The Classic Era of American Pulp Magazines

by Peter Haining

The period between the World Wars—the era of sexual liberation, Prohibition, the rise of organized crime, and the Great Depression—was also the classic era of American pulp magazines, the subject of this fascinating volume. Pulps, with their lurid color covers depicting the thrills of sex and violence, and with stories to match inside, fuelled America’s dreams—and nightmares. For a few cents they offered everything young men sex, action, adventure. But they also fostered the talents of some of the greatest popular writers of the century—Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, and Dashiell Hammett, among others—and virtually invented the genres of science fiction and hard-boiled crime. From the cheap thrills of the “hot” and “spicy” pulps and the sexual sadism of the “shudder” pulps to the weird worlds of the fantasy, sci-fi, and horror pulps, this book displays their art and tells their history, capturing the original magazines in all their sleazy, sensational glory.

Genres: Pop Culture, Art, Reference

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Peter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.

Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.

In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).

He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.

Reviews

[Gerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb history of the American pulp magazines, which had their heyday between 1920 and 1950 and which spawned some of the great writers of mystery and science fiction.

They were a follow-up to the 19th century dime novel and contained three basic ingredients, action, adventure and sex, not necessarily together or in that order. And the titles often reflected their content, for example Spicy Mystery, Stolen Sweets, Cupid's Capers and Sizzling Romances.

In addition the artwork for the covers was classic and reflected the contents within the covers - well, at least it sometimes did, other times it was just titillating to draw the would-be purchaser to the product. And it succeeded! The artwork in itself is a catalogue of all those illustrators who were at work during the period and all that is best in the pulp fiction cover market. Some of the ladies are quite scantily clad, which, in the case of some of the science fiction magazines, is somewhat surprising for the ladies male counterparts are usually space-suit clad!

The obvious writers who began in pulp magazines are Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett but others who honed their trade in the genre were such as Isaac Asimov, Max Brand, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Arthur C ClarkeL Ron Hubbard, H P Lovecraft, E E Smith and many more. Many of them are represented at the end of the book with brief pen pictures.

And, despite its title, the book's final chapter covers the British pulps which were a spin-off from their American counterparts. They, too, feature some fine writers and certainly display equally attractive covers such as those on Verity, Science Fantasy, Bedside Detective Casebook and many more.

The book is a visual treat and the text is well researched and very well written; it is amazing how many publishers, both in America and Britain, jumped on the bandwagon and started pulp magazines, some of them to live for only one issue.

It is most definitely a book to browse now and again after the read!

[Georgiana Cleveland · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great resource for two things: 1) High-quality (for the most part) reprints of Pulp Magazine Covers in all their lurid glory, and 2) a historical overview of different genres - smut, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc.

Nothing too in-depth, but it's a fantastic starting place for information about pulps if you want to get a sense for general trends, which magazines to look for, and the names of authors, editors, and artists working in the field.

[Lukas Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mmmm, , , ,pulpy.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book has eight chapters and an appendix, and loads of shots of color covers. The book covers science fiction, detective/crime pulps, mystery, and sexual topics and covers. Westerns are left almost entirely out, and sports is also left out.

Still, it's a very valuable resource for those wanting to learn about the era of pulp magazines.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting survey of pulp magazines of the 30s and 40s.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic reference book. A great place to start learning about the pulp era. Very recommended