Cynthia Manson - Mystery For Halloween

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Cynthia Manson (ed.) - Mystery For Halloween (Signet, 1991)

Lawrence Treat - The Haunted Portrait
Terry Bacon - Clancy's Bride
Alan Ryan - Kiss The Vampire Goodbye
Pauline C. Smith - The Dog
Janet O' Daniel - House By The Road
Andrew Klaven - The Ghost Of Monday
Theodore H. Hoffman - Sitter
George Sumner Albee - Ghost In The House
Richard F. McGonegal - Behold, Kra K'l!
Elliott Capon - Fun And Games At The Whacks Museum
Edward D. Hoch - The Theft Of The Halloween Pumpkin
David Braly - The Night Watchman
Richard Ciciarelli - Tony Libra And The Killer's Calendar
Dashiell Hammett - In The Morgue
Lee Somerville - The Black Cat
Donald E. Westlake - This Is Death.

Blurb.

BELL, BOOK, AND HOMICIDE

When the frost is on the pumpkin and the black cat howls, these sixteen stories will call forth the shivers and suspense that make October 31 a truly blood-red letter day. What better way to celebrate the macabre than with murder — murder mysteries, of course, selected from Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

Dare to open these pages, and you'll discover Alan Ryan's tough West Coast P.I. who knows anything's possible in California. Lawrence Treat sends his mild-mannered museum curator to inspect a haunted picture that's not worth a thousand words, but only one ... and it's a real killer. Pauline Smith introduces us to a widow who's very merry until her not-so-dearly departed spouse makes good on his threat... to come back. And thirteen more modern masters of the chilling word whip up a witch's brew of mystery fiction for a deliciously deadly trick or treat.

Presumably Alfred Hitchcock was so long dead that the publishers of these Alfred Hitchcock Mystery/ Ellery Queen Mystery-derived anthologies no longer had the gall to credit him as editor, but Mystery For Halloween is entirely in the tradition of 'his' anthologies dating back to the 'fifties - crime heavy with concessions to horror and the supernatural. It can only be four-five years since i read this through, enjoyed it, too, but as with so many of the Hitch's that weren't ghost-edited by Robert Arthur, few of the stories stayed with me. But Hoch and Alan Ryan are always worth reading, and we've not only a haunted portrait story but another set in a wax museum so i really should make the effort. And then, of course, there's:

Dashiell Hammett - In The Morgue: "A face that stampeding leather heels had robbed of features; a torso that was battered and blackened and cut, and from which the clothes had been torn ..."

Author Walter Dowe is waiting for wife Althea to return from the Majestic Theatre when he gets the phonecall - there's been a terrible fire at the venue! Together with his best friend, Bornis - funnily enough, Althea has always disapproved of him as an unsavoury womaniser - he trawls the crowd gathered outside the smoldering ruin, then the hospital wards ... until Bornis finally tells the driver to take them to the morgue. Very short, very nasty minded, very effective.

Which is perhaps more than can be said for:

George Sumner Albee - Ghost In The House: Henry and Deborah are furious when some clown in a gaudy jacket waltzes in without a by or leave and starts showing a young couple around their house. Henry tries to assert himself but the trio pay him no attention, and, when he makes a grab for elder man, his arm passes straight through him. Twist ending surprises no-one.

David Braly - The Night Watchman: A bloodless horror to follow a chill-free ghost story. Cashier Thomas Perkins is obsessed with the Nightwatchman who silently prowls the streets of Sawyerville ensuring all the business stores are locked and secured. Who employs him? Where does he live? Has he ever spoken to a soul? What does his face even look like under that wide brimmed hat. Together with game old-timer Herb Sudbury, Perkins determines to find out.

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Elliott Capon - Fun And Games At The Whacks Museum: The kids of Bellerive love Berrigan's Wax Museum as passionately as Mayor Hubert, local businessmen and the members of the town council disapprove. Old Mr. Berrigan isn't one to mix or take an interest in local affairs, and his chamber of horrors attracts daytrippers who never spend any money in the town. When he mischievously displays a very lifelike statue of his fiercest critic as a "tribute" - posing him in the immediate vicinity of his celebrated Norman Bates ("one half was an astonishingly lifelike representation of Anthony Perkins holding an axe, and he sort of melded into the other side of the figure which looked like Anthony Perkins dressed as his mother, and she was wielding a large knife") - the Mayor retaliates by passing legislation which effectively puts the place out of business.

