As a young child, his mother inexplicably most likely due to an inability to adequately care for him committed him to an insane asylum, thus fostering both his interest with the insane, insane asylums and the sane who had been committed to such places and a life-long violent antipathy towards the psychiatric profession. Beginning around age sixteen, Keeler pumped out a steady stream of original short stories and serials that were subsequently published in many small pulp magazines of the day.
He attended the Armour Institute now the Illinois Institute of Technology , graduating with a degree in electrical engineering. After graduation, he took a job as an electrician in a steel mill, working by day and writing by night. It was at this time that Keeler met his future wife, Hazel Goodwin, whom he'd marry in Published in , Keeler's first novel, The Voice of the Seven Sparrows , introduced audiences the world over to Keeler's complex, labyrinthine stories. Keeler began to gain some notoriety in the mid's as a purveyor of new and original material. His popularity was realized when, in , his book Sing Sing Nights was made into two B-grade horror films, one of which starred screen legend Bela Lugosi.
During this period Keeler was employed as an editor for "The Ten Story Book" a popular pulp anthology magazine. Keeler proceded to fill the spaces between the stories with his own peculiar brand of humor, as well as illustrations by his wife. He also included frequent publicity for his own books. In spite of his popularity, Keeler's fiction and writing style grew increasingly bizarre, often substituting action or plot for laboriously lengthy dialogues and diatribes between characters. These events led to his American publishing company, Dutton, dropping him in The next eleven years were hard for Keeler as his writing drifted even further beyond the norm and short stories written by his wife a moderately successful writer herself were found increasingly within his novels.
His novels were picked up by rental library publisher, Phoenix Press, known in the business as the last stop on the publishing bus.
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By British publishers Ward Lock printed their final Keeler novel, thus forcing the writer to pen his stories exclusively for an overseas market with stories often translated for publication in and around Spain and Portugal. For a brief time Keeler was happy again until Hazel died in Pressing forward, Keeler remarried in in a marriage that rejuvenated his spirit for writing. Unfortunately, many of the new stories written by Keeler during this time went unpublished, including The Scarlet Mummy.
Keeler himself died four years later in , leaving behind a legacy of creativity for his fans everywhere. Keeler is famous for the insertion of skulls into nearly all his stories. While many plots revolve around a skull or the use of one in a crime or ritual, others feature skulls merely as a side diversion, including one case where a human skull is used as a paperweight on the desk of a police detective.
Keeler also kept a large file of newspaper clippings featuring unusual stories and incidents. He would paste these into the rough outlines of his novels, adding notes like "Have this happen to He also followed a writing procedure of his own; he'd often write a huge manuscript, perhaps twice the length required. He'd then cut it down to size, removing unnecessary subplots and incidents. He also included stories by his wife - a protagonist searching for clues might find a mysterious book, read it, and for the next chapter or so we're reading an unrelated short story.
In his book Thieves' Nights the hero reads a book which is about two other men telling stories: In yet another book, Keeler and his wife turn up as characters in a story. An official Harry Stephen Keeler website can be found at http: Keeler writes his peculiar novels merely to satisfy his own undisciplined urge for creative joy. A positiver review of his work can be found here. Ward, Lock October 1. The Matilda Hunter Murder. The Box from Japan. London, Ward, Lock May 1. The Washington Square Enigma. The Crilly Court Mystery.
Ward, Lock November 5. Ward, Lock March The Mystery of the Fiddling Cracksman. The Riddle of the Traveling Skull. The Five Silver Buddhas. The Skull of the Waltzing Clown. Jones of Scotland Yard. The Wonderful Scheme of Christopher Thorne. Ward, Lock April 8.
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Ward, Lock October When Thief Meets Thief. Ward, Lock November 6. Ward, Lock June 1. The Man with the Magic Eardrums. The Man with the Crimson Box. Ward, Lock November 1. Ward, Lock February 3. The Man with the Wooden Spectacles. The Vanishing Gold Truck. Ward, Lock March 8. The Bottle with the Green Wax Seal. The Book with the Orange Leaves.
The Book with Orange Leaves. Ward, Lock August The Case of the Two Strange Ladies.
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The Search for X-Y-Z. The Case of the Lavender Gripsack. Ward, Lock September 9. The Case of the 16 Beans. The Case of the Canny Killer. The Case of the Barking Clock. The Case of the Jeweled Ragpicker. The Murder of London Lew. El caso Jaarvik [The Jaarvik case]. Ladrones de circos [The circus stealers]. El caso de la mujer transparente [The case of the transparent woman]. La calle de los mil ojos [The street of a thousand eyes]. Quoted in Keeler News , no. Ironically, the cover is now a classic of art-deco design.
Advertised in the Chicago Tribune on February 12, Advertised in the New York Times on May Described as in its fourth printing on June 15, in the New York Times. On April 30, , Royal Books offered a copy inscribed on August 22, Dutton Prize Clue Mystery for December.
On April 28, , Michael J. Toth listed a 5th printing on Abebooks, writing, "Even though it is stated fifth printing—it was printed in the same month November as the first edition. Dutton Clue Mystery" for October. Mentioned in the New York Times as published "yesterday" on May 2, An ad in the March 28 Chicago Tribune refers to a Walter Winchell column not yet located mentioning the book on March Reviewed in the Washington Post on January 13, The LA Times typically lagged a few weeks from publication so the book likely appeared in early February.
Apparently originally announced for May This book has been substituted for 'Finger! Advertised in the Chicago Tribune on February 5, Keeler "shortly will publish his 56th novel, 'The Case of the Mysterious Moll'; it may be on the stands by the time this paragraph appears…Altho 56 novels in the precise count of Mr. Keeler's mystery productions, they appear in only 46 volumes…".
For this reason, it seems likely that this book was published late in the year and perhaps arrived in the mail near Valentine's Day. See Keeler News , no. El caso del reloj ladrador , the Spanish language version, published apparently later in , incorporates parts of The Case of the Barking Clock and The Case of the Transposed Legs.
Paperback Editions
There is no direct English-language equivalent. Keeler's copy of El caso is inscribed to his wife in early , per Keeler News. Harry Stephen Keeler - The Matilda Hunter Murder 2. The Case of the Barking Clock 3. Adventures of a Skull 1. The Man with the Magic Eardrums 2.
Harry Stephen Keeler
The Man with the Crimson Box 3. The Man with the Wooden Spectacles 4. Ten Hours 2. The Skull of the Waltzing Clown 3.
The Defrauded Yeggman 4. When Thief Meets Thief The Marceau Case 2. The Wonderful Scheme of Mr. Christopher Thorne 3.