Black Cat Weekly #165

📖 The Scoop

It’s our final Halloween issue of the year—with lots of treats and only a few tricks. Headlining this issue is Bram Stoker’s “lost” horror tale, “Gibbet Hill,” which a researcher recently discovered in an Irish newspaper supplement from 1890. (It wasn’t listed in any of Stoker’s bibliographies, and it created quite a stir among horror aficionados.) I’ve very carefully edited it, correcting typos and a few dropped words, and fully annotated it. I think you’ll enjoy it.

   We also have original tales from bestselling authors Donna Andrews (thanks to Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman) and Sharyn Kolberg (thanks to Acquiring Editor Michael Bracken), and one from newcomer Christopher Lawrence Froehlich, who makes his Black Cat Weekly debut. Plus a pair of modern classics from British masters John S. Glasby and E.C. Tubb, plus a nautical thriller by Alan B. Le May—who is most famous as the author of the classic Westerns The Searchers (1954) and The Unforgiven (1957).

   Our novels this issue are Allen Upward’s The Club of Masks—a rare British mystery from the Golden Age—and E.H. Visiak’s pirate fantasy, The Haunted Island.

   Here’s the complete lineup—

NOVELS

The Club of Masks, by Allen Upward

   There’s murder at a scandalous London club where decadent masked aristocrats mingle…

The Haunted Island, by E.H. Visiak

   Being the History of an Adventure to an Island in the Remote South Sea. Of a Wizard there. Of his Pirate Gang; His Treasure; His Combustible…

SOLVE-IT-YOURSELF MYSTERY

“The Purloined Pumpkin,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]

   Can you solve the mystery before the detective? All the clues are there!

SHORT STORIES

“The Gate,” by Sharyn Kolberg [Michael Bracken Presents short story]

   After years of tension and escalating fights with her husband George, a simple accident turns deadly.

“The Grim,” by Donna Andrews [Barb Goffman Presents short story]

   A rogue cemetery guardian causes chaos, chasing souls and scaring mourners. A paranormal expert intervenes…

“Ghost Lanterns,” by Alan B. Le May

   Sailors begin disappearing as “ghost lanterns” float across the deck. Is the ship cursed?

“Gibbet Hill, by Bram Stoker

   The recently discovered “lost” story from the Dracula author—and it’s a supernatural fantasy!

“The Other Seance,” by John S. Glasby

   When a famous medium (and skilled charlatan is challenged to prove his powers, his tricks work too well…

“Death Plays Baseball,” by Christopher Lawrence Froehlich

   When Death and Nostalgia swap jobs to prove whose job is harder, a cosmic game of baseball leads to unexpected chaos.

“Museum Piece,” by E.C. Tubb

   In a future where war and violence are ancient relics, one man relives fantasies of military conquest…

Genre: Fiction / Science Fiction / Collections & Anthologies (fancy, right?)