Black Cat Weekly #162

   As always, special thanks to our Acquiring Editors for helping round up great stories, and to the volunteer readers who keep discovering great stories for us. If you’re a writer (published or not) we welcome appropriate submissions through our portal at our website.

   Here’s the complete lineup—

Mysteries / Suspense / Adventure:

“Skip Trace,” by Angela Zeman [Michael Bracken Presents short story]

    Skip Rose swore he’d never return to his childhood home, but a desperate family hires him to find out why their daughter was murdered. His investigation drags him back to dark memories and deadly secrets.

“The Treasure Map Intrigue,” by Hal Charles [Solve-It-Yourself Mystery]

    After her uncle’s death, Marcy and her cousins find a cryptic note attached to an old map. As they search for treasure, Marcy discovers a hidden clue. Can you solve it before Marcy uncovers the truth?

“Special Delivery,” by Linda Cahill [Barb Goffman Presents short story]

    When a young girl takes over her friend’s paper route, she encounters strange men, dark stories, and a house feared by all the neighborhood kids. What begins as a simple errand turns into a chilling mystery.

“Ol’ Crowbait,” by Bobbi A. Chukran [short story]

    When pranksters target Minnie Tate’s farm, they uncover more than Halloween mischief—triggering events that unravel a long-buried disappearance. As Sheriff Josie Miller digs deeper, eerie scarecrows and strange whispers lead to a chilling discovery.

Scotland Yard Can Wait, by Zenith Brown [novel]

    Inspector Lord investigates a decades-old bank heist. As bodies pile up, can he unravel the mystery before the cunning mastermind escapes with the loot?

Science Fiction & Fantasy:

“Howl At the Moon,” by John S. Glasby [short story]

    A cursed castle, a full moon, and an ancient, terrifying secret. When Robert Temple arrives, determined to unearth the truth, he finds himself face-to-face with a horror beyond his worst nightmares.

“He Who Stakes,” by Phyllis Ann Karr [short story]

    In Prince Vlad’s cruel court, Father Clement’s faith is tested when martyrs rise from their stakes. Can mercy and justice prevail over a ruler blinded by righteous fury.

“Waystation,” by Hannah Birss [short story]

    In a rundown bar on Space Station SOL, a lonely miner share a fleeting, intimate encounter with a mysterious woman on a pilgrimage for a new sun.

“The Jackson Killer,” by Philip E. High [short story]

    Sent to a frontier planet to track down a highly intelligent and dangerous mutant, Lassen must outwit his prey while grappling with the morality of his own role as an Eliminator.

“The Scientific Pioneer,” Nelson S. Bond [short story, Horsesense Hank series]

    A farmer with uncanny “horse-sense” shocks university scholars by solving complex scientific problems with ease. But when offered fame, fortune, and love, his unyielding logic leads him on a different path.