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Weasels Ripped My Flesh!: Two-Fisted Stories From Men's Adventure Magazines of the 1950s, '60s & '70s
From the jungles to the deserts to the mean city streets, the men's adventure magazines of the 1950s, '60s and '70s - pulpy periodicals like REAL MEN, MALE, MAN'S LIFE, TRUE MEN STORIES, UNTAMED, EXOTIC ADVENTURE and GUSTO - left no male fantasy or interest unexplored. War stories, exotic adventure yarns, "true, first-hand" accounts of white-knuckle clashes between man and beast, and spicy tales of sadistic frauleins and tropical white queens hungry for companionship ... topped off with salacious exposés of then-shocking subjects like free love, the Beat Generation, homosexuality, LSD and the secret horniness hidden in calypso lyrics.
Josh Alan Friedman (BLACK CRACKER) and Wyatt Doyle (STOP REQUESTED) join collector and historian Robert Deis of MensPulpMags.com for a guided safari through a jaw-dropping collection of classic men's adventure magazine stories in the first anthology from the genre ever published.
Packed with pulp fiction created by writers who later went on to greater fame, sensational illustrations by masters of men's pulp art and wacky ads taken from the magazines' back pages, WEASELS RIPPED MY FLESH! is your passport to a gonzo world where every dame was a femme fatale or a scantily-clad damsel in distress and manly men fought small mammals bare-handed.
Josh Alan Friedman (BLACK CRACKER) and Wyatt Doyle (STOP REQUESTED) join collector and historian Robert Deis of MensPulpMags.com for a guided safari through a jaw-dropping collection of classic men's adventure magazine stories in the first anthology from the genre ever published.
Packed with pulp fiction created by writers who later went on to greater fame, sensational illustrations by masters of men's pulp art and wacky ads taken from the magazines' back pages, WEASELS RIPPED MY FLESH! is your passport to a gonzo world where every dame was a femme fatale or a scantily-clad damsel in distress and manly men fought small mammals bare-handed.
- GenresFiction
436 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
4 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Robert Deis
58 books37 followersRobert "Bob" Deis is a pulp and pop culture historian who collects and writes about vintage men's adventure magazines (MAMs) and paperbacks published in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He co-edits, with indie book publisher Wyatt Doyle, the MEN'S AVENTURE LIBRARY book series. That series now includes over 20 illustrated story anthologies and art books. Bob also co-edits the MEN'S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY magazine with graphic designer and pop culture maven Bill Cunningham. The MAQ reprints MAM stories and artwork and discusses paperback, movie and TV shows related to each issue's theme. Bob and Bill also co-edit THE ART OF RON LESSER book series, which showcases Lesser's famed paperback cover art, historical artwork, and more recent paintings. Bob's main website is www.MensPulpMags.com. He also writes a blog about famous quotations, www.ThisDayinQuotes.com. Bob lives near Key West, Florida with his beautiful wife (who graciously tolerates his piles of old magazines and books), their three dogs and four cats.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 20, 2015
"Beginning around 1960 when I got out of the Air Force, I became a regular contributor to the men's adventure magazines. I typed out manuscripts on a manual typewriter, using typewriter paper, an eraser, carbon paper, cigarettes and booze." ~ Robert F. Dorr
You can't get much more manly than that.
Men's adventure magazines decorated the newsstands throughout the '50s, '60s and '70s.
Filled with stories and articles made to appeal to the masculine sex, the topics ranged from the horrors of war:
He kicked out, feeling his boot glance off the attacker's shin. The Red soldier stood firm, towering above him, and again raising the bayonet. Between the man's legs, Porter could see half a dozen more Chinese rushing his way. They were leveling their weapons to fire from the hip. Still unaware of approaching artillery blasts, Porter rolled again, trying to dodge the bayonet and at the same time to keep the first attacker as a shield between him and the others. Again the bayonet plunged into the dirt beside him, and this time he lashed out with both feet, throwing all his strength into the kick.*
to the horrors of weasels:
My blood - the taste of warm human blood excited them still further - and the weasels drew back in a cluster to drink it from my clothing. I felt a hairy tail cross my face and I opened my mouth and bit solidly on a leg. I heard a squeaking sound in my vagueness and opened my eyes to see drawn fangs gnashing before me.**
Indeed the terror posed by rampaging wildlife was so prevalent in the magazines, the book offers an alphabetized list of crazed critters - from alligators to wolves - that were featured in the pages. No one is safe from fauna at its fiercest! Even newts have managed to ravage their way onto the list.
