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RED LIGHT DISTRICT

Caroselli is just tutti damn good.

Above is another piece from Italian artist Benedetto Caroselli, who we’ll never run out of work from. He must have painted hundreds of covers. This one is for Lionel Cayle’s …E tuttu morirono!, which translates as “and they all died,” published by Grandi Edizioni Internazionali for its collection I Gialli dell’Ossessione. We’ve shown you other examples from the series. This one utilizes a circle motif that was common for the company, and was used on both this line and its later collection I Super Gialli dell’Ossessione, with the colors of the circles varying. While Caroselli was GEI’s go-to artist, other illustrators were tapped from time to time. But these and those below are all by Caroselli.

Italy, Grandi Edizioni Internazionali, Lionel Cayle, Albert Kelley, Martin Coleman, Adolphe Sizeman, Ken Atkins, Samuel Friedman, Benedetto Caroselli, cover art, cover collection, literature

SATANIC VERSES

Caroselli is strictly the pits.


Above is a collection of covers from Italian illustrator Benedetto Caroselli for Grandi Edizioni Internazionali, all referencing the concept of Hell, and the entities conceptualized to inhabit the pits therein, including Satan, devils, demons, and incubui. These were made for the terror series I Capolavori della Serie KKK Classici dell’Orrore. You can see more Hell covers at this link and this one, and in this collection.

Italy, Grandi Edizioni Internazionali, Marion Walles, Elizabeth Cronin, Frank Bogart, Frank Boghart, Jacques Cazotte, Christian Busch, James Murphy, René du Car, Perry Rock, Heintz Zoster, Simon O'Neil, Stephen Tourjansky, Benedetto Caroselli, Renato Carocci, cover art, cover collection, literature

INFRARED VISION

When you go out can you pick me up some Visine or Blink-n-Clean? My eyes are killing me.

This is wonderful work from Italian illustrator Benedetto Caroselli, fronting Lucien Le BossuÌ€’s La zingara, which is number fifty-two in Grandi Edizioni Internazionali’s series I Capolavori della Serie KKK Classici dell’Orrore. “Zingara” is Italian for gypsy, and this one has red hair and red eyes, which is not the first time Caroselli went this route with one of his women. The author here, Le BossuÌ€ was actually Renato Carocci, who wrote scores of books under too many pseudonyms to list, with this one coming in 1965. Caroselli was prolific, as well. If he didn’t paint more covers than anyone else in Italy during the 1960s, he certainly came close.

Italy, Grandi Edizioni Internazionali, I Capolavori della Serie KKK Classici dell’Orrore, Lucien Le BossuÌ€, Renato Carocci, Benedetto Caroselli, cover art, literature

THE GIRLFIEND FROM HELL

Most guys would sell their soul for someone this hot.

The 1965 horror novel L’urlo di Satana, the title of which means “the scream of Satan,” is number twenty-five in Rome based publisher Grandi Edizioni Internazionali’s series I Capolavori della Serie KKK Classici dell’Orrore. It’s credited to René du Car with a translation from French by Renato Carocci, but when GEI made such attributions what it really meant was that the translator wrote the book under a pseudonym. So this was actually written by Carocci, just one of scores of novels he produced under a long list of names. The art on this is another brilliant effort from Benedetto Caroselli, who we’ve documented extensively over the years. To see everything you can click his keywords below, or, if you’re pressed for time, you can skip to our favorites here, here, here, here, and here.

Italy, Rome, Grandi Edizioni Internazionali, I Capolavori della Serie KKK Classici dell’Orrore, René du Car, Renato Carocci, Benedetto Caroselli, cover art, literature

FRESH ORANGES

Filled with great flavor and extra pulp.

Above: a small collection of Benedetto Caroselli covers on which he utilized orange. We put this group together because last week’s poster for Le trottoir made us realize we rarely see predominantly orange book covers, then it occurred to us that Caroselli was one illustrator who used the color often. He painted ten of these for Edizioni Periodici Italiani’s collection I Capolavori della Serie KKK Classici dell’Orrore, and two for EPI’s Agente Segreto series. You can see Caroselli squeeze another cover out of orange here.

Note: We put this collection together yesterday. Today a new monitor we ordered arrived and some of the colors that were solidly orange now look, well, red-orange. But you know what? Fuck it.

