Book excerpt: Photplay editions, sometimes called movie editions, were inexpensive hardcover reprints of novels that had just been made into movies, and were illustrated with photographs of scenes from the movies. Although in most cases the movies were based on prior novels, occasionally the movies came first and the novels were created from scripts. This book is an annotated catalog of a large collection of over 500 horror and mystery photoplay editions and magazine fictionalizations that the author assembled over four decades. Photoplay editions and magazine fictionalizations that are not strictly in the horror or mystery genres are included if they are linked to films made by such stars as Lon Chaney, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and other genres performers. Mysteries are included if they feature a detective as the central character rather than simply involving crime as a plot element, and adventure, fantasy and science fiction works are included if they have an outre element. Some film noir books, and some associated with Alfred Hitchcock films, are also included. Most photoplay editions and magazine fictionalizations were published from the 1910s through the 1940s, and even though they are still published today, the cut-off date for inclusion in this book is 1970.