I recently picked up the first 2021 issue of Pulp Adventures, #38, from Bold Venture Press, dated Spring 2021.
As always, we get a selection of new and classic pulp stories, with some non-fiction pieces as well. I’m not sure where the cover art by Howard Dodd came from, but it’s nice. Strangely, there’s nothing from Charles Boeckman or E.C. Tubb this time around.
For classic pulp fiction, we get two stories, and our non-fiction pieces fall into this area as well.
From Roger Torrey (1901-46), we get the longish “Death Is A Rebel” from Super-Detective in 1944. Torrey focused on crime stories, usually in the second- and third-tier pulps. We get a murder tale set in Florida, were he moved to in 1945. But this turns into more than murder with certain international aspects.
Henry S. Whitehead (1882-1932) was an Episcopal minister who wrote horror and fantasy work, and was part of the Lovecraft circle. He even hosted H.P. Lovecraft in Dunedin, Fla., in 1931. We get “The Fireplace” from Weird Tales in 1925. In 1922, a Southern hotel burned down on Christmas night, killing four prominent men in a certain room. Was there something behind it? A ghostly visitor 10 years prior has the answer.
Tied to this piece is “Dr. Whitehead & The Naked Secretary” by David Goudsward. We find out about the issues he had when his secretary became “Miss Florida 1931,” and soon embarked on a modeling career, leaving him to deal with typing his own manuscripts.
Also with classic pulp, we get an article by Will Murray: “1936: Year of Pulp Upheaval.” Here we learn of the changes with the hero pulps in that year, as some ended, others went through changes and more. While many of these changes I was aware of, I hadn’t noted they had occured in that year. These changes affected both the major and the minor pulp heroes.
And we get another of Rick Harvey‘s Retro Reviews on John D. MacDonald‘s Soft Touch (1958), which was later turned into the movie Man Trap (1961).
For New Pulp, we get five pieces.
We get another piece from Jack Halliday, “Room 801,” where a man returns to this hotel room 50 years later to remember the imporance of it, and how it tied to revenge and redemption.
From James Palmer, we get a weird-menace tale set in the Far East: “Tunnels of Lao Fang.” When an old friend reaches out, Rick Casey heads to Hong Kong to find him. But the friend is missing, and Casey is pulled into a bizarre horror in the underground of Hong Kong.
Paulene Turner provides another tale, “Taking the Plunge,” that makes use of special agent Valentina, who showed up in a prior issue. At a meeting of certain high rollers who hope to take advantage of upcoming events, Valentina works to put a stop to them.
In “From Here to Sheboygan” by Charles Burgess, a young lady is forced to drive a dangerous man making deliveries. What’s it all about, and can she get out of this safely?
Finally, in “All in Her Head” by Bryce Beattie, a man answers an newspaper ad for a “mind trip,” and gets much more than he bargained for.
We should get the next issue in July 2021. Also this summer, we hopefully will get the next issue of Awesome Tales #12. I look forward to both.
