Saturday, April 12, 2025
Available Now - Die Naked, Bitch
Friday, March 28, 2025
The Spider 113: Secret City of Crime by Grant Stockbridge
February 1943; v29 #1
Secret City of Crime
by Grant Stockbridge (Norvell Page)
The Spider infiltrates the underground city of Easy Street, run by Perfect Crimes, Inc, where hoods can learn new skills while they hide out on the lam. The mastermind, The Brain, stages disasters like train accidents to cover up for bloody bank robberies. Nita, Jackson, and Ram Singh are captured and held hostage.
At one point, The Spider instantly hypnotizes a hood to let him into a secure area, reveal secret information, and stand guard to shoot any other criminals who come in the room. Completely lets the air out of the rest of the story - why doesn't he just keep doing that through the whole story?
Thursday, March 27, 2025
Bedeviled by Wenzell Brown
by Wenzell Brown
1961, Monarch
Part true crime, part psychological case studies, all clearly made up from whole cloth. These five cases center around the concept of the death wish: people seeking to be punished to satisfy their guilt over sexual impulses. For Brown, this means that the victims were quire literally asking for it.
A starlet forces a migrant worker to tie her up and whip her. Things go to far and she is strangled to death. For Brown, not only is the woman responsible, she is responsible for her murderers execution. Couldn't find any real cases of a young Hollywood star married to a famous producer being tied down and murdered, figured that would have shown up on Mysteries and Scandals.
An American working in Cuba cross-dresses as a woman to lure men, with the explicit purpose of being beating up by them, before being murdered by an African sect.
A lesbian, feeling guilty about it, taunts a gang hoodlum and is gang raped, cause serious injury and brain damage that left her nearly blind. She's later run over by a drunk driver who flees the scene, who is the last victim of her death wish rampage. Brown complains that the jury in his trial was not made aware that the victim was a lesbian, which was somehow a mitigating factor.
A teacher with an incredibly specific kink. She slowly seduces her students, takes them to a NYC hotel on New Year's Eve, taunts them into raping her (again, according to Brown), then yells at them to leave her alone. She is eventually murdered, the poor man.
A woman has sex with her son and is murdered by him. You know this is fake because it's an adopted son, the same cop out that lives on in dryers across the internet. He ends this section complaining that Americans are too uptight when it comes to incest.
Modern readers will get whiplash with this one. The vibe is very much that of a progressive, sociological, compassionate look at the roots of behavior, then spits out victim blaming homophobia that would make Anita Bryant blush.
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Nick Carter: Killmaster 188 Death Island by Nick Carter
Death Island
by Nick Carter (David Hagberg)
1984, Ace Books
The Chinese are riling up natives on a Pacific Island to interfere with a radar installation. Still had the feel of a 60s espionage novel, but a bit darker in parts. The natives are shown projections of actors killing and raping children, and Carter gets strapped to a chair with a hole in the seat and a fondue chafing dish underneath. Otherwise a bit tepid.
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
True Confessions August, 1974
August, 1974
Vol 82 Iss 625
Why I Kidnapped My Own Baby
Tired of his wife leaving the baby in the car while shopping, husband of the year kidnaps the kid to teach her a lesson, only for her to disappear. Kept waiting for the ironic gotcha back at the husband, but no, it just keeps getting more horrible.
The Newspapers Call Me His Black Sweetheart
A judge helps out a waitress while having an affair at a motel, resulting in him helping her getting jobs and paying for her school. A newspaper takes a picture of an indiscrete moment, there's a secret father, and a political scandal which just kind of fizzles out.
I Became a Street Beggar to Support My Baby Girl
Overlong bit about a poor lady. The begging didn't enter into it as much as her older married sugar daddy.
Jenny's Last Ride
A teenage girl's father commits suicide, she blames Mom, runs away, meets another girl at the bus station, gets her bag stolen, goes hitchhiking, the other girl gets raped and killed by a truck driver with the author escaping.
The Cat That Saved My Daughter's Sanity
Narrated by an overbearing mother: a rebellious kid gets pregnant, attempts suicide, is institutionalized, and has the baby taken away from her. She gets a kitten, which is nice, I suppose.
My Wife's Crazy Fear of Bugs Nearly Killed Our Baby
A neurotic mom leaves her baby outside because she's afraid of a hornet, causing second degree sunburns. Her shrink finds the cause, which instantly cures her.
Tonight You'll Know Who a Real Man Is!
A woman in Alaska carpools with an abusive POS who tries to rape her after she beats him in a shooting contest. She threatens to stab him, earning his respect.
My 10-Year Engagement to a Total Stranger
Door to door salesman jokes that he'll be back to marry a customer ten years later and comes back to stalk/romance her.
Monday, March 24, 2025
Sunday, March 23, 2025
Lassiter 6: High Lonesome by Jack Slade
High Lonesome
by Jack Slade (Peter McCurtin)
1969, Leisure Books
Lassiter comes in to a town to find his bounty already dead and the saloon full of hired guns. Two factions are in war over the town and Lassiter is recruited as Sheriff by one side. Lassiter sets up a meeting with the other side to get a Yojimbo thing going, but the book isn't long enough to support that so it gets cut short by all out war so Lassiter sneaks back into town to steal some money.