From 1952 until 1967, Manhunt magazine was the most popular and revered crime fiction magazine in the USA; succeeding its well-known predecessor, Black Mask. During that time, the magazine published stories by authors who would influence and define crime fiction to this day.

Now we can relive Manhunt’s glory days with a generous selection of stories first published within its pages, thanks to THE BEST OF MANHUNT, a new anthology from Stark House Press and editor Jeff Vorzimmer. In his introduction, Lawrence Block recalls his first sale to Manhunt with mixed emotions, but also reaffirms his love for the magazine and its many leading contributors.

From 1957, “On the Sidewalk, Bleeding,” by Evan Hunter, is a first-person reflection of a teenage boy slowly dying from a knife wound. As the blood leaves his body, the boy recalls his short life and the events leading up to the stabbing.

Hunter, who created the enduring 87th Precinct series of police procedurals under the pen name Ed McBain, is the only author with two stories in this anthology. The second, “The Last Spin,” (1956) tells of two rival gang members who decide to resolve their differences individually. Block in his introduction calls it “a master’s class in the short story.”

Mickey Spillane, in a prose style noticeably more subtle than his Mike Hammer stories, has a police inspector and an elderly banker meet at an exclusive men’s club, and discuss the mysterious death of a rich and successful businessman in “The Girl Behind the Hedge” (1953).

David Goodis, who would later be hailed as one of the defining masters of modern noir, presents a story about Freddy, a polite, friendly, and completely likable elevator operator at a Philadelphia office building in “Professional Man” (1953). But once the building closes for the night, Freddy pursues his other profession that is far more lucrative – and far more deadly.

Along with crime fiction authors, Manhunt’s editors occasionally convinced mainstream authors to contribute stories. One example is “Say a Prayer for the Guy” (1958), by Nelson Algren. A group of poker playing buddies has to deal with the sudden death of one the oldest, and most winning members of their little group.

The authors of the 39 original stories collected here reads like an honor roll of crime fiction. It includes the aforementioned Block plus Fredric Brown, John D. MacDonald, Gil Brewer, Donald E. Westlake, Richard S. Prather, Harry Whittington, Harlan Ellison and many others.

Along with Block’s introduction, editor Vorzimmer includes a short essay detailing of the story selection and an article tracing the “Tortured History” of Manhunt. He also reprints the introduction to the 1958 anthology of Manhunt stories, written by editors Scott and Sidney Meredith, where they describe the kind of stories they sought for the magazine. The cover art features a liner montage of Manhunt covers with their evocative illustrations.

And multigenre author Barry N. Malzberg contributes an afterword where he recalls how stories like the ones published in Manhunt and the other pulp magazines of the period were ignored by mainstream literature critics and editors, but nonetheless presented a much more realistic picture of the world they all lived in.

This book comes most highly recommended to all readers of classic and contemporary crime fiction. In fact, if you read only one anthology of republished crime stories this year, it should be THE BEST OF MANHUNT. —Alan Cranis

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