Table of Contents
COPYRIGHT INFO
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
The MEGAPACK™ Ebook Series
THE VITAL ELEMENT
PSYCHO-SYMPTOMS
STRANGER’S GIFT
THE WAY OUT
IN THE HOUSE OF RATS
TO SPARE A LIFE
THE INSPIRATION
EASY MARK
GATOR BAIT
THE COMMUNE
THE DELICATE VICTIM
TRIAL RUN
THE TIP-OFF
THE ULTIMATE PREY
NEW NEIGHBOR
TILL DEATH DO NOT US PART
HOPE CHEST
THE HOLDUP
A WAY WITH A WILL
THE BEACON
COPYRIGHT INFO
The MEGAPACK™ is copyright © 2015 by Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
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The MEGAPACK™ ebook series name is a trademark of Wildside Press, LLC. All rights reserved.
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“The Vital Element” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, November 1967. Copyright © 1967 by Talmage Powell.
“Psycho-Symptoms” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, November 1968. Copyright © 1968 by Talmage Powell.
“Stranger’s Gift” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, December 1969. Copyright © 1969 by Talmage Powell.
“The Way Out” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, July 1969. Copyright © 1969 by Talmage Powell.
“In the House of Rats” originally appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, September 1970. Copyright © 1970 by Talmage Powell.
“The Inspiration” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, October 1970. Copyright © 1970 by Talmage Powell.
“To Spare a Life” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, March 1970. Copyright © 1970 by Talmage Powell.
“Easy Mark” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, May 1971. Copyright © 1971 by Talmage Powell.
“Gator Bait” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, March 1971. Copyright © 1971 by Talmage Powell.
“The Commune” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, January 1971. Copyright © 1971 by Talmage Powell.
“The Delicate Victim” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, July 1971. Copyright © 1971 by Talmage Powell.
“Trial Run” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, August 1971. Copyright © 1971 by Talmage Powell.
“The Tip-Off” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, August 1973. Copyright © 1973 by Talmage Powell.
“The Ultimate Prey” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, December 1974. Copyright © 1974 by Talmage Powell.
“New Neighbor” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, October 1975. Copyright © 1975 by Talmage Powell.
“Till Death Do Not Us Part” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, August 1975. Copyright © 1975 by Talmage Powell.
“Hope Chest” originally published in Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, August 1976. Copyright © 1976 by Talmage Powell.
“The Holdup” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, May 1979. Copyright © 1976 by Talmage Powell.
“A Way With A Will” originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, April 1981. Copyright © 1981 by Talmage Powell.
“The Beacon” originally appeared in Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, April 1981. Copyright © 1981 by Talmage Powell.
A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER
Welcome to our second Talmage Powell collection!
Talmage Powell (1920-2000) was one of the all-time great mystery writers of the pulps (and later the digest mystery magazines). He claimed to have written more than 500 short stories (and I have no reason to doubt him—I am working on a bibliography of his work, and so far I can document 373 magazine stories...and who knows how many are out there under pseudonyms or buried in obscure magazines!) His pen names included Robert Hart Davis, Robert Henry, Milton T. Lamb, Milton T. Land, Jack McCready, Anne Talmage, and Dave Sands. Some (like Robert Hart Davis) were “house names” shared by many different authors. (Bill Pronzini also wrote as “Robert Hart Davis,” for example.) His work appeared in Dime Mystery, Black Mask, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Magazine, Manhunt, and many, many more
He wrote his first novel, The Smasher, in 1959. He went on to pen 11 more novels under his own name, 4 as “Ellery Queen,” and 2 novelizations of the TV series Mission: Impossible. Clearly, though short stories were his first love.
Enjoy!
—John Betancourt
Publisher, Wildside Press LLC
www.wildsidepress.com
ABOUT THE SERIES
Over the last few years, our MEGAPACK™ ebook series has grown to be our most popular endeavor. (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 MEGAPACK™ ebook series (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt (me), Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Shawn Garrett, Helen McGee, 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!)
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™ ebook 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 [email protected] or use the message boards above.
