In Annex 10 in the Adirondack Mountains in New York, the scientists under the leadership of astronomer Dr. Gray can hardly believe the things their instruments are telling them; but, because their equipment is absolutely reliable, they HAVE to believe, and on that ill-fated June 30th, they begin to see the chaos will affect mankind. The Earth is growing steadily hotter. Temperatures rocket as the sun shines through the night and the world is plunged into endless day. Everywhere people are suffering—rich and poor, criminal and family man—and none know if or when relief will ever come. Is this the end of the world as we know it?

This volume collects four classic tales from the SF pulp magazines by a master of the genre!The Man from Hell...From top to bottom the Brant Building became insubstantial, like the illusion of a dream world. It hung transparent, incredible, for a moment with the figures of people momentarily visible through the suddenly glassified walls—then with staggering abruptness the whole 1,000-foot mass snapped into black extinction! Its very foundations changed to cavernous darkness. Where there had been the Brant Building, there was nothing but an abysmal crater, sheerly cut. A yawning emptiness divided the two buildings on each side, both of them quite untouched. Such was the vengeance of Dake Bradfield, the scientist who had been murdered on the orders of industrialist Marvin Brant—but who had returned to life as The Man from Hell!

When Ralph Black, chain store magnate, is found shot by his own gun in his locked library in his palatial home, the New York Police Department pronounces it suicide. However, his family members believe he was murdered.His sister in England, Maria Black, M. A., Headmistress of a girls' school, wants to discover the truth. She travels to America, and with her penchant for solving crimes, sets to work to trace the mysterious plot against Ralph. Can she unmask the amazing truth about her brother's death? Or will the first case of "Black Maria" also prove to be her last? Black Maria, Book One.

Dr. Brutus Lloyd is no more than four feet ten inches tall, an amazingly gnome-like man. He's not a dwarf, simply vest-pocket size. His head has a brow like a baby cliff, capped by a tuft of jet-black hair that curled down the immense forehead. His face, though overbalanced by the brow, is powerful for all its smallness. The most surprising thing about him is his deep bass voice. A brilliant scientist and criminologist, his unorthodox methods in combating criminals sometimes causes consternation to Inspector Branson of the New York City Police. Branson never quite knows how to take his extraordinary scientific ideas--but he knows better than to ignore them, because they were invariably right! Four classic scientific mystery tales from the era of the pulp magazines.

There are six people in millionaire Nick Clayton's limousine when it leaves a country home to return to London: Clayton himself; his girlfriend, Bernice; Dawlish, his driver; the unhappily married financier Harvey Brand and his wife, Lucy; and the tragic socialite, Betty. But the car never reaches its destination; instead, it drives thirty miles down a country road—and just disappears! And when the travelers suddenly find themselves in an alternate reality, one where time stands still, they begin wondering if they'll ever escape...THE TIME TRAP!

Dick opened the door again swiftly, Vera clinging to him—and they were so astounded at what they saw that he forgot for the moment to slam the door shut again. For the phantom was there—clearly visible in the sunlight, which now blazed across the upper half of the great window. A strange, incredible caricature of a being hung in the dusty air, a haze of blurry light surrounding it from the back. There was the pointed tail, the simian ears, the long needle-chinned face, bent arms flexed as though to pounce forward. He seemed to be grinning horribly. Yet he was in mid-air and through him the ancient stone wall could be distinctly seen. This was the ghost—the horror—that everyone knows haunts Sunny Acres Castle, the house that Vera Grantham has just inherited from her late uncle. Together with her boyfriend, Dick Wilmott, she must uncover the secret behind the mansion—a secret worth killing for! A great mystery in the classic British tradition.

This first book publication of three exciting novelettes from science fiction's Golden Age includes:Last Conflict, in which an artificial storm of incredible violence—a storm that destroys London and all its environs—reveals the rise of a ruthless new scientist who uses his newly acquired control of the weather to gain ultimate power.Nemesis, in which a rogue asteroid heading straight for Earth is driven out of control by a ruthless dictator who wants to conquer the stars—and instead may only destroy himself and the planet.Three's A Crowd, in which explorer Bruce Langden's beautiful new wife, a descendant of a lost race of Incas he's recently discovered in the Amazon jungle, either suffers either from some strange disease—or is having an affair with his best friend and fellow traveler; the truth is stranger than fiction!

When drifter Terry Carlton encounters the little town of Verdure in Arizona, he's only seeking some hospitality and shelter for the night, before moving on. But what he learns from his hosts, old man Marchland and his daughter Hilda, piques his curiosity.Their home, like all the others in town, is boarded up at night; the entire community is living in fear of four ghostly horsemen, who ride only at night. Refusing to share the terrified townsfolk's fear of the supernatural, Terry trails the mystery riders, but they seem to vanish into thin air in Star Canyon. Then Hilda receives unwelcome overtures from the corrupt Sheriff and, worse yet, her father is abruptly murdered. Can Carlton solve the mystery of Verdure's sudden deteriorization, and save the town from destruction?A classic western novel based upon Matthew Japp's stirring story outline.

In the village of Payling, England, the bodies of a farmer and builder are found drained of blood, their throats slashed with two deep puncture wounds over the jugular veins. The local police call in Scotland Yard, but they make little progress—until Peter Malden begins to suspect some sinister connection with the death of his wife Elsie's first husband, George, who's supposedly committed suicide. But Elsie herself is foully murdered in the same way as the others—and her coffin, like George's, is found to be empty! Is there a vampire at work in Payling? A gripping mystery-horror tale by a master storyteller.

A scientist's vengeance propels Peter Curzon seven hundred years into the future, where he finds himself in a very mysterious world. Science has banished the need to work in order to earn money, and people only pursue activities as a vocation and by choice. But everyone is also engaged on a Great Task—constructing gigantic towers, with no discernible purpose, following the orders given to them in the temples of Ijax, a mysterious Buddha-like entity worshipped as a god. Peter alone seems immune to the influence of Ijax, and unless he can penetrate to the root of the mystery, mankind appears to be doomed. Another grand sci-fi adventure from the golden age.

British author John Russell Fearn was one of the most popular—and prolific—authors of the Golden Age of Science Fiction, selling work to all of the classic American science fiction magazines. Under his own name (and several pseudonyms), his novels and short stories appeared in Astounding Stories, Astonishing Stories, Startling Stories, Amazing Stories—and many more!Included in this volume are 25 of his best works, selected by editor Philip J. Harbottle (who also contributes an introduction):RED HERITAGEHE CONQUERED VENUSHE WALKED ON AIRTHE MASTER MINDISLAND IN THE MARSHSECRET OF THE MOON TREASURESUPERHUMANSEEDS FROM SPACETHE SILVER COILPHANTOM FROM SPACEARCTIC GODTHE GHOST SUNWHITE MOUSEKNOWLEDGE WITHOUT LEARNINGWORLDS WITHINTHE VOICE COMMANDSTHE JEWELS FROM THE MOONTHE RED MAGICIANFLIGHT OF THE VAMPIRESWEDDING OF THE FORCESMARTIAN AVENGERTHE OTHERSLATER THAN YOU THINKFIRST OF...

When Warner Darnworth is shot through the back of his head in his study while seated at his desk, Chief Inspector Gossage is called in to investigate. But the study door is securely locked on the inside with the only key, the closed window is tamper-proof, no weapon can be found, the movement of everyone in the house has been accounted for, and there are no traces of footprints in the garden outside. In other words, it's an impossible crime. Gossage finds plenty of family skeletons and motives that might have caused Darnworth's murder. But who actually killed the man—and more to the point, how? A classic locked-room mystery.