This is a first attempt at indexing every story that has ever been reprinted in book form from this legendary magazine. Due to the scarcity of copies of this pulp I started digging into reprinted works just to get a taste of this magazine, haven’t looked back since. First I’ll cover anthologies, then single author collections. Also a preliminary attempt at a bibliography of the articles and materials written about the magazine. Any and all contributions of missing items and corrections to this list would be greatly appreciated.
Anthologies:
Great American Detective Stories, edited by Anthony Boucher, The World Publishing Co., 1945
- Frank Gruber: “Ask Me Another” (June 1937)
The Hard-Boiled Omnibus, edited by Joseph T. Shaw, Simon & Schuster, 1946. (The first and greatest anthology. Essential. Released as a paperback years many years later, but missing some stories.)
- Joseph T. Shaw: Introduction
- J.J. Des Ormeaux (Forrest Rosaire): “The Devil Suit” (July 1932)
- Reuben Jennings Shay: “Taking His Time” (January 1931)
- Dashiell Hammett: “Fly Paper” (August 1929)
- Ramon Decolta (Raoul Whitfield): “Death in the Pasig” (March 1930)
- Raymond Chandler: “The Man Who Liked Dogs” (March 1936)
- Norbert Davis: “Red Goose” (February 1934)
- George Harmon Coxe: “Murder Mixup” (May 1936)
- Paul Cain (Peter Ruric): “Red 71” (December 1932)
- Raoul Whitfield: “Inside Job” (February 1932)
- Lester Dent: “Sail” (October 1936)
- Charles G. Booth: “Sister Act” (February 1933)
- Thomas Walsh: “Best Man” (October 1934)
- Ed Lybeck: “Kick-Back” (January 1932)
- Roger Torrey: “Clean Sweep” (February 1934)
- Theodore Tinsley: “South Wind” (November 1932)
The Sleeping and the Dead, edited by August Derleth, Pellegrini & Cudahy, 1947
- Howard Wandrei: “The Last Pin” (February 1940)
As Tough as They Come, edited by Will Oursler, Perma Books paperback, Doubleday & Co., 1951 (While containing only one specific Black Mask story it is 370 pages of great hard-boiled detective fiction.)
- Dashiell Hammett: “Corkscrew” (September 1925)
The Hardboiled Dicks, edited by Ron Goulart, Sherbourne Press, 1965
- Nebel, Frederick, “Winter Kill.” November 1935
- Decolta, Ramon (Whitfield, Raoul), “China Man.” March 1932
- Gruber, Frank, “Death on Eagles Crag.” December 1937
- Dent, Lester, “Angelfish.” December 1936
The Hard-Boiled Detective, edited by Herbert Ruhm, Vintage Books paperback, 1977
- Herbert Ruhm: Introduction
- Carroll John Daly: “The False Burton Combs” (December 1922)
- Peter Collinson (Dashiell Hammett): “The Road Home” (December 1922)
- Dashiell Hammett: “The Gutting of Couffignal” (December 1925)
- Norbert Davis: “Kansas City Flash” (March 1933)
- Frederick Nebel: “Take It and Like It” (June 1934)
- Raymond Chandler: “Goldfish” (June 1936)
- Lester Dent: “Angelfish” (December 1936)
- Erle Stanley Gardner: ” Leg Man” (February 1938)
- George Harmon Coxe: “Once Around the Clock” (May 1941)
- Merle Constiner: “The Turkey Buzzard Blues” (July 1943)
- William E.Brandon: “It’s So Peaceful in the Country” (November 1934)
- Kurt Hamlin: “Killer Come Home” (March 1948)
- Paul W. Fairman: “Big-time Operator” (July 1948)
- Bruno Fischer: “Five O’clock Menace” (May 1949)
The Arbor House Treasury of Detective & Mystery Stories from the Great Pulps, compiled by Bill Pronzini, 1983, hardcover, tradepaper.
- Peter Collinson (Dashiell Hammett): “Arson Plus” (October 1, 1923)
- Horace McCoy: “The Mopper-Up” (November 1931)
- Frederick Nebel: “Red Pavement” (December 1932)
- Carroll John Daly: “Knights of the Open Palm” (June 1, 1923)
- Paul Cain: “Parlor Trick” (July 1932)
The Black Mask Boys, edited by William F. Nolan, William Morrow & Co., 1985, hardcover. Mysterious Press, 1985, hardcover, tradepaper (Absolutely essential and relatively easy collection to find. If you want a good start on learning about this magazine, this is where it needs to happen. Every author gets a writeup before each story adding icing to the cake. A tip of the hat to Mr. Nolan.)
