The digests were the first to come and the first to go. Beginning in September 1956, each title lasted only four issues and all ceased by April 1957. Not that the other magazines outlasted the digests by long, but it speaks to the trials of the time.
These digests measured 5.25" wide x 7.25" tall. Just like their
predecessors, these pulps were done on the cheap. Even on the cover, the
printing could be severely misregistered (when the color plates misalign).
They featured no ads save for the back cover, inside and out. Most stories
were illustrated on the first page.
Associate Publisher: Marilyn Mayes
A
typical inside front cover and Table of Contents. From Blazing Guns #4
(1957)
Blazing Guns #1 (Oct. 1956)
1 · Hell with a Running Iron · Walt Coburn
31 · Set Your Hat and Grab Your Gun · Bob Obets
46 · Quest
of the Thirty Dead · Tom W. Blackburn
72 · Brothers of the Bugle · Kenneth Fowler
89 · Good Loggers Are Dead Loggers · Frank Bonham
105 · There’s Doom in His Holsters · Clifton Adams
123 · Bullets from Ambush · Kenneth D. Mace
Blazing Guns #2 (Dec. 1956)
Winchesters on the By-Pass · Burt Thomas
Renegade · Gil Brewer
Call Me Killer · W. D. Cotton
When a Man Needs a Gun · A. C. Abbott
Last Canteen · Van Cort
Dead Man’s Stew · Curtis Alden
A Stranger in Big Horn · John Fryer
Showdown · M. F. Wensrich
Blazing Guns #3
(Feb. 1957)
ToC index needed
Blazing Guns #4 (April 1957)
3 · Funeral at Apache Bend · Charles A. Stearns
45 · Devil's Gold · Francis C. Battle
49 · Missouri Marauders · Paul L. Peil
62 · Hangman's Knot · Leslie Scott
68 · Bargain Wife · Bud Kimes
82 · Stagecoach Stranger · Wallace Blue
88 · The Hater · Edward Shallcross
92 · Maverick Bad Man · Burt Thomas
104 · Unknown Rider · W. J. Reynolds
127 · The Graveyard on the Hill · Edward D. Hoch
The illustrations from Blazing Guns #4
Crime and Justice
Detective Story Magazine
4 issues · Sept.
1956–Mar. 1957 · 35¢ digest
Really a gangster magazine with the atmosphere of a '40s pulp. Old-time
writers G.T. Fleming-Roberts and Robert Sidney Bowen appeared alongside newcomers
Harlan Ellison and Edward D. Hoch. Some content was reprinted from New
Detective Magazine. Info
and indexes courtesy of the Crime Fiction Index, via Phil
Stephensen-Payne.
Crime and Justice #1 (Sept. 1956)
The Dead Man Said No · G. T. Fleming-Roberts
Philadelphia Fix · Robert C. Dennis
I’ll Die for You · Day Keene
Bitter Medicine · David Crewe
Don’t Spare the Corpses · Robert Sidney Bowen
Till the End of Crime · Robert Turner
Let Me Alone · Jim Harmon
Crime and Justice #2 (Nov. 1956)
Undressed to Kill · Larry Holden
The Prettiest Corpse in Town · Ernie Weatherall
Killer Gang · Francis C. Battle
Go, Woman, Go · Matt Christopher
Sweet Slay-Lani · Raymond Drennen
Murder from the Gallery · Robert G. Baird
Blonde Tornado · Miles Harden
The Bomb · Jim Harmon
Crime and Justice #3 (Jan. 1957)
3 · Run Fast, Run Far · Robert Turner
30 · The Golden Virgin · Harlan Ellison
47 · Sixth Kill · Norman Struber
56 · You Worry Too Much · Bram Norton
69 · Inspector Fleming's Last Case · Edward D. Hoch
85 · Garbage Gravy · Jase Ward
94 · The Beforehand Corpse · Jay Carroll
108 · Handcuffed · Clark Howard
117 · It's Getting Messy · Frank Snow
Crime and Justice #4 (March 1957) · 132 pages
Details supplied by Stephen T. Miller.
