A former sections editor of mine used to have a “happy drawer” in our department that was filled with candy. You could grab a piece whenever you needed a boost. The drawer was always full following Halloween, when everyone would bring in their leftovers.
One year, I got in a routine of pulling out a box of Nerds every day about mid-afternoon. You know, those little pebble-shaped sugar candies. After more than a week of Nerds, my teeth started hurting after the second or third mouthful of the candy. That was it. I couldn’t eat any more, even though I thought they were delicious.
The same applies to pulp stories. After a string of, say, Captain Future or Doc Savage stories, I reach a point where say, “That’s it. I can’t read another one.” This goes on with any pulp series.
You begin to notice how formulaic and predictable the stories are. You start noticing repetitive descriptions of the series’ characters. You’re reading them for pleasure, but they begin to stop being a pleasure to read.
Back when the pulps were being published, it might have been a month between issues, or longer if the series you were reading didn’t have its own magazine. After a month or six months or even a year, when the new story came out, you were eager for it.
It’s certainly not that the stories aren’t worth reading. But like with Nerds, you want to stop before they start hurting your teeth, and switch to another treat.
– William
* Sorry, but there’s no mention of Spicy magazines in this entry. I just couldn’t resist the punning headline.
