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The Blood 'n' Thunder Guide to Pulp Fiction
During the 20th century’s first half, millions of Americans flocked to newsstands every month in search of thrills provided by all-fiction magazines printed on cheap pulp paper. These periodicals introduced and popularized such famous characters as Tarzan, Zorro, Sam Spade, Buck Rogers, Doc Savage, Hopalong Cassidy, and Conan the Barbarian, to name just a few. The producers of pulp fiction churned out their vigorous and occasionally outré stories at a feverish pace, generally for a mere penny per word. Some eventually graduated from the pulps to become world-famous, best-selling authors—among them Edgar Rice Burroughs, Max Brand, Erle Stanley Gardner, Ray Bradbury, Louis L’Amour, Dashiell Hammett, and Raymond Chandler. Often derided in their own time, the “rough paper” magazines had an incalculable effect on American pop culture. They gave birth to modern science fiction and the hardboiled detective story, but also to plot devices, character types, and storytelling innovations that live on in today’s most popular novels, movies, and TV shows. Illustrated with more than 600 magazine covers and original paintings, THE BLOOD 'N' THUNDER GUIDE TO PULP FICTION presents a complete and lively history of this unique literary form, covering genres individually and identifying key titles, authors, and stories. It also offers advice on collecting the vintage magazines and directs readers to recently published reprints of classic pulp.
- GenresHistoryPulpNonfiction
426 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 22, 2021
It took me many weeks to read this book because it is so full of great information as well as a great sampling of pulp covers. At over 400 pages and oversized, it is a lot of value. Whether you collect pulp magazines from the past or are just interested in the history (which is where I stand) there's something for everyone with an interest in the subject.
January 10, 2014
Following in the wake of the film "Pulp Fiction," many people plunged into the world of pulp fiction magazines, but most of those people became neither collectors nor readers. Would-be collectors found the magazines expensive, fragile and not a good short-term investment; readers also found the magazines expensive, but the stories themselves were often poorly written, sometimes crudely plotted with no characterization to speak of, and in most cases calling the tales "politically incorrect" hardly did them justice. However, enough people have discovered and appreciated the pleasures of pulp fiction to cause a bloom in the market, and reprinting the old stories (many of which have entered the public domain) has become quite a cottage industry for enterprising publishers, bringing once-lost fiction to a new audience in an age when short fiction is at its nadir.
In "The Blood 'N' Thunder Guide to Pulp Fiction" you will learn all about the old pulp magazines, the people who published them, and the people who wrote for them. The book attempts to strike a balance between collectors and readers, pointing out which issues are most collectible while educating the general reader about the world which gave birth to the magazines. Two things that surprised me was the frequency with which some of the magazines were published and the number of people they reached. Many 300-400 magazines were published on a bi-weekly or even weekly basis, with each issue containing at least 75,000 words of fiction. It was not unusual for a new magazine's newsstand circulation to start out at 100,000, then to shoot up from there to in the vicinity of a half-million, even for some of the magazines with mediocre writers, at least for awhile. Compare that to modern fiction magazines (about a half-dozen) which are struggling to keep their circulation about 50,000.
One thing I did not find surprising but which other readers might is the variety found among the pulp magazines. While there were general fiction magazines that published several different genres, there were many more magazines specializing in a single form, such as mysteries, detectives, scient fiction (thought it was initially known as scientifiction), aviation, war, oriental magic, romance, western, heroes, fantasy, maritime, and spicy fiction. After a general overview of pulp fiction and the founding magazines, Ed Hulse explores the world of pulp fiction by genre, which has the advantage of allowing a detailed look at the individual magazines, but something of a disadvantage when it comes to connecting the writers and editors who worked prolifically in a number of different, often seemingly disparate, genres. For researchers and scholars seeking to make those connections, the inclusion of an index would have been useful, but the lack of an index does nothing to detract from the sheer reading pleasure to be derived from this book.