The MEGAPACK™ Ebook Series
MYSTERY
The First Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Second Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Anna Katharine Green Mystery MEGAPACK™
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 Dickson McCunn MEGAPACK™,* by John Buchan
The E. Hoffmann Price Spicy Story MEGAPACK™
The Father Brown MEGAPACK™
The Johnston McCulley Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Lady Sleuth MEGAPACK™
The Mary Fortune Mystery & Suspense MEGAPACK™
The First R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™
The Second R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™*
The Third R. Austin Freeman MEGAPACK™*
The Jacques Futrelle MEGAPACK™
James Holding’s Conmen & Cutthroats MEGAPACK™
James Holding’s Murder & Mayhem MEGAPACK™
The George Allan England MEGAPACK™
The Girl Detective MEGAPACK™
The Second Girl Detective MEGAPACK™
The Gothic Terror MEGAPACK™
The Hardboiled Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Mahboob Chaudri Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Library Fuzz MEGAPACK™
The Noir Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Noir Novel MEGAPACK™
The Penny Parker MEGAPACK™
The Philo Vance MEGAPACK™*
The Pulp Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Raffles MEGAPACK™
The Red Finger Pulp Mystery MEGAPACK™, by Arthur Leo Zagat*
The Richard Deming Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Richard Hannay Spy MEGAPACK™*, by John Buchan
The Roy J. Snell Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Sherlock Holmes MEGAPACK™
The Singer Batts Mystery MEGAPACK™: The Complete Series, by Thomas B. Deweyy
The Suspense Novel MEGAPACK™
The Talmage Powell Crime MEGAPACK™
The Second Talmage Powell Crime MEGAPACK™
The Thubway Tham Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Victorian Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Second Victorian Mystery MEGAPACK™
The Victorian Rogues MEGAPACK™
The Victorian Villains MEGAPACK™
The Wilkie Collins MEGAPACK™
GENERAL INTEREST
The Adventure MEGAPACK™
The Anne of Green Gables MEGAPACK™
The Baseball MEGAPACK™
The Cat Story MEGAPACK™
The Second Cat Story MEGAPACK™
The Third Cat Story MEGAPACK™
The Christmas MEGAPACK™
The Second Christmas MEGAPACK™
The Charles Dickens 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 Lesbian Pulp MEGAPACK™
The Military MEGAPACK™
The Peck’s Bad Boy MEGAPACK™
The Pirate Story MEGAPACK™
The Sea-Story MEGAPACK™
The Thanksgiving MEGAPACK™
The Utopia MEGAPACK™
The Walt Whitman MEGAPACK™
THE GOLDEN AGE OF PULP FICTION
1. George Allan England
THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION
1. Winston K. Marks
2. Mark Clifton
3. Poul Anderson
4. Clifford D. Simak
5. Lester del Rey (vol. 1)
6. Charles L. Fontenay
7. H.B. Fyfe (vol. 1)
8. Milton Lesser (Stephen Marlowe)
9. Dave Dryfoos
10. Carl Jacobi
11. F.L. Wallace
12. David H. Keller, M.D.
13. Lester del Rey (vol. 2)
14. Charles De Vet
15. H.B. Fyfe (vol. 2)
16. William C. Gault
17. Alan E. Nourse
18. Jerome Bixby
19. Charles De Vet (Vo. 2)
20. Evelyn E. Smith
21. Richard Wilson
22. H. B. Fyfe (vol. 3)
THE GOLDEN AGE OF WEIRD FICTION
1. Henry S. Whitehead
2. George T. Wetzel
3. Emil Petaja
4. Nictzin Dyalhis
5. David H. Keller
SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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 Ninth Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The 10th Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The A. Merritt MEGAPACK™*
The A.R. Morlan MEGAPACK™
The Andre Norton MEGAPACK™
The C.J. Henderson MEGAPACK™
The Charles Dickens Christmas MEGAPACK™
The Darrell Schweitzer MEGAPACK™
The Dragon MEGAPACK™
The E. Nesbit MEGAPACK™
The Edmond Hamilton MEGAPACK™
The Edward Bellamy MEGAPACK™
The First Reginald Bretnor MEGAPACK™
The First Theodore Cogswell MEGAPACK™
The Fred M. White Disaster MEGAPACK™
The Fredric Brown MEGAPACK™
The H. Beam Piper MEGAPACK™
