Dr. Skull is a serialized thriller from Lewis Clay that ran in 10 issues of Detective Fiction Weekly from Sept. 17, 1938, through Nov. 11, 1938. It was cover-featured with the first installment, and this cover is used by Steeger Books for this addition to its Argosy Library. The volume also includes an intro by pulp researcher Will Murray, who gives some interesting information about the work and its author.
This is the only pulp work by Lewis Clay (1909-1995). It appears his main career was writing movie serials, but he never broke into writing regular movies and only did a little TV scriptwriting. Murray speculates that Dr. Skull may have started as a possible movie serial plot. What was unusual is that most pulp serials, at least in the Munsey pulps, were no more than six parts. So doing a 10-part serial was unheard of. This story would most likely have run in The Argosy, but was instead put into Detective Fiction Weekly.
In this story, the city of New York is in the grip of a sinister figure known only as Dr. Skull. He is somehow able to get people to do what he wants. Things start off slowly. We are introduced to our main cast quickly. We have Bob Larkin, who works in advertising. His fiancée is Paula Lansdowne, the only daughter of Professor Alfred Lansdowne, a well-known psychologist. There is also police detective Tom Higgins, a friend of Bob’s. Also, a reporter, “Curly” Smith, gets involved as well. Some strange things occur. An elevated train brakeman fails to stop his train and can’t explain why. A stockbroker strangely gives $10,000 to someone who claims to be from a charity, but isn’t. That person is later found dead, of an apparent suicide, and the money is gone. Then Professor Lansdowne kills a colleague and doesn’t know why. Is this some kind of strange rash of insanity?
The next day, after the professor is arrested, Dr. Skull makes his move. The newspapers print his ultimatum to the city, where he says he’ll be sending a representative who should be given control of the city. How, then, does the city respond? By ignoring it until Dr. Skull seems to “speak” through the mayor of the city? Is this some kind of hypnosis or something much worse? During his message, he claims that a close ally of the mayor will die at midnight. A group of police and reporters, including the police commissioner and Bob Larkin, is at the man’s apartment. Surrounded by a cordon of officials, the man strangely stabs himself with a letter opener. Dr. Skull soon ups his threats with a letter to the newspapers that if the city doesn’t submit in three days, the police commissioner will die.
After this, Bob goes to speak with Professor Lansdowne, as he wonders if Dr. Skull has some kind of strange hypnotic power and if it was he who caused the professor to kill. The professor then reveals that he may know who Dr. Skull really is, as we learn about strange mystical societies in Asia, including the Three Brotherhoods, and their secrets of mental abilities. He thinks this man somehow learned their secrets and has taken the name of “Dr. Skull” to strike back at a society that rejected him. But can they use this to free the professor?
We see Dr. Skull increase his attacks on New York, both causing train and subway accidents and killing off city officials. The trial of Professor Lansdowne goes through, and it is bizarre. Then it seems that Dr. Skull has taken an interest in Paula, and she goes missing. But can someone figure out his lair? It is soon learned he has a mysterious assistant, known only as the Kashmiri. Two of the characters find his lair. We get a confrontation between Professor Lansdowne and Dr. Skull. We get a wild chase after Dr. Skull, who takes Paula with him. Will they be able to stop him and rescue her?
Overall, this is an interesting novel. If this was originally planned for a movie serial, I wonder how it might have worked out. We can only guess. It’s too bad this author did not write more works for the pulps. But we do get a good, thrilling one-off novel.
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