Pulp | Eyestrain Productions

Interesting vintage pulp fiction can be gathered at dirt-cheap prices for the connoisseur willing to pick through endless piles of paperback trash at garage sales, church bazaars and estate clearances. For those less patient, plenty more can be had for higher premiums online and at savvy second-hand shops. Shane has accumulated hundreds of specimens with a particular focus on the mystery and crime genres. The more lurid the title and artwork, the better. Few of these forgotten novels are actually worth reading, but the cover paintings are often minor masterpieces of exploitation unto themselves. Many of these books should, despite popular wisdom, be judged by their covers. Because the covers are as good as most of them are ever going to get.

Certain obvious themes crop up again and again so, for clarity’s sake, covers are grouped by topic rather than publisher, author or artist. Artists are noted when their work is credited, which it frequently isn’t. Apologies are extended to the handful of late great authors who, once again, find themselves lumped into the same heap as some of the lowliest hacks of their era. Check the blog for notifications of new additions.

Bad Drivers

: The D.A. Goes to Trial, Erle Stanley Gardner, Pocket Books, New York, 1940, Reprinted 1949, Cover Art by Frank McCarthy

: The Devil Thumbs a Ride, Robert C. Du Soe, Avon Publishing, New York, 1938, Reprinted 1949

: My Flag Is Down, James Maresca, Bantam Books, New York, 1948, Reprinted 1950, Cover Art by Casey Jones

Bondage

: The Captive Women, Walter D. Edmonds, Bantam Books, New York, 1937, Reprinted 1947, Cover Art by Denver Gillen

: Death at Sea, Richard Sale, Popular Library, Montreal, 1940, Reprinted 1948

: One Lonely Night, Mickey Spillane, Signet Books, New York, 1951, Reprinted 1952

: Rampart Street, Everett and Olga Webber, Pocket Books, New York, 1948, Reprinted 1950

: The Rim of Terror, Hildegarde Tolman Teilhet, Bantam Books, New York, 1949, Reprinted 1950

: Sealed Room Murder, Rupert Penny, WM. Collins Sons & Co., London, 1945

Brutalized Women

: The Case of the Black-Eyed Blonde, Erle Stanley Gardner, Pocket Books, New York, 1944, Reprinted 1952, Cover Photo by Ted Navarro

: The Clue of the Forgotten Murder, Erle Stanley Gardner, Pocket Books, New York, 1934, Reprint 1953, Cover Art by Frank McCarthy

: The Dead Stay Dumb, James Hadley Chase, Harlequin Books, Toronto, 1951

: Mischief, Charlotte Armstrong, Pocket Books, Montreal, 1950, Reprinted 1952, Cover Art by Robert Hilbert

: Ten Days’ Wonder, Ellery Queen, Pocket Books, Montreal, 1948, Reprinted 1958, Cover Art by Clark Hurlings

Corpses and Crime Scenes

: The Body Missed the Boat, Jack Iams, Dell Publishing, New York, 1947

: The Case of the Untidy Murder, Frances and Richard Lockridge, Avon Publishing, New York, 1947, Reprinted 1950

: The Continental Op, Dashiell Hammett, Dell Publishing, New York, 1924, Reprinted 1945

: Death in the Fifth Position, Edgar Box, Signet Books, New York, 1952, Reprinted 1953

: Hidden Ways, Frederic F. Van de Water, Dell Publishing, New York, 1935, Reprinted circa 1944

: Ride the Pink Horse, Dorothy B. Hughes, Dell Publishing, New York, 1946

: Too Many Bones, Ruth Sawtell Wallis, Dell Publishing, New York, 1943

Femme Fatales

: Halo for Satan, John Evans, Bantam Books, New York, 1948, Reprinted 1950

: The Pitfall, Jay Dratler, Bantam Books, New York, 1947, Reprinted 1949, Cover Art by Peter Paul

: The Root of His Evil, James M. Cain, Avon Publishing, New York, 1951, Reprinted 1952

Fisticuffs

: Follow the Saint, Leslie Charteris, Avon Publications, New York, 1938, Reprinted 1953

: Stiffs Don’t Vote, Geoffrey Homes, Bantam Books, New York, 1941, Reprinted 1947, Cover Art by Hy Rubin

: Hazard, Roy Chanslor, Bantam Books, New York, 1947, Reprinted 1949, Cover Art by Bill Shoyer

: The Sea Wolf, Jack London, Pocket Books, Montreal, 1904, Reprinted 1945

Frightened Females

: The Big Clock, Kenneth Fearing, Bantam Books, New York, 1946, Reprinted 1949

: The D.A.’s Daughter, Herman Petersen, Harlequin Books, Winnipeg, 1943, Reprinted 1949

: His Dead Wife, Elizabeth Eastman, Lion Books, New York, 1948, Reprinted 1950

: I Take What I Want, Hal Ellson, Midwood, New York, 1958

Girls with Guns

: The Big Kill, Mickey Spillane, Signet Books, New York, 1951

: The Case of the Cautious Coquette, Erle Stanley Gardner, Pocket Books, Montreal, 1949, Reprinted 1954, Cover Photo by Silver Studio