Big--as a man's forearm--their beaks and talon claws impaled to the blonde's lower torso--there were six then, and more swimming around beneath her, climbing on, pyramiding, scratching the skirt and digging in.***
That's what happens when turtles go bad. You heard me.
Turtles.
Not every story involves animal attacks. Sex sells, and men's magazines did S-E-X big time! When women weren't busy being nibbled by newts, they needed saving from Nazis intent on using them in bizarre experiments.
Two of my favorite "sex" stories involved a man who discovers that being a " Slave of the Savage Blonde" is not nearly as much fun as it sounds, and the stereotype-filled I Went to a Lesbian Party. Supposedly written by "girl reporter" Joanne Beardon, it was undoubtedly penned by a lonely middle-aged male whilst sitting in his dreary apartment.
For all of the scantily clad babes, heaving bosoms and oozing testosterone, there's really very little actual sex in these stories. I'm assuming that it was fear of losing advertisers that kept the saucy scenes reading like schoolboy fantasies where the gal removes her top revealing her "globular breasts" before the story essentially fades to black, returning later to lit cigarettes and the ever-present threat of marauding manatees and such.
The layout of the book itself is terrific. There's an introduction to each story or article followed by a repro of the first pages as they originally appeared in the magazine. Generously sprinkled throughout are vintage ads featuring all things "male" - from screens for turning your b&w TV into living color to inflatable "living dolls." (Only $9,95! Comes with bikini, negligee and wig!)
This was a fun step back to a time when men were men, women were for ogling and the term "political correctness" had not yet been invented.
And newts were apparently a whole lot scarier.
*From Bayonet Killer of Heartbreak Ridge by Robert F. Dorr
**From Weasels Ripped My Flesh by Mike Kamens
***From Chewed to Bits by Giant Turtles by Vic Pate
You can't get much more manly than that.
Men's adventure magazines decorated the newsstands throughout the '50s, '60s and '70s.
Filled with stories and articles made to appeal to the masculine sex, the topics ranged from the horrors of war:
He kicked out, feeling his boot glance off the attacker's shin. The Red soldier stood firm, towering above him, and again raising the bayonet. Between the man's legs, Porter could see half a dozen more Chinese rushing his way. They were leveling their weapons to fire from the hip. Still unaware of approaching artillery blasts, Porter rolled again, trying to dodge the bayonet and at the same time to keep the first attacker as a shield between him and the others. Again the bayonet plunged into the dirt beside him, and this time he lashed out with both feet, throwing all his strength into the kick.*
to the horrors of weasels:
My blood - the taste of warm human blood excited them still further - and the weasels drew back in a cluster to drink it from my clothing. I felt a hairy tail cross my face and I opened my mouth and bit solidly on a leg. I heard a squeaking sound in my vagueness and opened my eyes to see drawn fangs gnashing before me.**
Indeed the terror posed by rampaging wildlife was so prevalent in the magazines, the book offers an alphabetized list of crazed critters - from alligators to wolves - that were featured in the pages. No one is safe from fauna at its fiercest! Even newts have managed to ravage their way onto the list.
Big--as a man's forearm--their beaks and talon claws impaled to the blonde's lower torso--there were six then, and more swimming around beneath her, climbing on, pyramiding, scratching the skirt and digging in.***
That's what happens when turtles go bad. You heard me.
Turtles.
Not every story involves animal attacks. Sex sells, and men's magazines did S-E-X big time! When women weren't busy being nibbled by newts, they needed saving from Nazis intent on using them in bizarre experiments.
Two of my favorite "sex" stories involved a man who discovers that being a " Slave of the Savage Blonde" is not nearly as much fun as it sounds, and the stereotype-filled I Went to a Lesbian Party. Supposedly written by "girl reporter" Joanne Beardon, it was undoubtedly penned by a lonely middle-aged male whilst sitting in his dreary apartment.
For all of the scantily clad babes, heaving bosoms and oozing testosterone, there's really very little actual sex in these stories. I'm assuming that it was fear of losing advertisers that kept the saucy scenes reading like schoolboy fantasies where the gal removes her top revealing her "globular breasts" before the story essentially fades to black, returning later to lit cigarettes and the ever-present threat of marauding manatees and such.
The layout of the book itself is terrific. There's an introduction to each story or article followed by a repro of the first pages as they originally appeared in the magazine. Generously sprinkled throughout are vintage ads featuring all things "male" - from screens for turning your b&w TV into living color to inflatable "living dolls." (Only $9,95! Comes with bikini, negligee and wig!)
