Anyone here like the old pulp fiction magazines?

[Pendragon]

I was just wondering if anyone on this forum was a fan of the old pulp fiction magazines. You know, like Doc Savage, (Completely reprinted by Bantam in paperbacks, now being reprinted in paperbacks by Blackmask, all available at blackmask.com for download) The Shadow (some reprinted by Bantam [7 books] some by Warner [25 books] some by Belmont [12 books], all available at blackmask.com for download), The Spider (reprinted by various, available through thevintagelibrary.com), and others such as Conan (now being reprinted by Wildside and Bison books). Just checking. It's not mainstream lit., but Edgar Rice Burroughs, Dashell Hammett and even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle started off writing their stories for such magazines. :)

[mono]

I read many of those pulp fiction magazines as a child, especially after discovering a box full of them belonging to my father in our old attic, when I lived with him. He still has them, in relatively good condition, mostly in Bantam. He gave me one that I liked especially, also in good condition, made in the 1950's of the depictions of the year 2000 - people living on the moon, battling aliens, while we, on Earth, travel in flying cars. So much for that idea. :rolleyes:
I had no idea Burroughs, Hamlet, and Sir Doyle all wrote in pulp magazines, but somehow it does not surprise me. Now it seems mostly for comics, but when it first began, I would have no doubt that it started a big trend.

[underground]

i don't know why, but they never really appealed to me. maybe the pictures? but i'm never into reading about aliens and futuristic things and stuff. i prefer fantasy worlds that have rather past-ish themes. swords! arrows! dragons! cloaks! ooooo...

[rachel]

I myself didn't read them but others did and I listened and what a fascinating genre.
I read your two minute mystery and how cool and hard edged and just bursting with ambience and movement and shadows and plots over plots.
I kept seeing guys with trenchcoats their faces chiselled and griselled, their eyes keen and always looking looking. I kept hearing for some reason in my head Sam Spade and everything was in black and white. I wish I could write just once in that style but you have to KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT THAT WORLD and i don't.

[B-Mental]

I read all of the Doc Savage stories I could get my hands on when I was 13 & 14. Love those. I really liked the character Monk (not sure if the name is right). I've gone through all the Hammett I could get my hands on also. Those rock!

[Pendragon]

I read all of the Doc Savage stories I could get my hands on when I was 13 & 14. Love those. I really liked the character Monk (not sure if the name is right). I've gone through all the Hammett I could get my hands on also. Those rock!Quite right, "Monk" Mayfair, the apelike chemist of Doc's group, also known as Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Blogett Mayfair. :)

[Pendragon]

I myself didn't read them but others did and I listened and what a fascinating genre.
I read your two minute mystery and how cool and hard edged and just bursting with ambience and movement and shadows and plots over plots.
I kept seeing guys with trenchcoats their faces chiselled and griselled, their eyes keen and always looking looking. I kept hearing for some reason in my head Sam Spade and everything was in black and white. I wish I could write just once in that style but you have to KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT THAT WORLD and i don't.I'm glad you enjoyed my little story, (my 17th on the site to date). My next one on the site is House of Shadowed Secrets , scheduled for 10/21/05. You probably kept thinking of Sam Spade because short stories featuring the famous detective of The Maltese Falcon first appeared in pulp fiction magazines! Except for the covers, which tended to have very garish artwork, the old pulps interior illustrations were black and white. I don't have any "genuine" ones, but I have a few reprints that are made as close to the original as possible, (same size, cover, print set-up, and interior art). There are entire websites and groups of us "old pulp lovers" out there. I first found the Shadow as a kid. Our old radio (we had no TV) would pick up distant stations at night, and one played Old Time Radio Shows, including The Shadow. You might want to check your local video story for Alec Baldwin's classic portrayal of The Shadow in the 1998? film of the same name. :)

[rachel]

I can't wait to read your next one and I urge anyone who takes delight in this sort of genre to go and read it. It is way cool.
I remember the Shadow, my parents somehow got the stories on audio and I would listen, not really understanding but getting goosebumps and a real desire to get a trenchcoat and quiet rubber shoes and hit the streets late at night!

