A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1883 — all 32 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 · 32 pages · 1883

Beadle's Dime Library No. 260: The Masked Mystery; or, The Black Crescent

1883 · Free to read

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About this issue

"The Masked Mystery; or, The Black Crescent," by Anthony P. Morris, is a gothic mystery serial set in Baltimore, 1871. The narrative centers on young Austin Burns, a foundling of mysterious parentage, who is betrothed to Eola Forde. Harnden Forde, Eola's father, suddenly forbids the marriage, cryptically warning of a curse and prophecy attached to Burns. That evening, a masked visitor delivers an ominous note to Forde, while Burns simultaneously receives an anonymous message promising to reveal his true identity at Jones's Falls bridge. A woman in black observes the unfolding events, vowing to intervene at midnight. The opening chapters establish an atmosphere of supernatural menace and hidden secrets, with multiple mysterious figures manipulating events from the shadows, hinting at connections between Burns's unknown origins and the family curse.

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