Soft Blondes in the Claws of Torture Hell

Men s adventure magazines were a form of pulp publishing which flourished in 1950s and 1960s America, pandering to the cruelty and lust of young men with luridly illustrated stories of war, sleaze and savagery. They arose partly in response to the inauguration of the Comics Code in 1954, as a way of circumventing censorship by presenting material in a new, adults-only format. The prime years of the men s adventure magazine unleashed a visual and verbal deluge of exposed and tormented flesh, bloody mayhem and sexual delinquency, representing a unique cultural phenomenon in US publishing and art. SOFT BLONDES IN THE CLAWS OF TORTURE HELL is a new anthology which collects some prime examples of text and artwork from a range of men s adventure magazines published during the prime years of the genre. The book is divided into two main sections: FEATURES includes a selection of sensationalistic, semi-factual confessions and case histories on such subjects as Wild West massacres, serial killers, mobsters, female chain gangs, and other aberrations; and FICTION collects numerous examples of garishly illustrated short pulp fiction, with categories including war, white slavery, Nazi horror, jungle savagery, Red menace, Devil worship, torture, sadism and erotic carnage. The book also features numerous examples of interior art from classic men s magazines, and includes 35 features and stories, with more than 50 illustrations, and 16 pages of full colour. Pulp Mayhem is an illustrated book series of vintage pulp fiction, art and pop culture."