Paperback Fanatic #28

[dem bones]

No fanfare, not so much as a whisper there was a new one iminent, but look what just glided through the letterbox!

Justin Marriott (ed.) - Paperback Fanatic #28 (Jan, 2014).

Here's the basics.

Justin Marriott - Fanatical Thoughts. Editorial

Fanatical Mails: Colin Clynes, Lynn Munroe, Dianne Francis, Rob Matthews, Chris Elliott-Cannon, Tom Tesarek, Von doom, Andy Boot, Kev Demant, Nigel Taylor, Ian Millstead, Jim Walker.

Justin Marriott - Don't Let Your Wife, Girlfriend, Or Mistress Read This Article!: History of Chicago based sleaze publishers, Novel Books (Female Psycho Ward!!!, Nympho Lodge, Torture Love-Cage, etc.).

Justin Marriott - Armada Of Horror. A terrify the small special. Christine Bernard's Amanda Ghost anthologies, Chetwynd-Hayes Monsters series, Ramsey Campbell's The Gruesome Book & many more.

Pat Black - Nightmare. Mary Danby's horror trilogy for younger readers of all ages.

Justin Marriott - Artists Assembled: The Sequel: The comic/ paperback crossover. Continued from previous issue.

Justin Marriott - The Juvies: Teensploitation. Get ready to rumble with the cosh boys, teds, hula hulas, Mary Lou's & Co.

Justin Marriott - The Wizard Of Gore: Those blood-splattered Hershell G. Lewis tie-ins.

Lynn Munroe - Fargo. Misadventures of John Benteen's presumably lonesome cowboy.

Graham Andrews - Have Blaster, Will Travel. Richard L. Prather's 'Shell Scott' PI novels.

Justin Marriott - Monster: Why Nelson De Mille's tough cops, Ryker & Keller were "effectively the same character." Incorporates 'The Edson T. Hamill Rykers, published after De Mille quit for Manor books. The Child Killer, The Sadist, The Slasher and - what were they thinking of - Motive For Murder.

Joe Kenney - Glorious Trash: Ryker: A second appraisal of the above.

Unfortunately, the bride immediately snagged the copy to engross herself in Don't Let Your Wife, Girlfriend, Or Mistress Read This Article!, but I should be able to get down to business shortly.

Thank you for cheering me up, Mr. Cultprint!

[droogie]

Great to see 2000 Maniacs on the cover; looking forward to reading the article!

[severance]

My copy hasn't turned up yet, so I'm a bit bemused to see my name in the list of contributors to the letters column - because I've no memory of sending one!!

[dem bones]

Jan 31, 2014 23:58:34 GMT severance said:

My copy hasn't turned up yet, so I'm a bit bemused to see my name in the list of contributors to the letters column - because I've no memory of sending one!!

Yep, you're in there Sev. Just swiped this copy back from la belle dem sans merci - grief, that Novel Books article must be interesting - and, as you would expect, it's another feast for the eyes. Have just finished reading the Armada Ghost/ Monsters retrospective - sure to have some garbage to write about that later. Better still, Don't Let Your Wife, Girlfriend, Or Mistress Read This Article!, the aforementioned enthusiastic, affectionate and very funny Novel Books retrospective.

" ....That certainly wasn't the case with Novel covers, which nowadays look like cut-and-paste punk fanzines put together by your randy uncle. Crude collages, mixing illustrations, photographs, and bold type face were typical. A colour palatte of eye-melting bright pinks, reads and yellows were a must. Sheets of flames a recurring device, as were women being chased across the cover."

A cruel reminder of all we've lost to "tasteful" presentation, if ever was.

[pulphack]

Another very good issue, and one that couldn't be mistaken for having mainstream content... as an aside before we start, that question is still a good one: at which point does a magazine lose its ability to travel the byways and become content with the main road? Despite the fact that PF deals with things on the fringes of mainstream, it never stays on the motorway when there's a B-road with better scenery, and anyway, the letters column proves that none of us reading will ever agree on what the hell mainstream is! So it's down to Justin's fevered imagination, I suppose, and it hasn't let anyone down yet... why do I keep humming Kraftwerk?... anyway...

Right across the spectrum on this issue, which is what I tend to prefer. The Mary Danby and Armada pieces were an excellent introduction to juvenile anthologies, which passed me by when I was that age - I think I was too busy looking for the mucky bits in adult paperbacks - but which make me feel like I missed out on something. The notion that these had appeal for working class kids is vital - much as I like old school stories and their ilk, and read them voraciously, there was always the feeling that it was another world that no-one I knew came in contact with. Making the protagonists more 'real' must have been a major step at the time.

The piece on Juvies was particularly strong - I know nothing about this genre, and I now want to read Hal Ellson, as he sounds years ahead of his time and unfairly neglected. It's never really appealed as US pop culture of the fifties didn't grab me like the sixties did, and like a lot of people I've flicked through books at fairs and confused Ellson and Ellison. Which is bad, as Harlan Ellison may be a great writer, but coming across like a complete knob has always put me off his work. Then I did read him, and couldn't see what people like Moorcock see in him. I'm pleased to see I'm not completely alone in not liking or getting him!

Artists Assemble brought back happy memories, as I recognised a lot of the covers from my SF reading childhood days (which is probably why I never read any of the Armadas, come to think of it), and there was some wonderful stuff. My mate Paul has a massive collection of Dragons Dream SF art books (and similar) amassed over many years, and it was a bit of a golden age. He's always telling me that computers made life easier for comic artists, but also led to a uniformity of look, and on my admittedly limited experience of modern comics and cover art I think he may have a point. Also spotted Julian Jay Savarin in there, with the cover of the second Lemmus book - I read the first years back when I also had a bootleg of the accompanying prog rock album on which Mr Savarin also wields a mean Hammond. There can't be too many novelists who have also made albums to go with their books!

The piece on Novel books - and the accompanying HG Lewis piece - aren't up my street reading wise, but were actually rather incredible! HGL has always come across in interviews as witty and smart, and it's a pity I don't like his movies. I wish I did. The books must be very strange as reads, given how the films are completely about the visual effects! But it was the main piece that was really interesting - the graphic style Novel used was very unlike other paperback sleaze publishers, sure, but has loads in common with the style of adult movie posters from that period. Some years back a sumptuously produced pink hardback from some Dutch artbook publisher passed through my hands which reproduced about a decades-worth of such posters, and that cut'n'paste fanzine style was very much the way they were produced, with the same preponderance of hyperbolic type and lots of reds and yellows against collaged photographs. I wonder if Novel or an affiliated company also had a hand in film distribution and so produced those posters, or whether it was a decision to go against the prevailing paperback sleaze trend and so catch the stag movie market? Cack-handed and crass they may have been,but their very crudity makes them really distinctive.

Finally, the stuff that really was up my street - Nelson DeMille, Ryker, and Ben Haas' Fargo series. I've never been a big western fan, but reading the precis of some of the books was a reminder that all action fiction is basically the same, and it's only really a question of which setting you prefer - UK/US/Europe, ancient or modern, etc. The whole saga of shoot 'em up cops and vigilantes coming out of US paperback houses in the '70's is a fascinating piece of publishing history the like of which we'll never see again, and it's always good to see Len Levison - a man whose talent and wit even on interesting substances makes his work distinctive - get a shout. I can see why Ryker may have been disappointing to Executioner et al fans at the time, but I'll wager that its grit has made it age better. And then of course there was Richard Prather... I used to read Shel Scott when I was a kid - I believe it was Five Star, that doyen of Woolies bargain bin, that reprinted some here in the 60's and early '70's - and considering how big he was (if he really did do those figures blurbed then, which I see no reason to doubt now), it has always puzzled me as to why he's just slipped away and never really seen reprints. The answer, it seems, lies in a willful eccentricity that knackered his career and messed with the things he was good at in his work. A lesson to all writers of junk who get pretensions - don't dismiss them, but at least learn to temper them! It was a superb piece, as we've come to expect from Mr Andrews. So, a little moderation in pushing your message, or else I suppose you could just follow the dictum that Mike Love was supposed to have kept as a mantra when Brian Wilson was making 'Smile' - "don't fuck with the formula!".

[dem bones]

Somewhere out there in the universe there must be another mag that would think nothing of running an article on children's ghost stories back-to-back with a celebration of a sleaze publisher (and sandwich them between cover scans of the original The Two Thousand Maniacs paperback), but, by beelzebub, it has eluded me so far. Yes, another wildly eclectic issue of Paperback Fanatic, the definitive guide to just about all things pulp fiction and (provided you're wearing a standard issue shoplifter coat) an art gallery in your pocket.

Let's get stuck in!

Peter Archer (?) painting depicting a tense scene from Syd Bounds' The Ghost Train

The Armada of Horror celebrates the Christine Bernard/ Mary Danby edited Armada Ghost Books with some 'non-fiction' Peter Haining and Chetwynd-Hayes' Armada Monster series thrown in. Bar the late, great Mr. Haining's accounts of the oh so factual the Vampire of Croglin Grange, Justin avoided these as a kid in favour of the parent/ teacher alienating Richard Allen & GNS paperbacks and we can't say he's a bad judge: If you're looking for gore, violence, and mayhem, you'll not find them in the likes of, say, Sorche Nic Leodhas's Sandy MacNeil and His Dog or R. C. H.'s Brownie. From personal experience, but for the fail-safe reprints and the occasional modern stand-out, the series doesn't really get going until around volumes seven or eight when at least some of the regular contributors let themselves go a little. There's still no bad sex, torture chambers or entrails, but there is an attempt at something that might actual SCARE the tiny ones and the happy ending is no longer a given (though there are still way too many). Our man Mr. Brewer has identified the superb Alison Prince as some kind of symptom of, if not catalyst for this shifting of target audience from very young adult to the more inclusive young adult of all ages. A disappointed Mr. Fanatic - who has clearly tried his best to like the books: he is particularly complimentary toward Christine Pullein-Thompson and her spectral & skeletal ponies - concludes his piece with a reference to The Green Ghost & Others as a suggested entry point, and you'll get no disagreement from me. As Pat Black points out in his enthusiastic Nightmares companion piece, Mary Danby upped the ante with her next kids' series.

A Novel Book. Any review could only be superfluous.

Had never seen cover scans of any of the original Novel book editions of Herschell Gordon Lewis's tie-ins, though i've read the Fantaco reissue of Blood Feast, which, like the film, was ... an experience not for the faint-hearted (or easily bored). Lewis and his cinema art make for great copy - David J. Hogan devotes a laugh out loud funny chapter to his life and crimes versus niceness in Dark Romance: Sex And Death In The Horror Film - but Two Thousand Maniacs is maybe more fun to read about than actually experience, or so it seems to me.

The Juvies compares and contrasts the Juvenile Delinquent novels & shorts of Hal Ellson and pre-® Harlan Ellison, reaching a verdict likely to have the latter come over even more curmudgeonly than ever. I'm sure this will not be the last we see of the teenage cosh boys and switch-blade hell-cats in PF.

To be continued - haven't finished reading everything yet, so deliberately skipped Mr. Hack's post for time being.

[Craig Herbertson]

I just feel ashamed that I've never bought one of these fantastic mags. If the issue with the Burroughs section ever turns up please let me know.

[cauldronbrewer]

Jan 31, 2014 12:29:24 GMT dem bones said:

Justin Marriott - Armada Of Horror. A terrify the small special. Christine Bernard's Amanda Ghost anthologies, Chetwynd-Hayes Monsters series, Ramsey Campbell's The Gruesome Book & many more.

Pat Black - Nightmare. Mary Danby's horror trilogy for younger readers of all ages.

This sounds very tempting. In fact, I just ordered a copy.

[dem bones]

Feb 8, 2014 16:38:32 GMT cauldronbrewer said:

Jan 31, 2014 12:29:24 GMT dem bones said:

Justin Marriott - Armada Of Horror. A terrify the small special. Christine Bernard's Amanda Ghost anthologies, Chetwynd-Hayes Monsters series, Ramsey Campbell's The Gruesome Book & many more.

Pat Black - Nightmare. Mary Danby's horror trilogy for younger readers of all ages.

This sounds very tempting. In fact, I just ordered a copy.

... in which case, will leave any further comment on those particular items until you've read them.

As is so often the case, it was the articles about stuff in which I've not the slightest interest, proved among the most interesting, a case in point being Have Blaster - Will Travel. Graham Andrews argues a strong case for Richard S. Prather's 'Shell Scott' novels as weird fiction, specifically borderline SF, which might possibly raise a few eyebrows among the mystery community. My woeful knowledge of these books amounts to an aborted attempt on Always Leave 'Em Dying so not in any position to comment. Scott was once defined by former Playboy editor Alice K. Turner as an "LA private detective whose politics lie to the right side of Hitler's " (The Paperback Hero, in Dilys Winn's super Murder Ink: The Mystery Reader's Companion, Westbridge, Sept. 1977), though. from his correspondence with Mr. Andrews, Mr. Prather intended his alter-ego as the voice of conservatism ..... Anyway, Graham does a great job of selling Scott's several campaigns versus scientists of the mad, evil, or misguided variety, and Dead Man's Walk - in Mr. Andrews' opinion, "one of the best novels ever written about voodoo" - is surely one to look out for. But the real story is, of course, Prather himself.

Am glad Mr. Fanatic did not make good on his threat to drop part two of the marathon 'Artist's Assemble' feature if the readers showed little appetite for it (turns out he had nothing to worry about). The Weird Tales special remains a personal favourite, but I can sympathise with those for whom 'the unique magazine' holds no particular interest, and running the material over two issues - interspersed with plenty of non-related material - seems the best way to go as far as these specials are concerned.

Fanatical Mails continues to educate, entertain and stimulate debate in roughly equal measure. Pulphack's ".... I am not the standard Fanatic subscriber" made me wonder if there really is such an entity? The readers' page suggests a very diverse bunch in terms of background, walk of life, interests 'literary' or otherwise, the one common denominator being a shared love and respect for genre fiction and those who create(d), publish(ed) or illustrate(d) it. And, for me at least, this diversity is PF's strength.

Probably fair to say that the editor's "call to arms" email met with a suitably impassioned response, likewise Stephen Sennitt's no less sincere airing of concerns in #27 (Jim Walker's reply is especially level-headed). Not sure I agree with Nigel Taylor's verdict on Night Of The Living Dead, in fact, pure and simple, I don't. Sure, I Am Legend was an influence, but Romero & Russo subvert Matheson's original storyline to create something entirely their own, though, with the deepest respect, you'd have to watch it through to the end to appreciate that. Have only just got used to the idea that there are fans out there who complain when their 'horror' stories actually contain scenes of horror, and now you're telling me they are not allowed to be "depressing","seedy" or even "shoddy"? That doesn't leave much wriggle room.

I'm still not done ...

[mcannon]

My copy arrived in today's post, though I haven't opened the mailing bag yet - looking forward to the issue!

[jamesdoig]

Feb 10, 2014 7:30:58 GMT mcannon said:

My copy arrived in today's post, though I haven't opened the mailing bag yet - looking forward to the issue!

Me too!

[cauldronbrewer]

Feb 5, 2014 22:04:09 GMT dem bones said:

The Armada of Horror celebrates the Christine Bernard/ Mary Danby edited Armada Ghost Books with some 'non-fiction' Peter Haining and Chetwynd-Hayes' Armada Monster series thrown in. Bar the late, great Mr. Haining's accounts of the oh so factual the Vampire of Croglin Grange, Justin avoided these as a kid in favour of the parent/ teacher alienating Richard Allen & GNS paperbacks and we can't say he's a bad judge: If you're looking for gore, violence, and mayhem, you'll not find them in the likes of, say, Sorche Nic Leodhas's Sandy MacNeil and His Dog or R. C. H.'s Brownie. From personal experience, but for the fail-safe reprints and the occasional modern stand-out, the series doesn't really get going until around volumes seven or eight when at least some of the regular contributors let themselves go a little. There's still no bad sex, torture chambers or entrails, but there is an attempt at something that might actual SCARE the tiny ones and the happy ending is no longer a given (though there are still way too many). Our man Mr. Brewer has identified the superb Alison Prince as some kind of symptom of, if not catalyst for this shifting of target audience from very young adult to the more inclusive young adult of all ages. A disappointed Mr. Fanatic - who has clearly tried his best to like the books: he is particularly complimentary toward Christine Pullein-Thompson and her spectral & skeletal ponies - concludes his piece with a reference to The Green Ghost & Others as a suggested entry point, and you'll get no disagreement from me. As Pat Black points out in his enthusiastic Nightmares companion piece, Mary Danby upped the ante with her next kids' series.

Not much to add to this, other than that I greatly enjoyed both articles and all of the cover reproductions. I appreciate that Justin gave the Armada series a chance, even if it ultimately didn't do much for him. The class angle provided for some interesting discussion. Not surprisingly, I agree that The Green Ghost & Others is a logical starting point. The Nightmares trilogy is a cut above much of the Armada material, and I thought Pat Black's essay did it justice.

[Deleted]

This was an idea I came up with for the PF, alas, could never find the time to write it. Well, I have a page and a half of notes and an interview with Mary D and Terry Tapp...that's as far as I got.

[cauldronbrewer]

Speaking of Mary Danby, Justin's discussion of the Carolyn Lloyd anthologies prompted me to do some research about them. I see that one of them, Animal Ghosts (1971) includes a story by Danby, "Jumo and the Giraffe." An Internet search also indicates that this story was reprinted in another anthology, Scary Stories for Seven Year Olds (1998, ed. Helen Paiba; it also includes Sydney J. Bounds's "The Haunted Cave"). Has anyone read it? I suspect that it's probably not a particularly scary story, but I'm still curious about it.

[Deleted]

Mary asked me not to include Jumo in her collection. It's very slight.