Since the start of the pulp era, cults have been a popular subject. Usually dressed in red and concealing their faces behind hoods, cult members have menaced and frightened.
For this Halloween, here are some of the cults of the pulp era.
by Walter Baumhofer
by Arnold Kohn
by John Newton Howitt
by Rudolph Zirm
by Tom Lovell
by John Walter Scott
by George Hargis
by Harry Lemon Parkhurst
by Hugh Joseph Ward
by John Drew
by J. Allen St. John
by John Drew
This horrifying cover is from 1938.
by John Drew
This cover is from 1938.
by John Drew
This cover is from 1938 and becomes more horrifying the longer that you look at it.
In 1940, a new pulp magazine appeared on newsstands. Sinister Stories published “weird” stories, featuring cultists, monsters, and woman in distress. Unfortunately, the stories proved to be too sinister for many readers and the magazine was canceled after only three issues. However, the covers live on.
Here are the three covers of Sinister Stories:
by Harry Fisk
by John Coughlin
by John Drew
by Enoch Bolles
Sometime glamorous. Sometimes sordid. Sometimes dangerous. The life of the model has always been a popular subject for the pulps. Below are some pulp covers that deal not only with the experience of being model but also the weight of being an artist. There’s a price for everything.
by Ann Cantor
by Arnold Kohn
Artist Unknown
by Bernard Safran
by John Drew
by Paul Rader
by Rafael DeSoto
by Robert Bonfils
by Verne Tossey
by Hugh Joseph Ward
by John Walter Scott
Since the start of the pulp era, cults have been a popular subject. Usually dressed in red and concealing their faces behind hoods, cult members have menaced, tortured, and frightened. Luckily, there’s often a strong-jawed hero right around the corner to take them out and save the day.
Here’s a few of the cults of the pulp era!
by George Hargis
by Harry Lemon Parkhurst
by Hugh Joseph Ward
by J. Allen St. John
by John Drew
by John Newton Howitt
by Rudolph Zirm
by Tom Lovell
by Walter Baumhofer
by Arnold Kohn
Artist Unknown
From the time that the first issue was published in January of 1935, Horror Stories was one of the most popular pulp magazines, featuring content that was considered extreme even by pulp standards. Unfortunately, like many pulp magazines, it was forced to cease publication in 1941 due to a paper shortage following the U.S.’s entry into World War II. Because of its short press run, issues of Horror Stories are especially valued by collectors.
Horror Stories was best known for its lurid covers. I’ve posted a few here. Though many of these covers did not have a credited artist, it is believed that the majority of them were done by John Newton Howitt.
Artist Unknown
Artist Unknown
Artist Unknown
By John Newton Howitt
By John Newton Howitt
by John Newton Howitt
By John Newton Howitt
By John Newton Howitt
by John Newton Howitt
By Monroe Eisenberg
by Rudolph Zirn
Artist Unknown
Artist Unknown
Artist Unknown
By John Drew
By John Drew
Through the Shattered Lens 