Phenomenal Stories, Vol. 2, No. 6 — Shawn M. Tomlinson

Phenomenal Stories #10 features the first installment of the first Hal Johnson mystery novel, An Old-Fashioned Shooting. Richard H. Nilsen takes great joy in his easy-going P.I., makes the reader feel right at home with Hallum Johnson in the Adirondacks. To compliment An Old-Fashioned Shooting, Nilsen's column, The Write Stuff, this month focuses upon writing a mystery story, talks about some inspirations and gives some insight into Nilsen's writing method. The editor, too, stays focused upon writing and considers character development in stories. Dunces & Dragons sees columnist Intrepid stopping back at the office before moving on to his next assignment. This glimpse into the inner workings of the pan-dimensional, hyper-reality publishing house, perhaps, finally explains some of the situations J.D. Hayes Canell gets his alter ego into. Phenomenal Stories is a modern-day tribute to the science fiction/horror/fantasy/speculative pulp magazines of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s