Friday, December 12, 2025

Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock

Elric of Melniboné
by Michael Moorcock
1972, Hutchinson

An evil tyrant maybe wants to be marginally less evil. His cousin tries to usurp the throne and he gets a magic sword. Feels like a fix-up novel, a collection of short stories, focused on his origins, don't know if the stories later in the chronology were better.

A couple decent action sequences, but mostly visions and prophecies and not much going on. In a couple throwaway lines it manages to be more grimdark than most modern stuff I've read, low bar such as it is.

I'm likely in the minority, but Elric didn't come across as especially goth or rock n roll, certainly not as cool as the covers. He gets weak without his drugs, but it feels more like grandpa needing his heart medication more than Keith Richards. It didn't feel especially elevated, psychedelic, or intellectual either, just standard fantasy with less adventure than his earlier stuff.

From Amazon 

Saturday, December 6, 2025

Noose by Eric Red

Noose
by Eric Red
2018, Pinnacle


Had high hopes for this western written by the man behind The Hitcher, Near Dark, Body Parts, and others, but too many things in a row just didn't ring true:
  • Minutes after a murder, a teenager telegraphs in a bounty of $100,000 and gets it approved, about $3 million in today's money.
  • The nearest law thinks it's fishy, but agrees to paying the sum as plan A and sending a posse to find the suspect for plan B.
  • Noose is surrounded by a dozen men holding guns on him. He escapes by pushing them away (all twelve of them), jumping on his horse, and riding away, without getting hit, and gaining a considerable distance.
  • He does the "wire across two lampposts decapitates a rider" bit with barbed wire on a ridge. No mention what the barbed wire was connected to or where Noose could have been hiding to raise the wire, how it was raised, if he was holding it how did he manage to keep his grip while the wire sliced off the bounty killers head, if the wire was held saddle high wouldn't the horse lose its head too, or how far behind was this rider from his buddies that they didn't notice until the riderless horse followed them long enough that they couldn't just turn around and see Noose rummaging through the corpse's stuff.
  • Noose gets away again by sliding down an incline, the baddies watching from 150 feet away, clearly out of rifle range.
  • Noose does a series of sneak attacks on foot against a group of men on horses, on the Wyoming plains, no mention how he's hiding or slipping away.

I stopped at this point. I was listening to the audiobook, thinking I must have missed something and it being too much of a pain to skip back. Checked the ebook and it flowed even worse. Everything is "big" and happens "suddenly", the two women in the book have female or lady as their first name ("female marshal" or "lady criminal"). Felt like an 11 year old wrote it and had none of the character of his films.

From Amazon 

Friday, December 5, 2025

Claw 1: Day of Fury by Matthew Kirk

Claw 1 Day of Fury
by Matthew Kirk (Angus Wells)
1983, Granada

Blacksmith Tyler Wyatt agrees to watch some money in a safe, which makes him the target of bandits. To stop his father in law from being tortured, he brings in his wife, who is gang raped in front of him and later murdered. Wyatt himself has his left hand crushed with a hammer, which he replaces with a multi-claw prosthetic.

The origin story is the main tale, with some flash forwards of him starting his long trail of revenge. Pretty basic story-wise, but nasty and gory in parts. The origin stories are usually the weakest, looking forward to future installments.

From Amazon

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Spur Giant - Soiled Doves by Dirk Fletcher

Spur Giant
Soiled Doves
by Dirk Fletcher
1995, Leisure

Spur McCoy investigates a train robbery with three major items stolen: bearer bonds, cash to buy a ranch, and the oversexed daughter of a politician. The reader is made aware early on that this is an inside job and the daughter is in on it, and it plays out similar to Fargo in some ways, though it came out a year earlier. They both draw from a noir background, don't think there's a direct connection.

McCoy does his investigation, but most of the action plays out without him, as the criminals double cross each other or are otherwise done in by their criminal lifestyle. Light on action, but plenty of sleaze and grit. The longer length means we get some subplot detours, like a woman talking her husband into sleeping with her sister and a criminal seducing a boarding house landlady.

The Soiled Dove is the name of a whorehouse that doesn't have much to do with the story.

From Amazon

Saturday, November 29, 2025

Revenge Ride by Jury Grant

Revenge Ride
by Jury Grant
2017


Gunther "Gun" Battle's wife is killed, sending him on the titular revenge ride, mostly banging women. Sleazier update to classic Adult Westerns with a dash of Piccadilly Cowboy, down to the bad puns and other author names as characters.

