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PULP FICTION, Anyone?

No, I am not talking about Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction here. But what is Pulp Fiction anyway? The real pulp fiction goes back to the magazines that used cheaper pulp paper in order to sell in great volume to a voracious reading public. These magazines had their heyday in the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s.

It was fiction for the people, for the guy on the crowded subway going to work, or the busy mother with five kids who got a little reading time at night. It was for the people who wanted to be caught up in a fictive dream. It was not written in a style aimed at some elite literati. Pulp fiction can be characterized as fast-paced, plot-oriented storytelling of a linear nature with clearly defined, larger than life protagonists and antagonists, creative descriptions, clever use of turns of phrase and other aspects of writing that add to the intensity and pacing of the story. About the American dream gone wrong and how crime does not pay. And it produced many superb writers along the way who transcended the genre.

The first “pulp” was Frank Munsey’s revamped Argosy Magazine of 1896, about 135,000 words (192 pages) per issue on pulp paper with untrimmed edges and no illustrations, not even on the cover. While the steam-powered printing press had been in widespread use for some time, enabling the boom in dime novels, prior to Munsey, no one had combined cheap printing, cheap paper and cheap authors in a package that provided affordable entertainment to young working-class people. In six years Argosy went from a few thousand copies per month to over half a million.

Some of the renowned authors such as Isaac Asimov, Jack London, Ray Bradbury, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Philip K. Dick, H. G. Wells, Mark Twain, and Rudyard Kipling wrote for these pulps. While the majority of pulp magazines were anthology titles featuring many different authors, characters and settings, some of the most enduringly popular magazines were those that featured a single recurring character. These were often referred to as “hero pulps” because the recurring character was almost always a larger-than-life hero.

Some of the Popular Pulp Characters:

Pulp magazines often contained a wide variety of genre fiction, including: adventure, detective/mystery, sports, war, science fiction, and fantasy.

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Everyrosehasathorn says: July 30, 2014 at 11:00 PM Oh wow, that's fascinating. I bet some oft he stuff that they sold was pretty exotic and random. Much better than most of the streamlined books we have nowadays!
michaelnjohns says: July 30, 2014 at 11:32 PM My dad had some original Tarzan and Kull and John Carter and Conan stories, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard fiction in his library. I still love Burroughs' writing, and Howard is still my absolute favorite of all the pulp fiction writers.
T D Hutch says: July 30, 2014 at 11:32 PM Good article, I read quite a lot of pulps. I am surprised that there's no mention of Weird Tales (still in print and kicking, guys!!), Lovecraft, R E Howard, or Robert Bloch. I also suggest getting the four Dell magazines (Asimov's, Analog, Ellery Queen and Hitchcock) as they print some cool stuff. I will re blog this on my eerieworlds.
T D Hutch says: July 30, 2014 at 11:33 PM Reblogged this on eerie worlds and commented: It is always cool to see an article dedicated to the lost art of Pulps.
Joseph Nebus says: July 31, 2014 at 8:19 AM There's at least one fairly need user on DeviantArt who posts pulp magazine covers and illustrations, cleaned up for the most part. It's always neat to jump into and spend some time looking over the day's postings.
Anneque G. Malchien says: July 31, 2014 at 3:21 PM Amazing, eh? I almost wish I was living in that time, where those opportunities existed and so many famous authors made their way. Of course, it's easy to think being published in pulp magazines lead directly to fame, when 95% of the authors would have been cast aside and forgotten. But 135K without images to break it up! And in 192 pages. I bet the text was Bible-dense. Still. It's beautiful.
mlbradford says: August 1, 2014 at 9:17 AM Interesting read; u want pulp, we got pulp Try this for size! http://bradscribe.wordpress.com/2014/07/29/archaic-scope/ Cheers!
Madame Vauquer says: August 15, 2014 at 9:52 PM The glory days! I just got through posting about stories by Robert Bloch and H P Lovecraft in Weird Tales. http://wp.me/pZnGI-bj
dale harkness says: December 7, 2014 at 11:03 PM By chance last night I was browsing through books in a used bookstore about this very subject. Focused on the artwork of pulp magazines and book covers to be specific. I have to say I find the entire subject interesting including the history of the publishers involved. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on pulp ficiton.

Oh wow, that's fascinating. I bet some oft he stuff that they sold was pretty exotic and random. Much better than most of the streamlined books we have nowadays!

Aman(@amanhimself) says: July 30, 2014 at 11:03 PM Yes it was totally exotic. These magazines had a vast readership and it's a pity that they are out of print now. I mean, for a writer to test his ability and experiment with his work and techniques, these magazines would have better and also from a reader's point of view, he or she gets majority of variety to read in a lesser time.

