--- product_id: 46821061 title: "Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction" price: "151.45 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/46821061-paperbacks-from-hell-the-twisted-history-of-70s-and-80s store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction **Price:** 151.45 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction - **How much does it cost?** 151.45 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/46821061-paperbacks-from-hell-the-twisted-history-of-70s-and-80s) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description 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. Review: Fantastic and FUN guide for any horror book enthusiast! - PAPERBACKS FROM HELL: The Twisted History of '70's and '80's Horror Fiction, by Grady Hendrix was one of the most FUN books I've read in a while! A fantastic "reference guide" to some of those old paperbacks that many of us grew up on, Hendrix includes many facts about the horror industry, publishers, cover art, and even the "type" of horror that was in style during certain periods. Along with the factual information, there are many humor laced commentaries that had me grinning from ear to ear. For example, there is a section on "PARENTING THE HOMICIDAL CHILD". After determining the type of "homicidal child" you have, Hendrix gives the reader some great advice stemming from the pages of these old paperbacks. "Adopted or chemically altered children should be destroyed immediately because they can not be reformed. No matter how hard you try, they probably will, at some point, go on a rampage and murder all your other children . . . " There are also precautions to take to make sure you are not dating the devil. If, however, you still give birth to the spawn of Satan, "all is not lost. Look on the bright side: deadly children are the best-dressed children. . . . A coat and tie says either "tiny funeral director" or "psychopath". . . " This book had me scouring my TBR piles for these "golden relics"--and soon to be camping out at any used book store I can find. Personally, I found the uniformity in covers during certain periods to be shocking. When reading all of those books by Patricia Wallace or Ruby Jean Jensen, it never occurred to me at the time that nearly all of the cover art depicted skeletons, in some form or other. Of course, a wise word of warning was included by Hendrix: "Skeleton doctors are the worst doctors." ". . . To be honest, I'm not even sure their licenses to practice medicine are legal. . . " Overall, a fantastic addition to any horror enthusiast's bookshelves, and a great reference on which "forgotten gems" you should run out and spend more money on! Highly recommended! Review: Skeletons Dancing on Pumpkins with Small Children - As I mentioned a few books back, we're now returning to the glory days of pulpy horror paperbacks, most often found littering the shelves of the local grocery store. This time courtesy of Grady Hendrix, who evidently fell into a used books store, wound up with a cart full of late 70s-90 horror, and got inspired to write a history of them in Paperbacks From Hell. While the subject matter might be a bit on the cheesy side, the book is lush in its treatment, with pictures of several of the more lurid covers printed in full color. Indeed, what ended up helping me decide to add this to my collection was the fact that a few titles displayed in the front cover were ones I remember having at a young age. With this being non fiction, it's arranged by subject matter, starting with Satan and ending with Splatterpunk, meaning we go from Blatty's The Exorcist to Bright's Lost Souls, with such luminaries as V. C. Andrews and Graham Masterson in between. For the most part, he avoids going too in depth with the really big names to give the spotlight to much lesser known authors, although he generally does start with the big book(s) that started a trend, and explore what flooded the shelf imitating them, as well as discussing what likely contributed to said explosion in the subject. This helped fill in a few gaps, since some stories I only vaguely remember, or never knew the full story on, like The Amityville Horror, exactly how far the Satanic Panic of the 80's had spread (indeed, more than a few "non fiction" titles discuss the books that presented us with Satanic Cults running day care centers, the backmasking on Beach Boys albums, how Dungeons and Dragons will lead you to try to jump off the world trade center, and how Heavy Metal will make the Dark Lord rise. (That sound is my eyes rolling back in my head.) We get details on the lives of the folks who painted the cover art, we hear about how art directors introduced die cut covers and embossed images to get the books to pop. We learn of the histories of several publishing houses and imprints prior to either going out of business or being absorbed by a larger company. Honestly, while not as blunt or direct, parts of this reminded me quite a bit of that one scene in The Devil Wears Prada, where Miranda explains in graphic detail the business of fashion. (Indeed, a