Paperbacks From Hell (Book)
Written by Grady Hendrix
Distributed by Quirk Books
Believe the hype. It’s for REAL this time. Paperbacks from Hell is, indeed, the very best horror novel reference material on the shelves right now, bar none. Everyone is talking about it, Facebook is damn near overrun with posts about it, and you should be running out and buying it. But, let me back up a little, first.
Growing up, I had a pretty sweet deal with my parents. For every “classic” I read, they would buy me a book of my choice, pretty much anything. As a result, a trip to the bookstore would result in The Hobbit paired with Deathbringer, Catcher in the Rye with Slugs, and Hamlet with Slay Bells. In order to read the lurid half of these odd pairings, I gladly slogged through what, at the time, I thought was junk (I know better now). Soon, and with a little allowance money, I was collecting every single book splashed with blood and the associated monsters I could find at the bookstore, no matter how outlandish. Needless to say, over time I amassed an enormous collection of the precursors to splatterpunk that came out in the ‘70s and ‘80s and developed a deep and abiding love of the genre. I thought I was an expert. I was wrong. Hendrix has me beat by a long shot.
When I caught wind of the buzz surrounding Grady Hendrix’s love letter to these twisted paperbacks I have been hording for so long, I knew I had to have it in my collection. The day it showed up on my doorstep, I cracked it open to see how good it could possibly be, and I didn’t put it down until I had finished it that evening. No lie. This thing should have a bright-red warning sticker on the cover, it is THAT addictive. It is the literary equivalent of potato chips (but with some kind of gory dip to go with them).
Hendrix breaks down the history and macabre subcategories of the horror novel scene of the ‘70s and ‘80s, giving a little peek into their start with the gothic romances of the ‘50s and ‘60s before he compartmentalizes the genre into areas such as “Hail, Satan” (authors capitalizing on rampant Satanic Panic at the time), “When Animals Attack” (everything from killer crabs and maggots from hell), and “Creepy Kids” (Damien, anyone?), as well as many others.
The glossy book lovingly presents the amazing (Spawn), disgusting (Blood Worm), and downright hysterical (Death Tour) covers of these books in great detail, but where the reference really shines is Hendrix’s descriptions of the outrageous plots of these tomes. If the author is as funny in person as he is detailing the mind-bogglingly weird storylines, I’d absolutely pay to see him do standup comedy. However, don’t get me wrong…he is not slagging these books by any stretch of the imagination. It is clear from his prose, his attention to detail, and his approach to covering even books like Satan’s Pets or Seed of Evil that he has actually read these books and loves them like we do. This is no horrific smear campaign… this is clearly devotion.
For me, reading this book was sort of akin to playing a horror version of Pokémon (gotta catch ‘em all!). As I flipped the pages, I found myself poking at the illustrations, saying: “Got it, got it, need it, got it, need it.” Paperbacks from Hell is a virtual checklist for collecting the gonzo horror novels that stocked store shelves when we were growing up. Whether you love the head-snakingly weird covers that adorned these books or whether you want an informative and yet hysterically funny read, Paperbacks from Hell should be a welcome addition to the bookshelves of any true horror buff.
-
Book
Categorized:Reviews
