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First up we made a quick stop at the Antique Mall. Not the best place to find books but every once in a while you find something.
I got this Dell map back, The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope by C.W. Grafton. A lawyer looks into a woman’s stock inheritance and is surprised to find someone trying to kill him along with multiple murders in the past. The map backs were a Dell staple from 1942-51 and was created and mostly illustrated by a woman named Ruth O’ Neal.
Also grabbed this 1954 Signet Georges Simenon- Belle with a salaciously suggestive noir cover. I’ve only ever read Maigret by Simenon but I’ve seen mentioned that his non-Maigret titles are more literary than the cover art would lead you to believe.
Next we went to Dark Star Books in Yellow Springs. They have quite a nice selection of collectible vintage books and comics along with newer independent releases. They also don’t have a bathroom and you’ll be hard pressed to find a bathroom anywhere in Yellow Springs so make sure you go first or at least map out where the possible bathrooms are as we almost had a pee pants moment.
We grabbed this Dennis Wheatley Black Magic Book, Strange Conflict. Dennis Wheatley was part of the occult secret society circles and “once had lunch with Aleister Crowley”- some guy on Wikipedia.
Snagged a couple Maigret paperbacks. I love these short little Dells. They are so cute.
Also got this risqué Maigret with the Strangled Stripper.
Found a 1964 Ace Sci-Fi of the man, Robert E Howard’s Almuric. It’s about a manly man who strangles his boss and then is shot into space by a scientist to a world called Almuric with monsters and beautiful ladies. Originally appeared in the pages of Weird Tales. Sounds perfect.
Was excited to find this 1960 Orrie Hitt sleaze novel, The Cheat. It’s about a corrupt cop and a bar who lets prostitutes handle their business for a cut of the money. I once saw a female bartender drag a woman out of a bar bathroom for that exact thing. Guess she wasn’t on the take. She needed to read more Orrie Hitt.
Lastly from Dark Star my wife found this Coven 13 digest from 1969. Did a short search on it and it looks like the creator Arthur H Landis was inspired by Weird Tales and tried to do something like that. You have to appreciate that he did it a little different. In 1971 the subscription was sold to William L Crawford and he restarted the magazine as Witchcraft & Sorcery.
Up next we stopped by a kind of crappy used media store next to our local Trader Joes called, 2nd and Charles. I usually don’t find much there and this time was no different. But I did grab these two…
The Green Eyes of Bast is a non- Fu Manchu Sax Rohmer book about a psychic detective which if you watched my last review video I reviewed a book called The Seth Papers by Frank Lauria which also had a psychic detective and let me just say, I’m a fan. Like that book this one has to do with the secrets of ancient Egypt. And cats.
Got this hilariously tough looking Cop Killer by Tom Philbin. It’s main character is a cop named Joe Lawless who is the commander of the Felony Squad located in the Bronx, the toughest precinct in New York City. And we’re talking mid-80s New York here, so I bet this thing is grimy as all get out.
Once again, we stopped over at Bell Book and Comic. I swear every time I think I’ve completely drained that place, I once again come out with a stack of books.
I have really enjoyed the Monarch books that I’ve read so far. I love how pulpy the art and stories feel, how short the novels are. Novellas if you wanna be a snoot about it. Monarch was the paperback publishing wing of Charlton Comics which I also love. I don’t know, I’m just drawn to them.
Picked up my very first Karl Edward Wagner. This is a collection of stories featuring Kane, a warrior in the vein of Conan obviously. It even has a Frazetta cover.
Found the US version of Who Fears the Devil? By Manly Wade Wellman. I got the UK version either last haul or the one before and it’s hard for me to pass up any Silver John books. Silver John is a balladeer, traveling through the hills and mountains fighting demonic monsters and other worldly creatures. It’s very folkish. Like Woody Guthrie fighting monsters instead of Fascism. Also it’s hilarious how buff this Silver John is. He’s not only walking from town to town, it looks like he’s putting in a couple hours in the gym too.
Lastly, I picked up this copy of The Monster from Earth’s End solely on the recommendation from the Paperback Warrior blog who put it in the same world as Who Goes There? by John W Cambell or the movie that was based off of that story, John Carpenter’s The Thing.
The final book store of the haul is of course, Half Priced Books. Not one month goes by that we don’t stop in there. They always have something new. We actually went there twice. The first time was on Valentines after a lovely evening of Pho. The store was closing in ten minutes so I just grabbed some books. I may not have got them had I had more time but what are you gonna do, walk out with nothing? I don’t think so.
I had just read an adult Western called Foxx and it was kind of lame (review coming soon) but I was itching for more Western and I love Native stuff so why not a mix of both? Cheyenne #13 Wendigo Mountain by Judd Cole. A wendigo is a mythological creature that eats human flesh. I’m really hoping one appears in this story but I doubt it.
I got this amazing looking Super Cop Joe Blaze- The Thrill Killers by Robert Novak but is actually written by Len Levinson. I like how the guy on the cover has that dried out by salt water face ala Jack Palance.
A rare sighting these days is an 80s horror paperback but this one looks to be amazing. Almost Human by James V Smith Jr is about a woman who is kidnapped by a terrorist group who intends to mate her with genetically spawned cannibalistic creatures. What?!
Grabbed these two Pyramid Fu Manchu books mostly because I loved the cover art. It looks very Scooby Doo to me.
Trail cover art by Robert Macguire. Island cover art by Charles Copeland.
1957 Mike Shayne book Murder and the Married Virgin. I have a few of the 60s versions with the little Mike Shayne drawing and the beautiful painted covers but I couldn’t pass up this old Dell map back version.
Eric Ambler’s Epitaph for a spy. UK version.
Colin Forbes Target 5 looks to be a Alistair Maclean-ish cold war espionage novel.
And lastly The California Coven Project by Bob Stickgold. A modern day witch hunt tale set in the 80s.
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