I'm of the young blood that has discovered horror paperbacks through Grady Hendrick's book. For the most part, I refuse to pay high prices for any of them, unless it's in great condition and I'm completely intrigued by the contents within, sometimes to replace a tattered copy of a book I love. In the process of collecting horror I found myself leaning more towards sci-fi and crime. I focused less on whether or not it had a cool cover and started discovering great works of fiction. I roamed RUclips commentary for interesting readers and I found a few that really stood out to me. I started from Plagued By Visions (who focuses on transgressive and dark literary fiction). That is how I came across Matt on Bookpilled, and by extention your channel. There are a few others I enjoy but you three pack your videos with the density and quality my mind craves. In a way, you could say that the Paperbacks from Hell phenomenon is a beautiful thing overall. It got me reading again and now I'm obsessing over some great SF literature that scratches that brain itch for me. You get to be part of the phenomenon as well. Cheers.
Yes, I do think the book has opened people's heads up, a good thing. It is the currently crazy pricing that is disconcerting- there may be a Horror novel in that! Thanks for your kind and trenchant comments and I'm glad Matt, Juan and I are keeping you on the path to discovery, you are certainly very, very welcome here!
@@outlawbookselleroriginalThe issue of condition is an obnoxious thing to contend with. There have been many times I've been willing to put down the money for a good copy but they've stayed on my wishlist for years and never seem to pop up in the condition I'd want. That's why I've been fine with finding them cheap in ratty condition. I actually found Memoirs Found in a Bathtub (not in a bathtub) just yesterday. The spine was so faded you couldn't read it and I almost passed right by it. I purchased it for $3 and am happy to have it at all. Lem is one of the many I never seem to find in good shape. Thanks for the welcome. This is certainly the more wholesome side of the internet to be on.
wow wow wow, excellent condition books. nice finds there. not ready any of those particular authors, was into horror quite a bit in the late 80s early 90s but mainly the mainsteam stuff like King or Herbert. Love seeing these old books being looked after and appreciated.
Yes, it's hard to find things this pristine, but it's part of my mission. I prefer Horror in the 19th and up-to-1970 20th century incarnations mostly, but I'm not above shocksploitation and feel it has a place- as Horror is an outsider bricolage, why shouldn't it revel in standards that the 'literary establishment' would deplore- it is, after all, about the transgressive and unpleasant much of the time. I don't read much contemporary Horror- except when I'm in the mood, but I do feel it's important. I'd say my preferred Horror writer of the last 40 years is K W Jeter. There is a top ten horror for halloween video on the channel, which looks at some of my more obscure faves- in the horror playlist.
Stunning livery on all of those books, OB. Especially that Lem, "Memoirs...". Watching this episode reminded me of the rare occasions when I'd take the train into Cambridge, Massachusetts, on a Saturday in the autumn, and spend the entire day languishing in all the book shops in Harvard Square in the late 70's/early 80's. The same sense of discovery I experienced then is so prevalent here in this post. Can't tell you enough how extraordinary it is to me to have the benefit of your acumen regarding book collecting, which is a pursuit near and dear to my heart. Fundamentally brilliant! Cheers.
Yes, the Lem is very special- like you, I miss bookbuying in the days when beautiful stuff like this was the norm, hence my getting invited to all these dealer warehouses- they take pity on me!
I have the Sphere edition of Lisa Tuttle's "A Nest of Nightmare"! Bought it, oh, decade-and-a-half-ago: LONG before Grady Hendrix's book which - by truly bizarre coincidence! - I just returned my library copy of this very afternoon! 😂 Terrific book, though very heavy on US paperbacks; there really are only a handful of UK ones represented. Took my Lisa Tuttle book to a convention years ago that she was at and got it flat-signed.... in fact, I took all my Tuttle short story collections and got them signed! By the way, my Sphere edition? Even though I bought it ages ago before the whole 'vintage' horror paperback thing AND the condition is merely "good"...? Even then it cost me over twenty quid 😱
Always appreciate the injection of some Horror as I’m forever keeping my eye out for authors I’ve read or collected but never hear anything about like Dennis Ettchisen or T.E.D. Klein. The ads for the SF Book Club on the back of the magazines sends me back as it depicts two of the titles I chose for my introductory membership package: The Hugo Winners, and The Foundation Trilogy. I still have these along with The Science Fiction Hall of Fame- Vols. 2A and 2B. I can’t remember what the other two were, though I suspect one was the hardcover of 2001.
