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(Real) Detective Tales (and Mystery Stories)

Real Detective Tales is one of the most elusive of the early detective pulps. It began in late 1922 under the name Detective Tales as a standard-sized pulp and published indifferent mystery and detective stories. In 1923 it acquired a companion magazine concentrating on the fantastic - the famous Weird Tales - and both magazines ran in parallel until mid-1924 when the publisher, Rural Publications, ran into difficulty.

At that point Detective Tales was sold to Real Detective Tales, Inc. and changed its name, first to Real Detective Tales and then to Real Detective Tales and Mystery Stories. By this point it had shifted to a large (quarto) format and had acquired an interesting stable of authors including Seabury Quinn, George Allan England and Miriam Allen de Ford. It ran for six years under this latter title (mainly on a monthly basis) but gradually during 1931 transformed into a non-fiction magazine called Real Detective, although fiction continued to appear into 1934 at least. It is not currently known exactly when the last issue containing any fiction appeared.

In the 1920s a handful of short stories were reprinted as standalone pamphlets possibly to help advertise the magazine.

1922              
v1 #1
Oct 1

v1 #2
Oct 16

v1 #3
Nov 1
v1 #4
Nov 16/Dec 15
1923  
v2 #1
Feb

v2 #2
Mar

v2 #3
Apr/May

v2 #4
May/Jun

v2 #5
Jul/Aug

v2 #6
Sep
v3 #1
Oct
v3 #2
Nov

v3 #3
Dec/Jan
1924  
v3 #4
Feb
v4 #1
Mar

v4 #2
Apr

v4 #3
May

v4 #4
Jun
v5 #1
Jul
v5 #2
Aug

v5 #3
Sep/Oct

v5 #4
Nov

v6 #1
Dec
1925
v6 #2
Jan

v6 #3
Feb

v6 #4
Mar

v7 #1
Apr

v7 #2
May

v7 #3
Jun

v7 #4
Jul

v8 #1
Aug/Sep

v8 #2
Oct/Nov

v8 #3
Dec/Jan
1926  
v8 #4
Feb/Mar

v9 #1
Apr/May

v9 #2
Jun/Jul

v9 #3
Aug/Sep

v9 #4
Oct

v10 #1
Nov

v10 #2
Dec/Jan
1927  
v10 #3
Feb

v10 #4
Mar

v11 #1
Apr/May

v11 #2
Jun/Jul

v11 #3
Aug

v11 #4
Sep

v12 #1
Oct

v12 #2
Nov

v12 #3
Dec
1928
v12 #4
Jan

v13 #1
Feb

v13 #2
Mar

v13 #3
Apr
v13 #4
May

v14 #1
Jun

v14 #2
Jul/Aug

v14 #3
Sep

v14 #4
Oct

v16 #1
Nov

v16 #2
Dec/Jan
1929  
v16 #3
Feb

v16 #4
Mar

v17 #1
Apr/May

v17 #2
Jun/Jul

v17 #3
Aug

v17 #4
Sep

v18 #1
Oct

v18 #2
Nov

v18 #3
Dec/Jan
1930  
v18 #4
Feb

v19 #1
Mar

v19 #2
Apr

v19 #3
May

v19 #4
Jun

v20 #1
Jul

v20 #2
Aug

v20 #3
Sep

v20 #4
Oct

v21 #1
Nov

v21 #2
Dec
1931
v21 #3
Jan

v21 #4
Feb

v22 #1
Mar

v22 #2
Apr

v22 #3
May

v22 #4
Jun

v23 #1
Jul

v23 #2
Aug

v23 #3
Sep

v23 #4
Oct

v23 #1
Nov

v24 #2
Dec
1932
v24 #3
Jan

v24 #4
Feb

v25 #1
Mar

v25 #2
Apr

v25 #3
May

v25 #4
Jun

v26 #1
Jul

v26 #2
Aug

v26 #3
Sep

v26 #4
Oct

v27 #1
Nov

v27 #2
Dec
1933
v27 #3
Jan

v27 #4
Feb

v28 #1
Mar

v28 #2
Apr

v28 #3
May

v28 #4
Jun

v29 #1
Jul

v29 #2
Aug

v29 #3
Sep

v29 #4
Oct

v30 #1
Nov

v30 #2
Dec
1934
v30 #3
Jan

v30 #4
Feb

v31 #1
Mar

v31 #2
Apr

v31 #3
May

v31 #4
Jun

v32 #1
Jul

v32 #2
Aug

v32 #3
Sep

v32 #4
Oct

v33 #1
Nov

v33 #2
Dec

Detective Tales Supplement

1922
Crimson Poppies

The Sign of the Toad

The Glass Eye

Buff

The Web

The Triangle of Terror
1923
Disappearing Bullets

The Green-Eyed Monster

Derring-Do

The Valley of Missing Men

Ten Dangerous Hours

The Mystery at Eagle Lodge