
Paperbacks from Hell
The Twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction
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Narrated by:
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Timothy Andrés Pabon
About this listen
Take a tour through the horror paperback novels of two iconic decades...if you dare. Hear shocking plot summaries that invoke devil worship, satanic children, and haunted real estate! Horror author and vintage paperback book collector Grady Hendrix offers killer commentary and witty insight on these trashy thrillers that tried so hard to be the next Exorcist or Rosemary's Baby. Complete with story summaries and artist and author profiles, this unforgettable volume dishes on familiar authors like V. C. Andrews and R. L. Stine, plus many more who've faded into obscurity. Also included are recommendations for which of these forgotten treasures are well worth your listening time and which should stay buried.
©2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Featured Article: Far Out—The Best Audiobooks of and About the 1970s
Whether you were alive in the 1970s or born decades after, here are some of the best books about the 1970s and some of the most popular best sellers published during the 1970s to give you a better look at this fab, fascinating, and influential era. Whether you're nostalgic or curious about the decade that brought us Watergate and women's lib, Luke Skywalker and the Bee Gees, check out this list of out of sight audiobooks.
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When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world. Most of all, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success.
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Nope, nope, nope.
- By Karen Johnson on 01-24-23
By: Grady Hendrix
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Ankle Snatcher
- Creature Feature Collection
- By: Grady Hendrix
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Marcus grew up believing his father killed his mother—then blamed it on the boogeyman under the bed. Always leave the lights on, his father warned, or the boogeyman will get you. Marcus still heeds the superstition, especially when he invites his new girlfriend over. Is Marcus haunted by a creature or has he just inherited his father’s murderous delusions? The night will tell.
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Maybe Itʻs Time to Invest in a Futon
- By Amazon Customer on 01-10-25
By: Grady Hendrix
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The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
- By: Grady Hendrix
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Patricia Campbell's life has never felt smaller. Her ambitious husband is too busy to give her a goodbye kiss in the morning, her kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she's always a step behind on thank-you notes and her endless list of chores. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime and paperback fiction. At these meetings they're as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are marriage, motherhood, and neighborhood gossip.
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Not my cup of tea
- By NorthernPerson on 04-21-20
By: Grady Hendrix
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American Scary
- A History of Horror, from Salem to Stephen King and Beyond
- By: Jeremy Dauber
- Narrated by: Jeremy Dauber
- Length: 16 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In American Scary, noted cultural historian and Columbia professor Jeremy Dauber takes the listener to the startling origins of the horror genre in the United States, drawing a surprising through-line between the lingering influence of the European Gothic, the enslaved insurrection tales propagated by slaveholders, and the apocryphal chronicles of colonial settlers kidnapped by Native Americans, among many others.
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A catalog of creepy and a discourse of darkness
- By J. Moulton on 01-06-25
By: Jeremy Dauber
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Soon
- By: Lois Murphy
- Narrated by: David Linski
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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On winter solstice, the birds disappeared, and the mist arrived. The inhabitants of Nebulah quickly learn not to venture out after dark. But it is hard to stay indoors: Cabin fever sets in, and the mist can be beguiling too. Eventually only six remain. Like the rest of the townspeople, Pete has nowhere else to go. After he rescues a stranded psychic from a terrible fate, he’s given a warning: He will be dead by solstice unless he leaves town - soon.
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👎The Edits Are HORRIBLE & A LOT🤬
- By Mistsofjade on 09-19-20
By: Lois Murphy
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Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
- By: Grady Hendrix
- Narrated by: Leslie Howard, Hillary Huber, Sara Morsey
- Length: 16 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened. Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them.
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I’m not crying! It is just the witchcraft!
- By Jamie Toepel on 01-22-25
By: Grady Hendrix
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The Cursed Manuscripts: Books 1-6
- Witch, Zombie, Hell Train, Maniac Menagerie, Ghosts, Bad Luck
- By: Iain Rob Wright
- Narrated by: Aubrey Parsons
- Length: 38 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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On December 21, 2012, according to the Mayan Calendar, the world was supposed to end. It didn't. But on that day, 113 mysterious manuscripts were discovered around the world, each one written in blood by an unknown author.
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The voice acting was great.
- By desoto watson on 04-14-25
By: Iain Rob Wright
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The Nest
- By: Gregory A. Douglas
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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It was just an ordinary garbage dump on peaceful Cape Cod. No one ever imagined that conditions were perfect for breeding, that it was a warm womb, fetid, moist, and with food so plentiful that everything creeping, crawling, and slithering could gorge to satiation. Then a change in poison control was made, resulting in an unforeseen mutation. Now the giant mutant cockroaches are ready to leave their nest - in search of human flesh!
