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

From the New York Times best-selling author of 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.

Publisher: Quirk Books
Published: 09/19/2017
Pages: 256
Weight: 2lbs
Size: 9.90h x 7.00w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9781594749810


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 07/31/2017
Booklist 08/01/2017 pg. 14
Library Journal 09/01/2017 pg. 117
Foreword 09/21/2017

About the Author
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 Horrorstör, 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.