Pulp Fiction

Pulp magazines…well they are all but deceased, although their ideals are still aparent in modern day film and television. The magazines were originally created to entertain readers with exploitative stories that would cost little to purchase. These magazines normally had sensational cover art that drew in readers and fueled wild ideas about the scandalous world created by pulp authors. Comic books differed from pulp magazines in that comics had animation strips while pulps rarely had images, except on the front page. The name “pulp” originates from the cheap wood pulp paper on which such magazines were printed on. This made for a cheap production and an inexpensive sale. Other magazines of the day were printed on a more glossy paper, which furthered the notion that pulp magazines were cheap, inferior and typically lower class. The peak popularity of pulp magazines was the 1920’s and 30’s when titles like Amazing Stories, Startling Stories, Thrilling Wonder Stories, and Unknown & Weird Tales were being read by scores of people across the country. While the story matter in these stories varied the content normally had fantastical elements that were hard to believe yet easy to read. Some popular stories centered around detectives that dealt with sleuthed crime and shady individuals that middle class people in America enjoyed reading vicariously. Other story topics included: aliens, sea monsters, exciting explorations, Tarzan, ghosts, cowboys and Indians, etc.


The decline of the pulp magazines was eventual. It first started with the World War II paper shortage that crippled much of the country’s print media. In addition, heavy competition from comic books, television and paperback novels furthered the downfall of pulp magazines. The official end of the pulp magazine era is traced to the 1957 bankruptcy of American News Company who was responsible for publishing most of the pulps in the early 20th century.


As of late the genera has experienced a sort of resurgence. Some small independent publishers occasionally release magazines of short fiction or short stories that kindle back to the days of yore when pulp magazines drew lots of readers. In 2002 author Michael Chabon published an issue of McSweeney’s Quarterly calling it McSweeney’s Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales. It was a collection of pulp tales written by some of modern literatures well-known authors such as Stephen King, Nick Hornby and Dave Eggers.


While it is safe to say that the heyday of pulp magazines is gone, there is no denying the impact that these stories have left on American popular culture.

http://www.thepulp.net/

http://www.stationlink.com/pulpdom/pulphist.html