No longer available. This and the other two installments are lost to time.

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Horror Magazines

List of Horror Magazines through the 1970s. There are some category edge cases with Mystery, Fantasy, and Science Fiction. I mostly skipped foreign reprints, which sometimes have original material.


1802 The Marvellous Magazine and Compendium of Prodigies
1899 The Boys' Monster Weekly - Monster possibly referring to the size, one of the two covers I've seen refers to Spring Heeled Jack, so who knows.
1905 All-Story Magazine - some horror
1919 The Thrill Book - some horror
1922 Midnight Mystery Stories - included other features
1923 Hutchinson's Mystery-Story Magazine
1923 Weird Tales
1926 Ghost Stories
1927 Crime Mysteries - horror oriented crime
1927 Tales of Magic and Mystery
1929 Detective Trails - weird mystery
1929 True Strange Stories
1931 Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror
1932 Dime Mystery - weird menace
1933 Master Thriller - reprints, including some horror
1934 Spicy Detective Stories
1934 Spicy Mystery Stories
1934 Terror Tales - weird menace
1935 Horror Stories - weird menace
1935 Spicy Adventure Stories - some were dark enough to be horror adjacent
1935 Thrilling Mysteries - weird menace one-shot
1935 Thrilling Mystery - weird menace
1936 Ace Mystery - weird menace
1936 The Witch's Tales - Radio tie-in
1937 Eerie Stories one-shot
1937 Fireside Ghost Stories - one-shot
1937 Strange Detective Mysteries
1938 Eerie Mysteries
1938 Ghosts and Goblins - one-shot
1938 Mystery Tales - weird menace
1939 Marvel Tales - weird menace
1939 Strange Stories
1939 Uncanny Tales (USA)
1940 Sinister Stories
1940 Uncanny Tales (Canada)
1940 Weird Story Magazine
1941 All Star Detective - weird menace
1941 Eerie Tales - one-shot
1942 Four Star Mystery - one-shot, not sure of exact subgenre
1944 Horror Crime Cases - true crime one-shot
1945 Creep, Shadow - fanzine, reprints
1946 Strange Tales
1948 Four in One Weird and Occult Shorts - one shot, four unsold pulps stitched together under this cover, contents varied for each sold
1948 Horror Stories - UK reprints
1948 Shock
1949 Black Skull Magazine
1949 Book of Terror one shot
1950 Gargoyle - one-shot fanzine
1950 Gripping Terror - one-shot
1952 The Mysterious Traveler - radio tie-in
1955 Weird World
1957 Screen Chills and Macabre Stories
1957 Tales of the Frightened
1958 Monster Parade
1959 Monsters and Things
1959 Shock Tales / Suspense Tales
1960 A Book of Weird Tales - reprint one shot
1960 Fear!
1960 Shock
1960 Shock Mystery Tales
1962 Web Terror Stories
1962 Werewolves and Vampires - film mag with fiction
1963 Haunted - fanzine
1963 Magazine of Horror - reprints
1963 Prize Ghost Stories - Ghost Story reprints one shot
1963 True Twilight Tales - Ghost Story reprints
1965 Bizarre Mystery Magazine
1965 Gothique - fanzine
1966 Chilling Monster Tales - one shot with one reprint
1966 Giallar - fanzine
1966 Startling Mystery Stories
1969 Coven 13
1969 Weird Terror Tales
1970 Adventures in Horror / Horror Stories - horror porn
1970 Bizarre Fantasy Tales - reprints
1970 Gothic Romances
1971 Dark Horizons
1971 Gothic Secrets
1972 From Beyond the Dark Gateway - fanzine
1972 Horrible Stories - fanzine one-shot
1972 Horror Sex Tales - one-shot monster porn
1972 Monster Sex Tales - monster porn
1972 World of Horror - fanzine with some fiction
1973 Cthulhu Calls - fanzine with fiction
1973 Dark Fantasy
1973 Haunt of Horror - two prose digests, followed by comics with a prose story
1973 The Literary Magazine of Fantasy and Terror
1975 Gothic Tales of Love Magazine
1975 New Witchcraft
1976 Cthulhu: Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos
1976 Dark Phantasms - fanzine one-shot
1976 Eerie Country
1976 Ghoul - humor one-shot
1977 Fantasy Tales
1977 Incredible Adventures - pulp reprints
1978 Dreams of a Dark Hue - fanzine one-shot
1978 Eldritch Tales - fanzine
1979 Ghosts & Scholars
1979 Gothic - fanzine
1980 Fantasy Macabre - fanzine
1981 Chillers - movie mag with fiction
1981 Crypt of Cthulhu
1981 Twilight Zone Magazine