The Jack London Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Lloyd Biggle, Jr. MEGAPACK™
The Lost Worlds MEGAPACK™
The Mack Reynolds MEGAPACK™
The Mad Scientist MEGAPACK™
The Martian MEGAPACK™
The Milton A. Rothman Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Miss Pickerell MEGAPACK™
The Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***
The Second Murray Leinster MEGAPACK™***
The Philip K. Dick MEGAPACK™
The Second Philip K. Dick MEGAPACK™
The Plague, Pestilence, & Apocalypse MEGAPACK™
The Pulp Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Randall Garrett MEGAPACK™
The Second Randall Garrett MEGAPACK™
The Ray Cummings MEGAPACK™
The First Richard Wilson MEGAPACK™
The Robert Sheckley MEGAPACK™
The Science-Fantasy MEGAPACK™
The Space Opera MEGAPACK™
The Space Patrol MEGAPACK™, by Eando Binder
The Second Space Patrol MEGAPACK™, by Eando Binder
The Steampunk MEGAPACK™
The Stephen Vincent Benét MEGAPACK™
The Time Travel MEGAPACK™
The Second Time Travel MEGAPACK™
The Third Time Travel MEGAPACK™
The Utopia MEGAPACK™
The Willam P. McGivern Fantasy MEGAPACK™
The First Willam P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Second Willam P. McGivern Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The William Hope Hodgson MEGAPACK™
The Wizard of Oz MEGAPACK™
The Zanthodon MEGAPACK™, by Lin Carter
HORROR
The 2014 Halloween Horrors MEGAPACK™
The Horror MEGAPACK™
The Second Horror MEGAPACK™
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 Elliott O’Donnell Supernatural MEGAPACK™
The Erckmann-Chatrian MEGAPACK™
The Ghost Story MEGAPACK™
The Second Ghost Story MEGAPACK™
The Third Ghost Story MEGAPACK™
The Fourth Ghost Story MEGAPACK™
The Fifth Ghost Story MEGAPACK™
The Sixth Ghost Story MEGAPACK™
The Gothic Terror MEGAPACK™
The Haunts & Horrors 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 Monster MEGAPACK™
The Mummy MEGAPACK™
The Occult Detective MEGAPACK™
The Penny Dreadfuls MEGAPACK™
The Darrell Schweitzer MEGAPACK™
The Uncanny Stories MEGAPACK™**
The Vampire MEGAPACK™
The Victorian Ghost Story MEGAPACK™
The Weird Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Werewolf MEGAPACK™
>
The William Hope Hodgson MEGAPACK™
WESTERN
The Andy Adams Western MEGAPACK™
The B.M. Bower MEGAPACK™
The Max Brand MEGAPACK™
The Buffalo Bill MEGAPACK™
The Burt Arthur Western MEGAPACK™
The Cowboy MEGAPACK™
The Zane Grey MEGAPACK™
The George W. Ogden Western MEGAPACK™
The Charles Alden Seltzer MEGAPACK™
The Western MEGAPACK™
The Second Western MEGAPACK™
The Third Western MEGAPACK™
The Western Novel MEGAPACK™
The Second Western Novel MEGAPACK™
The Third Western Novel MEGAPACK™
The Fourth Western Novel MEGAPACK™
The Western Romance MEGAPACK™
The Lon Williams Weird Western MEGAPACK™
YOUNG ADULT
The Bobbsey Twins MEGAPACK™
The Boy Scouts MEGAPACK™
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 Miss Pickerell MEGAPACK™
The E. Nesbit MEGAPACK™
The Penny Parker MEGAPACK™
The Pinocchio MEGAPACK™
The Rover Boys MEGAPACK™
The Second Carolyn Wells MEGAPACK™
The Space Patrol MEGAPACK™
The Tahara, Boy Adventurer MEGAPACK ™
The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet MEGAPACK™
The Tom Swift MEGAPACK™
The Wizard of Oz MEGAPACK™
The Young Adult Award-Winners MEGAPACK™
SINGLE-AUTHOR
The A. Merritt MEGAPACK™*
The A.R. Morlan MEGAPACK™
The Achmed Abdullah MEGAPACK™
The Algernon Blackwood MEGAPACK™
The Second Algernon Blackwood MEGAPACK™
The Anatole France MEGAPACK™
The Andre Norton MEGAPACK™
The Anna Katharine Green MEGAPACK™
The Arthur Conan Doyle MEGAPACK™: Beyond Sherlock Holmes
The Arthur Leo Zagat Science Fiction MEGAPACK™
The Arthur Machen MEGAPACK™**
The B.M. Bower MEGAPACK™
The Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson MEGAPACK™
The Bram Stoker MEGAPACK™
The Burt Arthur Western MEGAPACK™
The C.J. Henderson MEGAPACK™
The Charles Alden Seltzer MEGAPACK™
The Charles Dickens Christmas MEGAPACK™
The Darrell Schweitzer MEGAPACK™
The Dashiell Hammett MEGAPACK™
The Second Talmage Powell Crime Megapack Page 1
