Crimson Clown - Killer

“Crimson Clown – Killer” by Tom Johnson. When The Crimson Clown discovers the planned heist of a charity ball, he wasn’t expecting a mob rubout at the same time. Now he may be caught in a web of murder! This is another fascinating character created by Johnston McCulley that appeared in DETECTIVE FICTION Magazine between mid and late 1920s, then popped up again in POPULAR DETECTIVE in 1944. He deserved a new story. “Crimson Clown – Killer” is now available  on Amazon Kindle for $1.99

Blind As A Bat

BLIND AS A BAT by Tom Johnson, published by FADING SHADOWS: The Eternal Dragon stands mute while the menace of white slavery cast a spell of horror over Chinatown. When the Purple Dragon strikes it brings Dawson Clade out of retirement. The Chinese mastermind is targeting young white girls for his evil pleasure, and The Bat must take wing once more. The Bat first appeared in 1934 & ’35, with four stories that researchers suspect were written by Johnston McCulley, under a house name. A fifth story, advertised as BLIND AS A BAT, never appeared. After Tom read the series, he felt he knew where McCulley was taking The Bat in the final story, and wrote the missing adventure. Now available on Amazon Kindle for $1.99.

Tarzan's Lost Land

TARZAN’S LOST LAND by Tom Johnson: Published in paperback as a limited edition by FADING SHADOWS for my family. This book will not be released to mass market, eBooks, or for sale. Nor is this available in PDF, sorry. With Jane visiting England, Tarzan decides to investigate rumors of a lost valley where prehistoric creatures may still survive. Finding not only terrible thunder lizards, he encounters giant arachnids and insects in the land of the Krangi-og.

Cold War Heroes

COLD WAR HEROES by Tom Johnson, with a nice photo cover by Teena Modgling: Top Secret action in this military satire set in Europe during the height of the Cold War. A group of misfit MPs must confront spies and the black market while dealing with a boxing tournament on Post! Not since M*A*S*H* and SOLDIER IN THE RAIN have we been treated to an inside look at military life with a touch of humor by a soldier who actually experienced it.

Loosely based on the author’s memories of Poitiers, France, and the American Army military Posts where he served from 1963 to 1966 with the military police. A detachment stuck miles from headquarters, where there was sometimes a lack of military discipline, too much cognac, and some very beautiful French girls. This is available in Hardback from the author for $24.95, and paperback for $13.95, plus postage. It is also available on Kindle for $3.99.

Memories

Memories by Tom Johnson: This is a short biography of Tom’s early school years and military. Written for his extended family at their request. Published in paperback by FADING SHADOWS.

FADING SHADOWS BOOKS

FADING SHADOWS was a small-press publishing house that began in June 1982 with the publication of ECHOES, the hobby magazine for the pulp enthusiast. It was originally published out of Knox City, Texas, but in May 1983 the operation moved to Seymour, Texas where it remains to this day. ECHOES lasted for 100 issues before becoming a newsletter, finally ceasing in December 2004.

In June 1995, FADING SHADOWS branched out to fiction magazines with the first issue of CLASSIC PULP FICTION STORIES. That first issue contained a number of stories written in the pulp tradition, from a Vietnam War story to the start of a science fiction serial. Also in the first issue were new stories of Ki-Gor, Doc Harker, Bill Barnes, and the Phantom Detective. In coming issues, there were more of the same, though the characters still under copyright were quickly dropped. But the writers continued to send in new adventures of the Black Bat, Phantom Detective, Doctor Death, and even a Jim Hatfield western by James Reasoner. We did not coin the phrase, NEW PULP, but we were certainly publishing new pulp in 1995.

Soon it became apparent that one magazine could not contain all of the stories coming in, so more titles were quickly added: WEIRD STORIES for the weird menace genre, STARTLING SCIENCE STORIES for the science fiction (title later changed to ALIEN WORLDS), DETECTIVE MYSTERY STORIES for the detective mystery fans, EXCITING UFO STORIES for the UFO crowd, and DOUBLE DANGER TALES for the new hero stories. There was no shortage in writers and artists, only in subscriptions.

There were only a few established authors, like James Reasoner, Will Murray, Clayton and Patricia Matthews, and maybe one or two others. But many of the new writers that got their start with FADING SHADOWS went on to become established writers in their own right. They sharpened their writing skills while turning out great yarns for the genre magazines, and are now writing novels for larger markets.

What discouraged most writers and artists was the lack of recognition from readers. Not only couldn’t the magazines bring in subscriptions, it was almost impossible to get letters of comment from readers.

Each issue contained approximately 40,000 words. There were 91 issues of CLASSIC PULP FICTION STORIES, 32 issues of STARTLING SCIENCE STORIES, 39 issues of ALIEN WORLDS, 55 issues of DETECTIVE MYSTERY STORIES, 63 issues of DOUBLE DANGER TALES, 26 issues of WEIRD STORIES, and 6 issues of EXCITING UFO STORIES, for a total of 312 issues. You do the math. That adds up to a lot of words for a small-press publishing house. I figure something like 1,248,000 words. That was a lot of new pulp.

Publishing on a monthly schedule made it impossible to get special art for each issue. Although there were over a dozen topnotch artists contributing to the magazines, by the time a story came in, there wasn’t time to ask a specific artist for special art, so artists were asked to send generic art, i.e., a science fiction, a detective, or a general piece, or just a flying saucer or cowboy illustration, and when there was a story that sort of matched, that’s where the art went. Artists and writers were all treated the same. There were no favorites played. The only reason the same author might appear in six straight issues was because that author got his stories in on time. But even then, attention was given to each issue, and what authors and art was on hand, and what artist or author should be next.

There were problems. The magazines were a two-person operation, Tom and Ginger Johnson, both sharing in typing stories to format. The early years were done on manual typewriters, and then word processors, until finally, Ginger was using a computer. Most authors sent their manuscript in double-spaced, and each story had to be retyped to format. There was no time for a proofreader, and one was desperately needed, as typos appeared in every issue, if not every story! The magazines were amateurish at best, but the stories and art were top notch.

FADING SHADOWS paved the way for the current trend in new pulp titles. Genre magazines like ours closed out the last century and started the new century before ceasing publication. In March of 2002, Tom had a stroke, which limited his workload, and Ginger was not able to take on more of the responsibility, so it was decided to plan on stopping the magazines. So one at a time, the titles folded, until they were all gone by December of 2004.

FADING SHADOWS returned in 2012, and has since published eight paperbacks and numerous releases on Kindle format.

Some day I would like to compile an index to the authors and stories that were published under the FADING SHADOWS imprint, but that would be a massive task, and I’m not sure I am up to it. However, all of the data is available, thanks to Bill Thom’s.

By clicking on the covers along the side of the Blog, it will take you to information on each book/series. Tom’s FADING SHADOWS are avialable in pdf for reviewers. We need reviews on Amazon and your Blogs. Contact us, if interested.