Black Cat Weekly #128 - Janice Law, William Burton McCormick, Steve Janko, Henry T. Parry, Hal Charles, William Le Queux, Manly Wade Wellman, Charles L. Fontenay, Hannes Bok & William W. Stuart
By Janice Law, William Burton McCormick, Steve Janko, Henry T. Parry, Hal Charles, William Le Queux, Manly Wade Wellman, Charles L. Fontenay, Hannes Bok & William W. Stuart
Release Date: 2024-02-11
Genre: Sci-Fi Short Stories
This issue has one of the best original stories weâve published: Janet Lawâs brilliant âWrong Door,â a tale very much in the classic Twilight Zone tradition. Donât skip it! Though Janice is best known for her mystery stories, this one proves she can write masterfully in any genre.
But great stories donât stop there. Our Acquiring Editors, Michael Bracken and Barb Goffman, have both found original stories this timeâfrom William Burton McCormick and Steve Janko. Plus Iâm pleased to present another new mystery story from the late Henry T. Parry. Parry was very much a hobbyist writer for Ellery Queenâs Mystery Magazine. His work started appearing there in the 1960s, and if the editor didnât buy a story, he set it aside and moved on to another one. He didnât send them to other markets, like any pro writer would have done. His daughter has entrusted his unpublished stories to me, and I am going through them and seeing which ones still work. (His last story appeared here in BCW #105.) I date âThe Marina Caseâ to the early 1970s, and itâs a solid mystery that surely would have found a home had he submitted it to more than one editor.
Our mystery novel this time is William Le Queuxâs The Crystal Claw, a Golden Age page-turner. And, as always, we have a solve-it-yourself puzzler from Hal Charles.
Turning back to the science fiction end of things, in addition to Janice Lawâs tale, we have classics by Hannes Bok (miners on Venus!), William W. Stuart (a man wakes in a futuristic jail with no memory of how he got there!), and Charles L. Fontenay (envy leads to discovering an Earthmanâs secrets!). Our SF novelet is an early space adventure from fantastist Manly Wade Wellman.
Hereâs the complete lineupâ
Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:
âLetter From a Lone Prospector to His Mother,â by William Burton McCormick [Michael Bracken Presents short story]
âThe Wild West Whodunit,â by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]
âConfessions of an Invisible Hit Man,â by Steve Janko [Barb Goffman Presents short story]
âGrass Is Not Always Green,â by Henry T. Parry [short story]
The Crystal Claw, by William Le Queux [novel]
Science Fiction & Fantasy:
âWrong Door,â by Janice Law [short story]
âOne Touch of Terra,â by Hannes Bok [short story]
âA Prison Make,â by William W. Stuart [short story]
âBeauty Interruptedâ by Charles L. Fontenay [short story]
The Invading Asteroid, by Manly Wade Wellman [short novel]
Black Cat Weekly #128 - Janice Law, William Burton McCormick, Steve Janko, Henry T. Parry, Hal Charles, William Le Queux, Manly Wade Wellman, Charles L. Fontenay, Hannes Bok & William W. Stuart
By Janice Law, William Burton McCormick, Steve Janko, Henry T. Parry, Hal Charles, William Le Queux, Manly Wade Wellman, Charles L. Fontenay, Hannes Bok & William W. Stuart
Release Date: 2024-02-11
Genre: Sci-Fi Short Stories
