Table of Contents
COPYRIGHT INFO
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
THE MEGAPACK SERIES
SECOND-HAND DEATH
DEATH RIDES THE SOUND
RED FINGER — DEATH DEALER
CAGED HORROR
DEATH’S RED FINGER
RED FINGER MEETS HIS MATCH
RED FINGER — SPY POISON!
LOCKED IN WITH DEATH
DEATH’S TOY SHOP
ENVOY OF DOOM
THE SPY WHO SOLD DEATH
RED FINGER’S MURDER MESSENGER
COPYRIGHT INFO
The Red Finger Mystery Megapack is copyright © 2014 by Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved. The Arthur Leo Zagat copyrights are owned by John Betancourt and used with permission. Cover art © Andranik7 / Fotolia.
* * * *
“Second-Hand Death” originally appeared in Operator #5, October 1934. Copyright. Copyright © 1934 by Popular Publications, Inc.
“Death Rides the Sound” originally appeared in Operator #5, November 1934. Copyright © 1934 by Popular Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed 1961 (renewal # R284909).
“Red Finger—Death Dealer” originally appeared in Operator #5, December 1934. Copyright © 1934 by Popular Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed 1961 (renewal # R284967).
“Caged Horror” originally appeared in Operator #5, April 1935. Copyright. Copyright © 1935 by Popular Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed 1962 (renewal # R304319).
“Death’s Red Finger” originally appeared in Operator #5, September 1935. Copyright © 1935 by Popular Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed 1962 (renewal # R304480).
“Red Finger Meets His Match” originally appeared in Operator #5, March 1936. Copyright © 1936 by Popular Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 (renewal # R325352).
“Red Finger—Spy Poison!” originally appeared in Operator #5, June/July 1936. Copyright © 1936 by Popular Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 (renewal # R325441).
“Locked in with Death” originally appeared in Operator #5, August 1936. Copyright © 1936 by Popular Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 (renewal # R325517).
“Death’s Toy Shop” originally appeared in Operator #5, January 1937. Copyright © 1937 by Popular Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed 1964 (renewal # R348858).
“Envoy Of Doom” originally appeared in Operator #5, July/August 1937. Copyright © 1937 by Popular Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed 1964 (renewal # ).
“The Spy Who Sold Death” originally appeared in Operator #5, September/October 1937. Copyright © 1937 by Popular Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed 1964 (renewal # R348688).
“Red Finger’s Murder Messenger” originally appeared in Operator #5, March/April 1938. Copyright © 1938 by Popular Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed 1965 (renewal # R372389).
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
Red Finger! In the spy vs. spy world of the late 1930s, this masked hero prowled the underworld, dressed in an “amorphous fluttering black robe, bat-like, [with] a gray-masked head through whose twin eye-slits menace glinted.” But it was not so much the costume as the “hand, ebony-black in its glove—but for the finger curled around the trigger of that gun. That finger was not black but vividly, awesomely scarlet.” (From “Caged Horror.”) Powerful stuff in those days!
Arthur Leo Zagat (1896-1949) was a prolific pulp writer (by my estimates he authored more than 500 stories). Trained in the law, he gave it up to write. During the last two decades of his life, Zagat wrote short stories prolifically. His work appeared in a variety of pulp magazines, including Thrilling Wonder Stories, Argosy, Dime Mystery Magazine, Horror Stories, Operator No. 5, Astounding, and he wrote the “Doc Turner” stories that regularly appeared in The Spider pulp magazine throughout the 1930s. A novel, Seven Out of Time, was published by Fantasy Press in 1949, the year he died. Had he lived longer, he undoubtedly would have made the transition to paperbacks and been a highly successful novelist.
Wildside Press tracked down and purchased Arthur Leo Zagat’s literary estate from his daughter in July 2014. His work had been widely pirated on the internet (even by companies that should have known better) because his estate was deemed “lost.” Now Wildside is preparing new, definitive texts of his works, so look for many more Arthur Leo Zagat titles from Wildside in coming months.
—John Betancourt
Publisher, Wildside Press LLC
www.wildsidepress.com
ABOUT THE MEGAPACKS
Over the last few years, our “Megapack” series of ebook anthologies has grown to be among our most popular endeavors. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”
The Megapacks (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt (me), Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, A.E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!)
A NOTE FOR KINDLE READERS
The Kindle versions of our Megapacks employ active tables of contents for easy navigation…please look for one before writing reviews on Amazon that complain about the lack! (They are sometimes at the ends of ebooks, depending on your reader.)
RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?
Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the Megapack series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).
Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.
TYPOS
Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.
If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at wildsidepress@yahoo.com or use the message boards above.
THE MEGAPACK SERIES
MYSTERY
The Achmed Abdullah Megapack
The Bulldog Drummond Megapack*
The Carolyn Wells Mystery Megapack
The Charlie Chan Megapack*
The Craig Kennedy Scientific Detective Megapack
The Detective Megapack
The Father Brown Megapack
The Girl Detective Megapack
The Second Girl Detective Megapack
The First R. Austin Freeman Megapack
The Second R. Austin Freeman Megapack*
The Third R. Austin Freeman Megapack*
The Jacques Futrelle Megapack
The Anna Katharine Green Mystery Megapack
The First Mystery Megapack
The Second Mystery Megapack
The Penny Parker Megapack
The Philo Vance Megapack*
The Pulp Fiction Megapack
The Raffles Megapack
The Sherlock Holmes Megapack
The Victorian Mystery Megapack
The Wilkie Collins Megapack
GENERAL INTEREST
The Adventure Megapack
The Baseball Megapack
The Cat Story Megapack
The Second Cat Story Megapack
The Third Cat Story Megapack
The Third Cat Story Megapack
The Christmas Megapack
The Second Christmas Megapack
The Classic American Short Stories Megapack, Vol. 1.
The Classic Humor Megapack
The Dog Story Megapack
The Doll Story Megapack
The Horse Story Megapack
The Military Megapack
The Pirate Story Megapack
The Sea-Story Megapack
THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION MEGAPACKS
1. Winston K. Marks
2. Mark Clifton
3. Poul Anderson
4. Clifford D. Simak
5. Lester del Rey
SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
The Edward Bellamy Megapack
The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack
The Fredric Brown Megapack
The Ray Cummings Megapack
The Philip K. Dick Megapack
The Dragon Megapack
The Randall Garrett Megapack
The Second Randall Garrett Megapack
The Edmond Hamilton Megapack
The C.J. Henderson Megapack
The Murray Leinster Megapack
The Second Murray Leinster Megapack
The Jack London Science Fiction Megapack
The Martian Megapack
The A. Merritt Megapack*
The E. Nesbit Megapack
The Andre Norton Megapack
The H. Beam Piper Megapack
The Professor Challenger Megapack*
The Pulp Fiction Megapack
The Mack Reynolds Megapack
The Second Mack Reynolds Megapack
The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack
The Science-Fantasy Megapack
The First Science Fiction Megapack
The Second Science Fiction Megapack
The Third Science Fiction Megapack
The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack
The Fifth Science Fiction Megapack
The Sixth Science Fiction Megapack
The Seventh Science Fiction Megapack
The Eighth Science Fiction Megapack
The Robert Sheckley Megapack
The Space Opera Megapack
The Steampunk Megapack
The William Hope Hodgson Megapack
The Wizard of Oz Megapack
HORROR
The Achmed Abdullah Megapack
The Second Achmed Abdullah Megapack
The E.F. Benson Megapack
The Second E.F. Benson Megapack
The Algernon Blackwood Megapack
The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack
The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack
The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack
The Ghost Story Megapack
The Second Ghost Story Megapack
The Third Ghost Story Megapack
The Haunts & Horrors Megapack
The Horror Megapack
The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack
The M.R. James Megapack
The Macabre Megapack
The Second Macabre Megapack
The Third Macabre Megapack
The Arthur Machen Megapack**
The Mummy Megapack
The Occult Detective Megapack
The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack
The Vampire Megapack
The Weird Fiction Megapack
The Werewolf Megapack
The William Hope Hodgson Megapack
WESTERNS
The B.M. Bower Megapack
The Max Brand Megapack
The Buffalo Bill Megapack
The Cowboy Megapack
The Zane Grey Megapack
The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack
The Western Megapack
The Second Western Megapack
The Third Western Megapack
YOUNG ADULT
The Boys’ Adventure Megapack
The Dan Carter, Cub Scout Megapack
The Dare Boys Megapack
The Doll Story Megapack
The G.A. Henty Megapack
The Girl Detectives Megapack
The E. Nesbit Megapack
The Penny Parker Megapack
The Pinocchio Megapack
The Rover Boys Megapack
The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Megapack
The Tom Swift Megapack
The Wizard of Oz Megapack
AUTHOR MEGAPACKS
The Achmed Abdullah Megapack