Yes it was totally exotic. These magazines had a vast readership and it's a pity that they are out of print now. I mean, for a writer to test his ability and experiment with his work and techniques, these magazines would have better and also from a reader's point of view, he or she gets majority of variety to read in a lesser time.

Everyrosehasathorn says: July 30, 2014 at 11:07 PM So true! We have nothing in today's world to the likes of Edger Allen Poe and Robert Frost.
lauramezirka says: November 5, 2017 at 1:09 AM There are sources for some of the old pulp stories, anthologies edited by Otto Penzler ( I have The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps on hand right now for when the need strikes me), and a quick look on Amazon shows The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction has three volumes out. Upon getting some extra money, I went crazy a while back and purchased all the Akashic books in their Noir series in a deal they were running at the time. http://www.akashicbooks.com/subject/noir-series/ Still they are publishing new books in the series. I need to get through some non-fiction I’m reading now and get back to these so I can finish them before I die. If they continue publishing more, I’ll have something to look forward to in my next life.

So true! We have nothing in today's world to the likes of Edger Allen Poe and Robert Frost.

Aman(@amanhimself) says: July 30, 2014 at 11:08 PM I agree :)

I agree :)

There are sources for some of the old pulp stories, anthologies edited by Otto Penzler ( I have The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps on hand right now for when the need strikes me), and a quick look on Amazon shows The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction has three volumes out.
Upon getting some extra money, I went crazy a while back and purchased all the Akashic books in their Noir series in a deal they were running at the time. http://www.akashicbooks.com/subject/noir-series/ Still they are publishing new books in the series. I need to get through some non-fiction I’m reading now and get back to these so I can finish them before I die. If they continue publishing more, I’ll have something to look forward to in my next life.

My dad had some original Tarzan and Kull and John Carter and Conan stories, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard fiction in his library. I still love Burroughs' writing, and Howard is still my absolute favorite of all the pulp fiction writers.

Aman(@amanhimself) says: July 30, 2014 at 11:34 PM Wow! Originals, that's amazing, so lucky. I haven't read Howard but I have a fondling for Burrough's writing.

Wow! Originals, that's amazing, so lucky. I haven't read Howard but I have a fondling for Burrough's writing.

Good article, I read quite a lot of pulps. I am surprised that there's no mention of Weird Tales (still in print and kicking, guys!!), Lovecraft, R E Howard, or Robert Bloch. I also suggest getting the four Dell magazines (Asimov's, Analog, Ellery Queen and Hitchcock) as they print some cool stuff. I will re blog this on my eerieworlds.

Aman(@amanhimself) says: July 30, 2014 at 11:38 PM Hi. I kid of regret for not nurturing much my knowledge on this topic for this topic is rather vast and extremely flexible. I wrote this on the basis of prior knowledge I have. But I am always looking forward to expand my knowledge. Thanks for sharing some titles, I will certainly look out for :) Thanks for reblogging it too.

Hi. I kid of regret for not nurturing much my knowledge on this topic for this topic is rather vast and extremely flexible. I wrote this on the basis of prior knowledge I have. But I am always looking forward to expand my knowledge. Thanks for sharing some titles, I will certainly look out for :)
Thanks for reblogging it too.

T D Hutch says: July 31, 2014 at 12:29 AM There is much to discover about pulps. In all fairness, the problem is that “pulp” defines more a stylistic choice rather than a pure genre. As a matter of fact, pulps range from sci-fi to horror, from murder mystery to adventure and, in some cases, even romance. And these subgenres can be divided into more pieces (such as Lovecraftian Horror vs. Action Horror, or the Derlethism branch). To make things more interesting, pulp relates to visual art also. I strongly suggest to check Margarite Brundage’s covers to get a good example of what is all about. One good website is http://www.pulpcovers.com which is one of the hidden secrets of the internet. I would say that the musts are (you can find them free online): - Lovecraft stuff such as “At the mountain of Madness”, or “Dexter Ward” - The Conan stories by Robert E. Howard (“Red Nails” in particular). - The short story “The Willows” by Algernoon Blakwood. Strictly speaking, it antecedes pulps by quite a few years, but it’s a masterwork of milieu suspense that would later make Lovecraft famous. In the XXI century it might not scare as it used to, but it is truly an impressive tale. This story is a MUST READ even for people not interested in the genre. - Anything by Dashiell Hammet and Raymond Chandler - Stuff by Clark Ashton Smith In more recent times, I would suggest to read early stories by Ramsey Campbell or Stephen King. King’s “The ballad of the flexible bullet” is quite a good and weird tale. Pulps are like a Pandora’s box, once you open the first tale you will never stop.

There is much to discover about pulps. In all fairness, the problem is that “pulp” defines more a stylistic choice rather than a pure genre. As a matter of fact, pulps range from sci-fi to horror, from murder mystery to adventure and, in some cases, even romance. And these subgenres can be divided into more pieces (such as Lovecraftian Horror vs. Action Horror, or the Derlethism branch). To make things more interesting, pulp relates to visual art also. I strongly suggest to check Margarite Brundage’s covers to get a good example of what is all about. One good website is http://www.pulpcovers.com which is one of the hidden secrets of the internet.
I would say that the musts are (you can find them free online):
- Lovecraft stuff such as “At the mountain of Madness”, or “Dexter Ward”
- The Conan stories by Robert E. Howard (“Red Nails” in particular).
- The short story “The Willows” by Algernoon Blakwood. Strictly speaking, it antecedes pulps by quite a few years, but it’s a masterwork of milieu suspense that would later make Lovecraft famous. In the XXI century it might not scare as it used to, but it is truly an impressive tale. This story is a MUST READ even for people not interested in the genre.
- Anything by Dashiell Hammet and Raymond Chandler
- Stuff by Clark Ashton Smith
In more recent times, I would suggest to read early stories by Ramsey Campbell or Stephen King. King’s “The ballad of the flexible bullet” is quite a good and weird tale.
Pulps are like a Pandora’s box, once you open the first tale you will never stop.

Aman(@amanhimself) says: July 31, 2014 at 10:07 AM Wow! You are quite educated on the topic. Glad to see that you're so enthusiastic about the Pulp. I totally agree with you that Pulps are like a Pandora's Box. And thanks for the link, and other recommendations which I will surely check out! :)

Wow! You are quite educated on the topic. Glad to see that you're so enthusiastic about the Pulp. I totally agree with you that Pulps are like a Pandora's Box. And thanks for the link, and other recommendations which I will surely check out! :)

Reblogged this on eerie worlds and commented:
It is always cool to see an article dedicated to the lost art of Pulps.

There's at least one fairly need user on DeviantArt who posts pulp magazine covers and illustrations, cleaned up for the most part. It's always neat to jump into and spend some time looking over the day's postings.

Aman(@amanhimself) says: July 31, 2014 at 9:57 AM Thanks for the link. I'll check it out :)

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out :)

Amazing, eh? I almost wish I was living in that time, where those opportunities existed and so many famous authors made their way. Of course, it's easy to think being published in pulp magazines lead directly to fame, when 95% of the authors would have been cast aside and forgotten.
But 135K without images to break it up! And in 192 pages. I bet the text was Bible-dense. Still. It's beautiful.

Aman(@amanhimself) says: July 31, 2014 at 3:24 PM Yes, very beautiful. Don't know about the text though :)

Yes, very beautiful. Don't know about the text though :)

Anneque G. Malchien says: July 31, 2014 at 3:29 PM Ah well. Thank you so much for sharing. It's wonderful to see how much the industry has evolved.

Ah well. Thank you so much for sharing. It's wonderful to see how much the industry has evolved.

Aman(@amanhimself) says: July 31, 2014 at 3:31 PM You're welcome!

You're welcome!

Interesting read; u want pulp, we got pulp
Try this for size!
http://bradscribe.wordpress.com/2014/07/29/archaic-scope/
Cheers!

Aman(@amanhimself) says: August 1, 2014 at 10:20 AM Great post! Thanks :)

Great post! Thanks :)

mlbradford says: August 1, 2014 at 10:48 AM You're welcome! I'll b back soon Cheers!

You're welcome!
I'll b back soon
Cheers!

Aman(@amanhimself) says: August 1, 2014 at 10:49 AM Sure, you're always welcome here :)

Sure, you're always welcome here :)

The glory days! I just got through posting about stories by Robert Bloch and H P Lovecraft in Weird Tales. http://wp.me/pZnGI-bj

Aman(@amanhimself) says: August 15, 2014 at 9:53 PM Sure, I'll check it out :)

Sure, I'll check it out :)

Madame Vauquer says: August 15, 2014 at 9:57 PM Serendipity. I just found your post on Pulp Fiction and referenced it in my post.

Serendipity. I just found your post on Pulp Fiction and referenced it in my post.

Aman(@amanhimself) says: August 15, 2014 at 9:58 PM Thanks for the referring :)

Thanks for the referring :)

By chance last night I was browsing through books in a used bookstore about this very subject. Focused on the artwork of pulp magazines and book covers to be specific. I have to say I find the entire subject interesting including the history of the publishers involved. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on pulp ficiton.

Aman(@amanhimself) says: December 8, 2014 at 4:48 AM It is very interesting and attractive :) You're welcome.

It is very interesting and attractive :) You're welcome.

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