Italy, Edizioni Periodici Italiani, I Capolavori della Serie KKK Classici dell’Orrore, Benedetto Caroselli, Douglas Fergusson, Abel Ramk, Silverales, Frank Scott, John D. Lane, Francis Aubernay, Christian Busch, Marion Walles, Frank Boghart, Yuri Borin, Joan Three, cover art, cover collection, literature

LA DONNA DENBERG

Caroselli chooses wisely for Italian book cover.
Inspiration is everything. Always draw from the best. Italian artist Benedetto Caroselli used a photo of svelte Austrian model Susan Denberg, aka Dietlinde Zechner, for this cover of Sonnie Hale’s La donna bianca. That would translate as “the white woman,” but we think of her as the right woman. So did Playboy magazine, which made her its August 1966 Playmate of the Month. We doubt Denberg ever knew she was on this paperback, but we imagine she’d have been pleased with the result. It appeared in 1967 from Grandi Edizioni Internazionali as part of their I Romanzi Diabolici series. See plenty more from Caroselli, including other pieces he painted for this particular book series, by clicking his keywords just below.
Italy, Austria, Grandi Edizioni Internazionali, Playboy, Sonnie Hale, Benedetto Caroselli, Susan Denberg, Dietlinde Zechner, cover art, literature, nudity

ANOTHER GO ROUND

Time for a fresh spin on the Caroselli.

It’s been more than a year since we featured Benedetto Caroselli, the best paperback illustrator Italy ever had to offer, in our opinion. He painted hundreds of covers, all executed at the highest level. Below you see nine more. 

Italy, Benedetto Caroselli, Hugh North, Anthony Price, Herta Grey, Jack Cabot, Matteo Bandello, Roland Greaves, Lucas Grom, Ralph Fresnay, James Darren, cover art, cover collection, literature

DATE WITH THE EXECUTIONER

As long as he leaves his work at the office their relationship has a real chance to succeed.


Above, a cover for Macabrus, by Jannet Mills, aka Laura Toscano, for Edizioni Periodici Italiani’s series Classici dell’Orrore, copyright 1970. There are actually other great Italian cover artists, but we’re Caroselli loyalists because he was the best. See plenty more from him by clicking his keywords below. 

Italy, Edizioni Periodici Italiani, Jannet Mills, Laura Toscano, Benedetto Caroselli, cover art, literature

A WOMAN FOILED

A queen wearies of hoop skirts and powered wigs, but the royal fencing épée should come in handy.


Benedetto Caroselli once again shows his skill as an illustrator with this cover of a fencing foil wielding femme fatale for Mario de Adda’s La regina di spade (Cristina di Svezia), aka, The Queen of Swords (Christina of Sweden), 1965, for Italian publishers Edizioni Periodici Italiani. The book is part of the series Ritratti storici: Le grandi peccatrici, or Historical Portraits: The Great Sinners. Was Queen Christina of Sweden a great sinner? Well, she didn’t obey the rules as expected of women in the 17th century—even those of royal blood. Abdication was the result, followed by numerous other intrigues and difficulties. But telling her story is beyond our scope. We’re just into Caroselli’s art, which is brilliant, as always. 

Italy, Sweden, Mario de Adda, Benedetto Caroselli, cover art, literature

CHEMICAL UNDERREACTION

I'll run for help! Have you seen my red slingback pumps?


Our ongoing showcase of Italian artist Benedetto Caroselli continues with the above cover for Crise Pounds’ novel Faust “61,” a horror update of the classic German folk legend. It was published in 1961 by Grandi Edizioni Internazionali for its series I Capolavori della Serie KKK Classici dell’Orrore. Pounds was a pseudonym used by Maria Luisa Piazza, who wrote three other novels for Grandi Edizioni Internazionali. Caroselli’s cover work here shows his command of both subject matter and color. And fashion, as his stylish bystander looks on in terror.

Italy, Grandi Edizioni Internazionali, I Capolavori della Serie KKK Classici dell’Orrore, Crise Pounds, Maria Luisa Piazza, Benedetto Caroselli, cover art, literature
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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1959—Dark Side of Moon Revealed

The Soviet space probe Luna 3 transmits the first photographs of the far side of the moon. The photos generate great interest, and scientists are surprised to see mountainous terrain, very different from the near side, and only two seas, which the Soviets name Mare Moscovrae (Sea of Moscow) and Mare Desiderii (Sea of Desire).

1966—LSD Declared Illegal in U.S.

LSD, which was originally synthesized by a Swiss doctor and was later secretly used by the CIA on military personnel, prostitutes, the mentally ill, and members of the general public in a project code named MKULTRA, is designated a controlled substance in the United States.

1945—Hollywood Black Friday

A six month strike by Hollywood set decorators becomes a riot at the gates of Warner Brothers Studios when strikers and replacement workers clash. The event helps bring about the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act, which, among other things, prohibits unions from contributing to political campaigns and requires union leaders to affirm they are not supporters of the Communist Party.

1957—Sputnik Circles Earth

The Soviet Union launches the satellite Sputnik I, which becomes the first artificial object to orbit the Earth. It orbits for two months and provides valuable information about the density of the upper atmosphere. It also panics the United States into a space race that eventually culminates in the U.S. moon landing.

1970—Janis Joplin Overdoses

American blues singer Janis Joplin is found dead on the floor of her motel room in Los Angeles. The cause of death is determined to be an overdose of heroin, possibly combined with the effects of alcohol.

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BUTTERFACE

Classic science fiction from James Grazier with uncredited cover art.

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