Philip Athans’s Reviews > Thrilling Mystery Vol. VIII, No. 1 July 1937 > Status Update

“Death Pours a Toast” by Robert C. Blackmon opens with:

“Tonight, my dear friends, ends our Last Man Club—with me the last man!”

If you're thinking maybe you already know the ending… yeah, you probably do!

from: The Razor of Gaston Dubrois by Charles Green:

I knew I had to break that cramp—or die!

"I Am THE WOLF" was SF legend Henry Kuttner's ninth of twelve short stories to see publication in 1937, which shows what a solid pro could churn out back in the days of ready markets for genre fiction.

This was impossible—impossible, unless one granted the reality of ghastly legends of another age!

This fun werewolf story seems to have been written to what I'm easily sensing was Thrilling Mystery's house formula.

“When the Black Fiend Fed” by Hal K. Wells was another fun read, though it was rather overtly formulaic in its rushed, “telly” set up and inevitable Scooby Doo ending. Entertaining, for sure, but not a great example of the short story form.

In a modern world, neither superstition nor tragedy can for long delay the march of progress.

So ends George E. Clark’s “Holocaust of Hell.”

“The Devil in Steel” might not be Jack Williamson’s finest hour, replete with default 30s endemic racism and a clunky Scooby Doo ending, but fun nonetheless, and like the previous story, surprisingly graphically violent.

The first story/novelette, "Brides of the Dark God" by John H. Knox, was really good--actually scary, and surprisingly explicit for 1937. I need to look for more from the Knox guy--he could tell a horror story with the best of them.