publishing change which allows houses to ship back and shred non selling inventory means books have roughly 6 weeks to catch on, or else. It also means many midlist authors don't get published, since they won't make back their advance.) It was interesting to learn the stories of a few imprints that particularly influenced my reading habits as a kid, namely Zebra and Abyss. The former was the really pulpy stuff, produced on the cheap and usually poorly edited; the latter was post splatterpunk, allowing for similar sensibilities without the machismo and less nihilism. (Indeed, if you follow the tag on here for Rick R. Reed, his was an Abyss book.) It was Zebra, in particular that had lurid cover art featuring skeletons and porcelain skinned cherubs. While I had read more than a few volumes discussed in here, there were several I haven't yet. I fully expect to spend time perusing used book stores looking for fun treasures now. Well worth the read. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #73,651 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #6 in Book Design #8 in 20th Century Literary Criticism (Books) #16 in Horror & Supernatural Literary Criticism (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,863 Reviews | ## Images ![Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/812z-HWgEbL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fantastic and FUN guide for any horror book enthusiast! *by K***. on September 28, 2017* PAPERBACKS FROM HELL: The Twisted History of '70's and '80's Horror Fiction, by Grady Hendrix was one of the most FUN books I've read in a while! A fantastic "reference guide" to some of those old paperbacks that many of us grew up on, Hendrix includes many facts about the horror industry, publishers, cover art, and even the "type" of horror that was in style during certain periods. Along with the factual information, there are many humor laced commentaries that had me grinning from ear to ear. For example, there is a section on "PARENTING THE HOMICIDAL CHILD". After determining the type of "homicidal child" you have, Hendrix gives the reader some great advice stemming from the pages of these old paperbacks. "Adopted or chemically altered children should be destroyed immediately because they can not be reformed. No matter how hard you try, they probably will, at some point, go on a rampage and murder all your other children . . . " There are also precautions to take to make sure you are not dating the devil. If, however, you still give birth to the spawn of Satan, "all is not lost. Look on the bright side: deadly children are the best-dressed children. . . . A coat and tie says either "tiny funeral director" or "psychopath". . . " This book had me scouring my TBR piles for these "golden relics"--and soon to be camping out at any used book store I can find. Personally, I found the uniformity in covers during certain periods to be shocking. When reading all of those books by Patricia Wallace or Ruby Jean Jensen, it never occurred to me at the time that nearly all of the cover art depicted skeletons, in some form or other. Of course, a wise word of warning was included by Hendrix: "Skeleton doctors are the worst doctors." ". . . To be honest, I'm not even sure their licenses to practice medicine are legal. . . " Overall, a fantastic addition to any horror enthusiast's bookshelves, and a great reference on which "forgotten gems" you should run out and spend more money on! Highly recommended! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Skeletons Dancing on Pumpkins with Small Children *by J***T on November 3, 2020* As I mentioned a few books back, we're now returning to the glory days of pulpy horror paperbacks, most often found littering the shelves of the local grocery store. This time courtesy of Grady Hendrix, who evidently fell into a used books store, wound up with a cart full of late 70s-90 horror, and got inspired to write a history of them in Paperbacks From Hell. While the subject matter might be a bit on the cheesy side, the book is lush in its treatment, with pictures of several of the more lurid covers printed in full color. Indeed, what ended up helping me decide to add this to my collection was the fact that a few titles displayed in the front cover were ones I remember having at a young age. With this being non fiction, it's arranged by subject matter, starting with Satan and ending with Splatterpunk, meaning we go from Blatty's The Exorcist to Bright's Lost Souls, with such luminaries as V. C. Andrews and Graham Masterson in between. For the most part, he avoids going too in depth with the really big names to give the spotlight to much lesser known authors, although he generally does start with the big book(s) that started a trend, and explore what flooded the shelf imitating them, as well as discussing what likely contributed to said explosion in the subject. This helped fill in a few gaps, since some stories I only vaguely remember, or never knew the full story on, like The Amityville Horror, exactly how far the Satanic Panic of the 80's had spread (indeed, more