Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction

(Paperback)

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Description

From the New York Times best-selling authorof The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires comes a nostalgic and unflinchingly funny celebration of the horror fiction boom of the 1970s and '80s. Take a tour through the horror paperback novels of two iconic decades . . . if you dare. Page through dozens and dozens of amazing book covers featuring well-dressed skeletons, evil dolls, and knife-wielding killer crabs! Read 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 reading time and which should stay buried.

Reviews

One of SFFWorld's Best of the Decade

Pure, demented delight.The New York Times Book Review

Paperbacks fromHellis as funny as it is engaging.The Washington Post

The book is a true appreciation of the genre.Los Angeles Times

Just thumbing through these pages will bring back your youthand terrify you all over again.Newsday

A loving examination of lurid pulp book covers from the 1970s and 80s.Atlas Obscura

Paperbacks from Hellis as wild as its source material.The A.V. Club

[Paperbacks from Hell]will delight anyone with an interest in horror, design illustration, or the macabre.Print Magazine

A nostalgic treat.Playboy Online

You may find yourself trying to stock up on old titles so you can get your fill of gloriously trashy scares.Bustle

[Hendrix's] love of the genre shines through as he pokes gentle fun at some of the era's more entertaining reads, and speaks with genuine appreciation of other titles whose horrors stand the test of time.BookRiot

More praise for Grady Hendrix:
National treasure Grady Hendrix follows his classic account of a haunted IKEA-like furniture showroom, Horrorstor (2014), with a nostalgia-soaked ghost story, My Best Friends Exorcism.The Wall Street Journal, on My Best Friends Exorcism

Horrorstr delivers a crisp terror-tale...[and] Hendrix strikes a nice balance between comedy and horror.The Washington Post, on Horrorstr

Terrific... Sharply written... [My Best Friends Exorcism] makes a convincing case for [Hendrixs] powers as a sharp observer of human behavior.The A.V. Club, on My Best Friends Exorcism

Hendrixs darkest novel yet will leave readers begging for an encore.Booklist, starred review, on We Sold Our Souls

Campy. Heartfelt. Horrifying.Minnesota Public Radio, on My Best Friends Exorcism

An inventive, hilarious haunted house tale.Bustle, on Horrorstr

Clever, heartfelt, and get-under-your-skin unnerving.Fangoria, on My Best Friends Exorcism

A good, creepy, music-tinged thriller.CNET, on We Sold Our Souls

Author Bio

Grady Hendrix is an award-winning and New York Times best-selling novelist and screenwriter living in New York City. He is the author of Horrorst r, My Best Friend's Exorcism (which is being adapted into a feature film by Amazon Studios), We Sold Our Souls, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, and The Final Girl Support Group. Grady also authored the Bram Stoker Award-winning nonfiction book Paperbacks from Hell and These Fists Break Bricks- How Kung Fu Movies Swept America and Changed the World.