Any "Spicy Fiction" Fans?

[Wifetheif]

"Spicy fiction" was a genre of short stories devoted to "red-blooded" males popular from the 30s to the 40s most were featured in the various "Spicy pulps" of the era, "Spicy Adventures," "Spicy Detective Stories," "Saucy Movie Tales" and so forth. The pulps were very popular but were mostly sold under the counter as they were considered pornography in their day. In fact, they were shut down by NYC Mayor Fiorella Laguardia's vice squad raids, which caused the pulps to retitle themselves "Speed" and toned down the content. These flaccid tales quickly killed the genre entirely. Though tame by today's standards many of the old stories can still "do the trick" if you catch my drift. A lot of famous writers worked under pseudonyms for these books including Robert E Howard whose erotica sucks to the point where I seriously doubt that he ever got laid in his life! Conan it a'int! I've read various reprints of the magazines as well as various collections available on Amazon. They are a fascinating window into the mindset of our grandfathers and great grandfathers. Somethings haven't changed much. White guys often got involved with Asian women and more rarely, black women. Pacific Islanders were fair game as well. The stories tend to be pretty racist though. Male attitudes have come a long way. In more than one story the studly male hero rapes the female interest. One story had a guy raping the widow of his own brother! That kind of ending was pretty rare, though. What is neat is that the books came with a code. If a sentence ended in three dots ... and action picked up some time later, it indicated that our studly male hero and the comely damsel have "done it!" The personal record I have encountered was a shameless hussy, the only woman on a ship of men "does it" with four different members of the crew! A feat beyond the range of many skilled Lit.com writers! I find some good ideas in these stories. The American Fliers fighting on behalf of the Chinese government is not a topic you encounter today in American media, but WHAT A SCENARIO! It is STILL a popular theme in China. There was a recent film starring an American actor based in China where he portrayed the love interest of a Chinese peasant girl. Chinese politics of today being what they are, the girl put aside her dashing American lover for a simple proletariat farmer, for her own good and the good of communism. These tales really did deliver some nice adventure with the spice. The stories had a quaint code, "Mounds of femininity" for breasts, lots of "creamy thighs," and so forth. Total female nudity was extremely rare. Usually, she is clad in at least one article of clothing
-- Am I the only one who digs into these old stories for fresh ideas? They are really worth looking into.

 

[lovecraft68]

I have a couple of those. I collect pulps of all types and have hundreds stored away. I loved the lurid covers which as you said for their time were considered X-rated.

And some of those stories can certainly still 'do it'.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I have half a dozen, very old and battered. I buy them whenever I come across them in a book or garage sale, which isn’t very often.

 

[lovecraft68]

I have half a dozen, very old and battered. I buy them whenever I come across them in a book or garage sale, which isn’t very often.

The way they were printed back then they become brittle AF covers and pages, I have a couple that any time I pick it up more little pieces flake off.

 

[Reshbod]

I have a few collections and find them to be very entertaining. In fact, I'm attempting to write something in that vein as part of the Hammered - an Ode to Mickey Spillane.

 

[PennameWombat]

I have half a dozen, very old and battered. I buy them whenever I come across them in a book or garage sale, which isn’t very often.

After my dad passed away in 2002 I remember finding a couple of very old and water-damaged ones in stuff he'd squirreled away in the basement, as well as similarly beaten up 'Tijuana Bibles.' Dust, etc., made clear neither he nor anyone (other than the odd mouse) had been in the box for a long time. We ended up just tossing them because they were in such bad shape and all but unreadable. Bits having been used for mouse nesting didn't help...

But it did pique my curiosity and some while ago I bought this, although it's a reproduction and not the originals.
Tijuana Bibles: Art and Wit in America's Forbidden Funnies, 1930S-1950s.

It's been a few years, but this diner in Portland, OR, had a collage of covers from pulp novels on a wall that would fit under 'spicy fiction.' NW 27th and Upshur. Impala Bar & Grill.
Edit: To clarify: the covers are reproductions, or at least most seemed to be, not actual cover pages. But it's been years since I was there.

 

[SimonDoom]

I wasn't familiar with this. I enjoy mid-20th Century pulpy stuff and it sounds fun. Is there any Spicy Fiction in the public domain available online?

This reminds me of how much I enjoy the Tales From the Crypt and the horror comics of that era. It's some of the best-illustrated comic book stuff you'll ever see. Lots of good fodder for erotic horror, revenge, stories of that sort.

 

[lovecraft68]

I wasn't familiar with this. I enjoy mid-20th Century pulpy stuff and it sounds fun. Is there any Spicy Fiction in the public domain available online?

This reminds me of how much I enjoy the Tales From the Crypt and the horror comics of that era. It's some of the best-illustrated comic book stuff you'll ever see. Lots of good fodder for erotic horror, revenge, stories of that sort.

EC Comics were way ahead of their time. Unfortunately the Wertham censorship crusade created the comics code which put EC out of business. Marvel(Atlas at the time) and DC could have fought it, but as EC was killing them in sales, they let it go to eliminate them.

Gaines, the owner of EC had the last laugh. It was a "comics code" so he rounded up all the artists and writers from the EC horror comics and published Creepy MAGAZINE under the Warren name and created a fantastic line of horror mags including Vampirella.

 

[RichardWark]

I remember the "spicy pulps" very well. I also remember furtively reading my mother's "True Story," "True Romance," etc., magazines whenever I could. They got pretty hardcore at times (mid - late 60s) and made ample use of the "three dots" mentioned above. The only apparent requirement, it seemed, was that whatever happened in the story - I remember one where a cycle gang barges into a wedding and rapes the women; another in which a wife is indoctrinated into a swinger's club by her husband; still another where a woman is brought into an orgy by her sister - there had to be some moral, some restoration of order. But whatever went on in the course of the story was fair game. I don't think men ever figured out what their wives were reading.

 

[Wifetheif]

I wasn't familiar with this. I enjoy mid-20th Century pulpy stuff and it sounds fun. Is there any Spicy Fiction in the public domain available online?

This reminds me of how much I enjoy the Tales From the Crypt and the horror comics of that era. It's some of the best-illustrated comic book stuff you'll ever see. Lots of good fodder for erotic horror, revenge, stories of that sort.

There is a great collection available for a terrific price on Amazon almost all the stories are in the public domain.