William P. McGivern
25 Classic Fantasy Stories from the Pulps
“Al Addin and the Infra-Red Lamp” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, November 1941.
“Rewbarb’s Remarkable Radio” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, December, 1941.
“Howie Lemp Meets an Enchantress” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, February 1942.
“Double in Death” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, April 1942.
“Bertie and the Black Arts” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, April 1942.
“Daughter of the Snake God” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, May 1942.
“The Battle of Manetong” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, June 1942
“Duncan’s Dreadful Doll” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, July 1942.
“When Destiny Dealt” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, September 1942.
“Goddess of the Fifth Plane” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, September 1942.
“Plot of Gold” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, November 1942.
“The Picture of Death” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, November 1942.
“The Tireless Leg” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, November 1942.
“The Ghost That Haunted Hitler” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, December 1942.
“Tink Takes a Hand” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, October 1941.
“Tink Takes a Fling” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, June 1942.
“Tink Takes Command” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, August 1942.
“Tink Fights the Gremlins” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, October 1943.
“Death Makes a Mistake” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, January 1943 issue of Amazing Stories.
“The Willful Puppets” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, February 1943.
“Enchanted Bookshelf” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, March 1943.
“Genie of Bagdad” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, June 1943.
“World Beyond Belief” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, August 1943.
“People of the Pyramids” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, December 1941.
“Adopted Son of the Stars” originally appeared in Fantastic Adventures, March 1941.
A note from the publisher
William Peter McGivern (1918–1982) was an American novelist and television scriptwriter. He published more than 20 novels, mostly mysteries and crime thrillers, some under the pseudonym Bill Peters. His novels were adapted for a number of films, among them Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), a noir tale of three losers, The Big Heat (1953), starring Glenn Ford as a cop that will do anything to get his man, and Rogue Cop (1954), a film noir directed by Roy Rowland. The Big Heat received an Edgar Award in 1954 as Best Motion Picture, which McGivern shared as author of the original novel.
He also wrote prolifically for pulp magazines, not just mysteries but fantasy and science fiction. This volume collects 23 of his fantasy stories.
While a successful novelist, McGivern moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s to write for television and film. His credits include the TV series Ben Casey, Adam-12, and Kojak, as well as the William Castle film, I Saw What You Did (1965). McGivern died in Palm Desert, California in 1982, aged 63.
Enjoy!
— John Betancourt
Publisher, Wildside Press LLC
www.wildsidepress.com
Al Addin and the Infra-Red Lamp
First published in Fantastic Adventures, November 1941.
Chapter I
“Hi, everybody!”
With easy nonchalance, Albert Addin strolled casually through lounge of the Tennis and Topper Club, ignoring the fact that nobody bothered to answer his greeting. Finally, he paused before the grill of the mail desk. There, a frosty-eyed clerk gave him his morning mail and a look that clearly said:
“Why don’t you pay up your dues?” Undisturbed by this official coldness, Albert pocketed his mail and made his way back to the lounge where he sank into an overstuffed leather armchair. Comfortably entrenched against any sudden shock, young Mr. Addin turned his attention to opening his daily communications.
A nasty dun letter from his tailor made Albert wince a bit regretfully as he dropped it, half-read, into a wastebasket beside him. Another, and equally nasty, note from the gentlemen who had been silly enough to finance his sleek yellow roadster, comprised the contents of the second epistle he opened.
Albert shuddered slightly as he dropped the second letter into the deep-bellied ash tray beside his chair. The third letter caused him to frown. It was a brief and coldly legal notice from the bank, stating quite heartlessly that there would be no more annuity checks for another three months — due to the fact that he had overdrawn that far in advance.
His fourth communication was a telegram. Thoughtfully, Albert turned it over in his hands a bit before opening it, scarcely daring to hope that a rich uncle might have died somewhere. Then, deciding morosely that he didn’t have any relatives who’d be decent enough to help him out by dying, he sighed and opened the telegram.
MOMENT IS RIPE. FATHER IN FINE MOOD. AUNT ANNABELLE ALMOST PLEASANT. YOU ARE TO COME UP TO MASTIFF MANOR FOR THE WEEKEND. BE PREPARED TO MAKE YOUR BEST IMPRESSION ON THEM, DEAREST, AND ALL WILL GO WELL. LOADS OF LOVE.
Albert Addin read these lines and took a deep breath. Then he re-read them. No, there was no mistake. Incredible though it seemed, the telegram said what it said. The furrows of worry smoothed from his brow and a bland, almost beamish smile wreathed his features. A far-away, vacant glint of tenderness came into his gray eyes. This was from Margot. This was from the girl he loved, the girl he desired to marry, the girl whose father was worth, roughly, a million of the crinkly green stuff.
“Somehow, Margot has brought him around,” Albert told himself happily. “Somehow, she’s worked the old bear into a state where he’d actually be willing to consider his daughter marrying me!”
And then, reflectively, “And even Aunt Annabelle isn’t in an axe-swinging mood!”
Albert Addin felt like singing, but because of the rules of quiet established for the benefit of the patriarch members of the Tennis and Topper Club, he confined his joy to humming a strain from that classic “Beat Me Bertha With a Scrub Stick Sizzle Bar.”
For this looked like the omen of victory in his long battle for the hand of Margot Mastiff: A long and bloody battle which had been made almost impossible because of Margot’s father, Major Mastiff, and her acid-hearted Aunt Annabelle — both of whom heartily detested the very sight of Albert.
Once, almost a year ago, Albert reflected, he hadn’t been in disfavor with Margot’s relatives. That was when his courtship of the fair Margot had been in its primary stage. That was when he had been cordially invited to spend a weekend at Mastiff Manor.