Son of Retro Pulp Tales [Hardcover]

Who am I kidding? Of course I bought this book because of the wonderful cover by Timothy Truman. Back when I was a kid reading 1930s pulp in cheap paperbacks I bought lots of books because of their lurid covers; in that sense, for this kind of anthology, that's perfectly fitting. I was (am) a big fan of Doc Savage (I cannot express my distress after 70+ novels when I found out Kenneth Robeson was a pseudonym), Edgar Rice Burroughs, HP Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. One of my very favorite anthologies as a kid was The Unknown edited by Isaac Asimov, a collection of pulp fantasy. So I guess I'm not objective. I'm a sucker for this sort of stuff.

Subterranean Press has outdone themselves with this beautiful cloth bound hardcover. Although it is a pricey $40 list there is a heavy discount from Amazon. Text starts on page 7 of this 211 page book. Joe and Keith Lansdale share editing duties, and have selected stories that try to bring back the vivid feel of period pulp fiction. I think they have succeeded admirably.Considering the wide ranging genres of the pulps, don't expect anything here to be neatly categorizable. Helpfully, each writer provides notes that explains what they were thinking about when they wrote their story. Here are the contents:

"The Crawling Sky" -- Joe R. Lansdale
"Quiet Bullets" -- Christopher Golden
"A Gunfight" -- David J. Schow
"The Forgotten Kingdom" -- Mike Resnick
"The Perfect Nanny" -- William F. Nolan
"Border Town" -- James Grady
"The Catastrophe Box" -- Cherie Priest
"Pretty Green Eyes" -- Timothy Truman
"The Brown Bomber and the Nazi Werewolves of the SS" -- Matt Venne
"The Lizard Men of Blood River" -- Stephen Mertz
"The Toad Prince" -- Harlan Ellison

Basically I am unfamiliar with the work of most of these authors, so I can't comment if they fit into an ongoing character or story arc. It had no effect on my enjoyment of the book. I have a few comments on the stories that may have minor spoilers, so skip to the end if that bothers you.

The Crawling Sky - I have a fondness for Lovecraftian fiction and was hoping for giant squid attacks when I saw the cover art, but no matter. This was a very satisfying tale with a Lovecraftian-feel, as the Reverend Jeremiah Mercer ride into the town of Wood Tick to rid it of a lingering evil. The prose here set the mood perfectly for the rest of the book, not overwrought, just vivid.

Quiet Bullets - This is a more gentle, poignant story about a son's love for his mother and what he'd do to save her.

A Gunfight - Pow! Blam! Great stuff as a hitman tries to get away with the loot.

The Forgotten Kingdom - Fans of Mr. Resnick will be pleased by the latest antics of Lucifer Jones, this time in Machu Picchu. While not blown away, I chuckled out loud a few times.

The Perfect Nanny - This one did not do as much for me but it was a pretty creepy exploration of every parent's fear.

Border Town - Improbable but appropriately pulpy and who cares anyway, as Nazis chase a gypsy across the border into Shelby, MT.

The Catastrophe Box - I salute Ms. Priest for my favorite story in the book, also filled with Lovecraftian elements, wonderfully written and oh so creepy.

Pretty Geen Eyes - I loved this story of determination and revenge vividly set in a time on labor unrest in West Virginia; the author's notes were invaluable.

The Brown Bomber and the Nazi Werewolves of the SS - Well, why not have Joe Louis kidnapped and forced to box Nazi werewolves?

The Lizard Men of Blood River - Of all the contents, this one is most like a wildly ridiculous 1930s pulp story. It shaded awfully near over the top for me.

The Toad Price - Mr. Ellison closes out the anthology in grand fashion with a story that may be described as space opera.

My bottom line is I got to spend several very pleasant evenings reveling in stories that harkened back to my youth. I was enchanted and will seek out the 2006 predecessor volume, although I'm sure the cover is nowhere near as good..

Joe Lansdale and his son Keith have brought together a wonderful collection of modern tales nodding at the pulp magazine fiction of the 30's-50's. We have a great assortment of stories and styles, delving into different genres. Christopher Golden's "Quiet Bullets" is probably worth the purchase alone, but also loved reading more about Lansdale's wandering modern Solomon Kane in "The Crawling Sky." "The Brown Bomber and the Nazi Werewolves of the SS" and others, including a so-so story by Harlan Ellison make this a great quick read.

I really like Joe Lansdale's writing; his Hap and Leonard stories are ones that I've particularly taken a shine to. So when I found out that he had edited a short story collection, I figured that if the stories were good enough for Joe they'd be good enough to me. And they were...I thought.

As I was getting ready to write this review and get it posted, I looked back over the names of the stories in the collection and - apart from Lansdale's own contribution and those by Matt Venne and Stephen Mertz - realized that I had just about no idea what the stories themselves were about. Oh, I take that back - I remember one other one (by Christopher Golden), but that wasn't because I thought it was a particularly GOOD story, just had an odd premise and execution.

I don't recall disliking any of the stories particularly much, but given their failure to leave much of an impression on me I'll have to say that unless you're just looking to kill some time you'll probably find better entertainment elsewhere.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 3 reviews  4.0 out of 5 stars