Another pleasure found in this book is purely visual. I hoped Hulse would include a cover gallery of some of the pulps, as these vibrant and often garish covers were often equal to or better than the fiction they illustrated. Instead of a gallery of a dozen or so magazines, what we get is much better -- each page is illustrated with two cover reproductions, giving us 700+ covers. Since the covers are grouped by genre, not only does each cover fit into the genre being expounded upon, Hulse usually includes covers for the very key magazines highlighted in the text.
The book finishes off with for very useful appendices for collectors and readers both. Appendix I is a very complete bibliography of other books about the pulps. Appendix II contains instruction on how to build a basic collection of pulp magazines, telling what titles to include and which specific issues of those magazines, the purpose being to assemble a collection that is both valuable and representative with regards to titles, authors and artists. Appendix III is mostly geared to the reader, being a list of modern publishers who are reprinting pulp fiction. Appendix IV is a listing of anthologies containing pulp fiction, most of which have been issued by major publishers over the past several decades, even though they were not initially marketed as "pulp" anthologies but as "golden age" stories, usually science fiction or mystery themed. A couple of books that could be added to the list are "American Pulp" edited by Gorman, Prozini and Greenberge, and "Best American Noir of the Century" edited by Ellroy and Penzler.
Hulse has done an admirable job in examining and explaining the vast world of pulp fiction in a way which benefits both the hard-core collector and the novice reader.
In "The Blood 'N' Thunder Guide to Pulp Fiction" you will learn all about the old pulp magazines, the people who published them, and the people who wrote for them. The book attempts to strike a balance between collectors and readers, pointing out which issues are most collectible while educating the general reader about the world which gave birth to the magazines. Two things that surprised me was the frequency with which some of the magazines were published and the number of people they reached. Many 300-400 magazines were published on a bi-weekly or even weekly basis, with each issue containing at least 75,000 words of fiction. It was not unusual for a new magazine's newsstand circulation to start out at 100,000, then to shoot up from there to in the vicinity of a half-million, even for some of the magazines with mediocre writers, at least for awhile. Compare that to modern fiction magazines (about a half-dozen) which are struggling to keep their circulation about 50,000.
One thing I did not find surprising but which other readers might is the variety found among the pulp magazines. While there were general fiction magazines that published several different genres, there were many more magazines specializing in a single form, such as mysteries, detectives, scient fiction (thought it was initially known as scientifiction), aviation, war, oriental magic, romance, western, heroes, fantasy, maritime, and spicy fiction. After a general overview of pulp fiction and the founding magazines, Ed Hulse explores the world of pulp fiction by genre, which has the advantage of allowing a detailed look at the individual magazines, but something of a disadvantage when it comes to connecting the writers and editors who worked prolifically in a number of different, often seemingly disparate, genres. For researchers and scholars seeking to make those connections, the inclusion of an index would have been useful, but the lack of an index does nothing to detract from the sheer reading pleasure to be derived from this book.
Another pleasure found in this book is purely visual. I hoped Hulse would include a cover gallery of some of the pulps, as these vibrant and often garish covers were often equal to or better than the fiction they illustrated. Instead of a gallery of a dozen or so magazines, what we get is much better -- each page is illustrated with two cover reproductions, giving us 700+ covers. Since the covers are grouped by genre, not only does each cover fit into the genre being expounded upon, Hulse usually includes covers for the very key magazines highlighted in the text.
The book finishes off with for very useful appendices for collectors and readers both. Appendix I is a very complete bibliography of other books about the pulps. Appendix II contains instruction on how to build a basic collection of pulp magazines, telling what titles to include and which specific issues of those magazines, the purpose being to assemble a collection that is both valuable and representative with regards to titles, authors and artists. Appendix III is mostly geared to the reader, being a list of modern publishers who are reprinting pulp fiction. Appendix IV is a listing of anthologies containing pulp fiction, most of which have been issued by major publishers over the past several decades, even though they were not initially marketed as "pulp" anthologies but as "golden age" stories, usually science fiction or mystery themed. A couple of books that could be added to the list are "American Pulp" edited by Gorman, Prozini and Greenberge, and "Best American Noir of the Century" edited by Ellroy and Penzler.
