Welcome to Black Cat Weekly #24—another great issue packed with new and classic mystery, fantasy, and science fiction. Here are: Mystery and Suspense: THE ADVENTURE OF THE CURIOUS CUBE, by A.L. Sirois A JAR FULL OF CHARITY, by Hal Charles THE SLEEPER CAPER, by Richard S. Prather WHERE THE STRANGE ONES GO, by Steve Hockensmith IT NEVER GOT INTO THE PAPERS, by Hulbert Footner WON BY MAGIC, by Nicholas Carter Science Fiction and Fantasy: PANCHO VILLA’S FLYING CIRCUS, by Ernest Hogan THE ENGINEER, by Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth THE DATE, by Larry Tritten TRAUMEREI, by Charles Beaumont KING OF THE HILL, by James Blish THE OLD ONES HEAR, by Malcolm Jameson

Welcome to Black Cat Weekly #15—enjoy our holiday cat cover! The magazine is coming more sharply into focus, as our acquiring editors spread out through the mystery and science fiction fields and bring new stories to our lineup. This issue, we officially welcome Cynthia M. Ward to the editorial staff. She comes bearing a gift—Nancy Kress’s excellent science fiction story, “The Art of War.” Darrell Schweitzer was supposed to be back with his second acquisition this week (a comical Esther Friesner tale) but there were problems with the text and I’ve made a last-minute executive decision to push it back an issue or two, while it’s being fixed. I’ll slip in a replacement from my own backlist, another entry in my “Slab’s Tavern” series of fantasy bar stories. Barb Goffman and Michael Bracken have acquired a pair of original tales for us. First, Barb presents “The Importance of Being Urnest,” by Eleanor Cawood Jones. Then Michael selects “Romeo and Isabella” by John M. Floyd. Great stories, both. Thanks, everyone! Here’s the complete lineup: Mysteries / Suspense / Westerns “The Writing Workshop,” by Janice Law [short story] “Romeo and Isabelle,” by John M. Floyd [short story] “Secret Santa,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself mystery] West of Quarantine, by Todhunter Ballard [novel] “The Importance of Being Urnest,” by Eleanor Cawood Jones [short story] “Dr. Kreener’s Last Experiment,” by Sax Rohmer [short story] Science Fiction & Fantasy “Serendipity,” by Larry Tritten [short story] “The Art of War,” by Nancy Kress [short story] “Well Bottled at Slab’s,” by John Gregory Betancourt [short story] Forever We Die! by Stephen Marlowe [short novel]

Our 90th issue is another great one—3 original short stories, 8 modern and classic short story reprints, a novella, and a pair of novels. That’s a lot of reading! Where to start with the highlights? On the mystery side, Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman is back from her hiatus with another mystery selection (“Bad Chemistry” by John G. Wimer), as is Michael Bracken (“The Garden” by Jeffrey James Higgins). And proving Hal Charles isn’t the only one who can write Solve-It-Yourself myseries for Black Cat Weekly, this time we have Bradley Harper’s take on a puzzle story, with “Silent Partner.” Plus classics by Harvey J. O’Higgins and Arthur Stringer. On the fantasy & science fiction side, we have an original by Phyllis Ann Karr, “Sir Mordred and the Green Knight,” which features a new take on the classic legend. Our serial of Darrell Schweitzer’s Sekenre: The Book of the Sorcerer, continues with Part 2 (of 4), featuring three more stories of the immortal boy-sorcerer and his quest to keep his humanity. Plus classic science fiction by Murray Leinster and Louis Charbonneau. Here’s this issue’s complete lineup: Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure: “The Garden,” by Jeffrey James Higgins [Michael Bracken Presents short story] “Silent Partner,” by Bradley Harper [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery] “Bad Chemistry,” by John G. Wimer [Barb Goffman Presents short story] “Stop Thief,” by Harvey J. O’Higgins [short story] The Shadow, by Arthur Stringer [novel] Science Fiction & Fantasy: “Sir Mordred and the Green Knight,” by Phyllis Ann Karr [short story] “Be Young Again,” by Murray Leinster [novella] Sekenre: The Book of the Sorcerer (part 2), by Darrell Schweitzer [3 short stories] Corpus Earthling, by Louis Charbonneau [novel]

