Bøger udgivet af Stark House Press

Originally published in 1952 by Gold Medal Books.

TOMMY RED Tommy Dalton's ex-wife is on an honesty kick with their daughter, Alysha. She tells her that her dad kills people. Which, of course, he does. But that's not the kind of information he wants shared with his kids. Particularly now that he's working on a new job. Dominick Farase, ready to testify against the Cirelli family, needs silencing. An ex-cop spots him and lets Gasper Cirelli know where to find him. Not a difficult job for Tommy Red. But the Cirellis get nervous about this one, and decide to remove all evidence of the hit-including Tommy. More hits are called, and some of them get sloppy. A couple of FBI agents get involved. Frank Cirelli, Gasper's son and acting head of the family, has to make some tough decisions. Sacrifices must be made. But as far as Tommy is concerned, the Cirellis make their biggest mistake when they fail in their efforts to take him out. A fatal mistake. Now he's after the family--still trying to keep his daughter out of it, too, of course-because when you threaten Tommy or his family, the only response is retribution.

Ten Minute Stories / Day and Night Stories "The author plunges with boldness, yet with consistent invention, into the realm of the fantastic." -The Outlook Ten Minute Stories, originally published in 1914, and Day and Night Stories, from 1917, offer two superlative story collections of ghost stories, strange nature tales, weird events and dark fantasies from one of the greatest writers of supernatural fiction in the 20th century. These pieces are shorter than Algernon Blackwood usually produced, "little thoughts or episodes which he often scribbled in his notebook high up in the mountains and then typed up later that day, and sold to newspapers back in England," as Mike Ashley points out in his informative introduction. Some of these stories are humorous slices-of-life, matter-of-fact stories borne out from Blackwood's love of human observation. Many of the Day and Night Stories were written during World War I, and are more reflective than his earlier tales. Most have at least a tinge of the mystic to them. A bonus story, "The Farmhouse on the Hill," appears in book form for the first time, an early story that originally appeared in an Australian newspaper in 1907. These are stories that capture the shifting qualities of perception as daylight gradually fades into dusk, and the curtain of dreams is pulled gently across our vision-short stories of day…into night.

Some innocent people were going to be badly hurt. But he had to remember that there was no innocence in this trade, that anyone and everything touched by junk became irretrievably rotten and then had to pay the price. If he began to think of checks and balances, levels of thought, then he was beginning only to think like a cop or a bureaucrat again. That was why the enforcers were only another component of the disease; because they refused to accept responsibility and follow it through.To fight vermin you had to be one.Burt Wulff is beyond forgiveness, beyond vengeance. He is the Lone Wolf.

It is a hot, sticky Philadelphia night. And teenager Johnny Broom is ready to score. He's got his gang's rumble set up with the Violets, the perfect cover for his real plans for the evening-opening up the warehouse his brother guards for Comber's boys to clean out. Johnny's got it all figured. What he doesn't figure is that the creepy kid Mike will show up and start taking over the action. He doesn't figure that officer Vallera will be one step ahead of him, ready to bust the heist. He doesn't figure that John Dexter Stephens, whom everyone knows is the only adult friend the kids have, will be tagging along on the bust. Johnny's got the perfect plan, so why does everything start to go so wrong...

NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH When Riley gets word that Miss Blandish is going out on the town with her new pearl necklace, he decides to stage a jewelry snatch. Things get a little out of hand, and the gang ends up snatching Miss Blandish, too. Now they've got a kidnapping on their hands. But that's when the Grisson Gang steps in and takes over. Ma Grisson wants the pearls, but her sadistic son Slim wants Miss Blandish. And whatever Slim wants, Slim gets-one way or the other. So the ransom is paid, but Mr. Blandish doesn't get his daughter back. That's when Fenner is hired, a detective as ruthless as the gang he's after. They've broken Miss Blandish, but will Fenner be able to break them? TWELVE CHINAMEN AND A WOMAN Hot off the Blandish case, Dave Fenner is contacted by a frightened young lady who is looking for her sister. Laying down six grand as a retainer, she tells him that all she knows is that her sister is mixed up with twelve Chinamen. Intrigued, Fenner agrees to take the case, only to find that someone has planted a dead Chinaman in his office. No sooner has he removed that problem, Fenner is than visited by two Cubans who search his office, pistol whip him-and lead him to an apartment where he finds his murdered client. Now it's personal and Fenner will stop at nothing to find the gang behind this strange operation. Which leads him to Pio Carlos, trafficker in human cargo…and Glorie Leadler, a beauty who is not at all who she seems.

