Graveyard Plots

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STORY COLLECTIONS:

Case File

Night Freight

Oddments

Scenarios

Sleuths

NON-FICTION
:

Gun in Cheek: An Affectionate Guide to the Worst in Mystery Fiction

Son of Gun in Cheek

COMING SOON:

STORY COLLECTIONS:

Carmody's Run

More Oddments

On Account of Darkness

Problems Solved

Small Felonies

Spadework

Stacked Deck

Westerns:

Border Fever

Day of the Moon

Duel at Gold Buttes

Gallows Land

Starvation Camp

Non Fiction:

Son of Gun in Cheek

Sixgun in Cheek

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CAIN'S MARK. Copyright © 1969 by Bill Pronzini. First published in
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

A LOT ON HIS MIND. Copyright © 1968 by H. S. D. Publications, Inc. First published in
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

THE PATTERN. Copyright © 1971 by H. S. D. Publications, Inc. First published in
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT. Copyright © 1972 by H. S. D. Publications, Inc. First published in
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

PROOF OF GUILT. Copyright © 1973 by Bill Pronzini. First published in
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

MULTIPLES. Copyright © 1976 by Bill Pronzini and Barry N. Malzberg. First published in
Tricks & Treats.

SWEET FEVER. Copyright © 1976 by Bill Pronzini. First published in
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

PUTTING THE PIECES BACK. Copyright © 1976 by Davis Publications, Inc. First published in
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

SMUGGLER'S ISLAND. Copyright © 1977 by Davis Publications, Inc. First published in
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

UNDER THE SKIN. Copyright © 1977 by Bill Pronzini. First published in
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

CAUGHT IN THE ACT. Copyright © 1978 by Bill Pronzini. First published in
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

STRANGERS IN THE FOG. Copyright © 1978 by Bill Pronzini. First published in
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

HIS NAME WAS LEGION. Copyright © 1978 by Renown Publications, Inc. First published in
Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine.

REBOUND. Copyright © 1979 by Bill Pronzini and Barry N. Malzberg. First published in
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

BLACK WIND. Copyright © 1979 by Bill Pronzini. First published in
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

A CRAVING FOR ORIGINALITY. Copyright © 1979 by Bill Pronzini. First published in
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

PEEKABOO. Copyright
©
1979 by Charles L. Grant. First published in
Nightmares.

TWO
WEEKS EVERY SUMMER.
Copyright © 1980 by Bill Pronzini. First published
in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

THE HANGING MAN.
Copyright © 1981 by Bill Pronzini. First published in
EJlery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

CHANGES.
Copyright © 1980 by Bill Pronzini. First published in
Eliery Queen's Mystery Magazine
as
TIMES CHANGE.

CAT'S-PAW.
Copyright © 1983 by Bill Pronzini. First published as a limited edition by Waves Press, Richmond, VA.

SKELETON RATTLE YOUR MOULDY LEG.
Copyright © 1984 by Bill Pronzini. First published in
The Eyes Have It.

SANCTUARY.
Copyright © 1985 by Bill Pronzini.

Preface

Cain's Mark

A Lot on His Mind

The Pattern

I Don't Understand It

Proof of Guilt

Multiples
(with Barry N. Malzberg)

Sweet Fever

Putting the Pieces Back

Smuggler's Island

Under the Skin

Caught in the Act

Strangers in the Fog

His Name Was Legion

Rebound
(with Barry N. Malzberg)

Black Wind

A Craving for Originality

Peekaboo

Two Weeks Every Summer

The Hanging Man

Changes

Cat's-Paw
(A
"Nameless Detective" Story)

Skeleton Rattle Your Mouldy Leg
(
A "Nameless Detective" Story
)

Sanctuary
(A "Nameless Detective" Story)

FREE SNEAK PREVIEWS:

Stacked Deck
– From the collection NIGHT FREIGHT

Sample Chapter
– The Prairie Chicken Kill – A Truman Smith Mystery by Bill Crider

I
t is common knowledge that no one reads prefaces to short story collections.

That being the case, I'm writing this one to please myself. Which is as it should be, because that's why the stories in this book were written in the first place.

Oh, the money factor entered into it, of course; I'm a professional writer and I make my living mostly from fiction, so every dollar helps. But it is also common knowledge that no writer ever gets rich writing short stories (and that only one author in the mystery and detective field, Edward D. Hoch, can make a satisfactory living doing them exclusively). In the main these stories were exercises in "self-expression"—a euphemism meaning some pretty good ideas occurred to me and I wanted to see if I could turn them into worthy pieces of short fiction.

And I had a devil of a time selling some of them, too. What I consider a good idea all too often fails to coincide with the opinions of magazine editors. Take "His Name Was Legion," for instance. One editor I sent it to said that the biblical references were "too mystical" for the readers of her publication, whatever that means. Another editor said there was too much sex "for a family mystery magazine." (There's more sex in your morning newspaper than there is in "His Name Was Legion." And it has always struck me as a tad hypocritical for a "family magazine" to piously reject stories on the grounds of sexual content, mild or overt, while specializing in all sorts of fictional murder, mayhem, and felonious behavior.) I finally sold the story to
Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine
for 1
1
/2 cents per word—the munificent sum of
$35.00.
Writers definitely do not get rich writing short stories.

On the other hand, some stories that I figured would be a difficult sell found acceptance on their first submission. "A Craving for Originality" is one. It is a writer's story, pure and simple—a satire on hack writers and hack writing—and fits into no particular category or market. I sent it to the late Frederic Dannay at
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine,
without much hope because it isn't really a crime story, and he amazed me by buying it almost by return mail. (Fred continually amazed me. He would buy stories I thought had little or no chance and reject those I was certain he would like. It got to be a kind of game, after a while—too often a frustrating one for me. All in all I managed to sell him
25
stories, of which maybe 10 I felt were "sure sales" on submission.)

Anyhow, the
23
stories in these pages are my favorites among the more than
150
pieces of short crime fiction I've published. (A few other favorites appear in the
1983
"Nameless Detective" collection,
Casefile.)
They span seventeen years of my writing life, from
1968
to the present; and they run the gamut of criminous story types: straight suspense, psychological suspense, "impossible crime," detection, fantasy, horror, satire, even what might be termed a western. One—"Strangers in the Fog"—was nominated for a Best Short Story Edgar by the Mystery Writers of America. Seven—"Cain's Mark," "Sweet Fever," "Smuggler's Island," "Strangers in the Fog," "Rebound," "Cat's-Paw," and "Skeleton Rattle Your Mouldy Leg"—were selected for inclusion in the annual anthologies,
Best Detective Stories of the Year
and
Year's Best Mystery & Suspense Stories.
"Proof of Guilt" was adapted for a segment of Roald Dahl's
Tales of the Unexpected TV
series. And "Cat's-Paw," one of the three stories here that feature "Nameless" (the other two are "Skeleton Rattle Your Mouldy Leg" and an original, "Sanctuary") received a Private Eye Writers of America Shamus for Best Short Story of
1983
.

Obviously I'm proud of all these stories, or they wouldn't be here. I wish I could say that I hope you like them as much or almost as much as I do, and that they give you a couple of hours of pleasurable diversion. But I can't say that. No one reads prefaces to short story collections, so there's no point in it.