Our 96th issue introduces some new contributors to the magazine—Smita Harish Jain (with an original mystery, thanks to Acquiring Editor Michael Bracken) and Naomi Hirahara (with a riveting reprint mystery, courtesy of Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman). Also on the mystery front, we have a pair of British classics: a Sexton Blake detective story by Hal Meredith and a novel by William Le Queux. When it comes to fantasy and science fiction, we’ve achieved an appealing balance. Adrian Cole and Henry S. Whitehead deliver two distinctly different nautically-themed stories. Also featured is Robert E. Howard’s eerie tale, “The Dream Snake.” (The Whitehead and Howard pieces originated from Weird Tales, and Cole’s work could easily have found a home within its pages.) Complementing the mix are science fiction stories by Arthur Leo Zagat and Russ Winterbotham, both prolific during the Golden Age. Here’s the complete lineup: Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure: “An Honorable Choice,” by Smita Harish Jain [Michael Bracken Presents short story] “The Case of the Taken Trophy,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery] “Off the 405,” by Naomi Hirahara [Barb Goffman Presents short story] “The Empty Tin,” by Hal Meredith [short story, Sexton Blake series] The Gamblers, by William Le Queux [novel] Science Fiction & Fantasy: “Running with the Tide,” by Adrian Cole [short story] “Sea Change,” by Henry S. Whitehead [short story] “The Dream Snake,” by Robert E. Howard [short story] “No Escape from Destiny” by Arthur Leo Zagat [novella] The Red Planet, by Russ Winterbotham [novel]

Edgar G. Ulmer: Detour on Poverty Row examines the full scope of the career of this often overlooked film auteur, with essays exploring individual films, groups of films (such as his important work in film noir), repetitive themes appearing across the spectrum of his work, and a case study of three essays analyzing The Black Cat (1934).

The Black Cat web site has been around for almost four years now, serving up a weekly buffet of new and classic mysteries—and more recently science fiction—to thousands of readers each week. Rather than continue to release all these novels and stories as individual ebooks, we have decided to bundle them up into a convenient weekly magazine…which is a lot more fun to work on! So here is Black Cat Weekly #1, for your enjoyment pleasure. To make the first issue memorable, we are including a lot more content than usual—double the usual word count, in fact. This time we have no less than three complete novels and 7 short stories—and even a “true crime” feature by Erle Stanley Gardner, creator of Perry Mason! There’s something here for everyone to enjoy, whether you’re a fan of traditional mysteries, psychic detectives (in the case of Frank Lovell Nelson’s story, a telepathic detective, the first of 12 stories featuring Carlton Clarke from 1908, all of which will run in the Black Cat’s pages). Looking for modern detection? We have that, too. And if your taste runs to the fantastic, we also have adventures across parallel worlds and well into the future. (And monsters. Did I mention monsters?) Included are: REMISSION, by Michael Bracken A KEY FOR REBECCA, by Hal Charles AUROVIA’S FAMOUS LODGE CASE, by Frank Lowell Nelson THE CASE OF THE KNOCKOUT BULLET, by Erle Stanley Gardner HAND IN GLOVE, by James Holding THE SKULL OF THE WALZING CLOWN, by Harry Stephen Keeler HAVER, by Brian Evenson A ZLOOR FOR YOUR TROUBLE, by Mack Reynolds VALLISNERIA MADNESS, by Ralph Milne Farley LAST CALL FOR DOOMSDAY! by S. M. Tenneshaw WORLDS OF THE IMPERIUM, by Keith Laumer

Our 80th issue has some great tales for you, starting with an original mystery by Hugh Lessit (thanks to Acquiring Editor Michael Bracken) and a great reprint by Jim Thomsen (thanks to Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman). Plus we have a pair of detective novels, the first featuring New York-based private investigator Nick Carter, and the second another original Hardy Boys mystery. If you read the later editions, you will be shocked to find how much was changed from the originals. These are not the watered-down Hardy Boys most of us read as kids. Give it a read. On the science fiction and fantasy side, we have a Frostflower & Thorn tale by Phyllis Ann Karr, as she brings her famous duo to a world created by M. Coleman Easton...in collaboration with Easton. Great fun. Plus classic SF by Mike Curry, Robert Silverberg, Robert F. Young, and Murray Leinster. Here’s this issue’s complete lineup: Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure: “The Shade Tree Mechanic” by Hugh Lessig [Michael Bracken Presents short story] “Clear as Glass” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery] “The Ride Home,” by Jim Thomsen [Barb Goffman Presents short story] The Little Glass Vial, by Nicholas Carter [novel] The Tower Treasure, by Franklin W. Dixon Science Fiction & Fantasy: “A Glassmaker’s Courage,” by Phyllis Ann Karr and M. Coleman Easton [short story] “Metamorphosis,” by Mike Curry [short story] “Come Into My Brain!” by Robert Silverberg [short story] “Bbruggil’s Bride,” by Robert F. Young [short story] The Gadget Had A Ghost, by Murray Leinster [novella]