Blood ‘n’ Thunder is a journal aimed at late 19th and early 20th century pop culture. For the pulp fan, this means the pulp magazines, their forerunners (story papers, dime novels, and nickel weeklies) and the complementary forms of stage melodramas, motion pictures, serials, and old time radio. I would think most pulp fans would be interested in all of these.
Ed Hulse started it over a decade ago. He has since formed Murania Press to publish reprint books, both from the pulps and from Blood ‘n’ Thunder itself, and some additional material.
I discovered BnT with issue 22/23, when Ed moved to using Amazon’s CreateSpace as his printer. This means the back issues from that point on are always available for purchase at Amazon. But subscribing is the best way to purchase the magazine. (hint, hint)
I’ve enjoyed each issue. There are always several articles on pulps in each issue I’ve enjoyed, and I usually find the other articles are just as interesting. As an example, here are some of the articles in recent issues I’ve enjoyed:
#36/37 (Spring/Summer 2013)
A great article on Everet Truett, by Will Murray, provides more info on the author of the the Doc Harker character from Munsey pulps, that was recently reprinted by Altus Press, and some of the other pulps works from him.
An article on the 20 most underrated Doc Savage novels.
An article on Fu Manchu by Bill Maynard, who is writing the new Fu Manchu novels.
And a couple of pulp reprints.
#35 (Fall 2012)
An article on the development of A. Meritt‘s “Burn, Witch, Burn” to the screen.
A look into the connection between pulp artist Stockton Mulford and illustrator Ray Dean.
#34 (Summer 2012)
A look into the “New Pulp” movement. Another article on Frederick Nebel‘s pulp detectives (now being reprinted by Altus Press). And (not pulp) but a great article on Chandu the Magician, an interesting character from radio and movies.
And a book-length pulp reprint.
(Those are just some of the pulp-related items in these issues!)
For those wanted to read material from the older issues (before #22), the best way is by getting the two collections, “The Best of Blood ‘n’ Thunder.” Both are great collections of articles, though I wish the artwork from the articles had been included in the second volume. Another volume, “Blood ‘n’ Thunder’s Cliffhanger Classics,” reprints this regular department.
Another book to check out is the “Blood ‘n’ Thunder Guide to Pulp Fiction,” now in its second edition. I will have a separate posting on this volume soon.
So if you haven’t checked out BnT, I recommend you do so. It’s a great read. The next issue, #38, should be coming soon, and I look forward to it as there are several pulp-related articles in it.