: The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett, Permabooks, New York, 1929, Reprinted 1961

: Till Death Do Us Part, John Dickson Carr, Bantam Books, New York, 1944, Reprinted 1950

Interracial Intercourse

: If He Hollers Let Him Go, Chester B. Himes, Berkley Publishing, New York, 1945, Reprinted 1958

: Place Called Estherville, Erskine Caldwell, Signet Books, New York, 1949, Reprinted 1952

Lechery and Voyeurism

: Bedrooms Have Windows, Erle Stanley Gardner as A.A. Fair, Dell Publishing, New York, 1949, Cover Art by Mike Ludlow

: The Cautious Amorist, Norman Lindsay, Bantam Books, New York, 1932, Reprinted 1947, Cover Art by Van Kaufman

: Ellie’s Shack, Orrie Hitt, Beacon Books, New York, 1958

: Enter Without Desire, Ed Lacy, Avon Publishing, New York, 1954

: The Glass Room, Edwin Rolfe and Lester Fuller, Bantam Books, New York, 1946, Reprinted 1948, Cover Art by Al Werner

: The Last of Mr. Norris, Christopher Isherwood, Avon Publishing, New York, 1935, Reprint 1952

: The Wrong Turn, Daniel Harper, Avon Publications, New York, 1954

: Homeward Borne, Ruth Chatterton, Pocket Books, New York, 1950, Reprinted 1951, Cover Art by Arthur Sarnoff

: Dark Laughter, Sherwood Anderson, Pocket Books, Montreal, 1925, Reprinted 1953, Cover Art by Tom Dunn

Lesbians

: Queer Affair, Carol Emery, Beacon Books, New York, 1957

: Three Women, March Hastings, Beacon Books, New York, 1958

Naughty Girls

: Blaze, Scott Stone, Berkley Publishing, New York, 1954

: Call South 3300: Ask for Molly!, Orrie Hitt, Beacon Books, New York, 1958

: Count Me In, Fan Nichols, Berkley Publishing, New York, 1953, Reprinted 1959

: No Bed of Her Own, Cicely Schiller, Berkley Publishing, New York, 1947, Reprinted 1958

: Showroom Girls, Token West, Berkley Publishing, New York, 1950

: South Street, William Gardner Smith, Berkley Publishing, New York, 1954, Reprinted 1958

: Summer Hotel, Orrie Hitt, Beacon Books, New York, 1958

: Tabasco, John B. Thompson, Beacon Books, New York, 1959

Pain and Pistol Whippings

: Death at the Bar, Ngaio Marsh, Pocket Books, New York, 1940, Reprinted 1945

: It’s a Crime, Richard Ellington, Pocket Books, Montreal, 1948, Reprinted 1951, Cover Art by Paul Kresse

: Suitable for Framing, James Atlee Phillips, Pocket Books, 1949, Reprinted 1950, Cover Art by Harry Barton

Tough Guys

: Hell Cop, P.J. Wolfson, Berkley Publishing, New York, 1931, Reprinted 1960

: You Can’t Stop Me, William Ard, Popular Library, Toronto, 1952, Reprinted 1953

Weird Science

: Armageddon 2419 A.D., Philip Francis Nowlan, Ace Books, New York, 1928, Reprinted 1962, Cover Art by Ed Emsh

: The Explorers, C.M. Kornbluth, Ballantine Books, New York, 1954, Reprinted 1963

: The Green Hills of Earth, Robert A. Heinlein, Signet Books, New York, 1941, Reprinted 1953

: Metropolis, Thea Von Harbou, Ace Books, New York, 1927, Reprinted 1963, Cover Art by Jack Gaughan

: The Molecular Cafe, an anthology of Soviet science-fiction writers, MIR Publishers, Moscow, 1968

: The Puppet Masters, Robert A. Heinlein, Signet Books, New York, 1951, Reprinted 1953

: Rogue Queen, L. Sprague de Camp, Dell Publishing, New York, 1951, Cover Art by Mike Ludlow

: The Swordsman of Mars, Otis Adelbert Kline, Ace Books, New York, 1933, Reprinted 1960

: The Time Machine, H.G. Wells, Berkley Publishing, New York, 1895, Reprinted 1957

: The Time Raiders, Andre Norton, Ace Books, New York, 1958

Yellow Peril

: The Chinese Room, Vivian Connell, Bantam Books, New York, 1942, Reprinted 1950, Cover Art by Ben Stahl

: Re-Enter Fu Manchu, Sax Rohmer, Gold Medal Books, Greenwich, 1957

: Twelve Chinks and a Woman, James Hadley Chase, Harlequin Books, Toronto, 1952

: White Coolies, Betty Jeffrey, Panther, London, 1954, New Edition 1959, Reprinted 1961, Cover Art by J.P.L. Kickhefer