Ernest Favenc (1845-1908) is a neglected master of Australian supernatural and mystery fiction. Best known for his History of Australian Exploration, 1788-1888, he was also a prolific author and journalist, writing for some of the most popular and important literary journals in colonial Australia. His considerable output is now largely forgotten, even among aficionados of weird and mystery fiction. This book collects thirty-one of Favenc's best stories, many published here for the first...
After Dexter inherits the old family mansion in Tormouth, on the death of his uncle, he visits the main library. Here he peruses the old records pertaining to Tormouth, and finds several references to the Dexter family. The documents trace their history back for almost four centuries. He locates numerous listings of births and marriages in the family, but not one instance of a death! Dexter begins to wonder if he's done the right thing in taking up residence in the house. What happened to...
The girl had been lying dead all night. There'd been a terrible struggle, but in the end, the woman had lost her life to the jagged top of a cologne bottle–her jugular vein severed. Suspicious immediately falls on Richard Lane, who'd planned to meet the deceased at seven o'clock, just before she died. But is Richard really the killer? Only criminal psychologist Dr. Adam Castle can unravel the perplexing mystery. An edge-of-the seat thriller torn from the pages of the 1940s...
From out of the bog alongside the ancient track to the fenland village of Hexney, a line of deep freshly-made footprints runs, trodden into the dry surface of the abandoned droveway. Are these footprints, or hoofprints, or what? Triangular, eight or nine inches long, they're set in a line one in front of another. And, each night, the footprints are advancing steadily towards the village. When a young boy’s body is found in the marsh, the superstitious villagers' ire is directed at a...
What do a bullied girl, a Christmas Town elf, a sheriff, and the biblical Job have in common? They're a few of the characters who take center stage in these stories of revenge, comeuppance, and the search for justice. Author Barb Goffman has been shortlisted seven times for national mystery awards (the Anthony, the Macavity, and the Agatha). This collection of fifteen short stories gathers all of her nominated tales, plus five new ones. Be prepared for stories ranging from dark to humorous,...
The eighth issue of Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine features the usual assortment of stories and non-fiction, including:<P> «Sun Ching Foo's Last Trick,» by Adam Beau McFarlane<BR>"Do You Love Me?" by Marc Bilgrey<BR>"The Somerset Wonder," by Ron Goulart<BR>"The Hounds of Basketballville," by Hal Charles<BR>"Hit One Out of the Park," by Jeff Baker<BR>"Travelling Light," by John M. Floyd<BR>"Date Night," by S. A. Stolinsky<BR>"Anaconda,...
A VELVET OF VAMPYRES: Tales of Horror, by Don Webb. It's a «murder» of crows and a «parliament» of owls. For bats, the genus is «velvet,» and hence also for vampires. We like the older spelling, the one John Polidori gave us when he alerted the world to their presence. They’re here–dominating our dreams, our fears, our media. But what if they aren't boy-band-pretty with diamond sparkly skin? What if they're more dangerous because they’re Desire herself? What if they're behind...
When Chalmers decides to attend one of Dr. Lanson's nightly séances, it's not because he has any belief in the occult, but simply to find somewhere warm to rest his weary feet. It's a decision he soon regrets. First, a luminous cloud forms in the air over the heads of the assembled people. A strange voice speaks, warning that someone in the room is about to die to prevent him from revealing secrets. The man sitting next to him leaps to his feet, yelling his defiance–and then the...
A corpse dressed in old-fashioned clothing is found by rescuers in a burning building in London's Moon Lane during the Blitz of Christmas 1940. At first, police believe that the dead man must have come from some pantomime or Dickensian show, but then they realize that the Blitz has reached such an intensity in 1940 that even the bravest showbiz people have closed up shop. Another policeman says he talked to a second person in antique clothing walking in the same neighborhood, but the...
When Ralph Black, chain store magnate, is found shot by his own gun in his locked library in his palatial home, the New York Police Department pronounces it suicide. However, his family members believe he was murdered. His sister in England, Maria Black, M.A., Headmistress of a girls' school, wants to discover the truth. She travels to America, and with her penchant for solving crimes, sets to work to trace the mysterious plot against Ralph. Can she unmask the amazing truth about her...
The fourth issue of «Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine» features Carla Coupe's new Holmes story, "The Adventure of the Elusive Emeralds,' plus tales by Stan Trybulski, Melville S. Brown, Marc Bilgrey, Hal Charles, William E. Chambers, Jean Paiva, and Roberta Rogow. This issue's classic reprint is «The Adventure of the Resident Patient,» by Arthur Conan Doyle. Plus all the regular features, a look at the new Holmes movie, cartoons, and more.