''Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of ‘70s and ‘80s Horror Fiction'' is a 2017 non-fiction book by American writer Grady Hendrix. It was first published by

Quirk Books Quirk Books is an American independent book publisher based in Philadelphia. History Before 2002, Quirk Books was a creative studio that would pitch novel ideas to other publishers. Quirk Books was founded as a publishing company in 2002 by Da ...

on September 19, 2017 in print and ebook. An audiobook release by

Blackstone Audio Blackstone Audio is an independent audiobook publisher in the United States, offering over 25,000 audiobooks. The company is based in Ashland, Oregon, with five in-house recording studios. Blackstone distributes directly to consumers via their ...

followed on January 9, 2018. In March 2018 ''Paperbacks from Hell'' won the

Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction The Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction is an award presented by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in horror writing for non-fiction. Winners and nominees {, class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" , +Bram Stok ...

Valancourt Books Valancourt Books is an independent American publishing house founded by James Jenkins and Ryan Cagle in 2005. The company specializes in "the rediscovery of rare, neglected, and out-of-print fiction", in particular gay titles, Gothic novels a ...

later announced that they would re-publish select horror novels as part of a limited series, chosen by Hendrix and Will Errickson.

Synopsis

''Paperbacks from Hell'' examines paperback horror novels of the 70s and 80s. Hendrix pays attention to trends and events that increased horror's readership and popularity and how the 1988 release of '' The Silence of the Lambs'' prompted publishers to shift their focus from horror to

thrillers Thriller is a genre of fiction with numerous, often overlapping, subgenres, including crime, horror, and detective fiction. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving their audiences heightened feelings of suspe ...

and

techno-thriller A techno-thriller or technothriller is a hybrid genre drawing from science fiction, thrillers, spy fiction, action, and war novels. They include a disproportionate amount (relative to other genres) of technical details on their subject matter ...

s. He also cites a glut of product paired with less quality control and an increase in misogynistic content as contributing to this decrease in popularity, noting that it was a variety of factors that led to this. The book also examines authors such as V. C. Andrews and R. L. Stine, as well as cover artwork, which he states publishers knew would be vital to appealing to readers. Also covered are various sub-genres of the horror genre, such as Native American curses or pregnancy sub-genres.

Development

Hendrix came up with the idea of writing a book on paperback horror novels from the 70s and 80s while purchasing a copy of ''The Little People'' by

John Christopher Sam Youd (16 April 1922 – 3 February 2012) was a British writer best known for science fiction written under the name of John Christopher, including the novels '' The Death of Grass'', ''The Possessors'', and the young-adult novel series ...

, which he describes as "a book about a castle in Ireland being turned into a B&B, and the big problem is Nazi leprechauns in the basement". He read an average of four books a day for a three-month period and focused his efforts by reading books from the same sub-genre at a time, as this helped him recognize literary tropes and benchmarks specific to those novels.

Reception

Critical reception for ''Paperbacks from Hell'' has been positive, with ''Locus'' praising the book for its use of cover art images to back up Hendrix's historical assessment of horror fiction. The AV Club and ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' also praised the work, with the latter additionally citing the presence of "potted histories of authors for whom full histories are likely not forthcoming" as a highlight.

Tor.com ''Reactor'', formerly ''Tor.com'', is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on specul ...

wrote a favorable review, stating "It's a gorgeous, lurid deep-dive into horror's heyday and a must-read for any self-respecting horror fan." Writing for the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', Ernest Hilbert wrote that the book is "as funny as it is engaging, assuring us that whatever else may be said of these paperbacks, most long since disappeared into landfills and yard sale boxes, "they will not bore you.""

References

External links

* {{Grady Hendrix 2017 non-fiction books Non-fiction books about horror Books by Grady Hendrix Quirk Books books