Grim, ghastly death and blood-curdling terrors stalk the house of a hundred murders! Thrills, suspense and action in one of the most baffling cases ever tackled by The Phantom Detective! The killer who believes he can “get away with it” has but slim chance of success. For powerful forces are opposed to him in the form of The Phantom Detective, in a crusade against the underworld, armed with scientific weapons and knowledge hitherto unknown.
Although the title of the magazine was The Phantom Detective, the lead character was referred to only as ‘The Phantom’ in the actual stories. The identity of this masked master sleuth was, as often was the case, a wealthy millionaire. Richard Curtis Van Loan, however, entered into the crimefighting business for different reasons than many playboys before or after him. Having served in World War One as a pilot known for his dogfighting prowess, Van Loan left the idle rich boy he’d been in the skies of battle and returned home seeking a mission, wanting to give something back to the city and world he lived in.
Even though the actual Pulp magazine ended in 1953, multiple companies have reprinted the original stories and even contributed new stories to the Phantom Detective’s legacy. Even with that, however, the original wild, almost madcap at times adventures of Thrilling’s one-man mystery solving army against crime capture the charm and intensity of the classic Pulp era better than anything else. Also, they stand as a testament to how a character can shift and change, develop and grow, to become one of the most recognized and longest surviving Pulp characters of the period.
‘The Crime Castle’ was originally published in the December 1934 issue of The Phantom Detective Magazine and is read with pulse pounding intensity by award winning voice actor Milton Bagby.
