Nearly a decade ago I posted a slew of plot synopses to various vintage publications on Facebook’s Southern Pulspters group. Over the years I have made an effort towards rescuing many of them from oblivion, but some slipped through the cracks. This item appeals to a broader audience, and given the nature of the title, should be revisited.
The Mystery of the Abominable Snowman sports the nom de plume Michael Waugh, a name that was applied to one vampire novelette and two mad scientist a la Dr. Frankenstein / zombie novelettes. All were published in Australia by Cleveland Publishing Co.
The true identity of the author has forever remained a mystery. When the publishers still actively existed, I contacted them in the hopes that they had files dating back to the 1950s. The original founder’s son replied that he didn’t know they published anything outside of Westerns. An absurd remark given they also published tons of crime material. Either an uneducated family-run outfit or a complete dodgy reply. In any case, the mystery remains unsolved.
And if that lusciously clutched blonde bombshell on the front cover gives you King Kong (1933) and Fay Wray vibes, what can I say? I’ve likewise no clue who the artist was for Cleveland in the early 1950s, but they created a bunch of wonderfully vibrant covers.
Now, onto the plot:
Millionaire mogul Oglethorpe wants to shoot a sensational film thriller in the frozen wastes, but when a real life Abominable Snowman enters the scene, the actor playing “hero” turns in a real-life greedy-villain and the down-and-out adventurer-turned-actor, Clay, must step up his game to save not only Leila, the lead star attraction but, also save them all from a man bent on killing everyone in his path to net himself the real “big game.”
Yeah. That’s the entire plot in a nutshell.
THE SPECTRE LIBRARY PRESENTS: The Pulp and Paperback Fiction Reader 