'only the Shadow knows.'

[Pendragon]

The story Rachel is talking about was written by me under the pseudonym Jonathan Blade and can be read here http://www.spaceports.com/~deshadow/tmsm/index.html for the next week. Have fun. The Shadow knows...HA HA HA HA

[Pendragon]

I had no idea Burroughs, Hamlet, and Sir Doyle all wrote in pulp magazines, but somehow it does not surprise me. Now it seems mostly for comics, but when it first began, I would have no doubt that it started a big trend.Allow me to clarify something here, my mistake for not doing so at the start.
A.) Dashiell Hammett wrote many stories for pulps magazines along with John D. MacDonald as well.

B.) H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard both were regular contributers to Weird Tales. Lovecraft gave us The Cthulthu Mystos, Howard gave us Kull, Conan, Red Sonja, Cormac Mac Art, Bran Mak Morn, and Soloman Kane.

C.) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never intended Sherlock Holmes to be serious fiction (he wished to be remembered for his historical novels and the Professor Challanger Books), so they first came out in popular magazines. The first story appeared in Beethoven's Christmas Annual, latter stories in The Strand Magazine. Sir Arthur tired of his character and killed him off, only to have to ressurect him due to public demand. Where he liked it or not, Holmes sold, and paid the bills. I am pretty certain that by the time Doyle died, all of the Holmes stories were available in hardcover.

D.)Buroughs I think first appeared in magazines, but I cannot confirm it. He is however considered pulp fiction because he meets the following requirements:

1.) A larger-than-life hero (Tarzan, John Carter, Carson Naiper, David Innes)
2.) Exotic locales (African lost cities, Mars (Barsoom), Venus, Pelucidar)
3.) Monsters or super-villans (galore!) :cool:

[B-Mental]

A truly modern pulp must read is Norman Mailer's "Tough Guys Don't Dance." It opens with a man waking up after passing out in his car with the head of his ex-wife on the seat beside him.

[Pendragon]

[OOPS! :blush:

[Pendragon]

I can now confirm ERB started out in pulp fiction magazines. Follow this link http://www.tarzan.org/amtor.html and browse the whole tarzan.org site. Plenty of confirmation there! http://www.websmileys.com/sm/happy/1074.gif

[Nightshade]

yes ERB started in magazines theres another site Eamania or somthing and why tarzan I mean really some of the other heros were WAY more shall we say largger than life ther was the Mucker and umm whats his name from The Oakdale affaire and Prince Richard or wait was it henry and richard was the baddy? Err yepp cant seem to remember off the top of my mind sadly.
Pendragon whats your fav. EBR??
err right found that sighthttp://www.erblist.com/erbmania/index.html

[Pendragon]

It's hard to pick a favorite with ERB, almost all of it's pretty good. What I HAVE is the complete Tarzan series and all but one Pelucidar. But I like John Carter also. :)

[Nightshade]

I thought tarzan went off a bit after the jewles of opal... although I did like the son of Tarzan...
Which are the john Carter ones?

[Pendragon]

The Mars (Barsoom) Series. http://www.websmileys.com/sm/aliens/18.gif

[Nightshade]

Oh i read one of those I didnt like it much thoughbut then again i read it as i was going out of a EBR phase so that might be why...
have you evr read the Curse of carpona (zorro??)

[Pendragon]

I own Zorro: The Master's Edition Volumes I & II which are reprints of Johnston McCulley's orignal Zorro pulp stories, including the one you mention. I also have all other Zorro books I could find, including the new novel, Zorro, by Isabel Allende, available en Espanpol, or translated into English by Margaret Sayers Peden. The book is 390 pages. Isabel Allende, the author, is a New York Times Bestselling Author. The pulps are on the move! :cool: