Weird and Occult 1/- Library # 1 (Gerald G. Swan)

In the 1940s, Gerald G. Swan purchased the rights to tons of stories, paying on acceptance. His files were loaded with unused material that languished throughout the 1950s. Come 1960-1961, the outfit finally issued much of this languishing material in a variety of genre-specific editions. Here, I will be dealing exclusively with the first issue of the Weird and Occult 1/- Library digest-sized paperbacks (and in January 2017, two more blog entries will follow, covering the other two issues).

The books are 64-pages each, measure 5 x 7 inches, and are stapled with glued wraps.

The contents:

• (1-13) Vashtarin by Kay Hammond
• (14-15) Twenty-five Years by Herbert J. Brandon
• (16-22) Cause or Effect by Maurice Grove
• (22-30) Dr. Kranzer’s Masterpiece by S. G. J. Ousley (sic)
• (30-39) The Horsehair Chair by Winifred M. Carnegie
• (40-46) The Case of Eva Gardiner by A. M. Burrage
• (46-49) In the Dark Temple by Noman C. Jallant (sic)
• (49-56) Green Eyes for Evil by Leslie Bussey
• (56-58) Scuttled by Christine Douglas
• (59-63) The Sins of the Fathers by Tom Lawrence
• (63-64) So Near – So Far by Philip Glyde

Quite easily this lead story by Kay Hammond-Davies is the best out of the whole lot. Equally so, Vashtarin is the only story within the whole volume worth reading. Taking place during World War Two, the Royal Air Force are interested in investigating a downed plane in the Himalayas. Rumor has it that the valley holds a lost race. The scene switches, and the lost race is given to us in typical Oriental-fiction style, complete with the evil leader possessing magical abilities. Complete with a virgin that falls for the downed airman, we are introduced to a wonderfully exotic lost realm, a pilot whom is struck down after his flights of fancy, and a magically-enhanced world is bombed out of existence by the RAF in retaliation. A story that is more Oriental adventure than weird, with slightly fantastic tones throughout. If only the rest of the stories retained such interest….

Herbert J. Brandon doesn’t break new ground in Twenty-five Years. A few college chums going their own way after graduation vow to meet 25 years hence. Usual snap ending, they all arrive, sans one, whom at the midnight hour, arrives, as a ghostly form, then vanishes, and one of the other older lads notes that he hung that very morning, for a crime!

In Maurice Grove’s Cause or Effect, a wife is convinced that her husband is causing the untimely deaths of people that they once knew or famous persons that haven’t made the news in a while. However, she’s informed she is interpreting his proclamations wrongly. He is attuned to the occult and picking up on their death vibrations, which suddenly makes him call out their name, etc. Convincing her to return to her estranged husband, he later learns that she has died, while attempting to return home. Ironically, only that very day, the husband, whom had long since given up on her returning home, and just uttered that her name, making the doctor wonder…was he wrong?

In Dr. Kranzer’s Masterpiece, S. G. J. Ouseley writes a truly weird tale. Kranzer has gone missing, and Dr. Arnold is brought in to investigate matters. He eventually discovers a secret chamber underground and the doctor, dead, with an uncanny thing, a creation of his own doing, that led, ultimately, to his own undoing!

Winifred M. Carnegie delivers a creepy tale when a dead man bequeaths The Horsehair Chair to a non-believer in the occult. However, when a friend visits and stays the night, reading by the fire, he ends up sitting in the chair (while his friend is drawn away for the night). He’s soon unable to extricate himself from the chair, and is visited by a frightening thing. A demon? The next night, his friend returns and the pair retire to the same room and he takes to the seat. Unable to warn him without being scoffed at, his friend soon suffers the same fate. They later break apart the chair, find a note within, from the original owner, noting that he had murdered another person in that very chair….

