THE EVIL THAT MEN DO

And the ineptitude that authors do.


Why did we read Evil Desire? Because the cover femme fatale is obviously copied from Ursula Andress (in her 1965 role in What’s New Pussycat?) and sometimes that’s all it takes to attract our interest. The artist is credited only as Ellison, and though we wouldn’t say he/she is greatly skilled, they at least chose a good model. The book was written by Carl DeMarco, author or pseudonym behind other sleaze efforts such as The Body Beautiful, Suzanne, and Woman on a String, and is exactly as its cover describes, as a stepfather gets sexually involved with his wife’s eighteen year-old daughter. It all begins when he attempts to punish the daughter with a spanking, and finds not only that he likes it—so does she. In the end the two end up living together in Brazil and the spurned wife finds love at home, leaving everyone horny and happy by the final sentence. It wasn’t competent in terms of writing skill, but in its favor it was—despite its title—light in tone, making for an easy and fast read. Is that a recommendation? Not even remotely. 

I know you're new to this life but I feel you have a lot of untapped potential.

Above: a cover for Toni Adler’s Dance-Hall Dyke, 1964, from Playtime Books, with a blurb written by an editor who was the William Butler Yeats of teaser text. It’s so good it stands alone as a poem:

The vicious jungle
of lesbian lures
the fickle and the fake
screaming the obscenity
of the passions
while tender lovers
cry for understanding

We may inaugurate a Pulp Intl. awards season just for cover blurbs. We wanted to buy the book despite its rude title, but it was going for more than two-hundred bucks, which meant no sale. The cover art is uncredited.

Whoa! Did I say round heels? I have no idea why I was even looking down there.

We come across the phrase “round heels” in vintage fiction all the time. It cracks us up because it’s so rude, so sexist, so steeped in patriarchal double-standard. All of you know what round heels means, right, or did we get ahead of ourselves? Well, if not, it means that a woman will so readily have sex with whoever she meets that she might as well have round heels so she can fall on her back at any moment. She’s a pushover.

Returning to that double standard thing, there’s actually been a bit of a shift in recent years. Nowadays a woman might call a guy who gets around a fuckboy, which is the only insult referring to male sluttiness that we’ve ever noticed actually getting under guys’ skins. Call him a manslut or a male hussy and he might laugh it off. Call him a fuckboy and he’ll actually get angry most of the time. Such are the vagaries of English that if you tack “fuck” onto a term it’s a whole new ballgame.

In any case, Lars Raymer’s cheapie sleazer Round Heels was published in 1964 by Playtime Books and the art is by the always memorable Robert Bonfils. It also has one of the best cover blurbs we’ve ever seen: “She was a pushover, the easiest lay in town. Ask her doctor… or better still, ask his wife.” That’s really funny. To us, anyway. As a side note, we’d like to add that sexually take-charge women are amazing. If not for you we’d still be playing Dungeons & Dragons on Friday nights. You make every university, nightclub, and church congregation better. Don’t change a thing.

You can’t spell “stud” without STD and you.

Above, a copy of William Spain’s sleaze pulp Dial “S” for Stud, a book so obscure that an internet search yields zero hits. That means, unfortunately, we can’t tell who was the owner of what we suspect is a pseudonym. We even came up blank in the Library of Congress online database. So maybe whoever wrote this disowned it. Probably a good idea. But we’re tenacious, so hopefully we’ll turn up more info later. 

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1970—Angela Davis Arrested

After two months of evading police and federal authorities, Angela Davis is arrested in New York City by the FBI. She had been sought in connection with a kidnapping and murder because one of the guns used in the crime had been bought under her name. But after a trial a jury agreed that owning the weapon did not automatically make her complicit in the crimes.

1978—Sid Vicious Arrested for Murder

Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious is arrested on suspicion of murder after the body of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen is found in their room at New York City’s Chelsea Hotel. Vicious and Spungen had a famously stormy relationship, but Vicious proclaims he is innocent. He is released on bail and dies of a heroin overdose before a trial takes place.

1979—Adams Publishes First Hitchhiker's Book

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the first of five books in a series, is published by Douglas Adams. The novels follow on the heels of the tremendously successful British television series of the same name.

1976—China Coup Thwarted

The new head of the Chinese Communist Party, Hua Goufeng, snuffs out a coup led by Chairman Mao’s widow Jiang Qing and three other party members. They become known as the Gang of Four, and are tried, found guilty of treason, and receive death sentences that are later commuted to lengthy prison terms.

1987—Loch Ness Expedition Ends

A sonar exploration of Scotland’s Loch Ness, called Operation Deepscan, ends after a week without finding evidence that the legendary Loch Ness Monster exists. While the flotilla of boats had picked up three sonar contacts indicating something large in the waters, these are considered to be detections of salmon schools or possibly seals.

1971—London Bridge Goes Up

After being sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, London Bridge reopens in the resort town of Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

1975—Burton and Taylor Marry Again

British actor Richard Burton and American screen star Elizabeth Taylor secretly remarry sixteen months after their divorce, then jet away to a second honeymoon in Chobe Game Park in Botswana.

Classic science fiction from James Grazier with uncredited cover art.
Hammond Innes volcano tale features Italian intrigue and Mitchell Hooks cover art.

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