The H. Bedford-Jones Pulp Fiction Megapack
The Edward Bellamy Megapack
The Henri Bergson Megapack
The B.M. Bower Megapack
The E.F. Benson Megapack
The Second E.F. Benson Megapack
The Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Megapack
The Algernon Blackwood Megapack
The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack
The Max Brand Megapack
The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack
The Second Fredric Brown Megapack
The Wilkie Collins Megapack
The Stephen Crane Megapack
The Ray Cummings Megapack
The Guy de Maupassant Megapack
The Philip K. Dick Megapack
The Frederick Douglass Megapack
The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack
The F. Scott Fitzgerald Megapack
The First R. Austin Freeman Megapack
The Second R. Austin Freeman Megapack*
The Third R. Austin Freeman Megapack*
The Jacques Futrelle Megapack
The Randall Garrett Megapack
The Second Randall Garrett Megapack
The Anna Katharine Green Megapack
The Zane Grey Megapack
The Edmond Hamilton Megapack
The Dashiell Hammett Megapack
The C.J. Henderson Megapack
The M.R. James Megapack
The Selma Lagerlof Megapack
The Harold Lamb Megapack
The Murray Leinster Megapack***
The Second Murray Leinster Megapack***
The Jonas Lie Megapack
The Arthur Machen Megapack**
The Katherine Mansfield Megapack
The George Barr McCutcheon Megapack
The A. Merritt Megapack*
The Talbot Mundy Megapack
The E. Nesbit Megapack
The Andre Norton Megapack
The H. Beam Piper Megapack
The Mack Reynolds Megapack
The Second Mack Reynolds Megapack
The Rafael Sabatini Megapack
The Saki Megapack
The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack
The Robert Sheckley Megapack
The Bram Stoker Megapack
The Lon Williams Weird Western Megapack
The Carolyn Wells Mystery Megapack
The Virginia Woolf Megapack
The William Hope Hodgson Megapack
* Not available in the United States
** Not available in the European Union
***Out of print.
OTHER COLLECTIONS YOU MAY ENJOY
The Great Book of Wonder, by Lord Dunsany (it should have been called “The Lord Dunsany Megapack”)
The Wildside Book of Fantasy
The Wildside Book of Science Fiction
Yondering: The First Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
To the Stars—And Beyond! The Second Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
Once Upon a Future: The Third Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories
Whodunit?—The First Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories
More Whodunits—The Second Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories
X is for Xmas: Christmas Mysteries
SECOND-HAND DEATH
There is nothing to distinguish Duane’s Second-hand Bookstore from the other shops of its kind that line lower Fourth Avenue with their decrepit outside-boxes of tattered volumes in front of their dark bookstacks within. Its signs—“This Box 15¢ Each”; “Choice Selections, 50¢”—are just as rain-streaked and illegible, its grimed plate-glass just as forlorn. As pathetic, too, the men and women with worn faces and threadbare garments who dare its gloomy precincts to browse along those musty shelves.
Nor is there anything to set him apart from the other storekeepers the long-faced, alpaca-coated man who inhabits its depths—as dusty-seeming and inconspicious as his stock-in-a-very-paltry-trade, except that he appears a bit younger than the others, and that his very blue eyes are continually moving and very watchful.
And yet, death and the fear of death are a living presence in that drab shop.
The shadows that lie in black pools on the unpainted floor might well be the brooding shadows of world-events stirring heavily in the womb of time; the dirt-streaked curtains at the rear that part occasionally to show a narrow camp-cot, a wooden chair, and a two-burner gas-plate on an upended box, might be the veil that hides a nation’s fate. For Ford Duane is not quite what he seems, though his very existence depends on the maintenance of his identity as a dreamy, cobweb-brained sexton of a Tomb of Defunct Books.
Surely the bent old man, in a frock coat of rusty black, and high, clean stock over which his grayish chin folds and quivers, who hugs a dog-eared volume in his gaunt fingers, cannot have picked this particular doorway in which to stand timorously for any other cause but chance. He had tottered slowly down the long block, pausing momentarily at each cluttered entrance, palpably working up courage to pass through one of them. His bleared old eyes blink and peer nearsightedly at Duane as he silently appears from the shadows almost as though one of them had come to life.