A. M. Burrage handles the murder of a young girl in The Case of Eva Gardiner. The police have their man but no evidence. Angered that the murderer has escaped Justice, Mr. Ransome, an older gentleman bachelor nightly coerces himself to focus mentally on the girl, whom was a regular visitor at his home. One night, she ethereally visits while he dreams, and discloses the identity of her killer, and other details. Unable to obtain the police’s assistance in his arrest, Mr. Ransome obtains a gun and shoots the killer dead, turns himself over to the police.

In the Dark Temple, by Norman C. Pallant (erroneously credited as “Jallant” on the page), a man is in the jungle seeking a lost temple. Securing its whereabouts, he alone enters and steals a rare gem off a temple gods face. Despite the gleaming stones removal, he hears a ferociously evil roar from the god and a baleful, evilly bright gleaming eye glares down at him. Scared out of his wits, he is assaulted by some being. Whipping out his knife, he fights for his life…. Mentally deranged, the locals find the treasure hunter, with the gem, and it is learned that a locally infamous one-eyed tiger assaulted him.

Leslie Bussey delivers a somewhat chilling account in Green Eyes for Evil. Alan is fixated on his brother’s fiance, and proclaims his love to her. Failing to secure her affections, he gives her a green stone ring. Time passes, and he receives a letter to meet his brother. In reaching the home, he learns that the brother murdered his wife, after discovering the bejeweled ring. He knows the gem was stolen from a specific location, and intends to exact his revenge upon his deceitful brother. His plans misfire, and Alan murders his brother in  quasi-self-defense. Fearing that, if caught, he’ll hang for murder, he cleans the scene of his presence, and slips the dead man his gun. His brother gets the last laugh…his finger contracts and drills Alan, dead.

Christine Douglas delivers a weakly constructed tale in Scuttled. The protagonist annually plans various luxurious vacations, but in fact, never leaves his home. On returning from his “vacation,” he boasts about how enjoyable it was and provides relevant details to enhance the experience, by reading up on each locale. His plans go vastly awry, when on returning to work this time, his workmates leave a newspaper on his desk noting that HIS SHIP NEVER MADE IT to its final destination.

In The Sins of the Fathers, Tom Lawrence writes a typically dated weird tale in which a dead man visits a young man as a ghost in his dreams, and informs him that he shall die for the sins of his father. While a young boy, his father had caught the dead man stealing from the cash drawer. In protecting his property, he inadvertently strikes the man a death blow and sent to the penitentiary, where, he himself dies, succumbing to an illness. Feeling cheated, the ghost is determined to take the son’s life, instead. If only he can stay away long enough to escape the ghost’s intentions….

In Philip Glyde’s So Near – So Far, a romantic couple are hiking up a mountain when he accidentally slips, knocking their pack off the edge, and damaging his watch. Continuing the ascent, they are met by a thickening mist. Realizing they may become stranded, they begin a rapid, but cautious descent. The mist becomes impenetrably dangerous. Realizing further efforts may result in their death(s), the pair hole-up for the night. On awakening, they find that, in looking over the edge, they were only three feet from completing their downward journey. (NOTE: This is not a weird story in the least)

Detective Thriller Library # 2 (Gerald G Swan)

Having finished reading the first in this limited series, I plunged into the second Detective Thriller Library publication by Gerald G. Swan, printed circa 1960-1961, which collects leftover manuscripts purchased during the 1940s by Swan. This 64-page, stapled digest-paperback, measures approximately 5 x 7 inches. Cover art lacks any identifying signature, and seems to illustration the lead story.

