Paperbacks from Hell cover art

Paperbacks from Hell

The Twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction

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Paperbacks from Hell

By: Grady Hendrix, Will Errickson - contributor
Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
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About this listen

Take a tour through the horror paperback novels of two iconic decades...if you dare. Hear shocking plot summaries that invoke devil worship, satanic children, and haunted real estate! Horror author and vintage paperback book collector Grady Hendrix offers killer commentary and witty insight on these trashy thrillers that tried so hard to be the next Exorcist or Rosemary's Baby. Complete with story summaries and artist and author profiles, this unforgettable volume dishes on familiar authors like V. C. Andrews and R. L. Stine, plus many more who've faded into obscurity. Also included are recommendations for which of these forgotten treasures are well worth your listening time and which should stay buried.

©2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Literary History & Criticism Witty Fiction Scary Horror Fiction
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It was a trip down memory lane for books I read and enjoyed as a teen and above all, reignited interest and hopefully sales for a lot of authors. One I picked up and started due to this was Let's Go Play at the Adams. I may live to regret it :O - One side note is that it's so easy to find spoilers when looking up these books. At least Grady gives a warning in his introduction, which for me will be an epilogue.
I found it interesting turning our attention to the cover artists and other aspects of book publishing. These artworks surely contributed to buying the work but we generally don't know much about the artists even though it was a substantial appeal of the books and metal albums I liked.
It goes a little further into the 90s and beyond and I was going to be a very unhappy customer with only a lame one sentence mention of Poppy Z. Brite until this was later redeemed around the final chapter. At the time of reading Lost Souls, Anne Rice was the queen of vampires, who were so sophisticated and aristocratic. Then Poppy came along and knocked us out with her in your face goth characters and gore, and we were never the same again. Well not everyone. see Twilight.
If there were a sequel of sorts, there could be mention of some of the new, hardcore writers like Edward Lee who messed up horror for me. I am not even sure I liked the first book of his I was lent a copy of and told to read but it made all the authors I did like read like children's books. A couple of years later and I can get back into books I appreciate the characters and story like Joe Hill and discovered Grady Hendrix who I'm enjoying reading a lot.

What's not to like

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loved hearing about how horror books used to be and how the bad guys, monsters, etc have changed over the years. A very entertaining listen.

Hidden gems from the past

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