‘Sensuous Science Fiction From the Weird and Spicy Pulps’

I have been looking for the dime-novel and pulp-related works from Bowling Green State University’s Popular Press when I learned of one I wasn’t aware of: Sensuous Science Fiction From the Weird and Spicy Pulps from 1984. This is another collection from the pulps by Sheldon Jaffrey (1934-2003) who also did the collection Selected Tales of Grim and Grue From the Horror Pulps in 1987. He had two other works from Popular Press I may review.

Again taking inspiration from the shudder pulps, this is a collection of seven science-fiction takes from the weird-menace and spicy pulps. Some of the shudder pulps from Popular Publications ran science-fiction tales. We get one of those. A couple of the spicy pulps also did science fiction, especially Spicy-Adventure Stories and sometimes Spicy Mystery. And Marvin Goodman‘s Red Circle science fiction pulps took a turn for spicy and weird-menace elements. There is a nice intro by Jaffrey, who also prefaces each story as well.

In the book, we get:

From W. Wayne Robbins (1914-58), there is “Test-Tube Frankenstein,” which was noted on the cover of the May 1940 Terror Tales. Robbins seems to mainly worked in Horror Stories and Terror Tales. In this one, a man deals with an organism created by a mad scientist that can take any form. Like his best friend. Or his wife. He destroys it. But did he?

Next is the first Zenith Rand story, “Zenith Rand, Planet Vigilante” by Richard Tooker, which was cover featured in the June 1936 issue of Mystery Adventures. This series ran three stories and I plan on posting on the complete series once I read the reprint volume from Black Dog Books. Here Zenith and his female companion Sandra must deal with the Camian goat-women.

From the Red Circle pulps, we get a pair of stories from the only two issues of Marvel Tales, which was a retitling of Marvel Science Stories, after which it was retitled Marvel Stories. For those two issues, sex and sadism were a big element. Interestingly, both stories featured were by major sf authors under pseudonyms, though Jaffery wasn’t aware of one of them.

First up is “The Angel from Hell” which was cover featured in the December 1939 issue. It’s really by Jack Williamson under the pseudonym Nils O. Sonderlund, which he only used for two stories in Marvel Tales. In this story set in the Gobi desert, two pilots deal with a threat from different angles. One meets a winged woman, the last of her race who lives on a floating island. The other is recruited to join a group bent on world conquest, using strange weapons made by a mad scientist, using ideas he stole from the winged race and their island. Can the two pilots stop this threat?

Next is “The World Without Sex” from the May 1940 issue and is by Edmond Hamilton under the name Robert Wentworth. Set in a bizarre, future world where women have taken over, the men finally rebel.

Finally, we get a trio from Spicy-Adventure Stories. All were under pseudonyms, though Jaffrey didn’t know any of the real author’s names. Two are by Victor Rousseau Emanuel (1879-1960), who I’ve posted on before who created super-detective Jim Anthony and was reduced to writing for the spicy pulps at this time in his career. Two of his pseudonyms were Lew Merrill and Hugh Speers.

First is “The Robot Awakes,” which is by Lew Merrill and was covered featured on the October 1940 issue. Set in the far future where mankind is dying, a robot rebels. But this is a biological robot sheathed in metal. Can he start a new human race?

Next is “Shawm of the Stars” by Hugh Speers from September 1940. This is the first Shawm story, and there is at least one more from the next issue. Are there others? This is your standard adventurer in a space-style story.

Finally, we have “Planet of Peril” by Henri St. Maur who was really James H.S. Moynahan, also from the September 1940 issue. It’s another tale of sex and space adventure.

Overall, a nice collection of such stories from the spicy sf pulps. This one seems hard to find, and most copies I saw were fairly pricey. I would think with all the pulp reprinting going on this one could easily be brought back and maybe updated and revised. If you like these sorts of stories, take a look.