“All Brides Must Die,” written by Patricia Westley, is a murder thriller. An unknown assailant known as “The Choker” is strangling beautiful young ladies to death, before they take the final plunge into matrimony. Malcolm Peters is invited to a party held by the gorgeous newlywed Mrs. Carter. While at home again, he receives a frantic distress call from her, that someone is in her house, etc. On investigating, he finds the typical souvenir left behind by The Choker. Further, the house has burned to the ground. Mrs. Carter’s faithful dog has escaped the infernal, unscathed. Peters takes in the dog, and reports all to the police. Mrs. Carter’s husband is missing. Did Harold murder her? Is he the “choker?” Questions abound. But when Peters discerns that Mrs. Carter is not actually dead, he begins to put the pieces to this puzzle together…

One can rely on Leslie Bussey to supply a decent, hard-hitting short thriller. With a title like “The Dead Sometimes Talk,” we really expect something of that sort. Bussey provides us with a bizarre tale, in which a poor woman is rifling through trash on a dead-end street, when she happens across a large manikin-doll. While rescuing the item, she is approached by a younger gentleman, whom talks sincerely to her. Offers her a job, to-be-paid at the end of her couple weeks, and she is to maintain his home for him while he is out, etc. Above all else, she is to ask no questions. She (Jenny) takes the job immediately, as housekeeper. Too, she needs money, and employment in England is tough to obtain, especially for someone down on their luck like herself. Cleaned up and dressed in better clothes, all at his expense, she takes to the job. She blunders into becoming too aware of her surroundings and suspicions begin to form that he is the mysterious murderer that the police want. The tale is inherently weak, but stimulating enough to forge through. Locked in his home, she has no escape, and finally, hangs the manikin outside the window, hoping somebody will see the manner in which it is hung. The device works. For, just as he is throttling the life out of her, the police burst in and save her life.

Next up is Dorothy Bronson’s “Blackmail Racket.” June Elder is murdered shortly after having visiting Barry Logan, private investigator. He reports the murder to Inspector Bland. Seems there is a lot of love affairs going on, and June was caught by her husband, whom creates a fake blackmail racket and plans to stick it to her secret suitor, whom has a tainted background. But when Logan discovers the woeful husband is amorous with the local dance-hall hussy, he begins to put the various clues of misdirection together in a proper sequence. Not a bad tale, altogether. It did keep me guessing.

In “Death Came Flying,” Chris Blake supplies the typical circus murder. A man is found dead, splattered, having been thrown from a fast-flying ride. Turns out he is (was) one of the circus owners. All eyes are on the co-owners, the ride operator, and the woman involved, but the detective discovers the extra clue due to mud on his clothes, which leads us to the doctor, whom was on the scene at the time of the murder. Ironically, we learn via post mortem that the victim was already dead. The murderer wanted to speed up the process by providing his own post mortem, but, the police stuck to protocols, and this thwarted him. He never had the time to remove the bullet. Secondly, a newly dead body splattering should have been drenched in blood. He was already dead, and did not splatter….

Seems odd for me to see Patrick S. Selby’s name in a crime thriller, since I’m more familiar with his appearance in New Worlds magazine, but, here we have “Pint Pots and Papers.” Terry Kestry is an insurance-man. He wishes to marry the bosses girl, but, so far, believes he will be fired shortly, because every case he has handled, the insurance company  has found no fault and had to pay out. His career as an insurance detective seems to be rapidly dwindling, when he is called to check out a claim. A book collector has had his safe blown, and a rare book stolen. The case blows wide-open when Terry realizes the book could NOT have been inside a safe that couldn’t hold a book of such disproportionate dimensions, which means the person that sold the book to the collector also is in on the fraud, for having claimed he saw the book placed in the safe!

