Paperbacks from Hell: A Fascinating Look at 70s and 80s Horror Fiction by Grady Hendrix

tiffany: Was a present for me partner who loves horror movies and listening to books while going sleep.
He really likes this book the art work in the book is amazing
It really is a good book for any horror fan. So glad I got him it

United Kingdom on Dec 09, 2023

Eric Juneau: A non-fiction book looking back at the world of pulpy horror novels from the seventies and eighties. You know it wasn’t just Stephen King back then. Horror movies weren’t the only ones having a renaissance–books preyed on our fears too. And they could be a lot nastier since they were only text.

Capitalizing on the Satanic Panic, psycho children, monster animals, haunted houses, and everything in-between. This book describes all the best. Personally, I came for the covers–those great covers that enticed everyone, more intriguing than movie posters, promising horrors within. It’s a fascinating look and an easy read. (I seem to be averaging a Grady Hendrix book every two months).

United States on Nov 13, 2023

Jimmy Billy: The 80's were a great time in horror, the books were good and the cover art was even better, every horror fan should read this book to expand their horizons or relive their memories of finding these books in the local bookstore.

United States on Sep 28, 2023

Rolf Bucher: This is a great book that fills in some gaps about how the horror fiction genre took off.

Recommended.

Sweden on Sep 28, 2023

I. M. Imboden: If you read Flowers in the Attic and loved it, this is the book for you!
This book took me back to all of the pulpy horror novels I devoured throughout Catholic school, hoping to shock the nuns with what I was reading: The Sentinel, Nathaniel, all of V.C. Andrews's books...so many horror novels of the 1970-1990s. Just fabulous.
I loved seeing the covers and reminiscing about how ridiculous and over the top they are.
I'm not a person who wants to re-read books, I've got too many others to plow through, so this was just a cool way to re-visit those books without having to go through that many pages. It has inspired me, though, to go buy a copy of Nathaniel and see if it's as good as I remember!
If you loved those books with dark covers and brightly colored titles: buy yourself this book!

United States on May 30, 2023

CoffinJoe: Informativ, sicher nicht erschöpfend, aber interessant und lustig geschrieben. Es gibt eine Menge Abbildungen der wirklich abgefahrenen Cover-Artworks, auch zu diesen erzählt der Autor einiges, von Infos zu den Künstlern bis hin zu Trends ihrer Zeit.
Dicke Empfehlung!
Einziges Manko; die vordere Hälfte des Buches hat sich von der Mitte bis zum Boden während des Lesens aus dem Einband gelöst, aber vielleicht hab auch nur ich da eine blöde Kopie bekommen.

Germany on Mar 23, 2023

Colin Mackie: This was a wonderful history that made me nostalgic for so many of the cheap horror novels I read as a teenager in the 80s. I loved it so much I ordered some of the titles profiled, as well as the horror starter pack, from the publisher, Valancourt Books.

Canada on Dec 18, 2022

Mr.Aligator: Análisis y recopilación de una gran cantidad de títulos de terror de los 60/70/80.

Con multitud de imágenes y portadas de los libros que se reseñan.

Es un imprescindible para los fans del terror.

Lo recomiendo.

Spain on Aug 08, 2022

James P. Ebert: As I mentioned a few books back, we're now returning to the glory days of pulpy horror paperbacks, most often found littering the shelves of the local grocery store. This time courtesy of Grady Hendrix, who evidently fell into a used books store, wound up with a cart full of late 70s-90 horror, and got inspired to write a history of them in Paperbacks From Hell.

While the subject matter might be a bit on the cheesy side, the book is lush in its treatment, with pictures of several of the more lurid covers printed in full color. Indeed, what ended up helping me decide to add this to my collection was the fact that a few titles displayed in the front cover were ones I remember having at a young age.

With this being non fiction, it's arranged by subject matter, starting with Satan and ending with Splatterpunk, meaning we go from Blatty's The Exorcist to Bright's Lost Souls, with such luminaries as V. C. Andrews and Graham Masterson in between. For the most part, he avoids going too in depth with the really big names to give the spotlight to much lesser known authors, although he generally does start with the big book(s) that started a trend, and explore what flooded the...

United States on Nov 03, 2020

K. A. Y.: PAPERBACKS FROM HELL: The Twisted History of '70's and '80's Horror Fiction, by Grady Hendrix was one of the most FUN books I've read in a while! A fantastic "reference guide" to some of those old paperbacks that many of us grew up on, Hendrix includes many facts about the horror industry, publishers, cover art, and even the "type" of horror that was in style during certain periods.

Along with the factual information, there are many humor laced commentaries that had me grinning from ear to ear. For example, there is a section on "PARENTING THE HOMICIDAL CHILD". After determining the type of "homicidal child" you have, Hendrix gives the reader some great advice stemming from the pages of these old paperbacks.

"Adopted or chemically altered children should be destroyed immediately because they can not be reformed. No matter how hard you try, they probably will, at some point, go on a rampage and murder all your other children . . . "

There are also precautions to take to make sure you are not dating the devil. If, however, you still give birth to the spawn of Satan, "all is not lost. Look on the bright side: deadly children are the best-dressed children. . . . A...

United States on Sep 28, 2017