than a few "non fiction" titles discuss the books that presented us with Satanic Cults running day care centers, the backmasking on Beach Boys albums, how Dungeons and Dragons will lead you to try to jump off the world trade center, and how Heavy Metal will make the Dark Lord rise. (That sound is my eyes rolling back in my head.) We get details on the lives of the folks who painted the cover art, we hear about how art directors introduced die cut covers and embossed images to get the books to pop. We learn of the histories of several publishing houses and imprints prior to either going out of business or being absorbed by a larger company. Honestly, while not as blunt or direct, parts of this reminded me quite a bit of that one scene in The Devil Wears Prada, where Miranda explains in graphic detail the business of fashion. (Indeed, a publishing change which allows houses to ship back and shred non selling inventory means books have roughly 6 weeks to catch on, or else. It also means many midlist authors don't get published, since they won't make back their advance.) It was interesting to learn the stories of a few imprints that particularly influenced my reading habits as a kid, namely Zebra and Abyss. The former was the really pulpy stuff, produced on the cheap and usually poorly edited; the latter was post splatterpunk, allowing for similar sensibilities without the machismo and less nihilism. (Indeed, if you follow the tag on here for Rick R. Reed, his was an Abyss book.) It was Zebra, in particular that had lurid cover art featuring skeletons and porcelain skinned cherubs. While I had read more than a few volumes discussed in here, there were several I haven't yet. I fully expect to spend time perusing used book stores looking for fun treasures now. Well worth the read. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fun, engaging overview of the birth, rise and eventual death of the horror publishing boom. *by S***Y on October 28, 2018* BOTTOM LINE: If you enjoy reading older, obscure, gory, disturbing and just plain weird horror-themed books from the past then this book will act as a bright candle to help light your way through the dusty stacks of yellowed, well-thumbed softcover spook stories. A fun & funny read, PAPERBACKS FROM HELL is a worthwhile addition to any horror novel lover's collection. THOUGHTS: My reading desire often goes in spurts; I'll read voraciously for a period then tire of it, stop, and then a few months (or years) later, the cycle repeats itself. I love to spend rainy afternoons scouring through used book stores looking for a new-to-me book or discovering an author I hadn't heard of before. I prefer the occasion science fiction book and delight in finding a solid horror novel, especially if it's got weird monsters of some kind rampaging thorough it. I go out of my way to track down these little shops whenever my wife and I go out of town on vacation. You never know what's waiting for you; a new guilty pleasure treasure is almost certain to be lurking somewhere among those musty-smelling shelves. Digging up some long-forgotten, time-rotted terrors from the heyday of the scary read is great fun. Author Grady Hendrix and Will Errickson are clearly genuine enthusiasts as well. Their work here will hopefully put many first timers on the well-worn path to suspense & terror. Hendrix acknowledges that these books are the pulpy paper equivalent of junk food; a guilty pleasure, probably not good for you, doesn't satisfy for long and often just leaves you craving more. Hendrix (with more than a little help from horror trash collector Will Errickson) pulls no punches and unapologetically spills his guts, so to speak, about the rise, rule and abrupt demise of disposable late night scare pulp & paperbacks. Dozens of books and their plots/characters are discussed, and the varying degrees of those books' success or failure are considered, along with brief insights into some of their authors ...and the talented - often unsung - artists who painted all those lurid, alluring covers that drew us to pick them up in the first place. You're practically guaranteed to add several new titles to your 'must read' list after pouring through this fun, informative book. It's a breezy read (I blew through it in one day), but the info is honest, interesting and Hendrix's disarming writing style is affectionately funny. The book is quite sturdy for a softcover; the pages are thick and the print is clean & crisp. The various covers reproduced throughout the book look terrific, although I felt most were disappointingly small. Overall I found this book to be well worth the money and will be using it as a reference for my horror novel hunting trips for some time to come. PAPERBACKS FROM HELL comes recommended by this casual horror fan. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/46821061-paperbacks-from-hell-the-twisted-history-of-70s-and-80s](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/46821061-paperbacks-from-hell-the-twisted-history-of-70s-and-80s) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-07-29*