I have some Etchison in a box under the bed- and funnily enough I am working on acquiring more- first read him in the 80s and want to return to his oeuvre. I recall selling Klein's 'The Ceremonies' when it was first published and its one of a number of great Modern horror novels that- like so many others- has disappeared. I see the fundamental problem in this area as being Stephen King - the mass audience just knee-jerk to him an NEVER look beyond and it's been this way for nearly 50 years, plus he's super- prolific. He does what he can to mention other writers, but young people particularly are in his thrall and have been for decades- Lovecraft has become the same. But as I've said elsewhere in this thread, there are people who want to move beyond but lack guidance, so I do what I can....
I read Night Raider and I plan to read the rest of Malzberg's series. His is a surreal dark world in an hard boiled style. I am missing one of them. I thoroughly enjoy his "voice".
Yep, Barry is a mensch. I just finished 'Night Raider' and although it's a real cut above the formula for the ol' vigilante exploitation novel, it's not a patch on his SF. Fun though....
Just a heads up for any "outlaws" in Nottingham that there is a large library donation of good condition science fiction currently being sold in Oxfam, apparently they've been given a house full.
@@SciFiScavenger Yes, ti really does complete the aesthetic. The Dyed Text Block has become a thing in the UK in the last few years- especially with hardcovers and paperbacks aimed at the female/teen market and was otherwise never a thing in the UK, unlike the US, where it was used extensively in the 1960s and early 1970s to offset the acid in cheap paper stock that causes ageing. The US publishing industry adopted acid free paper many years ahead of the UK- they could afford to, having a bigger market. Until recently, the only way you'd find UK books with dyed text blocks was if you could find publisher file copies- Jonathan Cape routinely stained the tops of their text blocks once books had been in stock and unsold for a while as well. I have bought quite a few file copies of UK paperbacks from Simon at Fantastic Literature and these are about the only UK ones I've seen, as this was never applied to stock copies.
I think there were at least six Bard paperbacks in this series - I have three, although Mortal Engines does not have that lovely red text block. They are gorgeous.
I happen to like horror paperbacks, it was my first love in the late 80. But they weren’t particularly popular at the time or in the 90s. It’s less than a 50/50 chance that a used bookstore will even have a horror section here in the US. I’m glad people are rediscovering horror but it’s not friendly to my wallet.
Hey, you're lucky you even have a 50/50 chance of seeing horror books 'in the wild'! 🙄 I can't speak for the rest of the UK, but even though I live a short train journey from Scotland's two biggest cities (Edinburgh and Glasgow) I almost NEVER come across horror fiction secondhand. Certainly not 'vintage' titles from the '80s or even the '90s 🙁
I can sell almost any Classic or Modern Horror I stock if I write a recommendation below it- I've sold tons of Machen, Lafcadio Hearn, Stephen Gregory, Joe Hill, Shaun Hutson, Charles Beaumont, Ray Russel and many, many others this way in the last few years. Here in the UK the impression I get is that a lot of people want to explore Horror more widely, but have no idea where to go beyond King and Lovecraft- but when I get to talk to them, they go away with something different. We don't see much second-hand horror over here either at the moment, Chris, reflecting what Paul says below.
You don't even see much in Hay-On-Wye. It's all going online and people are, as Jules and I are saying, they're paying silly money for it. If only publishers would stop going to lunch and start reissuing it in limited A-format runs, they'd get sales bonuses.
Question: You've talked about 'A' Format and 'B' Format paperbacks (Mass Market and Trade, respectively, in the U.S.). In the 50's and early 60's there was a smaller paperback format about 6.5 inches tall--see the Ace Double "d" series and many others. Do these have a separate format designation? I seem to remember a "pocketbook" designation that I'd attributed to these since they fit into my jeans pockets nicely. Surely this isn't right!
My expertise is really focused on UK formats and I'll freely admit I know less about American format designations- the little Ace paperbacks, singles and doubles are as you say smaller than a full A- for practical purposes, I'd call them that, but that may not be the correct nomenclature for them. Of course A and B are and were standard formats from the mid 60s on and UK paperbacks were in A as far back as the mid 1930s. 'Pocketbook' is clearly everyday nickname/slang, but not really trade nomenclature. The fact is that hardly anyone except book trade people - printers, publishers and sales reps knows this stuff (many booksellers don't)- but it's good to keep such language alive as (1) it's specific and useful jargon and (2) it keeps the language of the book world rich and romantic. One point: a B is NOT strictly speaking a 'Trade Paperback' any more and has not been for a very long time as it has for decades been the dominant format (as A declined) and has been sold from non-book trade outlets for decades, though it is true that A is still a special-run print on demand option in the UK for non-trade outlets in the UK with rack spinners such as hospital shops and garages/(gas stations as you'd say in the USA). 'Trade Paperback' initially meant 'bookshops only' but for decades airports have sold B's, though at times once you go through customs in the UK, you may get an A format edition for these outlets and Eire. By the late 1980s, 'Trade Paperback' was synonymous with - 'mid price alternative to the hardcover, which is either published simultaneously alongside a hardcover edition that mostly sold to libraries or was issued 3-6 months AFTER the hardcover. The text block was the same size as the hardcover- usually Royal (a royal trade is a D format) or Demy (a demy trade is a C format)- so they were the same book apart from binding, inclusion of a jacket and different isbn quoted beneath the hardcover sbn on the colophon page). Royal is the common largest format for novels in hardcover, Demy the smaller format. Anthying smaller than a Demy is an octavo, but there are complex variations within this, but now only gift books, reissues of 'classic' literature and so on are issued in octavo when it comes to fiction.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Thanks for the discussion! I just have a rack dedicated to a few hundred old shorties and needed an entry into the spreadsheet to tell me where they are and what I have... Doubles are always at issue, though I gravitate toward them, because you can't just put them in alphabetically by author. (First World Problem.)
@@TmRnBn -Yes, which author to alphabetise from?! They are numbered though, so you could go that way- or, go with the 'major name', since most were one star/one wannabe.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Sometimes the wannabe is the reason I bought the book... Once I thought red on top, blue on bottom, or white up/blue down.. Then red on left, black on right...way too complicated so they got their own shelves and are put in order of series/#. Hate doing it that way, but they look good!
A mixed bag, yes, but I really liked it. I understand the increased demand b/c of PFH, but Ebay really has become a glut of speculators and book-jackers lately.
Dang, recently a bunch of Yarbro books showed up at my local Savers (thrift store in the US), but I'd never heard of her so I didn't grab any. They were $2-3 US each
As more and more of the paperbacks from hell are reprinted is it possible that the 1st printings will come down a bit in price? I'm hoping that a lot of people bought them because you couldn't read the books any other way.
That's always a tough call. You can never tell why people buy books, after all- my feeling is that prices for reprinted titles will decrease, but already some of the PBH series are out of print (though technically they could resurrect at any time as Valancourt do many titles print on demand). The real point is that while some of these books are genuinely rare, the prices in most cases don't match condition, which is so often dreadful if you watch ebay. I can genuinely only think of one book I want to read I can't find anywhere and would consider any condition- these days, you can get most things if you keep looking because of the internet.
I understand the distinction of Science Fiction and Fantasy as genres (with supernatural as a subset of fantasy). But why is Crime a genre while Horror is not, in your opinion? It would seem like there should just be one other genre called 'realism' or similar, perhaps subdivided into historical and contemporary. I'd also be interested to know your take on the classic distinctions of comedy and tragedy as genres.
If you watch my playlists 'The Elements of SF' and 'Genre Theory', you'll see I argue that there are only three genres- Fantasy, Realism & SF - I use 'Crime' as a subgenre designation, as it is part of realism (hence my describing Horror as a bridolage- some of it is SF, some is Fantasy -supernaturalism- and some is Crime-Realism). I don't consider Comedy and Tragedy as genres as such- nor are they always distinct- but as approaches or tones. The way that even critics use the term 'Genre' has always been a bit fast and loose for my liking - take Historical Fiction- there's no such thing, as you cannot set a boundary on it-when did History end? Yesterday? A century ago? See what I mean? I think Genres are fundamentally categories that represent paradigmatic worldviews- SF, the literature that examines our experience from a scientific worldview that is ever discovering the new: Fantasy, which relies on religion, magic, susperstition -the supernatural, which makes it an anachronistic form more about past than future: Realism, which is 'what you see is what you get' in the here and now. My approach is based on how Story (always intertwined with Fantasy from the start) evolved into prose fiction and how this split into Realism and SF as belief in the supernatural declined in the run-up to the Enlightenment. Many 'genres' in the way they are discussed in popular terms are simply marketing categories.
@@outlawbookselleroriginalAs a reader and collector for 35 years, I understand your distinction between worldview categories and marketing categories when it comes to defining genre, but why do you reflectively dismiss the micro latter for the macro former? Overlap of genres that muddy the waters aside, why does marketing inherently have less validity as a categorization tool to more aptly describe a particular work? It would seem more generalized, less specific/honed terms like you describe would cloud communication and understanding, especially for newer or less voracious readers.
