Description

Satan Lives For My Love!: Sex and Sadism in Marvel’s Horror Pulps, 1938-1940 edited by Ed Hulse

Trade Paperback – Murania Press – Jan 2019 – 306 pages

Before launching what would become the Marvel Comics empire, Martin Goodman published low-rent pulp magazines issued by a dizzying array of shell companies designed to insulate him from creditors. In order to compete in an already-crowded marketplace, he allowed editor-in-chief Robert O. Erisman to distinguish their periodicals with lurid covers and sensational fiction. Bearing Goodman’s “Red Circle” trademark, the horror pulps Mystery Tales, Uncanny Tales, Marvel Tales, and Real Mystery were transgressive in the extreme, shattering the boundaries of good taste and igniting a firestorm of outrage that eventually drove horror pulps off the newsstands. This anthology collects ten of the most offensive stories from those magazines, making it a cornucopia of sexual violence and perversion! In addition to the title tale you’ll find such stomach-churning gems as “The Monster Must Eat,” “Mates of the Morgue-Master,” “Revelry in Hell,” “Fresh Fiances for the Devil’s Daughter,” and “Mates for Hell’s Half-World Minions.”