Welcome to a hard-boiled and not without noir blog with news and reviews, occasional outbursts of maniacal Autograph Hound activity, plus archival records from the forty-five year run of The Dashiell Hammett Tour. 
The Dashiell Hammett Tour
1977-2022
Arkham House Ephemera
The Classic Years 1937–1973
Death Lit
Essays and Reviews Selected from Fifty Years of Writing 1974–2024
Willeford
The Book
Category Archives: News
Frisco Beat: Back to Chinatown
For those of you in the game of collecting San Francisco Mysteries, Connie di Marco is one of the current writers jumping into the fray — on April 26 her new one Serpent’s Doom, fourth entry in her series of the … Continue reading
Rediscovered: At the Earth’s Core
News that a deluxe signed artist’s edition of At the Earth’s Core is coming up spurred Brian Leno to dig out some apt John Hancockery from his bulging files for Autograph Hound Saturday. Here’s Brian from the signature vaults: I … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Lit, News
Tagged At the Earth's Core, Autographs, Brian Leno, Caroline Munro, Doug McClure, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc.
Hammett: A Nick and Nora Sighting
While otherwise minding his own beeswax, Bill Mullins spotted a “quite dashing” cameo to bring to our attention: I don’t know if you follow stuff like this, but in a 2013 Rocketeer comic book, Nick and Nora Charles make an … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, News
Tagged Bill Mullins, Dave Stevens, Doc Savage, Lovecraft, Nick & Nora, The Rocketeer
Rediscovered: The Romantic Count von Cosel
Well, maybe The Maltese Falcon isn’t the sickest love story ever. . . . Late last year Brian Leno got to poking around in the Unusual and popped some stuff my way, which I realized might not be quite appropriate … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News
Tagged Autographs, Brian Leno, Count Karl Tanzler von Cosel, Fantastic Adventures, Key West, Les Cole, Ray Palmer, Valentine
Sinister Cinema: Scary Monsters
Brian Leno continues to “splash the field,” sneaking articles into mags hither and yon — and this time he gets into a publication that has won numerous Rondo Hatton awards. Brian and I decided that the only award we’d really … Continue reading
Rediscovered: More Mountains of Madness
John D. Haefele, author of Lovecraft: The Great Tales, sends in a link to a little discovery of ranges of supermountains in the dim past of the planet. “Another example of why I find HPL fascinating and fun,” he explains. … Continue reading
Mort: Richard L. Tierney
Word made the rounds that Richard L. Tierney died on February first — I heard the news in an email from Morgan “The Morgman” Holmes, who just put up an obit blogging for Castalia House. Dick made it to age … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News, REH
Tagged Al Capone, Arthur Machen, Clark Ashton Smith, Creepy Karpis, Crypt of Cthulhu, Dillinger, Donald Wandrei, Drkula's Bowling Alley, E. Hoffmann Price, Henry S. Whitehead, High Bridge, Joe West, John J. Koblas, Kensington Runestone, Lovecraft, Morgan Holmes, Richard L. Tierney, St Paul Minnesota, Weird Tales
Rediscovered: “The Great Lovecraftian”
An hour long interview with Ken Hite on an international podcast finds him referring (roughly from counter 45-48) to “the great Lovecraftian John Haefele” — and don’t panic, the language breaks into English after two or three minutes. I especially … Continue reading
Rediscovered: Some Arkham in the House
Courtesy an eagle-eyed bud of mine, ever perched over eBay, I landed a couple of Items of Arkham House ephemera I needed just a couple of days ago. If you consult the list I did of the classic era Derleth-Wandrei … Continue reading
Posted in Lit, News
Tagged Arkham House, August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smith, John D. Haefele, Lovecraft, Scott Connors, Solar Pons
Hammett: Another Top Tenner
Brian Leno let me know that an Op story cracked The Top Ten list for Library of America’s Story of the Week feature in 2021. “The Gutting of Couffignal.” One of the yarns in Hammett’s white-hot burst of Op action … Continue reading