Friday, August 15, 2025

Andy Kaufman's TV and Film Appearances

1972

"Kennedy at Night" on WLS Chicago, performed as Elvis

1974

6/6/74 - The Dean Martin Comedy World

6/20/74 - The Joe Franklin Show

1975

Undated SNL screen test

10/11/75 Saturday Night Live 101 - Mighty Mouse

10/25/75 Saturday Night Live 103 - Pop Goes the Weasle

11/8/75 Saturday Night Live 104 - Bongos

1976

1/17/76 - Monty Hall's Variety Hour 

1/28/76 - The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson - Steve Allen hosting, with Dick Shawn and Charo

2/28/76 Saturday Night Live 115 - Old Macdonald

6/23/76 - The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson - per IMBD, not on Wikipedia episode guide

6/30/76 The Lisa Hartman Show: Hot Stuff - first bit with his normal voice,  

9/20/76 - Van Dyke and Company - Foreign man doing the cannonball joke , first time I've seen his act repeated

10/7/76 - Van Dyke and Company - Mighty Mouse

10/14/76 - Van Dyke and Company - Elvis

10/22/76 God Told Me To https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VHg8sQidmM

10/28/76 - Van Dyke and Company  - Interrupts as Andy playing bongos. Later introduced as Andy Kaufman, sings in a non-foreign voice and plays bongos with the Bay City Street Congo Band

11/11/76 - Van Dyke and Company - Old MacDonald

11/25/76 - Van Dyke and Company - Freddie Prinze does an Andy Kaufman impersonation, Pop goes the Weasel

12/2/76 - Van Dyke and Company - Foreign man doing bad standup, material new to me. It's a Small World with Bay City Street Congo Band

12/9/76 - Van Dyke and Company - Bad impressions

12/16/76 - Van Dyke and Company - Elvis. Again. It's not good, doesn't get the voice right, goofs too much

12/30/76  - Van Dyke and Company - Jesus joke, chicken record with Dick joining in. Later with the Bay City Street Congo Band

1977

1/12/77 - The Mike Douglas Show https://archive.org/details/andy-kaufmans-full-discography/12.+Foreign+Man+%2B+Mighty+Mouse+-+Monty+Hall%E2%80%99s+Variety+Hour+(January+17%2C+1976).mp4

    First time I've seen him interview in a panel, in character as Foreign Man, and the longest bit I've seen so far.

1/15/77 Saturday Night Live 211 - Elvis

1/17/77 - Dinah!

1/21/77 - The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLQ6-SmWGqhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_IRlq9gg-M -  First time meeting Johnny, goes straight to panel as Foreign Man.

3/3/77 - The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r59AWfhwpPg - Elvis

3/4/77 - The Midnight Special https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxYB0KxzZxw

5/30/77 Stick Around https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYaYLwzq-jU

 Andy shows his range as the Foreign Man as a robot in a sitcom set in the future, even does a little of his act. Kind of a low rent Jetsons. There's an angle with people cryogenically frozen in the 1980s being revived, discussing the differences between the time periods, and facing discrimination.

8/4/77 - The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lU-NmcfIEI

Elvis, then pulls a Foster Brooks and completely breaks character for panel. Johnny mentions his special, which won't be aired for two years.

8/15/77 - 19/77 - The Hollywood Squares as Foreign Man

8/16/77 Elvis dies

9/15/77 - Red Foxx (aka Red Foxx Comedy Hour) https://youtu.be/GyS2j60HH0Q?si=KEA5VjSUsU95Xnvm&t=724

9/24/77 - The 2nd Annual HBO Young Comedians Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8QrrPMZDWk

Performs as himself, refers to the Foreign Man character by that name. There's likely a difference between a club and TV audience, but this is the first time I've seen Andy perform where some of the audience doesn't immediately catch on that he's doing a bit. The act is still largely the same, just in a regular voice.

He's introduced separately as Tony Clifton, no prosthetics, just a fake moustache. Bob Zmuda, Mel Shearer, and others are audience plants, presumably including a woman who beats him up, foreshadowing his intergender wrestling phase.