Hulse has done an admirable job in examining and explaining the vast world of pulp fiction in a way which benefits both the hard-core collector and the novice reader.
August 5, 2016
Although online searches and stumbling through websites can unearth a wealth of information on many subjects, I like to reward individuals who go through the extra effort of writing, laying out, and printing a book on whichever subject I’m interested in researching. I’ve purchased guides on progressive rock albums, television horror movies from the seventies, direct to video cult films, western television shows of the fifties and sixties, American martial arts films, country music, anime, heavy metal, soul music, and other niche subjects. Not until I read The Blood N Thunder Guide to Pulp Fiction had I read a guide that intelligently and tastefully delivered the promise of its premise.
As a longtime fan of H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, R.E. Howard, Max Brand, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Isaac Asimov, and David Goodis, I had hoped that a guide on pulp magazines would reveal to me some lesser known, but comparably skilled authors from the pulp milieu. This information lies in great abundance in Ed Hulse’s book. Although I have not read this tome cover to cover, I have read the major part of the book, and many of the chapters multiple times. The wit and good taste that the author shows when discussing the subject of pulp fiction led to my discovery of scores of forgotten works that deserve rediscovery.
This valuable guide is neither the slobbering work of rabid fan who likes everything, nor the work of a snobby elitist who feels superior to the material about which he writes, but a collection of smart, zesty essays—arranged by genre—of somebody who appreciates the varied aims of various pulp magazines. The rich and meticulously crafted tales of the stately Adventure, the apocalyptic visions Operator #5, the hyperventilating bloody mania of The Spider, the aggressive modes of detection employed by those fellas in Dime Detective, the depravity of the Red Circle shudder pulps, the grandeur of Astounding Stories, the eldritch charms of Weird Tales, and the merits of many other genres and subgenres are critically and fondly discussed by the wellspring of pulp knowledge that is Ed Hulse. Wanna know which pulps to read as the best of their genre? Follow the advice of Mr. Hulse. Wanna know which exact issues of each magazine are the exemplars? Follow the advice of Mr. Hulse. Wanna know about the evolution of a particular magazine or genre? Get this book.
By heeding the thoughtful words of this sage of the yellow page, I have bettered my library and life and altered my list of favorite authors. Thank you, Mr. Hulse for opening the pulpwood door behind which stand such incredible talents as Norvell W. Page, Bruno Fischer, Arthur O. Friel, L. Patrick Greene, Harold Lamb, Frederick C. Davis, D.L. Champion, and many others…
As a longtime fan of H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, R.E. Howard, Max Brand, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Isaac Asimov, and David Goodis, I had hoped that a guide on pulp magazines would reveal to me some lesser known, but comparably skilled authors from the pulp milieu. This information lies in great abundance in Ed Hulse’s book. Although I have not read this tome cover to cover, I have read the major part of the book, and many of the chapters multiple times. The wit and good taste that the author shows when discussing the subject of pulp fiction led to my discovery of scores of forgotten works that deserve rediscovery.
This valuable guide is neither the slobbering work of rabid fan who likes everything, nor the work of a snobby elitist who feels superior to the material about which he writes, but a collection of smart, zesty essays—arranged by genre—of somebody who appreciates the varied aims of various pulp magazines. The rich and meticulously crafted tales of the stately Adventure, the apocalyptic visions Operator #5, the hyperventilating bloody mania of The Spider, the aggressive modes of detection employed by those fellas in Dime Detective, the depravity of the Red Circle shudder pulps, the grandeur of Astounding Stories, the eldritch charms of Weird Tales, and the merits of many other genres and subgenres are critically and fondly discussed by the wellspring of pulp knowledge that is Ed Hulse. Wanna know which pulps to read as the best of their genre? Follow the advice of Mr. Hulse. Wanna know which exact issues of each magazine are the exemplars? Follow the advice of Mr. Hulse. Wanna know about the evolution of a particular magazine or genre? Get this book.
