rico

When he was a young man, Joe drove a getaway car for a bank job gone wrong. After he and his partners do twelve years in the stir, the partners want to know what Joe did with the money. Joe insists he never had it but the bad guys aren’t buying that and they kidnap Joe’s daughter.

The Beat-Up Sister by John Ross MacDonald

(12,000 words) * ½

Lew Archer’s third MANHUNT case is also his worst. This time he’s hired by a girl who’s not only beautiful but also broke (am I the only one who wonders how these guys made a living when they never got paid?). She’s trying to find her sister, who may be the victim of foul play. Long and boring, “The Beat-Up Sister” is redeemed only by an explosive climax.

The Bobby-Soxer by Jonathan Craig

(1000 words) *

A cute little bobby-soxer is pulled into an alley and attacked until a crazed mob rescues her and beats her assailant.

This issue's Mugged and Printed features Mickey Spillane, David Goodis, John Ross MacDonald, and Richard S. Prather.

Also in this issue: Vincent H. Gaddis' Crime Cavalcade and Portrait of a Killer #5: Louis Peete by Dan Sontup.

Vol. 1 No. 11 November 1953

The Big Touch by Henry Kane

(14,000 words) *

Peter Chambers handles a blackmail scheme with the beautiful showgirl Annabel Jolly his prime suspect. Tediuos and cliched, even at this early stage of hardboiled PI fiction.

The Watcher by Peter Paige

(1500 words) ***

Marcia Smith has for years been known as something of a “tease.” When her main teasee happens upon Marcia being raped by two thugs, he considers letting the crime continue and teaching Marcia a lesson. Nasty twist ending.

The Bells are Ringing by Craig Rice

(3500 words) *

Super-Attorney John J. Malone is in the wrong place at the wrong time (as usual): he witnesses a prisoner blasting his way out of a jailhouse. Turns out the guy needs to get to his wedding to a dying woman. John J aids the felon on his journey. Ludicrous.

Case History by Charles Beckman, Jr.

(3500 words) **

PI Nick Scotch (of the Scotch Detective Agency) is attempting to find who’s blackmailing lovely Evelyn Rose. Slow read builds to a climax right out of left field.

The Right Hand of Garth by Evan Hunter

(5000 words) **

Gunman Ed is tired of sneaking around with his kingpin boss’ gorgeous girlfriend. When his boss hires a new gun, Ed sees a perfect way of getting out from under his boss’ shadow.

Six Stories Up by Raymond J. Dyer

(2000 words) ***

Paul threatens to jump off a ledge and a police chief attempts to talk him down. The kid claims he didn’t murder his employer. He ends up jumping and afterwards they find the boy’s boss with plenty of Paul’s fingerprints on his body.

Classification: Dead by Richard Marsten

(5000 words) **

A woman is shot dead hours after having an illegal abortion. Very reminiscent of McBain’s 31st Precinct mysteries, complete with his stylized staccato dialogue and police form reproductions.

A Long Way to KC by Fletcher Flora

(4500 words) ***

Escaping a two-thousand dollar debt, Dickie Cosmos flees to the high country and stumbles onto a veritable goldmine: a beautiful girl and her hillbilly husband who make their own moonshine and hoard the huge profits. Sensing a way out of his debt, Cosmos plans the mountain man’s quick demise. Familiar plot enlivened by good writing.

Coney Island Incident by Bruno Fischer

(8500 words) **

Ray Whitehead chances on the beautiful Cherry Drew on the beach at Coney Island. Thinking he’s in for a good time, he accepts her invitation back to her hotel room, only to find out that Cherry was involved in an armored car holdup and her partners are searching for her. Seems she got the loot and is being selfish with her co-horts’ slice of the pie. She uses Ray in an attempt to get her and the money out of town but she’s not fast enough. “Coney Island Incident” drags on far too long and is told so matter of factly that it most resembles a bad 1950s cop show episode.

Kid Stuff by Jonathan Craig

(2500 words) **

Chris is upset that his girlfriend Laurie has dumped him for an older, more experienced lover. He decides to stalk and kill them both. The “shock ending” is telecast so far in advance that it would have been a shock if it was a different ending!

This issue's Mugged and Printed features: Henry Kane, Evan Hunter, Bruno Fischer, and Craig Rice.

Also in this issue: Crime Cavalcade by Vincent H. Gaddis and Portrait of a Killer #6: Pat Mahon by Dan Sontup.