10/15/77 Saturday Night Live 303 - Sings Oklahoma, The Cow Goes Moo. Does Elvis outside of his usual suite of bad impressions, like he's skipping the joke and going straight to the catchphrase

11/30/77 - The Johnny Cash Christmas Special (not to be confused with the Johnny Cash & Family Christmas show) - evidently unavailable, not to be confused with the 1979 appearance

12/10/77 Saturday Night Live 307 - Foreign Man bongos. Stands with the cast at the end next to Willie Nelson as they announce the abortive Sex Pistols appearance for the next show.

1978

1/9/78 Variety '77: The Year in Entertainment (some sources have 1/3/78 on ABC, I verified with TV listings, it aired 1/9/78 on CBS) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ass1coasd0 - Bongos

2/20/78 - The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (Steve Martin guest host) Clip doesn't have his act, starts with the panel, in which he describes his Elvis act and explains why it's funny 

https://archive.org/details/andy-kaufmans-full-discography/25.+Interview+with+guest+host+Steve+Martin+-+The+Tonight+Show+Starring+Johnny+Carson+(February+20%2C+1978).mp4

3/11/78 Saturday Night Live 313 - Reads Great Gatsby British accent, says he previously had an American character. Reads for 2 1/2 minutes, possibly the first time he's been antagonistic in his TV act. Flubs some lines and corpses a little.

3/14/78 Columbus Goes Bananaz https://archive.org/details/andy-kaufmans-full-discography/27.+Takes+all+the+time+away+from+%E2%80%98a+scientists%E2%80%99+interview+-+Bananaz+(March+14%2C+1978).mp4

Interrupts Bob Zmuda as a scientist, does Old MacDonald, the two get into a fight. Clip is incomplete. Mentions that he had largely retired his Elvis impersonation but revived it after his death due to popular demand.

3/16/78 - Thank You, Rock 'N' Roll: A Tribute to Alan Freed

4/7/78 Midnight Special 

4/11/78 The Mike Douglas Show  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0873hZHVbEk

The Cow Goes Moo, in the interview makes claim that he's not  a comedian. Has a different foreign voice, says his American accent is fake. Talks with Carol Channing. Missing final song.

5/19/78 Midnight Special

6/2/78 Midnight Special

July 5, 1978 Taxi starts filming

9/12/78 Taxi (114 episodes)

11/21/78 The Dating Game as Foreign Man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMmV-L7nr2c

11/29/78 Dick Clark's Live Wednesday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCjklriyrck

Foreign man standup

1979

2/4/79 Saturday Night Live 413 - Bay City Street Conga Band

3/7/79 Cher... and Other Fantasies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDMDM5G7gHo

    As Foreign Man in a comedy skit as Adam

4/22/79 V.I.P. Night on Broadway Benefit - Sings "Tomorrow" from Annie. Not sure if this was aired.

Stormy Justice - IMDB lists as 5/16/79 but is obviously done in the late 80s or 90s and is not Andy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ueiKIb74KE

6/30/79 The Lisa Hartman Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AUWvskU3aU

Kaufman talking about his busboy job, pranking a grocery store clerk with his plants.

8/20/79 Tomorrow Coast to Coast - Unavailable, reportedly his first televised intergender wrestling match

8/28/79 Good Morning America

8/28/79 Andy's Funhouse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6Gzq8xVHsA&t

Taped with commercials. Aired after prime time. A lot of his regular act, some more mean spirited meta stuff. Would have been the first aired material with him acting as if his American accent was a character.

Was repeated in prime time 2/29/80

Firstish Tony Appearance

10/19/79 Dinah! aka Dinah and Friends https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypUr64rXI94

First real Tony Clifton TV appearance, supposedly cut short with some myths about how aggressive he got afterwards. Note that the production put up text letting the audience know it was a gag.

Also seen dates of 9/19 and 10/12, found newspaper TV listing for 10/19 evening and re-aired the morning of 10/22

Note: We're getting into Andy's wrestling era. Andy wrestled women in his nightclub act, then on TV, then in a "real" wrestling promotion. He used plants (including Laurie Anderson) in the clubs and TV (the women all seemed to already be wearing tights). The club and TV audiences are aware that this is a comedy act, but the wrestling itself was real, in the sense that they were trying to pin each other without choreography or a predetermined outcome.

The audience got riled up, but I don't believe that anyone thought that Andy had retired from comedy and is now a wrestler. He also regularly would break character and say he only acted like a heel as part of the act.