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Buyer beware: it’s brutal
- By Liv on 07-17-19
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Human Monsters
- A Horror Anthology
- By: Sadie Hartmann, Stephen Graham Jones, Caroline Kepnes, and others
- Narrated by: A. Nova, I. Valles, K. Nova, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Not all monsters are fantasy. Some are very real, and they walk among us. They're our friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers. They're the people we're supposed to trust...and they know it. Contained within this anthology are 35 never-before-published works by supremely talented authors and best-selling novelists. Brace yourself for the unexpected and unimaginable horror of...human monsters.
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Subpar stories
- By Danielle on 02-19-25
By: Sadie Hartmann, and others
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Creature Feature
- Spooky Tales to Keep You Up All Night
- By: Joe Hill, Grady Hendrix, Josh Malerman, and others
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff, Michael Crouch, Lauren Ezzo, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Gather round as today’s most diabolically clever authors twist simple moments into otherworldly horrors. An empty baby stroller. A scratching underneath the bed. A farmhouse in the moonlight. With an unnerving sense of the macabre, these stories transform our greatest fears into bone-chilling realities.
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Seriously?
- By Audio Dave on 03-10-25
By: Joe Hill, and others
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The Handyman Method
- By: Nick Cutter, Andrew F. Sullivan
- Narrated by: Corey Brill
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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When a young family moves into an unfinished development community, cracks begin to emerge in both their new residence and their lives, as a mysterious online DIY instructor delivers dark subliminal suggestions about how to handle any problem around the house. The trials of home improvement, destructive insecurities, and haunted house horror all collide in this thrilling story perfect for fans of Nick Cutter’s bestsellers The Troop and The Deep.
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Great but Short
- By Leah C. on 08-11-23
By: Nick Cutter, and others
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Horror Movie
- A Novel
- By: Paul Tremblay
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos, Dani Martineck, Micky Shiloah, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie, a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick. The weird part? Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, but Horror Movie has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot.
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Good story, bad production.
- By bob on 07-11-24
By: Paul Tremblay
What listeners say about Paperbacks from Hell
Highly rated for:
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- Gregory S. Moss
- 09-21-20
fun interesting book, clueless narrator
The book itself is lively and fun (though would be improved with a pdf of book covers) but the reader mispronounces so many words that I had to stop listening. He can’t say “coven” right! Shades of American Movie...
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jim N
- 09-11-19
Twisted Indeed!
This is an entertaining overview of the horror paperback boom of the '70s and '80s. I wish it went into a little more depth about certain books and authors but it's fun stuff and a good place to start a horror reading list.
By listened to this as an audiobook I clearly missed out on some of the visual joys the book has to offer. Nevertheless, even without the illustrations, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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- AT Sliger
- 09-03-21
Worth your time
I found it really interesting. Entertaining and informative with a narrator who seemed to enjoy it, which made it even better.
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- R. Westfall
- 09-01-22
Be Warned.. Your TBR Pile Will Grow!
"If the house you just moved into has a basement stuffed with old mannequins, run. If it has a "toy room" filled with clown puppets, run faster."
Guts, gore, satanic rituals, and evil children!! This twisted look at horrors history is fucking fun and hilarious... if you're a fan of all things creepy crawlie read this book!!
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- RP
- 10-23-18
Awesome
This was so well-researched and interesting. I learned a lot about authors and books I had heard of, but also many I had never heard of. Plus, it was super funny!
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- Zach Mooney
- 08-15-22
Devil of Detail
The author took great lengths to research the genre publishers, contextual cultural and legal factors and shares a loving and concise telling of the horror genre over time. If your reading list is too long already, he'll make it far longer. Listen at your peril!
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- Keith
- 10-15-18
Excellent, fast listen
Extremely entertaining. I just wish the book was longer. I look forward to a follow up. The only downside is that there are long descriptions of cover-art. I had to look online to see the covers described in the text.
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- Caroline Couture
- 08-25-20
Great overview of paperback horror
A great overview of horror writing and publishing in the 60's, 70's and 80's. Your TBR pile will be happy.
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- jdavidhoward
- 07-25-24
Quirky & Informative
This was a gem of a listen. So many books I had never discovered were mentioned and the information was delivered in such a fun, engaging way. The narration is great, as well. I enjoyed it so much that I will be ordering a physical copy of the book. I can’t wait to highlight all the titles I plan to read.
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- mruth72
- 06-10-21
Hilarious and Informative
I just loved this book. I enjoyed the author's wit and humor as he took me down memory lane. I grew up with cheap paper backs, and he's inspired me to reread them again.
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4 people found this helpful