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So let it be written, so let it be read. We said we’d get to Whore from Maupin Street and here we are. Of course, that was three years ago, but you know by now that these things take time. Allan Horn, aka Allan Horne, conjured up this intriguingly titled sleaze outing for Vega Books sometime in the mid-1960s. We read it in electronic form and there was no copyright, but Horn’s other efforts are from 1966/1967, so this is probably no different.

The book is about an ambitious woman named Barbara Sanders who’s determined to marry rich and is engaged to a suitable prospective meal ticket. But she’s from the wrong side of the tracks and there’s a man from over yonder who’s sampled her wares repeatedly and won’t let her get on with the business of digging for gold. Predictably, this villain from the past blackmails Barbara into continuing to appease him, then eventually others. She needs to somehow brew a plan to get this guy off her back—and front—before he ruins her engagement.

As always with these sorts of tales, the plot is less important than the eroticism, and Horn delivers explicit action, which is all you can ask for. Well, you can also ask for it to be well written. But you can ask for a Moroccan riad with a roof pool too. Ain’t gonna happen. For its type, though, Whore from Maupin Street is enjoyable. The cover art is by Bill Edwards, and we shared it before as part of a collection of his work we put together a while back. Look here.

Are mushrooms and pepperoni okay? Or... did you have some other topping in mind?


Above, the cover of Sin Mill, by Robert M. Duffy, for Vega Books, copyright 1967. The art, which is by Bill Edwards, suggests far more than what happens in the story. While the main character Lucy does go into the Three Nickels brothel to use the phone—wearing a full winter outfit, not a coat over a nightie—and is mistaken by a naked customer for a prostitute before sprinting from the place, Sin Mill isn’t really the sleaze novel it appears to be. Duffy wrote this with serious intent, a mostly uninspired examination of a poor country girl’s attempt to get through college and into a better life. If there’s one thing we hate it’s false billing. When you sign up for a sleaze novel you should get a sleaze novel.

When you say "enormous", what you mean is he’s really overweight, right?

Our American vacation continues as we leave Denver behind and head to San Francisco. In the meantime here’s a random sleaze paperback we spotted yesterday, a little something from Vega Books called All for One. Author Arnold Marmor worked during the ’50s and ’60s, producing titles such as Boudoir Treachery, Abnormal Desire, and Lust Lodge. He also wrote a couple of books in the Nick Carter series. This particular effort, with its voyeur-themed cover art by unknown, appeared in 1962.

Stop calling me that. It's Stan. My name is Stan.


Satan in Malibu came from Vega Books via the brain and typewriter of Frank Cannon, and it deals with a man who tries to solve his brother’s murder. He learns of the death when a telegram arrives, but is the woman who sent it to him really trying to help, or is there more to her story? The hero’s investigation takes him to Santa Cruz Island off the coast of Southern California, and when he gets there he runs across a band of satanists who may have done the killing.

We last ran across Frank Cannon when we shared a cover for his 1964 effort Hide in Hell. The hell in that book was figurative. The hell in Satan in Malibu is a slightly less so, since the villains actually believe in it, but the reason for the murder is rooted firmly in the mundane world. We don’t know who painted the cover art, but for Vega Books it’s not bad. The copyright on this is 1961. 

It was fun. Next time just try to remember that being a fast shooter is only good for gunfights.


Above, cover art for War at Bluestem Basin by John Nemec, the prolific author behind books such as Naked in the Night, The Spy Who Came to Bed, and The Case of the Naked Nympho. This one is about two brothers who end up on opposite sides of a land war, and the copyright is 1962 for Vega Books. The art is signed Chesnutt, but we have no info on who that might be.

Bill Edwards paperback art gains new recognition.

Bill Edwards’ profile as a paperback illustrator has risen considerably in recent years. Like others who painted for sleaze imprints, it is not so much his technical ability that has garnered the attention, but rather the subject matter and a strong style. Edwards is a guy whose work you can identify in a millisecond. His women almost always have sharp cheekbones, ski jump noses, and a prominent beauty mark. The cover above for Rick Rand’s New Girl in Town shows you all three elements up close. Edwards was also prolific like few other painters, which makes finding his work easy. Below are many more illustrations, some for novels with subject matter well beyond the pale, and we have other Edwards pieces populating Pulp Intl., for example here, here, and here.

Hi, babe, I'm back early from— Aw, shit. Not again.


Twice a Fool was published by Vega Books, above, and by Fabian Books, a version that was identical in every way except the company logo. That’s because both Fabian and Vega, along with Saber Books, were owned by Sanford Aday, as we’ve mentioned before. Bunny Strand was in reality sleaze author Bernie Strahn, who also wrote such highbrow classics as Reaching High, The Bedroom Imposter, and Sex Party: The Rape of Lori Grant. Info on him is scarce, but we’ll keep digging. Twice a Fool is copyright 1960 with uncredited cover art. 

These between-the-legs shots are safer with you than with my previous partner. He was something, lemme tell you.


Above, the cover of Stella Gray’s lez sleaze classic The Naked Archer, for Vega Books, 1966. We haven’t read this one—it sells for way too much money. But the cover blurb gives the gist, and typically, because the readers were mostly male, lesbians in these books didn’t stay lesbian for long, so we’re pretty sure we know how this one goes. The art is by the underrated Bill Edwards. 

Trust me, this is the last place they’ll look for us.

Above, a Vega Books front for Frank Cannon’s Hide in Hell, with art of a fugitive and his female companion, who’s probably wondering why they can’t hide in the Bahamas or Bali. Cannon, by the way, also wrote Satan in Malibu, so apparently even the Prince of Darkness didn’t like spending time in Hell. 1964 on this, with uncredited art (but it’s Bill Edwards).

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

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.

1967—Ché Executed in Bolivia

A day after being captured, Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara is executed in Bolivia. In an attempt to make it appear as though he had been killed resisting Bolivian troops, the executioner shoots Guevara with a machine gun, wounding him nine times in the legs, arm, shoulder, throat, and chest.

1918—Sgt. York Becomes a Hero

During World War I, in the Argonne Forest in France, America Corporal Alvin C. York leads an attack on a German machine gun nest that kills 25 and captures 132. He is a corporal during the event, but is promoted to sergeant as a result. He also earns Medal of Honor from the U.S., the Croix de Guerre from the French Republic, and the Croce di Guerra from Italy and Montenegro. Stateside, he is celebrated as a hero, and Hollywood even makes a movie entitled Sergeant York, starring Gary Cooper.

1956—Larsen Pitches Perfect Game

The New York Yankees’ Don Larsen pitches a perfect game in the World Series against hated rivals the Brooklyn Dodgers. It is the only perfect game in World Series history, as well as the only no-hitter.

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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