A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1885 — all 16 pages of painted-cover fiction magazines that launched science fiction, horror, and hardboiled crime, free to page through at ComicBooks.com.

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A complete issue · 16 pages · 1885

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 436

1885 · Free to read

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About this issue

This issue contains "The Mystery of Room 21," a detective serial by T. C. Harbaugh, author of "Bill Bravo" and "Texas Trump." Dick Derringer, a renowned New York detective, receives a mysterious challenge letter delivered by a boy named Phil Flash. The letter directs him to investigate Room 21 at a boarding house on Mott Street. Arriving with Phil, Derringer poses as a tenant-seeker and gains entry. Inside Room 21, he discovers a dead woman—identified as "Viota Estrange" (likely an assumed name)—on the bed. The room shows signs of ransacking, and notably, the victim's ring finger has been deliberately severed and her rings stolen. The landlady, Mrs. Motts, reveals the woman occupied the room for about a month and received a letter four days prior that upset her greatly. Derringer and Phil leave to report the crime, planning to investigate further.

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Each page has its own page — the cartoon, who’s in it, and what the satire means.