In “The Resurrection of Reen,” H. Main tells a crooks’ tale. A henchman is sent to steal a mummy from a professor. The mummy had been sold at auction, but, the henchman failed to be the high bidder. His boss isn’t happy. The mummy has a false bottom, having been stuffed with “five thousand quid’s worth” of cocaine. Having slipped through customs, it was to be auctioned off. Anyway, our crook, Snaky, realizes he can’t blow the job twice, or his life is quits. He sneaks into the professor’s home, and waits forever for the professor to leave the room. Only, he doesn’t. The professor is too engrossed in deciphering the hieroglyphics and learns of a curse. He flees to the window, when he hears a rapping. It is a raven, as mentioned in the curse, and bizarrely, it drops stone dead (never explained). While away, staring at the deceased bird, Snaky sneaks in, nabs the mummy, but only gets to the curtain in time before the professor returns. The professor is in stark fear. The mummy has arisen! and he flees the scene. Meanwhile, Snaky learns it is the wrong mummy. No false bottom. Despite fearing his life, he replaces the mummy back into its case, and reports back to his boss, whom gathers the gang, intent on raiding the house and securing the mummy, for he is certain that Snaky is an idiot. The professor has returned with a colleague, whom thinks he his batty, especially after regurgitating the mummy’s curse. On arriving, they find the mummy has returned. What’s more, they now find themselves surrounded by masked thieves. The whole scene goes colorfully weird when police burst in and the mummy inexplicably comes to life, its wrappings falling from its face to reveal a raven-haired corpse. It informs the bad guys to kneel before the presence of Reen, High Priest of Ra. Remarkably, they do just that, except the boss, whom faints. Turns out the mummy did NOT pass customs. They caught the cocaine, and switched the mummy, too, in order to bust the gang.

Last up is Garry Elliott’s “Cheque for Murder.” Darrell, a one-time crook, has been in the hire of old man Cowan now for quite some time. Having forgiven the crook’s past transgressions, he gave the man a chance at redemption and Darrell, as accounts bookkeeper, and has performed admirably. However, he is sweating bullets. He signed and cashed a false check, and is afraid the bank caught this. When an envelope arrives with his name on it and check noted, Darrell is sure he has been caught. He decides to murder Cowan; and murder him, he does. The irony occurs when the police discover the check in an envelope on the desk, and Darrell blurts out that they can’t have found it…he has it on him! Really? Turns out Cowan had written a bonus check, and was to award Darrell a promotion! He had never been suspected by Cowan and, he recovered the wrong check.

Cheque-mate !!!

“Gang Shorts” – 3rd Collection

Gang Shorts # 3

Gang Shorts: 3rd Collection
Printed 1945 in England, by Gerald G. Swan.
Published double column, on 36 pages.
Cover price: 7d.

The booklet is comprised of:

• Black Huntress by Norman C. Pallant
• Honi Soit… by G. H. Lister
• The Broken Window Cord by Ronald Horton
• Sadie Gets Her Story by Stella Dene
• They Always Get Theirs by Leslie Bussey
• Roast Beef? Take it Away! by Preston D. Olsen
• Limited Risk by G. H. Lister

The lead story is Norman C. Pallant’s “Black Huntress.”
Public Enemy No. 1 “Joe Conner” has made a name for himself, making money and slaying his enemies. He thinks his life is 100% positively secure, until a dame in black begins a cross-country chase. Believing her to be the widow of a man he wiped out years ago, he flees to further recesses of the country, and always, he finds her there. While attempting to vanish, he holds up a bank, and, who should walk in but the dame! Pushing his gat into her chest, he threatens to kill her and run with the goods, but the bank teller pumps him full of lead. In conclusion, the police interrogate the woman in black, only to learn that she is an autograph hound!!!

Norman Charles Pallant was born 14 February 1910
in the Hitchin district, died the end of 1972, in the
Haringey district. His literary output, as follows:

• Black Huntress (ss) Gang Shorts #3 1945
• The Lost Key, (ss) Fantasy, The Magazine of Science Fiction Aug ’47
• The Three Suns, (ss) Fantasy, The Magazine of Science Fiction Aug ’47
• It’s a Lovely Morning, (vi) Weird and Occult Miscellany, 1949
• The Best Policy (ss) Scramble Feb 1 1950
• Martian Mandate, (ss) Science-Fantasy #2 ’50
• No Return (pm) Everybody’s Weekly Jan 26 1952
• Fair-Weather Friend, (pm) Punch
  • Argosy (UK) Feb 1952
• In the Dark Temple, (vi) Weird and Occult Library #1 ’60
• The Incredible Awakening, (ss) Weird and Occult Library #3 ’60

