Black Cat Weekly #121

This is our final issue of 2023.

   We have original stories from Robert Jeschonek, John M. Floyd, Anne Swardson, and Phyllis Ann Karr, plus a recent tale by Anna Tambour. Classic reprints from Keith Laumer, Piers Anthony, Raymond F. Jones, and Hal Meredith. Plus, of course, a solve-it-yourself puzzler.

   On a personal note, I have a short story (a collaboration with Leigh Grossman, a great friend from college; we met in an English class and I soon joined his fantasy role-playing group) in the current issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and my first novel in more than a decade will be out in early 2024. (It’s called The Things from Another World, and quite obviously is a sequel to John W. Campbell’s “Who Goes There”—which was filmed by Howard Hawks as The Thing from Another World, and then John Carpenter as his masterpiece, The Thing.) So I guess you can say I’m writing more regularly now.

   Here’s to an even better 2024!

   As for this issue: here’s the complete lineup—

Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:

• “The Luckiest Man in the World” by Robert Jeschonek [Michael Bracken Presents short story]
• “The Garage Sale Mystery” Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]
• “A Christmas Movie” by John M. Floyd [Barb Goffman Presents short story]
• “The Spice of Death,” by Anne Swardson [short story]
• “The Ancient Monk,” by Hal Meredith [short story, Sexton Blake series]

Science Fiction & Fantasy:

• “The Witch of La Jícara” by Phyllis Ann Karr [short story]
• “The Tin and the Damask Rose,” by Anna Tambour [short story]
• “The Walls,” by Keith Laumer [short story]
• “Quinquepedalian,” by Piers Anthony [short story]
• “Stay Off The Moon!” by Raymond F. Jones [short story]