@@pbofan -Because to make a finer, more historical defining line between genres in order to clarify what fits into them and what does not in order to see how they illuminate different paradigms, an historical approach that accounts for how they developed out of wider culture and coalesced into recognisable genres before marketing itself became more predominant- it also allows for deeper consideration of what elements comprise a genre work to increase understanding rather than cloud it. Newer and less voracious readers need to time to read a certain number of texts and apply understanding to them in order to begin thinking about them critically in my experience- which is almost40 years of bookselling and talking to readers daily, 50 plus years of reading fiction and three historical/critical works of non-fiction published by Britain's largest independent publisher. I feel that a more generalised approach is unhelpful and leads readers away from thinking about how SF- for example - can be defined, especially in its relationships to other genres. I don't entirely dismiss the idea of the marketing category as underpinning some contemporary understanding of genre- and it must be taken into consideration, as Norman Spinrad wrote in 'Science Fiction in the Real World' - but my approach is a more critical one. If it's too much for someone at entry level, so be it. But given time, people do develop their ideas and recognise frameworks they'd perceived but not articulated. One final point- the term 'genre' has only really passed into everyday mass media language in the last twenty or so years. Prior to that, you only heard/read it in genre and academic circles. These days, it's used on the TV, something that pretty much never happened except on the odd film history show, so I think overall, the majority of people are yet to fully engage with the concept.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal All good points, and thanks the clarification. I may not totally agree with the perspective, but certainly appreciate your fundamentals that underpin it. It’s a fascinating topic, and clearly more complex than it might outwardly seem.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Thank you for the highly thought-out answer. I think it's a reasonably coherent system, and I especially appreciate its historical approach (I studied philosophy mainly from a historical perspective). Although I'm also a big fan of Fantasy and Science Fiction, I think there's something about determining genres in that way that privileges readers of those genres too much. Many readers in my life would say they read lots of different genres, yet barely touch SF or Fantasy, switching instead between genres like thrillers, romance, supernatural, crime, mystery, 'literary' fiction, historical fiction, and horror. Additionally, if we take something like the superhero or urban fantasy genres, there would be almost no way to categorize most of their works as fantasy or sci-fi, instead mixing the two without any real regard for the distinction. For those reasons, I'm not convinced the three-genre distinction makes much more sense than the different commercial methods of distinguishing genres.
I'm glad you didn't go on too much about horror, most of the modern stuff is badly written drivel. The not very capable writers fail to realise that you create a feeling of horror and dread not by describing everything in detail, not by using words like "oozing" and "supperating", but by holding back and letting the reader's imagination work overtime. Apart from that, a beautiful haul in its softcover way, and nice to see some magazines too. Spinrad's "A World Between" was to be a Kerosina hardcover, until Barclay's Bank intervened. The cover art was painted and it was ready to go to print. Sigh!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Yes, from the late '60s to the late '70s Grant worked almost exclusively in the SF field: his short fiction was published in all the major SF magazines.
Cheap nitpicking on my side, really, but my intentions are pure :-) Čapek is pronounced [Cha-peck] ('Ča-' as in 'Cha'rlie but with short -a- and with emphasis, '-pek' as in s'pec'trum, without emphasis), and 'The Absolute at Large' (1922) is one of his sf novels - this one about a new discovery of cheap and clean source of really free energy, unfortunately emanating an unwanted non-trivial by-product (the absolute), which is a strange insubstantial essence inducing all sorts of metaphysical and religious upheaval in human mind and society, even in physical reality.
Yeah, I'm familiar with that book, but I'll also admit I'ever never even tried to pronounce the brothers' surname correctly. Do you know his gardening book? It's back in print now...
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Well, the devil is in the details and pronunciation matters, too - Kapek (with K instead of Č) is a real (if rare) Czech surname as well, unfortunately it's most (in)famous holder (Antonín, not Karel, that would be uncanny!) was a communist politician, one of the bunch who invited the Warsaw Pact armies into Czechoslovakia in '68 to suppress the Prague Spring and was a prominent figure in the following years of reprisals; hanged himself in 1990 shortly after the regime change. I have read quite a lot of Čapek's works, genre/non-genre - almost all novels, lots of shorter fiction incl. parts of The Gardener's Year; not among my favourite Czech writers though (putting aside his undisputed genre relevance, of course), but I will have to reread at least some of it in due time - esp. the Noetic Trilogy - later days, other eyes ;-)
@@zr6935 I totally agree pronunciation matters, I just don;t think I've ever been certain of actually hearing the correct one. The devil is in the detail, yep.
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I'm of the young blood that has discovered horror paperbacks through Grady Hendrick's book. For the most part, I refuse to pay high prices for any of them, unless it's in great condition and I'm completely intrigued by the contents within, sometimes to replace a tattered copy of a book I love.
In the process of collecting horror I found myself leaning more towards sci-fi and crime. I focused less on whether or not it had a cool cover and started discovering great works of fiction. I roamed RUclips commentary for interesting readers and I found a few that really stood out to me. I started from Plagued By Visions (who focuses on transgressive and dark literary fiction). That is how I came across Matt on Bookpilled, and by extention your channel. There are a few others I enjoy but you three pack your videos with the density and quality my mind craves.
