Paperbacks From Hell: The Twisted History Of '70s And '80s Horror Fiction

Description

Take a tour through the horror paperback novels of the 1970s and '80s . . . 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. It's an affectionate, nostalgic, and unflinchinglyafunny celebration of the horror fiction boom of two iconic decades, complete with story summaries and artist and author profiles. You'll find familiar authors, like V. C. Andrews and R. L. Stine, and many more who've faded into obscurity. Plus recommendations for which of these forgotten treasures are well worth your reading time and which should stay buried.

Reviews

"An absolute delight...any fan or writer of horror will love this book."--Chris Byrnes, Books on the Square Praise for Grady Hendrix's Previous Titles "National treasure Grady Hendrix follows his classic account of a haunted IKEA-like furniture showroom, Horrorstà r (2014), with a nostalgia-soaked ghost story, My Best Friend's Exorcism."--The Wall Street Journal"Take The Exorcist, add some hair spray and wine coolers, and enroll it in high school in 1988 -- that'll give you My Best Friend's Exorcism... Campy. Heartfelt. Horrifying."--Minnesota Public Radio "It's clever, heartfelt, and get-under-your-skin unnerving without succumbing to any of the more predictable exorcism story tropes -- things happen in this book that you will not expect. It will leave you sleepless because you won't want to put it down, and you'll be too scared to."--Fangoria "A touching story of high school friendship and, well, demonic possession."--Bloody Disgusting "Sharply written...Hendrix has made strong progress as a novelist, and this book makes a convincing case for his powers as a sharp observer of human behavior, filtered through a fun genre conceit that doesn't skimp on the spooky--or the bodily fluids."--The A.V. Club "Readers who thought Heathers wasn't quite bleak enough will find this darkly humorous horror tale--filled with spot-on 80s pop-culture references--totally awesome."--Booklist, starred review "From the author of the acclaimed Horrorstor, this book packs all the magic of a summer horror flick."--Bustle "[Hendrix proves his] own black-magic mettle by conjuring up an era where ill-informed paranoia (and just plain ding-dongness) turned some of the quietest corners of America into fear factories, full of deep-rooted distrust and misspent rage. Too bad Satan never actually did show up back then. He woulda loved it."--Wired.com "If The Exorcist had been authored by Tina Fey instead of William Peter Blatty, it might have borne an uncanny resemblance to what Grady Hendrix has accomplished with My Best Friend's Exorcism...Fans of satire, nostalgia, dark comedy and, well, demons should read this book."--BookPage "Horrorstor delivers a crisp terror-tale...[and] Hendrix strikes a nice balance between comedy and horror."--Washington Post..".disarming..."--Wall Street Journal"...wildly fun and outrageously inventive..."--Shelf Awareness for Readers, starred review ..".Hendrix conjures up some wonderfully gruesome imagery..."--Nerdist "If you've ever been frustrated trying to put together furniture from IKEA, you'll get a laugh out of Hendrix's spoof mystery."--New York Post

Author description

Grady Hendrix's first novel, Horrorstor (Quirk, 2014), an illustrated story about a haunted IKEA, was named by NPR as one of the best books of 2014. He is also the author of My Best Friend's Exorcism (Quirk, 2016). A diehard horror fiction fan, he lives in New York City.