As Mr. Berrigan prepares to close the museum for good, a car, driven by a suspiciously immobile fellow, his face "frozen in a rictus of horror and fear", mows down Mayor Hubert who is killed immediately.

This being a 'Hitchcock' anthology by any other name, the inevitable twist ending comes as little surprise, but the story is plenty more interesting than the pair noted above.

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Yes it's the time of year when Mystery For Halloween undergoes annual exhumation. Let's see how far we can get with it this time.

Alan Ryan - Kiss The Vampire Goodbye: (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, June 1985). LA private eye Mike Kendall and Danny Lavendar, his huge albino Eskimo partner, investigate the mysterious death of a multimillionaire bank owner, found face-down in a rosebush with tell-tale twin puncture marks to his throat. Mary Cantrell, daughter of the deceased, and "the most beautiful girl I have ever been privileged to gaze upon" etc., is convinced the old boy was killed by a vampire, and there are no shortage of suspects among his staff. It doesn't help that Hawkin's, Mr. Cantrell's valet of forty years, bears a striking resemblance to Bela Lugosi, while Elvira Hawkins - Mary's glamorous young maid - has more than a touch of the Miss Fangy's about her.
Human 'vampires', be they blood-fetishists, or husband-daughter teams who dream up needlessly convoluted methods of murder, are ten a penny, but could it be that the lugubrious valet is the real deal? Kendall, a sceptic in matters zombie, werewolf and ghost, is forced to re-evaluate his position on the undead.

A nasty revelation makes for an exciting climax to the novella. Definitely a best of book contender.

Not quite so effective, but painless enough is;

Pauline C. Smith - The Dog: In his twilight years, Fred took a keen interest in the subject of reincarnation and vowed to wife Sue that, not only would he return but she will never be free of him! After the funeral, a rabid monster dog follows Sue and niece Trudy home from the graveside and subjects them to a night of torment. The dog has a bald spot on it's head just like rancid old Fred and it's fangs are coated in froth (probably ditto).

This story is mentioned in the opening chapter of Katharine Rogers' First Friend: A History of Dogs and Humans (iUniverse, 2010), which includes a brief essay on dogs in folklore, fantasy, SF and horror fiction. Michel Parry's The Hounds of Hell also gets a look in.

The Albee, Hoch, Hammett, Westlake and Treat stories originate from the pages of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and recently had a first ever taster of a British edition when this showed up for a quid in Bethnal Green's Jambala bookshop.

Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (British Edition: February 1954)

Dironne Photography

Anthony Boucher - The Girl Who Married a Monster
Dennis Wiegand - The Street of the Buzzards
Zelda Popkin - Junie-No-Name
Youngman Carter - London Nights’ Entertainment
Phyllis Bentley - Conversation At An Inn
William March - The Bird House
Donald McNutt Douglass - The Ghost of Greenwich Village
Cornell Woolrich - After-Dinner Story (Black Mask, Jan. 1938. as by 'William Irish').
W. R. Burnett - Nobody's All Bad (Collier’s, June 7 1930)
Ellery Queen - The Lonely Bride

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Terry Bacon - Clancy's Bride: (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, 1982). I love when this happens. You're working your way through an unfamiliar selection of stories and, while they're OK, nothing really grabs you as remarkable. And then, when you least expect it, a minor classic, worthy of a place in a Pan Book of Horror Stories! Set in Southern Ireland and narrated by Kelly, the town drunk, Clancy's Bride is the grim story of an unidentified cold-hearted femme fatale who breezes into Kildorrery and swiftly snares lonesome farmer Clancy, who really should have wondered at his 'luck'. Against all expectation, Clancy's bride takes to farm life, particularly the slaughtering aspect. Meanwhile, local poacher Crazy Collins is growing increasingly lunatic by the day, gutting and decapitating chicken, sheep, even a dog. The heads have yet to be found. When his bride takes to roaming the night, Clance suspects her of seeing another man and threatens murder. Comes the night he and Kelly trail her to the abandoned rectory ....

The rest, you'll have to find out for yourself, but it's a proper shocker, and the tone reminds me a little of something Nick Cave might dredge up when he's in Song of Joy/ Brother, My Cup Is Empty mood.

Theodore H. Hoffman - Sitter: A neurotic teenager who has watched Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween one too many times, is already smarting from a police reprimand after calling them when she believed a mad axeman was after her. Now, armed with Barry Manilow and Bon Jovi cassettes, she babysits Brian, five, and Samantha, two, while the Redgraves are out gallivanting uptown. She doesn't like Mr. Redgrave, who reminds her of a vampire, or maybe even Jack Nicholson in The Shining. And then there's that bruise on Brian's cheek. Did he really trip over or are his parents a pair of sadists? A scritch-scratching noise at the door! Perhaps Redgrave has returned to torture and rape her!

From a horror heads pov, Sitter would have been more fun if the author had taken it way over the top, but it's certainly suspenseful and keeps the reader guessing to the last line. Preferred it to:

Lawrence Treat - The Haunted Portrait: All kinds of outlandish claims have been made in regard to the portrait of Evelyn Anders, currently on exhibition in gallery 18. Evelyn, the wife of a wealthy real estate mobster, was hacked down after interrupting a burglary, and her killer is still at large. Painted by Eward's estranged half-brother, Swithin St. John, the canvas is reputedly possessed of supernatural powers and will duly reveal the identity of the murderer.

The portrait holds a particular fascination for museum curator, Dr. Guy Nearing. Sometimes when he gazes upon the likeness of Mrs. Anders, he finds it easy to understand why somebody would want to kill her, and her husband confirms that Evelyn brought out a violent streak in even the mildest of men. On the night of the break-in, Eward Anders was in the company of his latest lover, a Spanish dancer of some repute known as 'La Flama,' but this rock solid alibi doesn't wash with the embittered Swithin. It is clear to Dr. Nearing that both half-brothers are determined to see the other charged with murder, but which of them, if either, committed the dreadful deed?

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Another couple from Mystery ..., both solid enough, but very unlikely to trouble anybody's best of 2013 selection.

Lee Somerville - The Black Cat: Caton City, Texas. Witchy Miss Tessa's old black puss dispenses skunk-assisted justice to the vicious meathead who kicked her in the guts. Said meathead, Cousin Rush has no respect for tradition and plans on fleeing Caton with the cash raised by Miss Tessa's Annual Halloween Heritage Festival. The clever cat has other ideas.

Richard F. McGonegal - Behold, Kra K'l! The Bohemian Demon Of Gardenia Street: George, a slothful student, has taken to demon raising in a bid to prove the existence of God. His early attempts meet with failure, but then, on Halloween night, he summons a shape-shifting, female fire demon. Kra K'l initially takes the form of his girlfriend, Trudi, but when George fails to fall for the deception, a scaled, horny demon. Unfortunately, at this point Mrs. Medvedsky, his comedy Czech landlady, storms into the room and attacks Kra K'l with a broom on account of her rule against guests. Free of the pentagram, Kra K'l heads downtown for mischief. To the British reader - this one, at any rate - it reads like typical Unknown whimsy fifty years after the event.

Right. Off out for a bit to scare me public.

carving, photo, animation by the bride of dem (pumpkin courtesy of Sainsburys.)

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Richard Ciciarelli - Tony Libra And The Killer's Calendar: A Halloween fancy dress party at Hallstrom College. Professor Jameson (Eng) suspects a colleague of introducing class A drugs to campus, and confides as much to wise, popular-with-the-students Prof. Libra. Six hours later, Jameson is murdered. Libra consults his friend, Police Chief Wilbur Backus, and between them they make short work of identifying the culprit.

This one didn't really do it for me I'm afraid, and that will likely be it as far asMystery For Halloween is concerned until this time next year. It's been worth reading for the Hammett, Ryan and - especially - Terry Bacon content. That's the great thing about anthologies. Almost invariably, there'll be at least one story rewards your patience.