The Shadow 027 The Silent Death

THE SILENT DEATH was originally published in the April 1, 1933 issue of The Shadow Magazine. Silent death comes in many forms, and Professor Folcroft Urlich is the master of them all. When The Shadow steps in the way, he becomes the target of silent death unleashed. What a joy it was to read this story. Each time a death trap is set for The Shadow, he escapes in some way I never expected. And he does it time and again, for this story is mostly a series of traps set to kill The Shadow. This is The Shadow at his peak. And then to pit him against a mad scientist with a dizzying array of diabolical inventions makes for a true classic Shadow pulp novel. It's no wonder this one was selected for paperback reprint in the 1970s. It's one of the best! Professor Folcroft Urlich is the mad scientist who controls silent death. He schemes to make millions with it. With his two accomplices, the elderly Thomas Jocelyn and gang leader Larry Ricordo, Professor Urlich is about to unleash death, death, and more death! First to die will be the wealthy Alfred Sartain. It will mean five million dollars to the evil professor. But money means nothing to him. He's in it for the thrill of killing. For the scientific enjoyment of silent death! From his vantage point several blocks away, Urlich watches as Sartain springs the trap that will mean his sinister demise. But Sartain is miraculously saved from death by The Shadow. And Professor Urlich witnesses it all through his binoculars from a safe distance. Enraged, he vows to end the reign of The Shadow. His one purpose is now to use his silent death to strike down the nemesis of the underworld, The Shadow! This, then, is the story of The Shadow's battle against an unknown enemy who sets up death traps to ensnare him in silent death. And boy, these death traps are really sneaky! The professor is a smart old bird, and he has some clever ways of dealing death. There's the photo-electric beam. The noiseless explosive. The innocent telephone receiver... of death! The bubbling death. And let's not forget the electric-ray device. This old guy is one nasty villain! Professor Urlich lives in a gloomy old mansion, behind which is found his strange circular laboratory. It's a three story, pyramid affair that's surrounded by death traps. So when Urlich captures Cliff Marsland and Clyde Burke and takes them inside his lab, The Shadow must brave the many forms of silent death to rescue them before the professor can put them inside giant test tubes and pour a flesh-eating solvent upon them. Eeeoooooow. Gross! Yes, this is a top-notch tale that will keep you turning pages well into the night. It features a streamlined cast of characters. No sign of Harry Vincent. The only two active agents present are Cliff Marsland and Clyde Burke. They both get pretty nice parts in the story, and then get captured by Professor Urlich are are threatened by the dissolving death at the climax. In the background, the two contact men Burbank and Rutledge Mann are mentioned a few times. It's explained that many of their duties overlap and they each work twelve hour shifts; Mann has the day shift; Burbank works the night shift. Down at police headquarters, we see Detective Joe Cardona. He gets plenty of action in this story, including nearly taking a bullet for The Shadow. We also see Detective Sergeant Mayhew and Inspector Timothy Klein. Police commissioner Ralph Weston is mentioned a few times, but doesn't actually appear. Speakeasy proprietor Red Mike makes his third appearance in the pulp magazine series, after an absence of well over a year. His previous two appearances were in "Eyes of The Shadow" and "The Shadow Laughs" the second and third stories in the series. He would go on to appear in fifteen more of the magazine stories. He always carefully tread the line between crime and the law, so although he ran an underground dive for thugs and criminals, he never seemed to run afoul of the law. The Shadow gets to use one disguise in this tale. And surprisingly enough, it's not one of the common ones. There's no sign of Lamont Cranston, Henry Arnaud, or any of The Shadow's other familiar disguises. He appears in one brief scene as a Howard Broderick, who visits the planned scene of death at Alfred Sartain's apartment. But other than that, he appears in this story simply as himself... the black-cloaked nemesis of crime, The Shadow! One of the thugs by the name of Slips Harbeck learns that Cliff Marsland is an agent of The Shadow. He tells Professor Urlich who uses that knowledge to lure The Shadow into his death traps. At the end of the story, Professor Urlich dies with that knowledge. But Slips Harbeck still is alive, in police custody. That leaves a plot thread dangling. Someone lives who knows the identity of one of The Shadow's agents. Someone who could tell others. Usually author Walter Gibson killed off such persons who possessed secrets they should not have. But this time, one man was left alive. Was this intentional? Or an oversight on Gibson's part? I'm guessing the latter, since none of the future stories made reference to the fact. At first, the possibility that Cliff Marsland is The Shadow was considered. But this is discounted when one gangster points out that The Shadow was operating while Cliff Marsland was still in stir. Readers will remember that Marsland spent eight years in Sing Sing for a crime he did not commit. That comment does help us with a timeline of The Shadow's career, however. Marlsand got out of prison in 1932, in the story "Mobsmen on the Spot." His eight-year incarceration must have been between 1924 and 1932. So we know The Shadow's career began during that stretch of time. Aficionados of The Shadow who have read the stories maintain that the best stories of the eighteen-year run of the magazine series were those from the early to mid 1930s. This story, "The Silent Death," certainly validates that claim. It's the kind of story that any pulp fan will enjoy tremendously. This is one you'll want to read.