The Clue of the Screeching Owl

1962 book by Franklin W. Dixon

0-448-08941-6OCLC26183934Preceded byMystery of the Desert Giant Followed byThe Viking Symbol Mystery

The Clue of the Screeching Owl is Volume 41 in the original Hardy Boys series of detective/mystery books published by Grosset & Dunlap.^[1] This book was written for the Stratemeyer Syndicate by James Buechler in 1962 while he was eighteen or nineteen years old.^[2]

Plot summary

When dogs and men suddenly disappear, and strange screams fill the night, fantastic stories of vengeful ghosts are almost believable. It is these strange happenings which bring Frank and Joe Hardy to the Pocono Mountains to help their father's friend, a retired police captain, solve the mystery of Black Hollow.

But when the Hardy Boys and Chet Morton arrive at Captain Thomas Maguire's cabin on the edge of the hollow, he has disappeared. In the woods the boys find only a few slim clues: a flashlight bearing the initials T.M., a few scraps of bright plaid cloth, and two empty shotgun shells which had been fired recently.

Frank and Joe are determined to find the captain, despite Chet's misgivings after a night of weird and terrifying screams. Neighbors of the missing man insist that the bloodcurdling cries are those of a legendary witch who stalks Black Hollow seeking vengeance.

Strangely, it is a small puppy that helps the boys disclose a most unusual and surprising set of circumstances, involving a mute boy, an elusive hermit, and a fearless puma trainer.Dixon, Franklin (1962). The Clue of the Screeching Owl. Grosset & Dunlap. pp. 177. ISBN 0-448-18941-0.

Television adaptation

This book was also adapted in 1977 as the episode "The Mystery of Witches Hollow" for the 1977 Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries TV series.

References

^ Smith, Kevin Burton (5 June 2019). "Frank and Joe Hardy (The Hardy Boys): Created by Franklin W. Dixon, House pseudonym of Stratmeyer Syndicate". thrillingdetective.com. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
^ Keeline, James D. "Who Wrote the Hardy Boys? Secrets from the Syndicate Files Revealed" (PDF).

The Hardy Boys

Stratemeyer Syndicate
Franklin W. Dixon
Edward Stratemeyer

Characters

List of characters

Writers

Leslie McFarlane
Andrew E. Svenson
Harriet Adams
Neal Barrett Jr.
Susan Wittig Albert
Steven Grant
George Edward Stanley
James D. Lawrence

See also

Books
Original	The Tower Treasure (1927) The House on the Cliff (1927) The Secret of the Old Mill (1927) The Missing Chums (1928) Hunting for Hidden Gold (1928) The Shore Road Mystery (1928) The Secret of the Caves (1929) The Mystery of Cabin Island (1929) The Great Airport Mystery (1930) What Happened at Midnight (1931) While the Clock Ticked (1932) Footprints Under the Window (1933) The Mark on the Door (1934) The Hidden Harbor Mystery (1935) The Sinister Signpost (1936) A Figure in Hiding (1937) The Secret Warning (1938) The Twisted Claw (1939) The Disappearing Floor (1940) The Mystery of the Flying Express (1941) The Clue of the Broken Blade (1942) The Flickering Torch Mystery (1943) The Melted Coins (1944) The Short-Wave Mystery (1945) The Secret Panel (1946) The Phantom Freighter (1947) The Secret of Skull Mountain (1948) The Sign of the Crooked Arrow (1949) The Secret of the Lost Tunnel (1950) The Wailing Siren Mystery (1951) The Secret of Wildcat Swamp (1952) The Crisscross Shadow (1953) The Yellow Feather Mystery (1954) The Hooded Hawk Mystery (1954) The Clue in the Embers (1956) The Secret of Pirates' Hill (1956) The Ghost at Skeleton Rock (1957) The Mystery at Devil's Paw (1959) The Mystery of the Chinese Junk (1960) Mystery of the Desert Giant (1961) The Clue of the Screeching Owl (1962) The Viking Symbol Mystery (1963) The Mystery of the Aztec Warrior (1964) The Haunted Fort (1965) The Mystery of the Spiral Bridge (1966) The Secret Agent on Flight 101 (1967) Mystery of the Whale Tattoo (1968) The Arctic Patrol Mystery (1969) The Bombay Boomerang (1970) Danger on Vampire Trail (1971) The Masked Monkey (1972) The Shattered Helmet (1973) The Clue of the Hissing Serpent (1974) The Mysterious Caravan (1975) The Witchmaster's Key (1976) The Jungle Pyramid (1977) The Firebird Rocket (1978) The Sting of the Scorpion (1979) Night of the Werewolf (1979) Mystery of the Samurai Sword (1979) The Pentagon Spy (1980) The Apeman's Secret (1980) The Mummy Case (1980) Mystery of Smugglers Cove (1980) The Stone Idol (1981) The Vanishing Thieves (1981) The Outlaw's Silver (1981) The Submarine Caper/Deadly Chase (1981, retitled in 1987) The Four-Headed Dragon (1981) The Infinity Clue (1981) Track of the Zombie (1982) The Voodoo Plot (1982) The Billion Dollar Ransom (1982) Tic-Tac-Terror (1982) Trapped at Sea (1982) Game Plan for Disaster (1982) The Crimson Flame (1983) The Skyfire Puzzle (1985) Cast of Criminals (1989) Fear on Wheels (1991) Day of the Dinosaur (1994) Crime in the Kennel (1995) Cross-Country Crime (1995) The Search for the Snow Leopard (1996) Eye on Crime (1998) The Caribbean Cruise Caper (1999) The Hunt for the Four Brothers (1999) A Will to Survive (1999) Daredevils (1999) A Game Called Chaos (2000) Training for Trouble (2000) The End of the Trail (2000) Skin & Bones (2000) Crime in the Cards (2001) Past and Present Danger (2001) Trouble Times Two (2001) The Castle Conundrum (2001) Passport to Danger (2003) Warehouse Rumble (2004) The Dangerous Transmission (2004)
Casefiles	Dead on Target (1987) Evil, Inc. (1987) Cult of Crime (1987) See No Evil (1987) Street Spies (1988) Countdown to Terror (1989) Running on Empty (1990) The Last Laugh (1990) River Rats (1997)
Other series and titles	The Hardy Boys Detective Handbook (1959) The Clues Brothers (1997-2000) Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers (2005-12) The Hardy Boys Secret Files (2010-15) The Hardy Boys Adventures (2013-present) The Hardy Boys Clue Book (2016-present)
Crossovers	Be a Detective Mystery Stories (1984-85, with Nancy Drew) Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys Supermystery (1988-98, with Nancy Drew) Hardy Boys and Tom Swift Ultra Thriller (1992-93, with Tom Swift) Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Super Mystery Series (2007-12, with Nancy Drew)

Other media
Actors	Shaun Cassidy (Joe) Tim Considine (Frank) Rick Gates (Frank) Colin Gray (Joe) Byron Kane (Frank's voice) Reed Kailling (Frank) Tommy Kirk (Joe) Tim Matthieson (Joe) Dal Mckennon (Joe's voice) Paul Popowich (Frank) Parker Stevenson (Frank) Jeff Taylor (Joe)
Television	The Hardy Boys (The Mickey Mouse Club) Hardy Boys (animated) The Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew Mysteries The Hardy Boys (1995) The Hardy Boys (2020)
Video games	Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon The Creature of Kapu Cave Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys: Super Mystery (cancelled) The Tower Treasure Treasure on the Tracks