tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8843736442009425916.post8642461222680163269..comments2023-09-15T12:32:12.503+02:00Comments on Mysteries, Short and Sweet: The full list of impossible mystery short storiesChristian_Henrikssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13013383718388416698noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8843736442009425916.post-67908066672997012022021-01-25T21:43:24.489+01:002021-01-25T21:43:24.489+01:00Was Rawson's "From Another World" th...Was Rawson's "From Another World" the story about the so-called spiritualist and a room sealed with tape on the inside? It's been decades since I read that one.Benzadmiralhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16762681617545684805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8843736442009425916.post-61379998684585356762018-04-13T13:54:22.750+02:002018-04-13T13:54:22.750+02:00Right. I've been meaning to have a look at it,...Right. I've been meaning to have a look at it, but just never got around to it. I'll do so at the first possible moment. Thanks for the link!Christian_Henrikssonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13013383718388416698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8843736442009425916.post-8168169325384356962018-04-12T12:23:05.152+02:002018-04-12T12:23:05.152+02:00You can read "Flashlights" and "The...You can read "Flashlights" and "The Mystery of Howard Romaine" in <i>Ye Olde Book of Locked Room Conundrums</i>, which I compiled with JJ of The Invisible Event. You can download the book, free of charge, by visiting this <a href="https://theinvisibleevent.com/2016/10/29/15-ye-olde-book-of-locked-room-conundrums-publication-day/" rel="nofollow">link</a>.TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8843736442009425916.post-62224810505753574202018-04-12T10:25:50.617+02:002018-04-12T10:25:50.617+02:00I don't mind at all, because with the exceptio...I don't mind at all, because with the exception of one story I've not read any of them and now I have to try to find them. <br /><br />Well, maybe I do mind that bit... Are any of these stories readily available?<br /><br />The one exception is "By an Unknown Hand" by John Sladek, and I can't for the life of me understand why I didn't review it, because I have it and like it a lot. I even have it in the back of my mind that I've written something about it, but obviously it's not anywhere on this blog... Argh.<br /><br />I'll have to look into it and add it both to this list and the "stray impossibilities" page. Thanks for reminding me!Christian_Henrikssonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13013383718388416698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8843736442009425916.post-17849191415772375482018-04-11T22:51:32.788+02:002018-04-11T22:51:32.788+02:00Well, you'll never get a 100% consensus on any...Well, you'll never get a 100% consensus on any best-of list. Let alone on one as big and comprehensive as this selection. I just think "Death and the Rope Trick," as audacious as it may be, is so bad it could chase away new readers from the genre. <br /><br />Anyway, I drew on my own locked room reading to compile a short list of locked room stories you overlooked. I hope you won't mind. <br /><br />Max Afford - "The Vanishing Trick" (a clever impossible disappearance) <br />Frederick I. Anderson - "Big Time" (a witty locked room with an amusing solution)<br />Robert Arthur - "The Glass Bridge" (an overlooked classic)<br />Laurance Clarke - "Flashlights" (a rare WWI impossible crime story from 1918)<br />Richard Curtis - "Odd Bodkins and the Locked Room Caper" (an original impossibility and explanation) <br />Keith McCarthy - "The Invisible Gunman" (I remember it being good) <br />Keikichi Osaka - "The Monster of the Lighthouse" (this story is the stuff nightmares are made of and the impossible situation is as original as it's clever) <br />Stuart Palmer - "The Riddle of the Yellow Canary" (an inverted locked room)<br />Stuart Palmer - "The Riddle of the Whirling Lights" (an impossible stabbing at the Planetarium) <br />Herbert Resnicow - "The Christmas Bear" (not as strong on the impossibility as "The Miracle on Christmas Eve," but written in the same spirit) <br />Max Rittenberg - "The Invisible Bullet" (a 1914 story toying around with an idea that anticipates many of the locked room classics)<br />John Sladek - "By An Unknown Hand" (a prize-winning locked room story that gave us the brilliant <i>Black Aura</i>)<br />John Sladek - "The Locked Room" (a spoof of the impossible crime story) <br />Herbert Beerbohm Tree - "The Mystery of Howard Romaine" (a comedic locked room comparable to "The Strange Case of Steinkelwintz") TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8843736442009425916.post-85597463271169852552018-04-11T20:29:33.323+02:002018-04-11T20:29:33.323+02:00Thanks for your kind words. It was actually good f...Thanks for your kind words. It was actually good fun to do this project, because there were very few stories that were complete duds. There's always something to keep my interest up. <br /><br />I just hope that this has been of help and interest to others. If that means I've made a small contribution to the mystery field, that's just icing on the cake.<br /><br />As for your comments on "Rope Trick", I can definitely see where you're coming from. It has aspects that are incredibly hokey - particularly the way they transported the boy from the scene of the rope trick, which actually just now reminded me of the very similar trick in Joe Commings' "Murderer's Progress". But I admired the very audacity of Price in choosing that particular trick. <br /><br />"Heavenly Alibi" is an impossible crime insofar as it's a story about proving that a man could commit a murder even though it was "proven" that he was somewhere else when the murder took place. So I guess it's up to you whether you consider this type of ironclad alibi stories as impossible crimes.<br /><br />I had some complimentary words for "The Wife Killer", so it's definitely not a bad story. I just thought it a bit too formulaic and in some respects too reminiscent of some of the other, selected Grey stories.Christian_Henrikssonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13013383718388416698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8843736442009425916.post-49955411225665391822018-04-11T18:19:37.951+02:002018-04-11T18:19:37.951+02:00I'm not sure if you accept this as a mistake, ...I'm not sure if you accept this as a mistake, but "Death and the Rope Trick" should only appear on a list of worst detective/impossible crime stories. I consider it to be one of the all-time worst. You also listed "The Scientist and the Heavenly Alibi," which I don't remember being an impossible crime story, but "The Scientist and the Wife Killer" is nowhere to be found! And that's one of the better stories from the series. <br /><br />On the upside, I'm glad someone else finally recognizes "Eternally Yours" as a great example of the impossible crime (short) story. <br /><br />Anyway, you did a marvelous job in weeding out most of the chaff and putting together this fine selection. It's the most comprehensive overview of short impossible crime stories I have come across to date. Very much like Pugmire's 2007 Locked Room Library for impossible crime novels. TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.com