In a way, you could say that the Paperbacks from Hell phenomenon is a beautiful thing overall. It got me reading again and now I'm obsessing over some great SF literature that scratches that brain itch for me.
You get to be part of the phenomenon as well. Cheers.
Yes, I do think the book has opened people's heads up, a good thing. It is the currently crazy pricing that is disconcerting- there may be a Horror novel in that! Thanks for your kind and trenchant comments and I'm glad Matt, Juan and I are keeping you on the path to discovery, you are certainly very, very welcome here!
@@outlawbookselleroriginalThe issue of condition is an obnoxious thing to contend with. There have been many times I've been willing to put down the money for a good copy but they've stayed on my wishlist for years and never seem to pop up in the condition I'd want. That's why I've been fine with finding them cheap in ratty condition.
I actually found Memoirs Found in a Bathtub (not in a bathtub) just yesterday. The spine was so faded you couldn't read it and I almost passed right by it. I purchased it for $3 and am happy to have it at all. Lem is one of the many I never seem to find in good shape.
Thanks for the welcome. This is certainly the more wholesome side of the internet to be on.
Ah, the "Ism" quote video! Spin-Rad indeed. Malzberg was mentioned a minute later.
wow wow wow, excellent condition books. nice finds there. not ready any of those particular authors, was into horror quite a bit in the late 80s early 90s but mainly the mainsteam stuff like King or Herbert. Love seeing these old books being looked after and appreciated.
Yes, it's hard to find things this pristine, but it's part of my mission. I prefer Horror in the 19th and up-to-1970 20th century incarnations mostly, but I'm not above shocksploitation and feel it has a place- as Horror is an outsider bricolage, why shouldn't it revel in standards that the 'literary establishment' would deplore- it is, after all, about the transgressive and unpleasant much of the time. I don't read much contemporary Horror- except when I'm in the mood, but I do feel it's important. I'd say my preferred Horror writer of the last 40 years is K W Jeter. There is a top ten horror for halloween video on the channel, which looks at some of my more obscure faves- in the horror playlist.
Yes! Some horror was in order. Thanks for this video. Cheers from Mexico
My pleasure. There is a Horror playlist on the channel and there will be more to come.
Stunning livery on all of those books, OB. Especially that Lem, "Memoirs...". Watching this episode reminded me of the rare occasions when I'd take the train into Cambridge, Massachusetts, on a Saturday in the autumn, and spend the entire day languishing in all the book shops in Harvard Square in the late 70's/early 80's. The same sense of discovery I experienced then is so prevalent here in this post. Can't tell you enough how extraordinary it is to me to have the benefit of your acumen regarding book collecting, which is a pursuit near and dear to my heart. Fundamentally brilliant! Cheers.
Yes, the Lem is very special- like you, I miss bookbuying in the days when beautiful stuff like this was the norm, hence my getting invited to all these dealer warehouses- they take pity on me!
I have the Sphere edition of Lisa Tuttle's "A Nest of Nightmare"! Bought it, oh, decade-and-a-half-ago: LONG before Grady Hendrix's book which - by truly bizarre coincidence! - I just returned my library copy of this very afternoon! 😂 Terrific book, though very heavy on US paperbacks; there really are only a handful of UK ones represented. Took my Lisa Tuttle book to a convention years ago that she was at and got it flat-signed.... in fact, I took all my Tuttle short story collections and got them signed! By the way, my Sphere edition? Even though I bought it ages ago before the whole 'vintage' horror paperback thing AND the condition is merely "good"...? Even then it cost me over twenty quid 😱
I had a mint one and let it go for a song, mind you that was probably twenty years ago.
Always appreciate the injection of some Horror as I’m forever keeping my eye out for authors I’ve read or collected but never hear anything about like Dennis Ettchisen or T.E.D. Klein. The ads for the SF Book Club on the back of the magazines sends me back as it depicts two of the titles I chose for my introductory membership package: The Hugo Winners, and The Foundation Trilogy. I still have these along with The Science Fiction Hall of Fame- Vols. 2A and 2B. I can’t remember what the other two were, though I suspect one was the hardcover of 2001.
I have some Etchison in a box under the bed- and funnily enough I am working on acquiring more- first read him in the 80s and want to return to his oeuvre. I recall selling Klein's 'The Ceremonies' when it was first published and its one of a number of great Modern horror novels that- like so many others- has disappeared. I see the fundamental problem in this area as being Stephen King - the mass audience just knee-jerk to him an NEVER look beyond and it's been this way for nearly 50 years, plus he's super- prolific. He does what he can to mention other writers, but young people particularly are in his thrall and have been for decades- Lovecraft has become the same. But as I've said elsewhere in this thread, there are people who want to move beyond but lack guidance, so I do what I can....
Great stuff Steve, lovely mint paperbacks 😮
Got a few more like this to share in an upcoming vid!
