Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (May 1970)

May 1970

Details

• journal: Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (May 1970)
• issue: volume 15, number 5

Introduction

Dear Reader:

For the first time I have noticed that the common housefly is capable of three Immelmanns and a double reverse with a chandelier while buzzing out an admirable rendition of Shoo Fly Pie. I might never have observed this phenomenon if it were not for lengthy telephone conversations.

Seldom does a ceiling come under such close scrutiny as during a telephone conversation. Usually it is a dull conversation that prompts the study, but there it is. The call may serve a useful purpose, however, in the discovery of certain details that otherwise would go unheeded.

If one's eyesight is sufficiently acute, for instance, it might be observed that the plaster is cracking. This could result in a check for roof leaks. It could also mean that a heavy body fell to the floor upstairs. You can see that it could lead to all sorts of things.

Though the telephone does play a part in many of the following new stories, there is little time to observe aerobatics or survey ceiling cracks. The plots are calculated to hold your attention even if a raven should appear or the sky should fall.

— Alfred Hitchcock

Contents

Short Stories

1. The Way the World Spins by Bill Pronzini
2. Morphologically, My Dear Watkins by Pauline C. Smith
3. The Brotherhood by Theodore Mathieson
4. A Very Obscure Murder by Larry Smith
5. Bencher by Stephen Wasylyk
6. Esther's Dress by Donald Olson
7. A Place To See the Dark by Edward D. Hoch
8. Peace Work by Alberto N. Martin
9. Everybody Dies by Max Van Derveer
10. Double Your Treasure by William von Reese
11. The Willing Witness by Curtis Pechtel
12. Vengeance on the Subway by Patrick O'Keeffe
13. Store Policy by Richard M. Ellis

Novelettes

1. Just What the Doctor Ordered by James Holding

Notes

• Vengeance on the Subway in Alfred Hitchcock's Tales to Scare You Stiff (1978)
• Esther's Dress was reprinted in Alfred Hitchcock's Tales to Send Chills Down Your Spine (May 1979)
• The Way the World Spins was reprinted in Alfred Hitchcock's Tales to Make Your Hair Stand on End (1981) and Alfred Hitchcock's Book of Horror Stories: Book 7 (1988)

Magazine Credits

• Richard E. Decker - Publisher
• Gladys Foster Decker - Editorial Director
• Ernest M. Hutter - Editor
• Patricia Hitchcock - Associate Editor
• Nick J. Sartorio - Circulation Director
• Marguerite Blair Deacon - Art Director

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