- William F. Nolan: Introduction
- Carroll John Daly: “Three Gun Terry” (May 15, 1923)
- Dashiell Hammett: “Bodies Piled Up” (December 1, 1923)
- Erle Stanley Gardner: “Hell’s Kettle” (June 1930)
- Raoul Whitfield: “Sal the Dude” (October 1929)
- Frederick Nebel: “Rough Justice” (November 1930)
- Horace McCoy: “Frost Rides Alone” (March 1930)
- Paul Cain: “Murder Done in Blue” (June 1933)
- RaymondChandler: “Blackmailers Don’t Shoot” (December 1933)
Tough Guys & Dangerous Dames, edited byRobert Weinberg, Stefan Dziemianowicz, and Martin H. Greenberg, Barnes & Noble Books, 1993
- Ramon DeColta (Raoul Whitfield): “The Magician Murder” (November 1932)
- Paul Cain: “Black” (May 1932)
- Lester Dent: “Sail” (October 1936)
Single Author Collections:
Ballard, W.T., Say Yes to Murder. Putnam, 1942. Novel, about Bill Lennox, not reprinted from Black Mask but is a character from this magazine.
Ballard, W.T., Murder Can’t Stop. McKay 1946. Graphic paperback 1950, 1953. Novel, about Bill Lennox, not reprinted from Black Mask but is a character from this magazine.
Ballard, W.T., Dealing Out Death. McKay 1947. Graphic paperback 1948. Novel, about Bill Lennox, not reprinted from Black Mask but is a character from this magazine.
Ballard, W.T., Hollywood Troubleshooter, W.T. Ballard’s Bill Lennox Stories. Ed. James L. Traylor. Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1985. Hardcover, variant in wrappers
photographically reproduced from Black Mask:
- “A Little Different” (September 1933)
- “A Million-Dollar Tramp” (October 1933)
- “Gamblers Don’t Win” (April 1935)
- “Scars of Murder” (November 1939)
- “Lights, Action–Killer” (May 1942)
Booth, Charles G. Murder Strikes Thrice. Anson Bond, A Bonded mystery 1946?
- “Stag Party” (November 1933)
Brand, Max [pseud. of Frederick Faust]. Max Brand’s Best Stories. Ed. Robert Easton. Dodd, Mead & Company, 1967. Mixed collection.
- “The Silent Witness” (March 1938)
Brand, Max. The Collected Stories of Max Brand. Ed. Robert and Jane Easton. University of Nebraska Press, 1994. Mixed collection.
- “The Silent Witness” (March 1938)
Cain, Paul. Fast One. Shaw Press, 1933, paperback. Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1933. Avon 1952, paperback, Black Lizard, 1987, paperback. No Exit Press, 1991. Numerous other editions. Originally done as separate stories instead of a continuous serial novel.
- “Fast One” (March 1932)
- “Lead Party” (April 1932)
- “Velvet” (June 1932)
- “The Heat” (August 1932)
- “The Dark” (September 1932)
Cain, Paul. Seven Slayers. Saint Enterprises Inc. (Chartered 21), 1946. Black Lizard, 1987. Numerous other editions.
- “Black” (May 1932)
- “Red 71” (December 1932)
- “Parlor Trick” (July 1932)
- “One, Two, Three” (May 1933)
- “Murder in Blue” [“Murder Done in Blue”] (June 1933)
- “Pigeon Blood” (November 1933)
- “Pineapple” (March 1936)
Cave, Hugh B. Long Live the Dead. Crippen & Landru, 2000, hardcover and tradepaper
- “Too Many Women” (May 1934)
- “Dead Dog” (March 1937)
- “Shadow” (April 1937)
- “Curtain Call” (November 1938)
- “Long Live the Dead” (December 1938)
- “Smoke Gets in your eyes” (December 1938)
- “Lost—And Found” (April 1940)
- “The Missing Mr. Lee” (November 1940)
- “Front Page Frame-Up” (February 1941)
- “Stranger in Town” (April 1941)
Chandler, Raymond. Black Mask stories have been reprinted in countless places. Get this book for all of them in one spot, finally:
Collected Stories. Knopf, 2002, (Everyman’s Library).