I read Night Raider and I plan to read the rest of Malzberg's series. His is a surreal dark world in an hard boiled style. I am missing one of them. I thoroughly enjoy his "voice".
Yep, Barry is a mensch. I just finished 'Night Raider' and although it's a real cut above the formula for the ol' vigilante exploitation novel, it's not a patch on his SF. Fun though....
Just a heads up for any "outlaws" in Nottingham that there is a large library donation of good condition science fiction currently being sold in Oxfam, apparently they've been given a house full.
A valuable community post for the faithful!
That Lem is the winner for me, beautiful! 👍
Yes, it's utterly ravishing, right?
@@outlawbookselleroriginal it was perfectly lovely just with the cover art design but the matching text block dye takes it up a notch or three.
@@SciFiScavenger Yes, ti really does complete the aesthetic. The Dyed Text Block has become a thing in the UK in the last few years- especially with hardcovers and paperbacks aimed at the female/teen market and was otherwise never a thing in the UK, unlike the US, where it was used extensively in the 1960s and early 1970s to offset the acid in cheap paper stock that causes ageing. The US publishing industry adopted acid free paper many years ahead of the UK- they could afford to, having a bigger market. Until recently, the only way you'd find UK books with dyed text blocks was if you could find publisher file copies- Jonathan Cape routinely stained the tops of their text blocks once books had been in stock and unsold for a while as well. I have bought quite a few file copies of UK paperbacks from Simon at Fantastic Literature and these are about the only UK ones I've seen, as this was never applied to stock copies.
That Lem book is stunning 😍
I was very excited. Incidentally, been meaning to say to you that YOU are Head Girl here and no mistake, always great to hear from you!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal I love to be a loyal viewer of your channel and am honoured to be head girl!
I think there were at least six Bard paperbacks in this series - I have three, although Mortal Engines does not have that lovely red text block. They are gorgeous.
I happen to like horror paperbacks, it was my first love in the late 80. But they weren’t particularly popular at the time or in the 90s. It’s less than a 50/50 chance that a used bookstore will even have a horror section here in the US. I’m glad people are rediscovering horror but it’s not friendly to my wallet.
Hey, you're lucky you even have a 50/50 chance of seeing horror books 'in the wild'! 🙄 I can't speak for the rest of the UK, but even though I live a short train journey from Scotland's two biggest cities (Edinburgh and Glasgow) I almost NEVER come across horror fiction secondhand. Certainly not 'vintage' titles from the '80s or even the '90s 🙁
I can sell almost any Classic or Modern Horror I stock if I write a recommendation below it- I've sold tons of Machen, Lafcadio Hearn, Stephen Gregory, Joe Hill, Shaun Hutson, Charles Beaumont, Ray Russel and many, many others this way in the last few years. Here in the UK the impression I get is that a lot of people want to explore Horror more widely, but have no idea where to go beyond King and Lovecraft- but when I get to talk to them, they go away with something different. We don't see much second-hand horror over here either at the moment, Chris, reflecting what Paul says below.
You don't even see much in Hay-On-Wye. It's all going online and people are, as Jules and I are saying, they're paying silly money for it. If only publishers would stop going to lunch and start reissuing it in limited A-format runs, they'd get sales bonuses.
Question: You've talked about 'A' Format and 'B' Format paperbacks (Mass Market and Trade, respectively, in the U.S.). In the 50's and early 60's there was a smaller paperback format about 6.5 inches tall--see the Ace Double "d" series and many others. Do these have a separate format designation? I seem to remember a "pocketbook" designation that I'd attributed to these since they fit into my jeans pockets nicely. Surely this isn't right!
My expertise is really focused on UK formats and I'll freely admit I know less about American format designations- the little Ace paperbacks, singles and doubles are as you say smaller than a full A- for practical purposes, I'd call them that, but that may not be the correct nomenclature for them. Of course A and B are and were standard formats from the mid 60s on and UK paperbacks were in A as far back as the mid 1930s. 'Pocketbook' is clearly everyday nickname/slang, but not really trade nomenclature.
The fact is that hardly anyone except book trade people - printers, publishers and sales reps knows this stuff (many booksellers don't)- but it's good to keep such language alive as (1) it's specific and useful jargon and (2) it keeps the language of the book world rich and romantic. One point: a B is NOT strictly speaking a 'Trade Paperback' any more and has not been for a very long time as it has for decades been the dominant format (as A declined) and has been sold from non-book trade outlets for decades, though it is true that A is still a special-run print on demand option in the UK for non-trade outlets in the UK with rack spinners such as hospital shops and garages/(gas stations as you'd say in the USA). 'Trade Paperback' initially meant 'bookshops only' but for decades airports have sold B's, though at times once you go through customs in the UK, you may get an A format edition for these outlets and Eire.
