Vintage Pulp

August 24 2024

THERE’S ALWAYS A BUTT

She's a lady in the front, and a plumber in the rear.

The Italian publisher Grandi Edizioni Internazionali was a great source of paperback art during its existence, employing talents like Benedetto Caroselli, Mario de Bernardinis, and Enzo Nistri for its covers. This one for Van Reynolds’ 1974 novel Un marito per Marta Roses is probably by Caroselli, but it’s actually unattributed. The translator is Luca Martinego, and as we discussed before, since most of the credited authors on Italian crime paperbacks were pseudonyms, that means the translators were usually the authors writing in Italian. Overseas publishers were convinced that their crime novels needed American-sounding authors to entice buyers, so translator credits were a sneaky way to make sure the real writers were credited. Strange but true. We’ll have more from Grandi Edizioni Internazionali, as always. And as a final note, we’re sure we don’t need to point out that American model/actress Vikki Dougan actually wore dresses like this in public, but in case we do, check here.

Italy, Grandi Edizioni Internazionali, Van Reynolds, Luca Martinego, cover art, literature

Vintage Pulp

July 29 2024

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

Vintage Pulp

October 30 2023

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

Vintage Pulp

July 26 2023

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

Vintage Pulp

March 31 2022

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

Vintage Pulp

March 26 2020

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

Vintage Pulp

December 7 2017

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

Vintage Pulp

August 5 2017

TOP SCORSOIO

Caroselli bests the competition again.

Above is another beautiful piece painted by Benedetto Caroselli, a man we’re going to go ahead and anoint one of the greatest paperback cover artists of all time. His work on Richard Walker’s Nodo scorsoio—which means “slipknot”—is simply brilliant, with its red tressed, black dressed femme fatale, and graphic background elements. It dates from 1962 for Grandi Edizioni Internazionali‘s collection I Gialli dell’Ossessione, and is number ninety-seven in the series. The book was translated from Richard Walker’s original English text by Domenico Vitali, and once again we suspected the translator was the author, since we’re pretty sure this book was never actually released in English, thus would never have needed a translator. After some searching we confirmed our suspicions—Vitali wrote as Walker on several occasions, including two novels for Éditions S.E.P.’s P.J. Police collection. We’re going to keep digging up art by Benedetto Caroselli because it’s all good—every piece we’ve seen. You can see more of his work by clicking his keywords below.

Italy, Grandi Edizioni Internazionali, Richard Walker, Domenico Vitali, Benedetto Caroselli, cover art, literature

Vintage Pulp

December 15 2016

CHRISTMAS SPIRITS

Where there's a will-o'-the-wisp there's a way.

We probably should have shared this cover from Grandi Edizioni Internazionali’s series KKK Classics around Halloween, because it’s a bit scary. Then again, maybe now is better, because Christmas is possibly even a little scarier. The art here, from Benedetto Caroselli, has a red-eyed cover figure sitting atop what is supposed to be a giant skull, which, again, is a bit scary. However, if you look at it the right way she could be sitting on a giant nose. Again, possibly even scarier.

Inside the book you get two tales—the introductory “Welcome to Blackstone, Mister Clift,” by Silvano Alessandrini, followed by the full length title story. Fuochi fatui, by the way, translates as “fatuous fires.” What the hell does that mean? Fuochi fatui are basically analogous to will-o’-the-wisps, alluring lights in the wilderness that prove eternally elusive and lead to frustration and possibly danger. You can fill in your own Christmas shopping metaphor here.

Author Sean Alexander was aka Silvano Alessandrini. The pseudonym thing with French and Italian authors back in the day is a bit strange. Since they were selling to their home markets you’d think indigenous names would be an advantage, but it’s clear that the type of mayhem and terror they were going for were thought to be more credible if written by Americans. Which when you think about it is possibly the scariest thing of all. Anyway, the copyright on this is 1969, and it’s beautiful.

Italy, Grandi Edizioni Internazionali, I Capolavori della Serie KKK Classici dell’Orrore, Sean Alexander, Benedetto Caroselli, Silvano Alessandrini, cover art, literature

Vintage Pulp

November 9 2016

WRITER’S BLOCH

“The Thing” that wasn't there.

We’ve shared several covers from Grandi Edizioni Internazionali’s horror collection I Capolavori della Serie KKK but this one is kind of special. Translated into Italian by Fernanda Adami, this is a collection of horror master Robert Bloch’s early short stories. In case he isn’t familiar to you, he wrote Psycho. This book is called La Cosa, or The Thing because Bloch’s first story, a piece called “The Thing” appeared in his school magazine in 1932 when Bloch was only fourteen. But guess what? “The Thing” isn’t one of the stories in The Thing. Instead the book consists of four tales—“Colui che apre la via,” “Ritorno a Sabbath,” “Il segreto di Sebek,” and “Enoch.” In English these are “The Opener of the Way,” “Return of the Sabbath,” “The Secret of Sebek,” and “Otis.” Just kidding—it’s “Enoch.” Lovecraft fans probably already know of the first three stories because they appeared in Bloch’s Lovecraft inspired collection The Opener of the Way in 1945 and remain widely read pieces of Lovecraftian lore. So that makes this paperback a bit of a collector’s item. As if the great art by Benedetto Caroselli didn’t already do that. Yes, he painted a misleading illustration for a horror anthology but Caroselli and Grandi Edizioni Internazionali specialized in that. Want to see a particularly brazen example? Check here.

Italy, Grandi Edizioni Internazionali, I Capolavori della Serie KKK Classici dell’Orrore, Robert Bloch, Benedetto Caroselli, H.P. Lovecraft, Fernanda Adami, cover art, literature, horror

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

September 10

1935—Huey Long Assassinated

Governor of Louisiana Huey Long, one of the few truly leftist politicians in American history, is shot by Carl Austin Weiss in Baton Rouge. Long dies after two days in the hospital.

September 9

1956—Elvis Shakes Up Ed Sullivan

Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, performing his hit song “Don’t Be Cruel.” Ironically, a car accident prevented Sullivan from being present that night, and the show was guest-hosted by British actor Charles Laughton.

September 8

1966—Star Trek Airs for First Time

Star Trek, an American television series set in the twenty-third century and promoting socialist utopian ideals, premieres on NBC. The series is cancelled after three seasons without much fanfare, but in syndication becomes one of the most beloved television shows of all time.

September 8

1974—Ford Pardons Nixon

U.S. President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard Nixon for any crimes Nixon may have committed while in office, which coincidentally happen to include all those associated with the Watergate scandal.

September 7

1978—Giorgi Markov Assassinated

Bulgarian dissident Giorgi Markov is assassinated in a scene right out of a spy novel. As he’s waiting at a bus stop near Waterloo Bridge in London, he’s jabbed in the calf with an umbrella. The man holding the umbrella apologizes and walks away, but he is in reality a Bulgarian hired killer who has just injected a ricin pellet into Markov, who develops a high fever and dies three days later.