Horror books for October
Oct. 7th, 2021 11:56 amThe YouTube algorithm is a strange and mysterious beast. Once, though, I came across this video essay, in which the creator talks about how horror books can sometimes be indiscernible from non-horror books and how that removes some of their charm. In the video, they talk about a book written by Grady Hendrix called Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of ‘70s and ‘80s Horror Fiction.
Apparently, Hendrix's book sparked a publisher called Valancourt Books to republish those old pulp horror novels with the cover art as close to the original as possible. It was because of this YouTube video that I checked out the website for myself because I really like horror novels and mystery novels. From the website itself: Valancourt Books is an independent small press specializing in the rediscovery of rare, neglected, and out-of-print fiction. Despite the valiant efforts of a few small presses and the availability of new technology that can make books available to readers all over the world, far too many great books remain out-of-print and inaccessible; we founded Valancourt Books in 2005 to restore many of these works to new generations of readers. This really intrigued me! They have old sci-fi, horror, thrillers, and even a solid selection of LGBTQ+ novels from decades ago. I ordered a book and it arrived way earlier than I expected, using USPS shipping.
I really love it so far!