Tales of Magic and Mystery was a short-lived but highly regarded pulp magazine that released five issues between December 1927 and April 1928. Edited by Walter B. Gibson—who later achieved fame as the creator of The Shadow—the magazine blended non-fiction articles on stage magic and escape artists (including Harry Houdini) with weird and supernatural fiction. It is famously known for publishing H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “Cool Air”. It was priced at 25 cents, and each issue was 64 pages long.

The magazine is now extremely rare, and has become a collector’s item because of the connection to [Houdini and] H. P. Lovecraft. Most of Lovecraft’s short fiction appeared in Weird Tales, and it is possible that he submitted to Tales of Magic and Mystery because of his interest in Harry Houdini—he had ghost-written a story for Houdini a couple of years earlier, and Gibson was a friend of Houdini’s. [Wikipedia]

In 2004, Wildside Press released a facsimile edition of the February 1928 issue,

And in 2013, Adventure House released a facsimile of the March 1928 issue,

And in 2025, Fiction House Press released a facsimile edition of the December 1927 issue.

Maybe someday, a facsimile edition of the January 1928 issue and April 1928 issue will be released.

I am fortunate enough to have originals and in future posts plan to share the Houdini series that spans all 5 editions.