The Secret Writers Behind Hitchcock

The Secret Writers Behind Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock didn’t merely have an eye for what worked on camera, he was one of the greatest curators of commercial crime and suspense fiction of the twentieth century. In this episode, we discuss the writers behind the director. From icons like Patricia Highsmith, Daphne Du Maurier, and Cornell Woolrich, to hidden figures like Robert Bloch, Charles Bennett, and John Michael Hayes, Alfred Hitchcock was a brilliant literary talent scout. Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe [https://vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Reviewing Alfred Hitchcock's Favorite Film: Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

We review and analyze Alfred Hitchcock’s favorite of his own films. Starring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten, and co-written by Our Town [https://amzn.to/4vwlwza] playwright Thornton Wilder, Shadow of a Doubt [https://amzn.to/4vHCGKh] (1943) is a domestic noir of family secrets and violent urges. It’s a tale of two Charlies — one a sadistic uncle, the other a spunky niece who rises to the violence of the occasion. Also, we announce our forthcoming Hitchcock short story anthology and call for submissions [https://vigilantecrime.com/]. Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe [https://vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Psychopathia Sexualis: A Hell of A Woman by Jim Thompson

Paperback crime author Jim Thompson, nicknamed the “Dimestore Dostoevsky,” is best known as mid-century American crime fiction’s darkest prince of noir thanks to classics like The Killer Inside Me [https://amzn.to/4enfE3L], Pop. 1280 [https://amzn.to/3QoDCDM], and The Grifters [https://amzn.to/4a2eYiW]. In this episode, we dive deep into A Hell of A Woman [https://amzn.to/4gj8Q9M], Jim Thompson’s 1954 novel of money, murder, and madness. New from Vigilante Crime… EVERYTHING ON BLACK by F.T. Grant All In—With No Way Out Kat Burgess is a deputy sheriff with a dead husband, a gambling problem, and a talent for self-destruction. Will Cousins is a handsome, failed musician with a rich wife he claims is trying to kill him. Their affair—and mutual spiral into murder—feels fated from the start. But by the time Kat learns she was just a mark in a high-stakes con, she’s also learned of an incestuous, predatory partnership, a string of missing girls, and the full depth of her own capacity for evil. A neo-noir novel that blends the doomed-lover intensity of James M. Cain with the jagged, modern psychology of Gillian Flynn and Megan Abbott. You won’t believe how far things go, but you won’t be able to stop until the final hand is played. Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe [https://vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Pulp Master Robert Bloch: Lovecraft's Favorite Jew

Robert Bloch was best known for his novel Psycho [https://amzn.to/441RqYr], on which Alfred Hitchcock’s cinema masterpiece was based. However, he began as a teenage literary prodigy under the intense tutelage of weird fiction master H.P. Lovecraft. In this episode, we discuss those early stories, especially the debut collection The Opener of the Way [https://amzn.to/4ivvkU0]. Don’t miss the first two books from the Vigilante imprint of Gutter Books LLC: The Vigilante Crime Pulp Fiction Anthology [https://amzn.to/44HJb3X] and Fast One [https://amzn.to/48tDisg] by Paul Cain. Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe [https://vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Vigilante Anthology Special! Plus Joe R. Lansdale Is Brilliant

In honor of the launch of the hotly anticipated Vigilante Crime Pulp Fiction Anthology [https://amzn.to/4r0OO75], we discuss the niche of short fiction, limited readership, value of the form, and one of its masters (Joe R. Lansdale). Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe [https://vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]