- “Blackmailers Don’t Shoot” (December 1933)
- “Smart-Aleck Kill” (July 1934)
- “Finger Man” (October 1934)
- “Killer in the Rain” (January 1935)
- “Nevada Gas” (June 1935)
- “Spanish Blood” (November 1935)
- “Guns at Cyrano’s” (January 1936)
- “The Man Who Liked Dogs” (March 1936)
- “Goldfish” (June 1936)
- “The Curtain” (September 1936)
- “Try The Girl” (January 1937)
Charteris, Leslie. Follow the Saint. Doubleday Crime Club, 1938; Hodder & Stoughton, 1939
- “The Invisible Millionaire” (June 1938)
Charteris, Leslie. The Saint on Guard. Doubleday Crime Club, 1944; Hodder & Stoughton
- “The Black Market” [“Murder Goes to Market”] (March 1944)
Coxe, George Harmon. Silent are the Dead. Knopf, 1942, paperback. (Flash Casey novel not from Black Mask)
Coxe, George Harmon. Flash-Casey—Detective. Avon Murder Mystery Monthly #39, 1946, Avon #143, 1948, paperback
- “Women are Trouble” (April 1935)
- “Too Many Women” (September 1936)
- “Casey—Detective” (February 1935)
- “Once Around the Clock” (May 1941)
Coxe, George Harmon. Silent are the Dead. 1942, paperback?
- originally serial novel “Killers are Camera Shy” (September–November 1941)
Coxe, George Harmon. Murder for Two. Dell, 1943, paperback
- originally serial novel “Blood on the Lens” (January–March 1943)
Daly, Carroll John. The Snarl of the Beast. Clode, 1927 hardcover, HarperPerennial, 1992, trade paperback.
- originally a serial from June–September 1927
Daly, Carroll John. The Hidden Hand. Clode, 1929. HarperPerennial, 1992, trade paperback.
Loosely organized five-part serial:
- “The Hidden Hand” (June 1928)
- “Wanted For Murder” (July 1928)
- “Rough Stuff” (August 1928)
- “The Last Chance” (September 1928)
- “The Last Shot” (October 1928)
Gardner, Erle Stanley. Dead Men’s Letters and Other Short Novels. Carroll & Graf, 1990, hardcover
- “Dead Men’s Letters” (December 1926)
- “Laugh That Off” (September 1926)
- “The Cat-Woman” (February 1927)
- “This Way Out” (March 1927)
- “Come and Get It” (April 1927)
- “In Full of Account” (May 1927)
Gardner, Erle Stanley. The Blonde in Lower Six. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1990.
- “The Wax Dragon” (November 1927)
- “Grinning Gods” (December 1927)
- “Yellow Shadows” (February 1928)
Gardner, Erle Stanley. Honest Money and Other Short Novels. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1991.
- “Honest Money” (November 1932)
- “The Top Comes Off” (December 1932)
- “Close Call” (January 1933)
- “Making the Breaks” (June 1933)
- “Devil’s Fire” (July 1933)
- “Blackmail with Lead” (August 1933)
Gruber, Frank. Brass Knuckles. Sherbourne Press, 1966, hardcover
- “Ask Me Another” (June 1937)
- “Dog Show Murder” (March 1938)
- “Funny Man” (May 1939)
- “Oliver Quade at the Races” (November 1939)
- “Forced Landing” (October 1938)
- “Death Sits Down” (May 1938)
- “Words and Music” (March 1940)
- “State Fair Murder” (February 1939)
- “Rain, the Killer” (September 1937)
Some brief commentary about Hammett: many of the stories that appeared in book form are different than the original pulp magazine appearance. I don’t know the extent of their change, but the Library of America hardcover reprints unchanged, original text. Of the novels, they really remain “unreprinted” as they were extensively edited for book publication: The Continental Op, The Maltese Falcon, Red Harvest, The Dain Curse, The Glass Key, The Big Knockover.
Hammett, Dashiell. The Adventures of Sam Spade and Other Stories. Ed. Ellery Queen. Lawrence E. Spivak (Bestseller Mystery B50), 1944. Reprinted as They Can Only Hang You Once. Mercury, 1949. Partially reprinted as A Man Called Spade, Dell, 1945.
- “The Assistant Murderer” (February 1926)
- “The Judge Laughed Last” [“The New Racket”] (February 15, 1924)
Hammett, Dashiell. The Continental Op. Ed. Ellery Queen. Lawrence E. Spivak (Bestseller Mystery B62), 1945.
