The Black Hush was the 35th of The Shadow adventures to be published in 'The Shadow Magazine'. I'm reading it in THE SHADOW #47 reprint by Sanctum Books, which paired it with the first adventure, The Living Shadow. (According to 'Interlude' by Will Murray in that reprint, this story was chosen for its cover by George Rosen.) One way to tell how popular The Shadow had become is to note the number of illustrations. 'The Living Shadow' has only one, even if it does take up the top halves of two pages. 'Black Hush' has one that's full page, three that are almost full page, one half-page, and three bust portraits, one each for the principal villains.

Regular supporting character Detective Joe Cardona of the New York City Police is on the premises for our opening crime. He doesn't prevent it, but he does come up with a theory. The Shadow doesn't think he's correct. (Neither did I.)

The Black Hush causes all electrical items to fail and the sound level to be reduced. If this were a horror story, I'd be suspecting ghosts. Because this is a non-paranormal mystery, there will be a more rational explanation. We get to know who many of the persons behind the Black Hush are while The Shadow and his agents (Clyde Burke the reporter, Burbank the hidden contact, Rutledge Mann the investment broker, and Harry Vincent the man of action) have to work it out. Clyde gets to share Harry's 'designated damsel in distress substitute' role in this one. Even so, Harry has the worst time. At least he gets to be brave in the face of deadly threats.

How The Shadow foils the various attempted crimes after the first one is mighty fine action, but a couple of scenes will not be good for readers with a terror of falling. (If you, too, saw the first 'The Incredibles' movie, you might hear Edna Mode's voice declaring, 'No capes!' as The Shadow's cloak gets blown about in one of them.)

Note: In chapter XXII, Harry is referred to as a 'bimbo'. If, as I was, you think of 'bimbo' as slang for rather stupid and/or promiscuous woman, you might be as surprised as I was to learn that it was originally slang for a man.

I loved the way The Shadow took out the last two villains. I also hang my head in shame for not figuring out one of the secrets before it was revealed. This adventure would make a good movie if handled correctly. ( )