Next week: The final issue of 1953 plus The 10 Best Stories of the Year.

Richard Matheson - The Original Stories: The Science Fiction Digests Part 3

by John Scoleri

In the first seven parts of this ongoing series, I looked at Richard Matheson's short fiction appearances in Playboy, the Sci-Fi Pulps, the Mystery Digests, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Gauntlet Chapbooks and the first and second batch of Science Fiction Digests. We return now with the third part of the Science Fiction digests Matheson contributed to, which will make up the next four installments of this ongoing series.

The Original Stories - Part 8: Galaxy Science Fiction and Marvel Science Stories

The bulk of Matheson's short stories originally appeared in science fiction digests like those featured in this installment.

"Third From the Sun"
Galaxy
October 1950, Vol. 1 No. 1

Subsequent appearances: Collected Stories HC, Born of Man and Woman, Third From the Sun, Duel: Terror Stories, Collected Stories TP v1

Editorial Comment: Escaping a known danger is highly advisable... if you can know the unknown danger ahead!

Illustration by Callé

Notes: Matheson's second short story was published in this, the premiere issue of Galaxy. "Third From the Sun" was adapted by Rod Serling for the first season of The Twilight Zone.

"The Waker Dreams"
Galaxy
December 1950, Vol. 1 No.3

Subsequent appearances (as "When the Waker Sleeps"): Collected Stories HC, Shock III, Duel: Terror Stories, Collected Stories TP v1

Editorial Comment: There's nothing like exciting fantasy to escape boredom. The problem is to know whether it's actually a fantasy.

Illustration by Paul Piérre

Notes: Matheson tells Stanley Wiater in Collected Stories TP v1 the story evolved out of a discussion with Galaxy editor H.L. Gold regarding H.G. Welles novel When the Sleeper Wakes.

"Lover When You're Near Me"
Galaxy
May 1952, Vol. 4 No. 2

Subsequent appearances: Collected Stories HC, Born of Man and Woman, Third From the Sun, Duel: Terror Stories, Collected Stories TP v1

Editorial Comment: What a past! The climate was grand, the service a dream—maybe too much of one. Was that why no man was allowed to stay there longer  than six months?

Illustration by Willer

Notes: Once again, Matheson notes to Wiater that editor Gold provided him with the idea for this story, giving a sci-fi angle to a classic supernatural tale, "How Love Came To Professor Guildea."

"Shipshape Home"
Galaxy
July 1952, Vol. 4 No.4

Subsequent appearances: Collected Stories HC, Born of Man and Woman, Third From the Sun, Duel: Terror Stories, Collected Stories TP v1

Editorial Comment: When you start seeing things, remember this: the things you are seeing may be seeing you!

Illustration by Emsh

Notes: The story was adapted (Matheson's first adaptation, according to Matthew Bradley's Richard Matheson On Screen) for television as Young Couples Only, starring Peter Lorre.

"One For the Books"
Galaxy
September 1955, Vol. 10 No. 6

Subsequent appearances: Collected Stories HC, Shock!, Duel: Terror Stories, Collected Stories TP v2

Editorial Comment: When he woke up that morning a weird thing happened... he could speak fluent French!

Illustration by Dick Francis

Notes: Matheson adapted "One For the Books" for Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories.

"The Thing"
Marvel Science Stories
May 1951, Vol. 3 No. 3

Subsequent appearances: Collected Stories HC, Shock Waves, Collected Stories TP v1

Editorial Comment: They knew it was against the Policy to see The Thing, but then so was eating roast beef, and drinking coffee, and smoking cigars.

Illustration by V. Napoli

Notes: This issue also contains a special feature on 'The Dianetics Question,' with essays by L. Ron Hubbard (pro), Lester del Rey (con), and Theodore Sturgeon (center).

"Mountains of the Mind" 
Marvel Science Stories
May 1951, Vol. 3 No. 3

Subsequent appearances: Matheson Uncollected v2

Editorial Comment: It was probably Iowa, he said. Where all man's ideas came from...

Illustration by F.R. Paul

Notes: Long uncollected, "Mountains of the Mind" is yet another of Matheson's Fort College stories. For reasons unknown, it is listed as an unfinished novel in the recently released Matheson Uncollected Volume 2.

There's more to come! Stay tuned for future installments of Richard Matheson - The Original Stories.