Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, December 1956

About this issue

This December 1956 issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 12, features ten works across novelettes and short stories. In C.L. Moore's "Here Lies . . ." (opening story), a young man named Cliff interrupts a woman attempting suicide at an amusement pier. She is Anne, the estranged wife of political candidate William Howard Brewster. Anne has been drinking heavily and reveals that she financially supported Brewster through law school while he built a successful legal career and ignored her. She attempts various schemes for revenge—setting up raids at bars under her own name to provoke scandal—but authorities show her pity rather than arrest. The story explores her deteriorating mental state and her fixation on destroying her husband's political ambitions. Other contributors include Jim Thompson with "The Cellini Chalice" (novelette), and short story authors including William F. Nolan, Sam Merwin Jr., and Fletcher Flora. The issue emphasizes suspense and character-driven narratives.

In this issue

• “Here Lies ...” by C. L. Moore · p.2
• “The Strange Case of Mr. Pruyn” by William F. Nolan · p.16
• “A Date with Jonathan” by Sam Merwin, Jr. · p.40
• “A Soft Spot for Maddy” by Fletcher Flora · p.46
• “Wetpack” by Murray Wall · p.86
• “An Bottle of Wine” by Borden Dead · p.98
• “Return Trip” by Eugene Pawley · novelette
• “The Certain Chance” by Jim Thompson · novelette
• “Hope Lies” by E. Moore
• “Death of a Tramp”
• “Six and Two Make Nine” by Henry Petersen