The Name of the Game is Death He calls himself Earl Drake. That's not his real name, but it'll do. Hell, he's changed his identity so many times, it hardly matters anymore. Right now he's calling himself Chet Arnold. After the last bank robbery, after they made their escape and Bunny ended up taking most of the money with him to Florida, he figured it was time to collect. But something's happened to Bunny. So here he is in Hudson, Florida, trying to find Bunny and the money. First he finds Hazel, six feet tall, red hair, all woman. Then he meets Lucille, the local man-hungry postmaster. Finally he meets Blaze Franklin, a cop who's just about ready to kill somebody. It's one helluva situation. And that's the kind that Drake likes best. One Endless Hour Sheriff Blaze's double cross is a good one. But Drake finds Bunny and he finds the loot. Trouble is, it all blows up in his face this time. Literally. And now they've got him behind bars and covered in bandages--and under the thumb of a particular sadist named Spider Kern. The authorities think they've got a monosyllabic basket case named Chet Arnold locked up for the criminally insane. But thanks to the experimental plastic surgery treatment of Dr. Afzul, they soon have an Earl Drake who is not only armed with a new face, but a plan as well. All he needs is a gun, and it's payback time. Sweet payback time.

MAKE MY COFFIN STRONGSteve Galloway has been away for a while, making his fortune in Saudi oil. Then he gets the letter: his mentor and old friend, Sam Goulding, is dead, and it looks like murder. Now he's back in NYC with a score to settle. It's clear to Galloway that the syndicate is behind Sam's death, but he has no way to prove it. So he gets himself introduced to Jack Barr, a fellow gambler, to see what he can find out-and that's how he meets Fay. The attraction is immediate. But there's also Virginia, who knows a thing or two about the syndicate and wants to help. Galloway is soon over his head in women and cold-blooded killers. And as he draws closer to discovering who killed Sam, he jeopardizes not only the lives of those around him, but pits himself against a man he genuinely admires-Jack Barr. Unfortunately, his new friend may be the very man he is looking for.

HIGH SIERRABig Mac buys Roy Earle's pardon because he needs a gunman on a heist job in California. There are three of them in on it besides Roy: Red, Babe and Louis, the inside man. But Roy didn't figure on Marie, Babe's girl. At first Roy wants Marie out of there, but he soon realizes that she's got more brains than the other three put together. Besides, she makes good company. But Roy's heart already belongs to Velma, a club-footed girl he meets on the road. She reminds him of his youth, and better days... before life hardened his heart. But Velma's heart belongs to another. And Roy's got a job to do. And now Babe's out of the picture, and it's just Roy and Marie...THE ASPHALT JUNGLEWhen Riemenschneider is released from prison, he heads right to Cobby the bookie. Riemenschneider has the plans for the perfect jewel heist, a place ripe for the picking. Cobby has got the connections. But first of all, they need cash. And that's where Emmerich comes in. Emmerich, a smooth criminal lawyer, has always got plenty, plus connections of his own. So they pull in Gus as the driver, Bellini as the safe man, and Dix as strongarm. This could be the perfect crime. Except that Emmerich is broke and desperate-and that's where everything starts to go wrong.When Riemenschneider is released from prison, he heads right to Cobby the bookie. Riemenschneider has the plans for the perfect jewel heist, a place ripe for the picking. Cobby has got the connections. But first of all, they need cash. And that's where Emmerich comes in. Emmerich, a smooth criminal lawyer, has always got plenty of both. So they pull in Gus as the driver, Bellini as the safe man, and Dix as strongarm. This could be the perfect crime. Except that Emmerich is broke and desperate-and that's where everything starts to go wrong.

LADY-HERE'S YOUR WREATH As Vessi is heading toward the gas chamber, a mysterious phone voice offers newspaperman Nick Mason $10,000 to find the real killer. Vessi's dying words are "Lu Spencer pulled it," but Spencer's organization is not a group you want to tangle with-shareholders include most of the men who run the city. When Mason decides to check it out anyway, he meets Mardi, Spencer's secretary, a sweet dish with the largest brown eyes. But Mason's also got a gunman on his tail. And the cold-hearted Blondie, who has a knack for turning up when she's least expected. Not to mention the mysterious person who keeps insisting he investigate Spencer. One of them is bound to be wearing a wreath before this game is over… MISS CALLAGHAN COMES TO GRIEF St. Louis is ripe for a change. Gang boss Mendetta is getting old and careless, so it's a cinch for Raven to step in and take over. The first thing he changes is the prostitution racket. Raven feels that too much of the profit is going to the girls. So he rounds them up, takes them off the street, puts them in new houses and rakes off all the profit for himself. And when fresh girls are needed, he simply has them kidnapped. Newspaperman Jay Ellinger senses something is amiss when he hears about a husband whose wife has gone missing. But Sadie is missing for a different reason-she saw Raven leave Mendetta's apartment, and can put the finger on him. Sadie is now a valuable pawn, able to bring the whole racket down. If only Jay can find her…

KILLERHoward Gorman has to have Marie all to himself. She's everything he wants in a woman, and more. But in order to have Marie, he must first get rid of his wife, Ethyl. So Howard hires a hit man, Lee Floyd, a polished professional, to do the job-and remove Ethyl. But Marie has plans of her own, and they don't involve Howard. He's too fat and old for her. Marie is only in it for the money. So when she finds out about the hit man, she decides to get in touch with Lee herself. After all, if he's been paid to shoot Howard's wife, perhaps he can be persuaded to get rid of Howard as well...