10/20/79 Saturday Night Live - Full heel turn as he challenges women in the audience to a wrestling match. The volunteers vibe as plants. He might do an Elvis voice later. He's at the back with his opponent at the end credits.

11/17/79 Saturday Night Live 505 - Cuts a promo looking for challengers. Heckles Bea Arthur.

11/22/79 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

12/6/79 A Johnny Cash Christmas - Opens show as Foreign Man. Interrupts Anne Murray and Tom T. Hall, comes out as Santa Claus. Cash introduces his Elvis impersonation by saying it was the king's favorite. Back a the end as Santa.

No title on the video, TV listings has it as A Johnny Cash Christmas. This is Andy's last prime time appearance aside from Taxi until 1982, and last playing Andy until 1983

12/13/79 The Merv Griffin Show - unavailable

12/22/79 Saturday Night Live 508 - Buddy Rogers introduces Andy wrestling Diana Peckham. Probably a legit match, but I don't doubt that Peckham, granddaughter of a pro wrestler, was wise to the act. A video package has him harassing candidates, who are laughing the whole time.

Last SNL appearance until 1982. He reportedly offered to do a weekly segment for the infamous sixth season but Ebersol turned him down.

1980

1/25/80 The Merv Griffin Show - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhrXrjb3RWg

Talks about the Tony Clifton appearance on Dinah, said he was carried away by security. Nick Nolte is confused. Wrestles a woman, not in this clip.

2/1/80 Midnight Special

6/12/80 Andy Kaufman Plays Carnegie Hall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQr5EHQGAVw

Filmed 4/26/79, aired on Showtime. Bit with a woman having a heart attack was probably the first that the audience seems to be fooled. Wrestles a man in a clear work. Has a bit where he says the Foreign Man is the real him, but just as a segue to him doing his routine and goes straight back to his regular accent. Ends the show saying he used to do makeup to impersonate Tony Clifton but hired the real deal, who joins him in a song.

7/18/1980 Buckshot- Uncle Andy's Funhouse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evWCte4Wilc

Don't know the story behind this. Buckshot aired, but Andy Kaufman isn't listed in the credits of the Encyclopedia of Television Pilots. Could be this was filmed but not included. Paul Reubens was on the show, so there's some connection from Andy to Pee Wee's Playhouse.

9/26/80 In God We Trust https://archive.org/details/WJZ-QUAD-15

9/26/80 The Merv Griffin Show

10/13/80  The David Letterman Show

https://archive.org/details/andy-kaufmans-full-discography/43.+Jokes+Sob+Story+Part+1+-+The+Letterman+Show+(October+13th%2C+1980).mp4

Andy says he's sleeping in stairways to see what it's like, he's cut off by Dave.

10/15/80 The David Letterman Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fxd7_Z1DzA

https://archive.org/details/andy-kaufmans-full-discography/44.+Jokes+Sob+Story+Part+2+-+The+Letterman+Show+(October+15th%2C+1980).mp4

Andy comes back, Dave mentions the strikes, Andy says he quit Taxi, his wife left him and he can't get work due to the wrestling, panhandles the audience.

IMDB lists 6/23/80, the debut episode, but I don't believe this is correct.

1981

1/23/81 The Midnight Special 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sINO2NgxVEQ

Andy hosts, still doing Foreign Man and Elvis, drops straight out of FM to Andy. Announces television debut of his protégé, Tony Clifton. Busboy job, bad ventriloquism with Howdy Dowdy. Continues the crossover of Andy not being able to get work due to wrestling women, Zmuda says The Midnight Special is the only show that will have him. Breaks kayfabe to explain how he acts as a heel so that people will cheer his opponent and how he will never break character (except for here, of course). Coughs through an interview explaining how his act works. Tony Clifton act cuts away to Andy in the audience, same act as on HBO four years ago.

2/20/81 Fridays https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0S46TiRel0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN5vhvIAqY8

Opens mid bad standup, Andy goes "rogue" and refuses to follow script in a clear work. Andy with Zmuda as the Masked Magician. Andy playing both parts of a debate show, purposely goofs up saying he can't read the cue cards without his glasses. Cast member explains the premise of the infamous stoned diners sketch. Other cast members are clearly playing along and not very well, with the exception of Jack Burns who looks livid. They came back from commercial to the fight continuing backstage, so it's not like the entire production wasn't in on it.

A voiceover at the end says Andy will be back next week.

