Author of pulp stories, primarily for Black Mask, Horace McCoy is mainly remembered for his dark, tragic, and occasionally violent novels, several of which have been made into notable films. A memorable work of noir fiction and a classic film is They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1935), filmed in 1969 with Sydney Pollack as the director, which achieved its aim of illustrating the pain and hopelessness of the Great Depression, using a marathon dance contest as a metaphor, with the exhausting and pointless expenditure of energy for participants being analogous to the plight of the majority of Americans; No Pockets in a Shroud (1937) was filmed in France in 1975.

Novels:
I Should Have Stayed Home
No Pockets in a Shroud
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye

Short Stories:
Bombs for the General
Frost Rides Alone
Trapped by Silver
The Mopper-Up