- “Death on Pine Street” [“Women, Politics and Murder”] (September 1924)
- “The Farewell Murder” (February 1930)
- “Fly Paper” (August 1929)
- “Zigzags of Treachery” (March 1, 1924)
Hammett, Dashiell. The Creeping Siamese. Ed. Ellery Queen. New York: Lawrence E. Spivak (Jonathan Press J48), 1950.
- “The Creeping Siamese” (March 1926)
- “The Man Who Killed Dan Odams” (January 15, 1924)
- “The Nails in Mr. Cayterer” (January 1926)
- “Tom, Dick or Harry” [“Mike, Alec or Rufus”] (January 1925)
Hammett, Dashiell. Crime Stories & Other Writings. The Library of America, 2001, hardcover
- “Arson Plus” (October 1, 1923)
- “Slippery Fingers” (October 15, 1923)
- “Crooked Souls” (October 15, 1923)
- “The Tenth Clew” (January 1, 1924)
- “Zigzags of Treachery” (March 1, 1924)
- “The House in Turk Street” (April 15, 1924)
- “The Girl with the Silver Eyes” (June 1924)
- “Women, Politics and Murder” (September 1924)
- “The Golden Horseshoe” (November 1924)
- “The Whosis Kid” (March 1925)
- “The Scorched Face” (May 1925)
- “Dead Yellow Women” (November 1925)
- “The Gutting of Couffignal” (December 1925)
- “The Assistant Murderer” (February 1926)
- “Creeping Siamese” (March 1926)
- “The Big Knock-Over” (February 1927)
- “$106,000 Blood Money” (May 1927)
- “The Main Death” (June 1927)
- “Fly Paper” (August 1929)
- “The Farewell Murder” (February 1930)
Hammett, Dashiell. Dead Yellow Women. Ed. Ellery Queen. Lawrence E. Spivak (Jonathan Press J29), 1947.
- “Dead Yellow Women” (November 1925)
- “The Golden Horseshoe” (November 1924)
- “House Dick” [“Bodies Piled Up”] (December 1, 1923)
Hammett, Dashiell. Hammett Homicides. Ed. Ellery Queen. Lawrence E. Spivak (Bestseller Mystery B81), 1946.
- “The Girl with the Silver Eyes” (June 1924)
- “The House in Turk Street” (April 15, 1924)
- “The Main Death” (June 1927)
- “Night Shots” (February 1, 1924)
Hammett, Dashiell. A Man Named Thin and Other Stories. Ed. Ellery Queen. Joseph W. Ferman (Mercury Mystery 233), 1962.
- “The Gatewood Caper” [“Crooked Souls”] (October 15, 1923)
- “The Second-Story Angel” (November 15, 1923)
Hammett, Dashiell. Nightmare Town. Ed. Ellery Queen. New York: The American Mercury, Lawrence E. Spivak, 1948.
- “Corkscrew” (September 1925)
- “The Scorched Face” (May 1925)
Hammett, Dashiell. Nightmare Town. Knopf, 1999
- “The Second-Story Angel” (November 15, 1923)
- “The Man Who Killed Dan Odams” (January 15, 1924)
- “Night Shots” (February 1, 1924)
- “Afraid of a Gun” (March 1, 1924)
- “Zigzags of Treachery” (March 1, 1924)
- “One Hour” (April 1, 1924)
- “The Assistant Murderer” (February 1926)
Hammett, Dashiell. The Return of the Continental Op. Intro. and edited by Ellery Queen Lawrence E. Spivak (Jonathan Press J17), 1945.
- “Death and Company” (November 1930)
- “The Gutting of Couffignal” (December 1925)
- “One Hour” (April 1, 1924)
- “The Tenth Clue” (January 1, 1924)
- “The Whosis Kid” (March 1925)
Hammett, Dashiell. Woman in the Dark. Ed. Ellery Queen. Lawrence E. Spivak (Jonathan Press J59), 1951.
- “Afraid of a Gun” (March 1, 1924)
- “Arson Plus” (October 1, 1923)
- “The Black Hat That Wasn’t There” [“It”] (November 1, 1923)
- “The Man Who Stood in the Way” [“The Vicious Circle”] (June 15, 1923)
- “Slippery Fingers” (October 15, 1923)
Nebel, Frederick. Six Deadly Dames. Avon #264, 1950. Gregg Press, Boston, 1980.