THE LOST VALLEY Algernon Blackwood spent the first half of 1909 traveling around Switzerland. When he returned to England, he produced around twenty stories, most of which formed the basis for his next collection, The Lost Valley, published by Eveleigh Nash in June, 1910. Here are supernatural nature mysteries, ghost stories and visions galore-tales of loss and redemption, and the horror of the unknown-taking the reader from the stark terror of "The Wendigo" and "Old Clothes" to the light of hope in "Carlton's Drive" and the spiritual finale, "The Eccentricity of Simon Parnacute." THE WOLVES OF GOD By 1920, Blackwood had recovered from the depression of the First World War, and began writing again with a renewed zest, inspired to some degree by his explorer friend, Wilfrid Wilson, to whom he gave co-credit for the 1921 collection, The Wolves of God, though all the stories were by Blackwood. Many of these tales are wilderness stories, like the title story, "Running Wolf," "First Hate" and "The Valley of the Beasts." But The Wolves of God also features some fine supernatural romances like "The Call" and "The Lane That Ran East and West;" ghostly retribution in "The Decoy;" mystery and murder in "Confession;" and the strange call of the past in "The Tarn of Sacrifice." These are strange stories of retribution and mystical intervention, of horror and hope-of the magic and mystery of life. In all, twenty-four stories by the master supernatural writer of the 20th century-Algernon Blackwood!

PAN'S GARDEN Pan's Garden is a thematic collection of stories which, in the words of the author, "illustrates that characteristic belief, present in all my work, that there exists a definite relationship between Human Beings and Nature." From the opening novella, "The Man Whom the Trees Loved"-in which Nature welcomes and absorbs the soul of a man-to the concluding "The Temptations of the Clay"-in which Nature rejects the spirit of the man who tries to profit from it-we are transported into a natural world where the elements hold sway. Mike Ashley, in his introduction, calls Pan's Garden "the definitive volume of Blackwood's short stories. . . because it defines the true nature of Blackwood's writing." INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES Incredible Adventures represents what biographer Mike Ashley calls "the last outburst of his golden period" and is comprised of three novellas and two short stories. Here, nature is a living force, truth is the only religion and the past holds sway over the present. At times almost surreal in their intensity, these tales exert a strange power over the reader, opening our eyes to a larger world around us. From the rugged mountains of Eastern Europe in "The Regeneration of Lord Ernie" to the vast deserts of Egypt in "A Descent Into Egypt," Blackwood takes us to other places--and other worlds.

Everybody's out to get Johnny Porno! It's the New York City in the 1970's and John Albano is trying to get by. But they've taken his union card and work is hard to come by. He's hired to pick up the cash at showings of the recently banned Deep Throat, which is how he meets Eddie Vento, the local mobster in charge of distribution, who wants him to go to work for him. And Nick Santorra, Vento's loud-mouthed driver, who just loves to ride Albano every chance he gets, and knows how to hold a grudge. And then there's his ex-wife Nancy, now re-married for the third time, still demanding her child support. Nancy is also still seeing her first husband, Louis, a hustler who looks a lot like Duane Allman. But Louis has got a new girlfriend, Holly, and this drives Nancy crazy, which she naturally takes out on Albano. Albano even has a problem he doesn't know about, a drugged out ex-cop named Billy Hastings. Convinced that John is trying to put the make on his wife at a bar one evening, Hastings takes a swing at Albano but John drops him. Hastings is caught on tape starting the fight and he's forced into retirement, but he knows who's to blame for everything-and Albano is going to pay. At the same time, they're all being watched by detectives Neil Levin and Steven Brice from Internal Affairs, who may or may not be on the same side. And Special Agent Darrel Stebenow, who is watching out for Brigit Malone, Vento's undercover girlfriend. And Lt. Det. Sean Kelly, who is watching out for himself. At the center of it all is Johnny Porno-god, how he hates that name!-a guy who's just trying to stay ahead of the hustle and make a living. Just trying to stay alive.

THE WANTONIn which Lieutenant Al Wheeler must figure out-who killed the youngest member of the Randall family by hanging her from a tree-what the mysterious "W" brand on her neck signifies-who''s next as the Randalls are each threatened with a similar fateTHE DAMEIn which Lieutenant Al Wheeler is called upon to -discover who murdered the secretary of famous actress, Judy Manners-find out who is lying about the signed contracts which the producer claims are legit-maneuver his way around Camille, the mistress of Judy''s philandering husbandTHE DESIREDIn which Lieutenant Al Wheeler finds himself in the midst of murder-when he almost collides with a car with a dead body in its trunk-involving a beautiful, spoiled vixen who had been driving the car-with a prime patsy for the killing in the form of the vixen''s labor boss father