By the late 1980s, 'Trade Paperback' was synonymous with - 'mid price alternative to the hardcover, which is either published simultaneously alongside a hardcover edition that mostly sold to libraries or was issued 3-6 months AFTER the hardcover. The text block was the same size as the hardcover- usually Royal (a royal trade is a D format) or Demy (a demy trade is a C format)- so they were the same book apart from binding, inclusion of a jacket and different isbn quoted beneath the hardcover sbn on the colophon page). Royal is the common largest format for novels in hardcover, Demy the smaller format. Anthying smaller than a Demy is an octavo, but there are complex variations within this, but now only gift books, reissues of 'classic' literature and so on are issued in octavo when it comes to fiction.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Thanks for the discussion! I just have a rack dedicated to a few hundred old shorties and needed an entry into the spreadsheet to tell me where they are and what I have... Doubles are always at issue, though I gravitate toward them, because you can't just put them in alphabetically by author. (First World Problem.)
@@TmRnBn -Yes, which author to alphabetise from?! They are numbered though, so you could go that way- or, go with the 'major name', since most were one star/one wannabe.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Sometimes the wannabe is the reason I bought the book... Once I thought red on top, blue on bottom, or white up/blue down.. Then red on left, black on right...way too complicated so they got their own shelves and are put in order of series/#. Hate doing it that way, but they look good!
@@TmRnBn Yeah, the underdogs ain't always bad!
A fine Powers cover on The Best of New Dimensions.
Yes, very handsome!
A mixed bag, yes, but I really liked it.
I understand the increased demand b/c of PFH, but Ebay really has become a glut of speculators and book-jackers lately.
Very much so. People are letting themselves be shilled, I think.
Dang, recently a bunch of Yarbro books showed up at my local Savers (thrift store in the US), but I'd never heard of her so I didn't grab any. They were $2-3 US each
Keep your eyes open, she's written lots and is generally excellent, particularly if you like history.
As more and more of the paperbacks from hell are reprinted is it possible that the 1st printings will come down a bit in price? I'm hoping that a lot of people bought them because you couldn't read the books any other way.
That's always a tough call. You can never tell why people buy books, after all- my feeling is that prices for reprinted titles will decrease, but already some of the PBH series are out of print (though technically they could resurrect at any time as Valancourt do many titles print on demand). The real point is that while some of these books are genuinely rare, the prices in most cases don't match condition, which is so often dreadful if you watch ebay. I can genuinely only think of one book I want to read I can't find anywhere and would consider any condition- these days, you can get most things if you keep looking because of the internet.
I understand the distinction of Science Fiction and Fantasy as genres (with supernatural as a subset of fantasy). But why is Crime a genre while Horror is not, in your opinion? It would seem like there should just be one other genre called 'realism' or similar, perhaps subdivided into historical and contemporary.
I'd also be interested to know your take on the classic distinctions of comedy and tragedy as genres.
If you watch my playlists 'The Elements of SF' and 'Genre Theory', you'll see I argue that there are only three genres- Fantasy, Realism & SF - I use 'Crime' as a subgenre designation, as it is part of realism (hence my describing Horror as a bridolage- some of it is SF, some is Fantasy -supernaturalism- and some is Crime-Realism). I don't consider Comedy and Tragedy as genres as such- nor are they always distinct- but as approaches or tones. The way that even critics use the term 'Genre' has always been a bit fast and loose for my liking - take Historical Fiction- there's no such thing, as you cannot set a boundary on it-when did History end? Yesterday? A century ago? See what I mean? I think Genres are fundamentally categories that represent paradigmatic worldviews- SF, the literature that examines our experience from a scientific worldview that is ever discovering the new: Fantasy, which relies on religion, magic, susperstition -the supernatural, which makes it an anachronistic form more about past than future: Realism, which is 'what you see is what you get' in the here and now. My approach is based on how Story (always intertwined with Fantasy from the start) evolved into prose fiction and how this split into Realism and SF as belief in the supernatural declined in the run-up to the Enlightenment. Many 'genres' in the way they are discussed in popular terms are simply marketing categories.
@@outlawbookselleroriginalAs a reader and collector for 35 years, I understand your distinction between worldview categories and marketing categories when it comes to defining genre, but why do you reflectively dismiss the micro latter for the macro former? Overlap of genres that muddy the waters aside, why does marketing inherently have less validity as a categorization tool to more aptly describe a particular work? It would seem more generalized, less specific/honed terms like you describe would cloud communication and understanding, especially for newer or less voracious readers.
