My girlfriend, K, recently organized our library of books (in true ex-barnes and noble employee style) that we keep in two, ceiling-high bookshelves – it was a nice surprise to be able to see what we owned again!

One such book I found was The Hidden Harbor Mystery (Hardy Boys, Book 14)

I flipped through it and realized why I wanted it in the first place: the compelling title! Don’t get me wrong; the Hardy Boys series are exciting and original classics, but I’m more interested in taking a look at one of the last pages of this book, where the order form and list of the 58 original Hardy Boys Mystery Stories resides.

If possible, I highly recommend that all screenwriters – especially those interested in mystery – check out the Hardy Boys series – not only are the titles exciting and masterful, but the imagery and stories themselves are inspirational and classic.

For those that can’t experience the book in person, I’ve made a list of the 58 originals below – study the titles and try to create your own compelling titles for your screenplay – as talked about earlier in Creating Compelling Screenplay Titles, creating a title that sparks the imagination of curiosity of your reader could mean the difference between landing on the top of the submission pile and not getting read for weeks upon weeks. For more on this, check out 10 ways to Impress a Script Reader.

Notice that each title poses some kind of intrigue – the title sparks your curiosity to discover what or who it’s all about and what happens in the end – classic!

The original 58 action packed Hardy Boys Mystery Stories!

1. Tower Treasure
2. House on the Cliff
3. Secrete of the Old Mill
4. Missing Chums
5. Hunting for Hidden Gold
6. Shore Road Mystery
7. Secret of the Caves
8. Mystery of Cabin Island
9. Great Airport Mystery
10. What Happened at midnight
11. While the Clock Ticked
12. Footprints Under the Window
13. Mark on the Door
14. Hidden Harbor Mystery – The book I found!
15. Sinister Sign Post
16. A Figure in Hiding
17. Secret Warning
18. Twisted Claw
19. Disappearing Floor
20. Mystery of the Flying Express
21. The Clue of the Broken Blade
22. The Flickering Torch Mystery
23. Melted Coins
24. Short-Wave Mystery
25. Secret Panel
26. The Phantom Freighter
27. Secret of Skull Mountain
28. The Sign of the Crooked Arrow
29. The Secret of the Lost Tunnel
30. Wailing Siren Mystery
31. Secret of Wildcat Swamp
32. Crisscross Shadow
33. The Yellow Feather Mystery
34. The Hooded Hawk Mystery
35. The Clue in the Embers
36. The Secret of Pirates Hill
37. Ghost at Skeleton Rock
38. Mystery at Devil’s Paw
39. Mystery of the Chinese Junk
40. Mystery of the Desert Giant
41. Clue of the Screeching Owl
42. Viking Symbol Mystery
43. Mystery of the Aztec Warrior
44. The Haunted Fort
45. Mystery of the Spiral Bridge
46. Secret Agent on Flight 101
47. Mystery of the Whale Tattoo
48. The Arctic Patrol Mystery
49. The Bombay Boomerang
50. Danger on Vampire Trail
51. The Masked Monkey
52. The Shattered Helmet
53. The Clue of the Hissing Serpent
54. The Mysterious Caravan
55. The Witchmaster’s Key
56. The Jungle Pyramid
57. The Firebird Rocket
58. The Sting of the Scorpion