Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for their permission to use their copyrighted material. Every reasonable effort has been made to trace the ownership of all copyrighted material included in this volume. Any errors which may have occurred are inadvertent and will be corrected in subsequent editions, provided proper notification is sent to the publisher.

All stories previously appeared in
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine
.

“Final Rites”
by Doug Allyn, copyright Â© 1985 by Davis Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of the author;
“Making A Killing With Mama Cass”
by William Bankier, copyright Â© 1980 by Davis Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd;
“A Candle for the Bag Lady”
by Lawrence Block, copyright Â© 1977 by Davis Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of the author;
“Voodoo”
by Rhys Bowen, copyright Â© 2004 by Rhys Bowen, reprinted by permission of the Jane Rotrosen Agency;
“Historical Errors”
by William Brittain, copyright Â© 1976 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of the author;
“The Muse”
by Jan Burke, copyright Â© 1995 by Jan Burke, reprinted by permission of the author;
“Sinkhole”
by Carol Cail, copyright Â© 1995 by Carol Cail, reprinted by permission of the author;
“Priests”
by George Chesbro, copyright Â© 1991 by Davis Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of the author;
“The Cost of Kent Castwell”
by Avram Davidson, copyright Â© 1961 by Grania Davis, proprietor, Avram Davidson Estate;
“Saturday Night at the Mikado Massage”
by Loren D. Estleman, copyright Â© 1996 by Loren D. Estleman, reprinted by permission of the author;
“Lord of Obstacles”
by Gregory Fallis, copyright Â© 1996 by Gregory Fallis, reprinted by permission of the author;
“The Long Way Down”
by Edward D. Hoch copyright Â© 1965 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of the author;
“Erie's Last Day”
by Steve Hockensmith, copyright Â© 2000 by Steve Hockensmith, reprinted by permission of the author;
“Recipe for Murder”
by James Holding, Jr., copyright Â© 1973 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of Barry N. Malzberg;
“Hawks”
by Connie Holt, copyright Â© 1989 by Davis Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of the author;
“Not a Laughing Matter”
by Evan Hunter, copyright Â© 1958 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents;
“My Brother's Wife”
by Rob Kantner, copyright Â© 1985 by Davis Publications, Inc., Â© renewed 1989, reprinted by permission of the author;
“The âMethod' Sheriff”
by Ed Lacy, copyright Â© 1967 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc;
“Tabloid Press”
by Janice Law, copyright Â© 1999 by Janice Law, reprinted by permission of the author;
“Pusan Nights”
by Martin LimÃ³n, copyright Â© 1991 by Davis Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of the author;
“Leaving Nairobi”
by Ed McBain, copyright Â© 2003 by Evan Hunter, reprinted by permission of Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents;
“The Takamoku Joseki”
by Sara Paretsky, copyright Â© 1984 by Davis Publications, Inc., Â© renewed 1996, reprinted by permission of Dominick Abel Literary Agency, Inc;
“The OâBon Cat”
by I. J. Parker, copyright Â© 2002 by I. J. Parker, reprinted by permission of the author;
“New Neighbor”
by Talmage Powell, copyright Â© 1975 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of Barry N. Malzberg;
“Death of a Nobody”
by Bill Pronzini, copyright Â© 1970 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of the author;
“#8”
by Jack Ritchie, copyright Â© 1958 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of The Sternig & Byrne Literary Agency;
“Body English”
by S. J. Rozan, copyright Â© 1992 by S. J. Rozan, reprinted by permission of The Axelrod Agency, Inc;
“Unbearable Temptations”
by Jeffry Scott, copyright Â© 1990 by Davis Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of the author;
“The Day of the Execution”
by Henry Slesar, copyright Â© 1957 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of the author's estate;
“The Frightening Frammis”
by Jim Thompson, copyright Â© 1957 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc., Â© renewed 1984, reprinted by permission of Richard Curtis Associates;
“Black Spartacus”
by James Lincoln Warren, copyright Â© 1999 by James Lincoln Warren, reprinted by permission of the author;
“The Search for Olga Bateau”
by Stephen Wasylyk, copyright Â© 1987 by Davis Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of the author's estate;
“Good Night! Good Night!”
By Donald E. Westlake, copyright Â© renewed 1988 by Davis Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of the author;
“A Genuine Alectryomancer”
by Charles Willeford, copyright Â© 1959 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc., reprinted by permission of JET Literary Associates, Inc.

INTRODUCTION

Fifty years is
a lot of stories.

When I first started to think about assembling an anthology to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine
, I looked across my desk at the wall that holds all the issues of the magazine since December 1956 and thought,
Oh, brother
. I decided to get some help in determining which stories represented the best of the magazine's illustrious history.

I appealed to our readers in a notice in the magazine, asking them to write in and tell us their favorite stories. The response was wonderful. Some correspondents named a single story that had lingered in their minds for years. Some named a favorite author (“Anything by Stephen Wasylyk”). Others sent us on a series of treasure hunts with the words, “I don't remember the title or author, but â¦” Often these correspondents could describe a story in such detail that we were actually able to identify it.

Other books

Don't Kill Dinner (The Rules Trilogy) by Martinez, Jennifer

Framed by Lynda La Plante

Quidditch a través de los tiempos by J.K. Rowling

Living Dead Girl (Vampire Hunter Book 1) by Reynolds, S.C.

Dream Unchained by Kate Douglas

Demon Rumm by Sandra Brown

The Concubine's Secret by Kate Furnivall

Slasherazzi by Daniel A. Kaine

Starship's Mage 2 Hand of Mars by Glynn Stewart

The Ribbajack by Brian Jacques