“Pay up or else —” chortles a sinister fiend dedicated to slaughter and loot in this thrilling tale of gory crime shrouded in blackest mystery But no longer can the sinister octopus of crime lift its ugly head with impunity! The net is tightening about the lawless as The Phantom Detective strikes!
The Phantom Detective came to life thanks to the words and imaginations of multiple writers. Although not official, this character may hold the record for most writers to pen his adventures under one of two house names. The first eleven stories were written by G. Wayman Jones, according to credits given on the cover. D. L. Champion, the pen name of Jack D’arcy, actually penned most of those first eleven stories. Known for writing with both a certain quirkiness and attention to fast paced storytelling, Champion would go on to be known for other pulp creations, including Mr. Death and Inspector Allhoff. With issue twelve of The Phantom Detective, however, both the house name and the consistency of authors changed. Now being credited to ‘Robert Wallace’, a multitude of authors actually contributed to the somewhat erratic legacy of The Phantom Detective until the magazine ended in 1953. Writers attributed to have written most of these tales include Laurence Donovan, Edwin V. Burkholder, Norman A. Daniels, who wrote more than 36 of them, Anatole F. Feldman, C. S. Montanye, and Laurence Donovan. Other notable pulp authors contributed a few tales along the way as well, including Ryerson Johnson, Henry Kuttner, Ralph Oppenheim, Norvell W. Page, Paul Chadwick, Paul Ernst, Ray Cummings, and Emile C. Tepperman.
‘The Hollywood Murders’ was originally published in the March 1935 issue of The Phantom Detective Magazine and is read with pulse pounding intensity by award winning voice actor Milton Bagby.