This was a fun step back to a time when men were men, women were for ogling and the term "political correctness" had not yet been invented.
And newts were apparently a whole lot scarier.
*From Bayonet Killer of Heartbreak Ridge by Robert F. Dorr
**From Weasels Ripped My Flesh by Mike Kamens
***From Chewed to Bits by Giant Turtles by Vic Pate
February 4, 2013
Finally someone has lovingly collected a fantastic collection of stories (and ads, and illustrations, and "scholarly apparatus") from the men's adventure magazines that flourished through the 1950s and 60s before finally petering out in the awful early 1970s. These stories go right to the dark center of the post-war male American id, exploring and celebrating a world of fiendish Nazis and Japanese and Commies, many of whom apparently were sadistic and beautiful and scantily clad young women, and a world filled with ravenous snakes, thundering hippos, and hungry natives. As Satchmo sang: "What a wonderful world..."
Want to read
April 26, 2013This some crazy shit. -- Mark's brain.
January 27, 2013
This just arrived yesterday, and I was delighted to be able to read the short story behind the virally inexhaustible cover, which is the first piece in the anthology. "Weasels Ripped my Flesh" by Mike Kamens does not, in case you are wondering, have a happy ending. It encodes the damaged fatalism of the irretrievably scarred, with surprising stealth for such technicolor pulp.
April 18, 2021
WEASELS RIPPED MY FLESH is steroids in print. Many of us have stared at the covers of the post-WWII men's adventure magazines and pondered the meaning of "Chewed to Bits by Giant Turtles," "Grisley Rites of Hitler's Flesh Stripper," or "I Was a Slave of a Savage Blonde." Well, ponder no more. Robert Deis, with Josh Alan Friedman and Wyatt Doyle have assembled some of the best men's adventure stories ever written. Authors include Lawrence Block, Harlan Ellison, Mario Puzo, and Robert Silverberg. Although most of the stories are fictional, the writers try to convince the reader of their truth by using several narrative devices--and that's what draws the reader into the thrilling adventures. So if you think you're man or woman enough to face these harrowing tales, then this book is for you.
April 5, 2020
Excellent collection of stories from various men’s adventure magazines from the 1950’s through the 70’s. Mostly portrayed as true accounts they are based in truth and then spiced up with pulpy, bizarre sensationalism. Wild animal attacks, hunting adventures, war tales, jungle escapades and salacious encounters. The best of which combine all of these topics into one jaw-dropping, mind-bending yarn. This is just a small view into the wild world of men’s periodicals from that time period, but it is one crazy ride that you don’t want to stop.
February 22, 2019
Title story obviously amazing. Will you enjoy this book? I offer the following actual quote and greatest sentence ever written in the English language:
"I wake up in the middle of the night, scared stiff and sweating like a pig, and not until I've got the lights on do I believe that I'm not being strangled by insane monkeys."
"I wake up in the middle of the night, scared stiff and sweating like a pig, and not until I've got the lights on do I believe that I'm not being strangled by insane monkeys."
May 23, 2025
Ridiculous.
Over-the-top.
Violent.
Sexy.
Pure Fun!
Over-the-top.
Violent.
Sexy.
Pure Fun!
July 2, 2014
This is what I call a Dip In book. You dip in and read a couple of stories, articles, interviews, and then put it down. It is a great read! It can be a little overwhelming to read all at once with so much testosterone flowing across the pages. One can only take so many tales of weasels, turtles, monkeys, etc. attacking someone at one time. By just dipping in now and again you get the full impact of each tale. One big bonus is an interview with Mario Puzo. The author of the Godfather Trilogy rarely gave interviews on anything he did. Another bonus is the fun of reading the little ads along the sides of some of the pages. I won't spoil the fun by telling you what products they are for. Some are so over the top they are comedies! Others have just enough of the ring of truth that you do wonder if the war stories purported to be true may not have been so. (even though you know from certain interviews that they were usually completely made up) Also worth it to read some things by authors that later became well known. Some in very different genres. Authors like Robert Silverberg, Mario Puzo, Harlan Ellison, and Lawrence Block. I highly recommend it!
July 26, 2015
Loved this collection of stories from 60's men's adventure magazines. Like watching "Coming Atrractions" these terse tales just give you the juicy parts.Many were written under pseudonyms by writers who would find mainstream success liek Mario Puzo, Lawrence Block, and Harlan Ellison. Need I even mention the
cool artwork.
cool artwork.
November 13, 2014
I just wasn't made for these times.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews