Skulls and bones were a mainstay on the covers of pulp and especially horror related magazines. For this Halloween, take a trip back into the bony past with a few skeletal covers from the pulp era!
by Rudolph Belarski
by Rafael De Soto
by Robert Stanley
by Robert Gibson Jones
By Jack Davis
Halloween is right around the corner! Are you ready? I’m disappointed because my neighborhood really hasn’t decorated much for Halloween this year. It’s supposed to rain for the next three days so my neighbors better hurry up and put up some ghosts and some pumpkins and get in the holiday spirit!
Do you need help getting in the holiday spirit? Here’s some help from the pulps!
Artist Unknown
By Earle Bergey
Artist Unknown
by Doris Stanley
artist unknown
By Frank Frazaetta
by Rudolph Zirn
Artist Unknown
by Rafael De Soto
by Robert Stanley
by Rudolph Belarski
by John Newton Howitt
Are you scared of tentacles?
Whether they’re reaching down from the sky or coming out of the water, the idea of being grabbed and, even worse, squeezed by several slimy tentacles is a scary one! Perhaps that’s why it was such a popular image during the pulp age. Below is just a sampling of some of the era’s tentacle horror, courtesy of some of the best artists to work in the pulps!
by Earle Bergey
by Alexander Leydenfrost
by Edmund Emshwiller
by Hugh Joseph Ward
by L.B. Cole
by Lou Fine
by Rafael DeSoto
by Robert Bonfils
by Ron Embleton
by Rudolph Belarski
by Rafael De Soto
If a knife’s wandering around, it probably means you’ve found yourself in a really dangerous Disney movie.
There’s been several different editions of this book. I think this Dell edition, with a cover from Rafael De Soto, came out in 1966.
by Rafael De Soto
This was the cover of the Summer 1957 edition of Glamour Photography. I tried to find more information about the magazine but my Google search took me to some pretty weird places so I guess this cover (and the “glamour studio on wheels” blurb) will just have to speak for itself.
This cover was done by Rafael De Soto. I’ve shared a lot of De Soto’s work on this site. Apparently, in the 50s, farm girls would get all dressed up and sit at the side of the road while photographers cruised up and Route 66, searching for legs to photograph. This cover is both innocent and tawdry. I hope no one got in the car.
Artist Unknown
While recently looking through some old pulp covers, I couldn’t help but notice a recurring theme.
Flight attendants!
During the pulp era, flight attendants were apparently a popular subject. Whether they were thwarting hijackings or trying to land the perfect pilot husband, flight attendants lived dramatic, exciting, and sexy lives! It was enough to make me wonder if maybe I made a mistake when I decided that I didn’t want to go to grow up and be a flight attendant. (I was ten so what did I know?)
Here’s just a sampling of pulp covers featuring flight attendants dealing with everything from hijackers to more earthbound pursuits. Where known the artist has been credited.
by James Meese
by Victor Kalin
Artist Unknown
by Ernest “Darcy” Chiraka
by Norman Saunders
by Norman Saunders
by Rafael DeSoto
by Robert Abbett
by Robert Maguire
Unknown Artist
Unknown Artist
by Arthur Brushnib
Enjoy your flight!
by Rafael De Soto
Top-Notch Magazine was a pulp magazine that ran from 1910 to 1937. It was published by Smith & Street and, like most pulp magazines of the time, it was full of stories of crime, adventure, and sports. The magazine featured early work from writers like Jack London, Robert E. Howard, Lester Dent, and L. Ron Hubbard before he tried to warn the world about evil lord Xenu.
Below are a few of the covers of Top-Notch Magazine! Where known, the artist have been credited.
by Robert G. Harris
by Rafael De Soto
by Emery Clarke
Artist Unknown
Artist Unknown
Artist Unknown
Artist Unknown
Artist Unknown
Artist Unknown
Artist Unknown
Artist Unknown
Artist Unknown
Artist Unknown
by Rafael De Soto
by Rafael DeSoto
Through the Shattered Lens 