Paperbacks from Hell

Grady Hendrix turns another trick by showing us all he can do nonfiction as well as fiction. Let me tell you I've never been so enthralled hearing about splatter gore and BDSM leprechauns but I absolutely came out of it with more interest in the genre as a whole. My to-read list definitely grew!

This is a brisk, thoroughly entertaining look at the heyday of straight-to-paperback horror fiction. Grady Hendrix is often snarky about the books and the over-the-top excesses of their plots, but his affection and enthusiasm for the subject material comes across loud and clear. This book also deserves praise for the attention devoted to lurid cover artwork and skilled artists that played such a critical role in moving these books off the shelves. This book is an easy recommendation for any horror fan. It will make you want to scour your local used bookstore.

Quick impressions: Grady Hendrix, with Will Errickson, present a history of horror fiction paperbacks from the 1970s and 1980s. If you lived during that era, and you are a horror reader, odds are you've read and even enjoyed some of the books highlighted. If you are not a horror reader, but you lived during the time, odds are you do remember some of those paperback book covers. Paperbacks From Hell is just about the stories; it is also about the cover art and the artists who made them. This is what folks mean when they say they don't make them like that anymore.

Full review on my blog later.

Beautiful book, and Hendrix is a pretty good writer. Too glib for my tastes, would've really enjoyed something played more or less straight.