By heeding the thoughtful words of this sage of the yellow page, I have bettered my library and life and altered my list of favorite authors. Thank you, Mr. Hulse for opening the pulpwood door behind which stand such incredible talents as Norvell W. Page, Bruno Fischer, Arthur O. Friel, L. Patrick Greene, Harold Lamb, Frederick C. Davis, D.L. Champion, and many others…
November 30, 2017
This is a must for anyone out there that wants to learn
about pulps, their writer's and their legacy. Extremely informative look at early 20th century literature.
about pulps, their writer's and their legacy. Extremely informative look at early 20th century literature.
August 26, 2017
Great book if you're into collecting or want a general overview. I was hoping for some more in depth looks at the people and times but that was beyond the scope of what this book wanted to do. Gave me places to start and some ideas of stories to track down so it was worth it anyway.
March 3, 2024
The Blood 'n' Thunder Guide to Pulp Fiction by Ed Hulse of Murania Press is the pulp fans bible. In 400 pages of text and almost 800 pulp cover illustrations, Hulse wades through hundreds of pulp magazines and thousands of stories to separate the good from the bad and the truly awful.
December 5, 2016
For a long time now I’ve wanted to learn a bit more about the pulp industry, its history, its various manifestations, and about the key people behind the industry in the early to mid-20th century. I doubt I could have found a better place to start than with this book.
The book is organized nicely, divided mostly into topical chapters such as Adventure pulps, Science Fiction pulps, Detective and Crime pulps, etc. Each chapter traces the history of the genre and the competing magazines within it. Space is appropriately proportioned more to the big genres and magazines than the lesser ones and there is a lot of good history on each of the major pulp magazines and publishers. I expected, and received some good information on many of the big name pulp authors such as Robert E Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Max Brand, HP Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, etc. although this is not the focus of the book. We are also introduced to a lot of the lesser known authors who cranked out multitudes of stories under a variety of pen names. Each page displays black and white cover art at the top depicting examples of what the text of the chapter is covering below, which made each page a delightful combination.
What I liked most about the book, other than its wealth of information, was the style of the prose. Each topic and era covered was presented factually and avoided the elitist approach that such books often present but at the same time isn’t gushing all over the page about how great they all are. It doesn’t hurt that the author, Ed Hulse, is among the most knowledgeable and well recognized pulp historians today.
The book definitely served its purpose and now I find myself even more intrigued by the subject of pulp magazines, writer, publishers, and artists.
The book is organized nicely, divided mostly into topical chapters such as Adventure pulps, Science Fiction pulps, Detective and Crime pulps, etc. Each chapter traces the history of the genre and the competing magazines within it. Space is appropriately proportioned more to the big genres and magazines than the lesser ones and there is a lot of good history on each of the major pulp magazines and publishers. I expected, and received some good information on many of the big name pulp authors such as Robert E Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Max Brand, HP Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, etc. although this is not the focus of the book. We are also introduced to a lot of the lesser known authors who cranked out multitudes of stories under a variety of pen names. Each page displays black and white cover art at the top depicting examples of what the text of the chapter is covering below, which made each page a delightful combination.
What I liked most about the book, other than its wealth of information, was the style of the prose. Each topic and era covered was presented factually and avoided the elitist approach that such books often present but at the same time isn’t gushing all over the page about how great they all are. It doesn’t hurt that the author, Ed Hulse, is among the most knowledgeable and well recognized pulp historians today.
The book definitely served its purpose and now I find myself even more intrigued by the subject of pulp magazines, writer, publishers, and artists.
May 26, 2014
An excellent introduction to the world of pulp fiction. With concise chapters on the history of pulp magazines, the prominent characters, stories and genres, as well as helpful information for those looking to start a collection. This is a great overarching reference volume for anyone wanting to learn more about pulp magazines and the sensational fiction of the first half of the twentieth century.
April 4, 2015
Excellent resource, presented in such a way to appeal to the pulp historian, as well as the pulp collector.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews