Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix

Paperbacks from Hell is novelist Grady Hendrix’s love letter to the legion of lurid horror paperbacks that terrorized book stores in the 1970s and 1980s. This book is a wild ride through a warped era that brought us novels about Nazi leprechauns (The Little People by John Christopher), bloodthirsty pigs (The Farm by Richard Haig), and much, much more.

These cheap paperbacks were known for their intriguing covers and wild plots, not for their literary acumen. Stephen King once famously stated, “I am the literary equivalent of a big mac and fries.” If that’s true, than the books in Paperbacks from Hell are the equivalent of a greasy cheeseburger from a shady fast food joint located on the edge of a forgotten town. You know that burger is bad for you, but damn if it doesn’t taste freakin’ good.

Unforgettable Cover Art Helped Propel Sales…

Paperbacks from Hell is adorned with glorious vintage horror cover art. Publishers of this era used creepy and provocative artwork to make their books stand out on the shelf. Several common trends are apparent in Hendrix’s book. Creepy monsters, skeletons, and corpses were all commonly featured on covers. Many of the novels also use sex appeal. Numerous covers depict beautiful women wearing little (if any) clothing.

Book publishers put tremendous effort into these covers. This parallels what film producers did with VHS covers in the ’80s. The motivation, of course, was the same: to increase sales by enticing people with memorable cover art.

Paperbacks from Hell is a wide ranging survey of the era. It’s filled with numerous brief descriptions of hundreds of novels. Anyone who is looking for in-depth reviews isn’t going to find that here. Hendrix clearly wanted to pack in as many novels as possible, leaving little room for extensive commentary on individual titles. His book favors quantity over quality in that regard.

…But Cool Covers Weren’t Enough to Stop An Eventual Decline

Of course, all good things eventually come to an end. Hendrix details the early ’90s sales drop that spelled the end of this era. The decline paralleled a similar fate for horror movies during this time period.

The market had become oversaturated with stale, cliched retreads. Readers were burned out. Cheap paperbacks that had once sold like hot cakes were now relegated to the bottom of the bargain bin.

Horror films experienced a commercial resurgence in the late ’90s, but their literary counterparts never quite regained their previous popularity. Of course, there are still plenty of bestselling horror novels today. Hendrix himself is proof of that. But the specific types of horror novels featured in Paperbacks from Hell are mostly obsolete.

Rating

Hendrix’s affection for, and fascination with, these books is what makes Paperbacks from Hell special. His amusing descriptions of the novels, combined with the colorful cover images, makes Paperbacks from Hell an engrossing and entertaining read.

Rating from 1 (avoid at all costs) to 10 (masterpiece): 9