Up next is “Honi Soit…” by G. H. Lister.
Montgomery Smith is an Englishman whom has outlived his usefulness as a swindler of his own countryman. Relocating to the United States, he quickly administers thievery and lies, and builds up a rapid reservoir of cash. Looking for bigger game, he convinces a man to pay him an immense amount of dollars, and in return, Smith coughs up a family heirloom, a sword, that when possessed gives the owner the title of an English gentleman. Desiring to be a Lord, the American readily agrees. Smith goes out to a shop, buys an old sword, has a fake certificate created, and the whole process is complete. Things go rapidly wrong when a pair of criminals hold them up for their hard-earned cash. In the process, Smith ends up with the dame, whom is convinced he really is a wealthy Englishman. Fleeing America with the toots, he begins to work on a plan to unload the broad….

Gordon H. Lister was born 1914 and died 1996.
His output seems limited strictly to Swan publications:

• Circumstantial Murder (ss) Gang Shorts #1 1944
• Quick on the Draw (ss) Gang Shorts #1 1944
• Murder at Four (ss) Crime Shorts #2 1944
• “Honi Soit…” (ss) Gang Shorts #3 1945
• Limited Risk (ss) Gang Shorts #3 1945
• Dollar Exchange (ss) Crime Shorts #4 1946
• Double Alibi (ss) Detective Shorts #2 1946
• Lunchtime Murder (ss) Thrill Shorts #1 1946
• It Had to Be Murder (ss) Detective Shorts #4 194?
• Greek Tragedy (ss) Scramble May 12 1950 [Martin Speed]
• The Chance of a Lifetime (ss) Scramble May 19 1950 [Martin Speed]

Ronald Horton supplies “The Broken Window Cord.”
Ray Lester is gonna hang for attempted murder. But investigator ‘Dad’ Morgan literally finds “holes” in the botched murder scene, and a loose cord in a trunk drilled with air-holes seals the real killer’s fate!

Ronald Harcourt Horton was born Qtr 2, 1902 in the
Solihull district, and died 1987.
While his output appears limited, I suspect he sold stories
to numerous rural newspapers throughout the country.
He also turns in various boys’ annuals.

• The Broken Window Cord (ss) Gang Shorts #3 1945
• The Obstinate Man (ss) Detective Shorts #2 1946
• The Hooded Cape (ss) Detective Shorts #1 1946
• Glass Houses (ss) Affinity Jun 1947
• “You Gotta Take a Chance Son” (ss) Western Album 1947
• The Green Buddah (ss) Detective Casebook Feb 1948, uncredited.
• Side Issue (ss) Detective Casebook Feb 1948, uncredited.
• Diet for Ducks (ss) The Citizen (Gloucester) Feb 2 1949
• Mr. Pettigrew’s Secret (ss) The Citizen (Gloucester) May 11 1949
• Policemen Sometimes Laugh (ss) The Citizen (Gloucester) Sep 27 1949
• Cause for Alarm (ss) The Citizen (Gloucester) Nov 1 1949
• The Eye of the Needle! (ss) Scramble Nov 1949 [Dad Morgan]
• It Comes Off Sometimes (ss) Detective Shorts #4 194?
• Fletcher’s Next Job (ss) The Citizen (Gloucester) Mar 1 1950
• Louder Than Words (ss) The Citizen (Gloucester) Mar 14 1950

Stella Dene supplies “Sadie Gets Her Story.”
Blonde bombshell newsgirl Sadie is handed the assignment of bringing back to her paper a real humdinger. While investigating a young man whom appears to be cozying up unflattering-like with the local mob enforcers, Sadie inexplicably finds herself kidnapped, in a case of mistaken identity! While trying to find a means of escape, she contacts her boss and reveals the secret location of the Bronx Gang. The place is raided and she is rescued, in what is otherwise a fairly weak story.

The identity of “Stella Dene” is murky.
What is known is that she (or he?) wrote a handful of
girls’ short stories for the various Swan publications.