- “The Red-Hots” (December 1930)
- “Get a Load of This” (February 1931)
- “Spare the Rod” (August 1931)
- “Pearls Are Tears” (September 1931)
- “Death’s Not Enough” (October 1931)
- “Save Your Tears” (June 1933)
Reeves, Robert. No Love Lost. 1941, Holt
- Condensed version in Black Mask as “Dog Eat Dog” (September–November 1940)
Wandrei, Howard. The Last Pin. Fedogan & Bremer, 1996
- “The Last Pin”, February 1940
Contained with the limited edition and as a promo booklet is the story “Saith the Lord” with is the original unedited version of “The Last Pin.” Also contained in the booklet is much to interest the fan of Black Mask (and Howard Wandrei, of course).
Whitfield, Raoul. Green Ice. Knopf, 1930. Grosset & Dunlap 1930. No Exit Press, 1988, tradepaper. Other editions. Presented as separate stories as “The Crime Breeders.”
- “Outside” (December 1929)
- “Red Smoke” (January 1930)
- “Green Ice” (February 1930)
- “Oval face” (March 1930)
- “Killers Show” (April 1930)
Whitfield, Raoul. Death in a Bowl. Knopf, 1931, No Exit Press, 1988, tradepaper. Other editions. September–November 1930. Originally titled “The Maestro Murder” in first hardcover?
Whitfield, Raoul. Jo Gar’s Casebook. Crippen & Landru, 2002, hardcover and tradepaper
- “West of Guam” (February 1930)
- “Death in the Pasig” (March 1930)
- “Red Hemp” (April 1930)
- “Signals of Storm” (June 1930)
- “Enough Rope” (July 1930)
- “The Caleso Murders” (December 1930)
- “Silence House” (January 1931)
- “Shooting Gallery” (October 1931)
- “The Javanese Mask” (December 1931)
- “The Black Sampan” (January 1932)
- “China Man” (March 1932)
- “The Siamese Cat” (April 1932)
- “Climbing Death” (July 1932)
- “The Magician Murders” (November 1932)
- “The Man from Shanghai” (April 1933)
- “The Amber Fan” (July 1933)
(book also contains two stories from Hearst’s International-Cosmopolitan.)
Woolrich, Cornell: no single collection that I’m aware of by this author has collected all or numerous Black Mask stories under one title. See Francis M. Nevins, Jr. Cornell Woolrich: First You Dream, Then You Die biography for detailed lit of anthology reprints.
Books on Black Mask, or Containing Material Related to Black Mask:
Apostolou, John. “The Short Career of Robert Reeves.” The Armchair Detective, Vol. 18, No. 2, 185–8, Spring, 1985.
Barson, Michael S: on Daly & Race Williams. Clues: A Journal of Detection
Cave, Hugh B. “Magazines I Remember.” Tattered Pages Press, 1993
Raymond Chandler Speaking edited by Dorothy Gardiner and Katherine Sorley Walker, 1962, reprint 1997 by University of California Press, Berkeley
Chandler, Raymond. Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler, edited by Frank MacShane, Delta, 1987 (a lot of great material related to Black Mask contained herein, besides being great commentary of detective fiction and excellent letters to boot)
Cook, Michael L. Mystery, Detective, And Espionage Magazines. Greenwood, 1983. Contains a 6 page entry on Black Mask by E.R. Hagemann
Gruber, Frank. The Pulp Jungle. Sherbourne Press, 1967 (An essential read, informative and to my knowledge the longest book written by a detective pulp author about the pulps and detective pulps, Black Mask included.)
Hagemann, E.R. “Cap Shaw and His Great and Regular Fellows: The Making of The Hard-boiled Omnibus.” Clues: A Journal of Detection, Fall/Winter 1981.
Lewis, Dave: “The Backbone of Black Mask.” Clues: A Journal of Detection, Vol. 2, No. 2, Fall/Winter 1981.
Tough Guy Writers of the Thirties, edited by David Madden, Southern Illinois University Press, 1968, softcover and hardcover editions, reprinted a few times.
Mertz, Stephen “W.T. Ballard: An Interview.” The Armchair Detective, Winter 1979.
Murray, Will, “Lester Dent, The Last of Joe Shaw’s Black Mask Boys.” Clues: A Journal of Detection, Vol. 2, No. 2, Fall/Winter 1981.
Nevins, Francis M. The Mystery Writer’s Art. Bowling Green Pop Press ,1970.
Smith, Erin A. Hard-Boiled, Working-Class Readers and Pulp Magazines. Temple University Press, 2000.
Wilt, David. Hardboiled in Hollywood. Bowling Green Popular Press, 1991, softcover and hardcover editions. Contains enough information on five Black Mask authors to keep you interested even if you are not a film enthusiast.
Authored by Rob Preston.