"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? . . . The Shadow knows!" And who knew The Shadow better than his creator, Walter B. Gibson. Relatively few people have heard of Gibson, but many more are familiar with The Shadow having heard the program on the Blue Coal Radio Program in the 1930s and read the Street & Smith Shadow novels. Walter B. Gibson's life and career come out from behind The Shadow in this biography. It covers his youth in Philadelphia, his development as a writer and magician, his wives, including the third, (Litzka, who was a harpist and magician in her own right), his time living in Maine and upstate New York, and his later years and death. In addition to being credited with creating The Shadow (he used the pseudonym Maxwell Grant), Gibson wrote 187 books, contributed 668 articles to periodicals, created 283 stories for The Shadow Magazine, wrote 48 separate syndicated feature columns, reported the adventures of The Shadow and Blackstone the magician in 394 comic books and newspaper strips, and helped develop 147 radio scripts and many other works under numerous pseudonyms. Gibson has invented many widely used magic tricks and traveled with and befriended Harry Houdini, Howard Thurston, Harry Blackstone, Sr., and Joseph Dunninger.

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? . . . The Shadow knows!" And who knew The Shadow better than his creator, Walter B. Gibson. Relatively few people have heard of Gibson, but many more are familiar with The Shadow having heard the program on the Blue Coal Radio Program in the 1930s and read the Street & Smith Shadow novels. Walter B. Gibson's life and career come out from behind The Shadow in this biography. It covers his youth in Philadelphia, his development as a writer and magician, his wives, including the third, (Litzka, who was a harpist and magician in her own right), his time living in Maine and upstate New York, and his later years and death. In addition to being credited with creating The Shadow (he used the pseudonym Maxwell Grant), Gibson wrote 187 books, contributed 668 articles to periodicals, created 283 stories for The Shadow Magazine, wrote 48 separate syndicated feature columns, reported the adventures of The Shadow and Blackstone the magician in 394 comic books and newspaper strips, and helped develop 147 radio scripts and many other works under numerous pseudonyms. Gibson has invented many widely used magic tricks and traveled with and befriended Harry Houdini, Howard Thurston, Harry Blackstone, Sr., and Joseph Dunninger.

Everything was fine until Mira Collins decided to go out on a date one day. Her beautiful past made its way into the present with an ugly face. Strange, mysterious, terrifying things start happening and she is left clueless. Shadows grew long and scary while whispers turned into urgent warnings. Each step leads deeper into a haunting mystery. As secrets are unveiled, she finds herself trapped in a black hole. Will her 'love' be able to save Mira? Or, Will she become yet another vicyim of the malevolent forces that seek to devour her soul? Only time will tell in this nightmarish battle between love and obsession!

The Knight of Darkness continues his war on crime in two more pulp thrillers by Walter B. Gibson (writing as "Maxwell Grant"). First, not even The Shadow's bullets can stop his most formidable foe, "The Gray Ghost," a seemingly supernatural adversary. Then, Lamont Cranston and Margo Lane hunt Nazi treasure and a blonde temptress as they attempt to unmask "The White Skulls," skeletal-garbed terrorists who leave behind a deadly wake of destruction. BONUS: The Shadow battles killer ants in "The Red Room," a terrifying script from the Golden Age of Radio. This classic reprint also features both color pulp covers by George Rozen and Modest Stein, classic interior illustrations by Tom Lovell and Everett Raymond Kinstler (who also provides a foreword recalling his early days as a comic book artist and pulp illustrator) and historical commentary by Will Murray and Anthony Tollin.

Who is The Shadow? How did he come to be? Master of Mystery: The Rise of The Shadow delves into the murky origins of perhaps the most significant media creation of all time. Between 1930 and 1954, The Shadow was a dominant figure in American popular culture. A multi-media sensation, he emerged from the creative cauldron of the earliest days of radio drama, and soon migrated to magazines, comic books, film and eventually paperback books. Only Superman and Batman, who were created a few years later, rivaled The Shadow in global public recognition. A century later, this enigmatic personality and his famous mantra, "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" remains recognizable to new generations born long after his remarkable reign. Popular culture historian and novelist Will Murray explores radio's first superstar and talks to the writers and artists who took a nebulous radio personality and brought him to blazing life in the pages of more than 300 classic pulp novels. Packed with revelations, Master of Mystery reveals how The Shadow inspired the creation of Batman in 1939! Including rare interviews with Walter B. Gibson, Theodore Tinsley, John L. Nanovic, Graves Gladney and Edd Cartier.

"THE SHADOW KNOWS . . "Your life," probed the hypnotic voice from the shadows, "is no longer your own. It belongs to me now. I shall improve it. I shall make it useful. But I shall risk it, too. Perhaps I shall lose it, for I have lost lives, just as I have saved them. "This is my code: life, with enjoyment, with danger, with excitement. Life, above all, with honor. And in return, I demand obedience. Absolute obedience." "I promise," whispered The Shadow's new agent. "I swear absolute obedience . . First of the Belmont 'Shadow' publications (series numbers 326 to 334), and the only one written by Walter Gibson. Featuring Lamont (The Shadow) Cranston. Cover blurb: "America's all-time suspense best-seller - the famous "Avenger" in a brand-new mystery."