• Sadie Gets Her Story (ss) Gang Shorts #3 1945
• The Prize-Winner (ss) Affinity Jan 1947
• Great Snakes (ss) Girls’ Fun May 1 1947
• Lonely Lindy (ss) Girls’ Fun May 1 1947
• Stuffin Burns His Paw (ss) Girls’ Fun Bumper Number 1948
• The Silent Watcher (ss) Affinity Feb/Mar 1949
• Have You Seen Clementina (ss) Girls’ Fun (New Series) Jul 1949
• Kathy at St. Gertrude’s (ss) Girls’ Fun Book 1950

Up next is “They Always Get Theirs” by Leslie Bussey.
Lefty leaves his entire life fortune and business to two ex-criminals, whom find themselves currently booted from Lefty’s business by hardier gangsters. Forced out with the option to LIVE or DIE, they choose to live. But, when they receive a copy of the Will, they find themselves in possession of a coded message, that, when deciphered, reveals that the business is a time-bomb, and, if not reset on a regular basis, the entire premises will explode. It does, and takes out all of the criminals in on the initial plot to wipe out Lefty. And the pair of heirs? They play is straight, open and operate a drive-in!

Leslie Bussey’s works appear to be “almost” exclusively
attached to the Swan outfit. Due to the common nature
of his namesake, his birth and death years are unknown.
He also contributed to Swan’s “Detective Album, 1947” and
the “Crime Album, 1947.” I’m not sure about the 1946 editions.

• They Get Tough Sometimes (ss) Vengeance Shorts #1 1945
• They Always Get Theirs (ss) Gang Shorts #3 1945
• Perfect Murders Go Wrong (ss) Murder Shorts #1 1946
• Account Settled (ss) Crime Shorts #4 1946
• Fiend of Fifth Avenue (ss) Gang Shorts #4 1946
• Week-End at “Green Gables” (ss) Detective Shorts #2 1946
• Out of the Night (ss) Western Shorts #5 1946
• A Matter of Time (ss) Thrill Shorts #1 1946
• Haunted By a Memory (ss) Faithful Confessions #1 1947
• The Silver Monoplane (ss) Scramble Dec 1947
• The Duke in Danger (ss) Scramble Feb 1948
• The New Skipper (ss) Scramble Feb 1949
• The Strange Case of the Young Doctor (ss) Detective Monthly #3 195?
• Green Eyes for Evil (ss) Weird and Occult Library #1 ’60
• The Dead Sometimes Talk (ss) Detective Thriller Library #2 1960

Preston D. Olsen’s “Roast Beef?–Take It Away!” is without meaty substance.
Two thieves snatch a diamond studded ladies’ accessory, break it apart, and hide the diamonds inside a golf ball. Fleeing America in order to sell the diamonds on the black market and avoid another criminal whom is onto them, they find themselves on the short end, crossing an English pasture and pursued by a bull. When the bull smacks the rump of the man possessing the diamonds, he finds himself lacking his own inherited family jewels. Discerning that the bull must have swallowed the bling, they purchase the bull and have it shipped back to America, to be slaughtered. The joke is on them; no golf ball, no jewels. Later, a story circulates in the Odd Column back in England. A bird’s nest was found to contain the golf ball and inside, the diamonds!

The true identity of this author is unknown.
Further, this is the only known tale to appear under this name.

Gang Shorts wraps up with “Limited Risk” by G. H. Lister.
Again returns our lovable criminal-scoundrel, Montgomery Smith. Looking for some fresh excitement in his retirement from criminal activities, Montgomery strolls through Central Park, listening to various orators denouncing this-and-that, and one in particular, is beating the drum against citywide corruption, in the form of a strong-arm faux-insurance broker, named Perelli. Using his enforcers to pressure local small businesses to cough up a percentage of their hard-earned profits towards insurance, this protection racket is beating up resisters and burning out the rest. Smith decides to use his skills to unseat Perelli, by flipping the tables and landing him in jail.