3 · The Bridey Murphy Bit · Paul Eiden
26 · Killers Road Block · Don L. Davis
29 · Jealous Lover [Al Diamond] · Edward D. Hoch
43 · The Mark of the Needle · William Sambrot
51 · The Too Perfect Crime · Frank Elmquist
55 · A Kiss Before Death · Duane Yarnell
70 · The Case of the French Loverboy · Philip Perlmutter
77 · The Gentleman from Boston · Henry Slesar
89 · Set for Life · William F. Rohde
97 · An Armful of Murder · Albert Simmons
124 · Dead Wives Don’t Cheat · John Magnus
Hit Crossword Puzzles
2 issues · 25¢ Digest
I was lucky enough to find a copy of the first issue which had never been
used. This little digest is packed with 80 pages of puzzles, which also include
word scrambles, short mysteries to solve, and sudoku-style "Fill In"
puzzles. The only staff listed in this was Alfred Grenet, editor.
Hit Crossword Puzzles #1 (Jan. 1957)
You'll be a hit if you can figure out this puzzle. #?? (May 1957)
64 · Door of Doom · Charles Beckman, Jr. ; possibly “Death’s
Door”
74 · Man at Bay · Verne Chute
94 · A Time to Kill · William Campbell Gault
111 · Die, Baby, Die · Ken Lewis
The name of this magazine might have changed because there were other
magazines titled "Homicide Detective." Left two: from
1951. Right two: published by Sterling, 1956.
Killers Mystery Story Magazine
3
issues · Nov. 1956–Mar. 1957 · 35¢
digest
The indicia for this magazine read "formerly Homicide Detective Story Magazine. Associate Publisher: Marilyn Mayes
Killers Mystery Story Magazine #2 (Nov. 1956)
1 · Prodigy Shamus
· Mack Reynolds
21 · The Enormous Eye · Martin Maloney
43 · Crime Doesn't Pay · Mal Manors
59 · The Big Good-Bye · Carroll Mayers
65 · Fridays MenuMurder · Bud Kimes ("Kines" in the Table
of Contents)
78 · The Big Fix · Roy Mangum ("Ray" in the Table
of Contents)
115 · The Attackers · Matt Christopher
Killers
Mystery Story Magazine #3 (Jan. 1957)
3 • Tooth of the Dragon · George Wallace Sayre
55 • One Last Kiss · H. A. DeRosso
75 • Mixed Drink Murder · Mack Reynolds
107 • Devil's Idle Hand · Raymond Drennen
67 • Corpse for a Day · Talmage Powel
89 • All in the Mind · Norman Struber
100 • The Seal · William Sambrot
122 • The Second Jury · Henry Slesar
Killers Mystery Story Magazine #4 (March 1957)
The Naked Corpse · Edward D. Hoch
The Death Driver · Carl Milton
Blonde Beautiful and Dead · Joseph Commings
Jury of the Damned · Lovina Cooper
Bury Me Not · Charles E. Fritch
Wolf-Bait · Jack Q. Lynn
The Bigamist · Paul Eiden
Death Drank a Toast · Joseph Faus
Hold Up Time-Table · Don L. Davis
Hobo from Hell · Larry Reid
Die Sucker Die · Lester D. Klimek
Terror:
Detective Story Magazine
4 issues · Oct.
1956–Apr. 1957 · 35¢ digest
Despite the title, the stories in Terror
Detective Story Magazine displayed neither terror
nor detection, but focussed instead on blatant
sexual content. Despite the presence of
well-known authors like Harlan Ellison, Fredric
Brown and Henry Slesar, the magazine had little to
recommend it and folded after four issues. Index
and info courtesy of the Crime Fiction Index, via Phil Stephensen-Payne.
Terror: Detective Story Magazine #1 (Oct. 1956)
It's Been a Long, Long Crime · Thorne Lee · reprinted from New
Detective Magazine (July 1946)
Fry by Night · V. E. Thiessen · reprinted from New Detective Magazine (June
1953)
See No Murder · Fredric Brown · reprinted from New Detective Magazine
(June 1953)
The Hooked Crook · Jim Harmon
Bad Medicine · Lawrence Springarn
Seeds of Death · Arthur Porges
Lady in Flight · Rick Daniels · reprinted from New Detective
Magazine (Feb. 1946)
Dead Right · Jack Bender
Terror: Detective Story Magazine #2 (Dec. 1956) • 132 pp.
3 · "Murderer’s Manual." By William Vance
42 · "Bleed for Me." By John Jakes
55 · "The Hungry Hound." By Francis C. Battle
59 · "Snapshot of Murder." By Teddy Keller
73 · "Tunnel Kill." By Grover Brinkman
83 · "Never Trust a Blonde." By Philip Morgan
97 · "The Perfect Alibi." By J. M. O’Neil
112 · "Slow Slay." By Robert C. Dennis reprtined
from New Detective
Magazine (July 1946)