@@pbofan -Because to make a finer, more historical defining line between genres in order to clarify what fits into them and what does not in order to see how they illuminate different paradigms, an historical approach that accounts for how they developed out of wider culture and coalesced into recognisable genres before marketing itself became more predominant- it also allows for deeper consideration of what elements comprise a genre work to increase understanding rather than cloud it. Newer and less voracious readers need to time to read a certain number of texts and apply understanding to them in order to begin thinking about them critically in my experience- which is almost40 years of bookselling and talking to readers daily, 50 plus years of reading fiction and three historical/critical works of non-fiction published by Britain's largest independent publisher. I feel that a more generalised approach is unhelpful and leads readers away from thinking about how SF- for example - can be defined, especially in its relationships to other genres. I don't entirely dismiss the idea of the marketing category as underpinning some contemporary understanding of genre- and it must be taken into consideration, as Norman Spinrad wrote in 'Science Fiction in the Real World' - but my approach is a more critical one. If it's too much for someone at entry level, so be it. But given time, people do develop their ideas and recognise frameworks they'd perceived but not articulated. One final point- the term 'genre' has only really passed into everyday mass media language in the last twenty or so years. Prior to that, you only heard/read it in genre and academic circles. These days, it's used on the TV, something that pretty much never happened except on the odd film history show, so I think overall, the majority of people are yet to fully engage with the concept.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal All good points, and thanks the clarification. I may not totally agree with the perspective, but certainly appreciate your fundamentals that underpin it. It’s a fascinating topic, and clearly more complex than it might outwardly seem.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Thank you for the highly thought-out answer. I think it's a reasonably coherent system, and I especially appreciate its historical approach (I studied philosophy mainly from a historical perspective). Although I'm also a big fan of Fantasy and Science Fiction, I think there's something about determining genres in that way that privileges readers of those genres too much. Many readers in my life would say they read lots of different genres, yet barely touch SF or Fantasy, switching instead between genres like thrillers, romance, supernatural, crime, mystery, 'literary' fiction, historical fiction, and horror.
Additionally, if we take something like the superhero or urban fantasy genres, there would be almost no way to categorize most of their works as fantasy or sci-fi, instead mixing the two without any real regard for the distinction. For those reasons, I'm not convinced the three-genre distinction makes much more sense than the different commercial methods of distinguishing genres.
😊
Smile for you too!
I'm glad you didn't go on too much about horror, most of the modern stuff is badly written drivel. The not very capable writers fail to realise that you create a feeling of horror and dread not by describing everything in detail, not by using words like "oozing" and "supperating", but by holding back and letting the reader's imagination work overtime.
Apart from that, a beautiful haul in its softcover way, and nice to see some magazines too.
Spinrad's "A World Between" was to be a Kerosina hardcover, until Barclay's Bank intervened. The cover art was painted and it was ready to go to print. Sigh!
Yes, which is why of the '80s "Old School" I love Charles L. Grant 🤗
Ah, that was the Norman you were going to do....I like a bit of Horror, but don't get the urge to read it much these days.
Yes, I like Grant, wrote SF as well, didn't he? I have some somewhere...
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Yes, from the late '60s to the late '70s Grant worked almost exclusively in the SF field: his short fiction was published in all the major SF magazines.
Cheap nitpicking on my side, really, but my intentions are pure :-)
Čapek is pronounced [Cha-peck] ('Ča-' as in 'Cha'rlie but with short -a- and with emphasis, '-pek' as in s'pec'trum, without emphasis), and 'The Absolute at Large' (1922) is one of his sf novels - this one about a new discovery of cheap and clean source of really free energy, unfortunately emanating an unwanted non-trivial by-product (the absolute), which is a strange insubstantial essence inducing all sorts of metaphysical and religious upheaval in human mind and society, even in physical reality.
Yeah, I'm familiar with that book, but I'll also admit I'ever never even tried to pronounce the brothers' surname correctly. Do you know his gardening book? It's back in print now...
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Well, the devil is in the details and pronunciation matters, too - Kapek (with K instead of Č) is a real (if rare) Czech surname as well, unfortunately it's most (in)famous holder (Antonín, not Karel, that would be uncanny!) was a communist politician, one of the bunch who invited the Warsaw Pact armies into Czechoslovakia in '68 to suppress the Prague Spring and was a prominent figure in the following years of reprisals; hanged himself in 1990 shortly after the regime change.
I have read quite a lot of Čapek's works, genre/non-genre - almost all novels, lots of shorter fiction incl. parts of The Gardener's Year; not among my favourite Czech writers though (putting aside his undisputed genre relevance, of course), but I will have to reread at least some of it in due time - esp. the Noetic Trilogy - later days, other eyes ;-)
@@zr6935 I totally agree pronunciation matters, I just don;t think I've ever been certain of actually hearing the correct one. The devil is in the detail, yep.