2/27/81 Fridays https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-7Tpq32VUA

Producer John Moffitt makes an announcement that the last episode was staged and explains the premise of the gag, which undercuts Andy's bit where he comes on distraught, kind of a watered down repeat of the David Letterman Show bit.

Moffitt says a select group was in on it, leaving room for speculation of who wasn't, but that speaks more to whether Jack Burns can keep in character more than Andy. At the tail end of the credits Burns consoles a crying Andy backstage.

3/13/81 The Midnight Special

4/16/81 Slycraft Hour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trJSf4vVSgE

NYC cable show. Before the video starts you can hear the host tell everyone to play it straight. Andy as himself with a new foreign accent debating with a fake Moral Majority type group opposed to his wrestling. Says he wants to ruin Fridays. Drops his accent near the end.

4/81 Slycraft Hour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOAN7UPPOaQ

2nd appearance, unsure of date.

5/8/81 An Evening at the Improv

6/8/81 The Merv Grffin Show 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjLppaqlyFU brief clip of Tony Clifton, likely Zmuda. Griffin introduces Clifton implying he's Andy.

8/26/81 The Merv Griffin Show - Tony Clifton.

9/18/81 Fridays https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pdlhHDeI5k

Mighty Mouse as Foreign Man, introduces Kathie Sullivan (gospel singer on Lawrence Welk) as his fiancée. In her own way, more daring for Kathie to be involved with the stunt, and keeps character better than Andy.

Gives speech about drug use that pushes off the Pretenders, who play their set a few minutes later. Closes with a gospel number. Pretenders play three songs, so I doubt they were really cut short.

10/12/81 Memphis Wrestling against women from audience, unknown if aired. Not mentioned in TV promos.

I watched a lot of Continental Wrestling Association TV, simply called Wrestling or Wrestling from Championship Wrestling, to look for promos or clips of Andy. The TV is complicated and I might not have it right. The show would air live on Saturdays in Memphis and the following week in syndication in other regions. The TV show was filmed in a small studio, with clips from the Memphis live shows and promos. Memphis had a live show every Monday at the Mid-South Coliseum and the same or similar cards in other areas like Louisville later in the week. The promos seemed to be edited in based on the region - a lot of the 1981 stuff available is from Louisville. I have only found one clip of Andy in 1981, but don't know the date. "I'm From Hollywood" has better versions, but I was looking for original aired material.

Unlike Attitude Era wrestling, where they'd talk about someone like Will Sasso appearing for months in a row, there's no mention of Andy in the available clips a week or two separated from his live appearances in 1981. The show seemed focused on promoting just the next show and not hyping in general.

There are appearances documented for the Merv Griffin Show 10/2/81 and 10/28/81 which I believe are wrong.

10/28/81  Good Morning America  -Bussing tables

11/23/81 CWA arena appearance against women from audience, first mention of Andy on CWA TV that I could find, unk airdate

https://youtu.be/zuxmctT8HLA?si=W3AnX2QOSPjVK4wf&t=2025

11/30/81 CWA arena appearance against women (not sure)

12/11/81 The Merv Griffin Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b1uR1oyAI8

Partial clip. Andy talks about levitating, robot from Heartbeeps

12/18/81 Heartbeeps

1982

1/30/82 Saturday Night Live 710 

Elvis and a chicken song. The performance segues into a skit with Elvis picking up two groupies and asking them to wrestle and explaining how it's a reference to the Albert Goldman book in lieu of an actual ending. It felt like a scripted piece with a non-ending, it didn't feel at all like Andy aborted the scene - the women left the stage as he started his speech, and I doubt they would have kept stripping as part of an original script.

2/2/82 Just For Laughs - with Robin Williams, part of an American Film Institute special, don't know if or when this was aired, believe this is the filming date

2/17/82 Late Night With David Letterman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GCt9CLdmew

Refers to morning show appearance, Andy says things are much better now. Says he stopped doing Elvis after he died until Johnny Cash told him it was alright. Andy did Elvis at least three times between those dates, including one just two months after the King's death. He had previously said that he revived the impersonations in his stage show after Elvis' death due to its popularity. Says that he didn't finish the last SNL sketch. Challenges Albert Goldman to a debate.

2/18/82 Late Night With David Letterman (Bob Zmuda as Clifton) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GCt9CLdmew&t=756s

3/5/82 last filming date for Taxi on ABC

3/30/82 Late Night With David Letterman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GCt9CLdmew&t=1288s

Promos Lawler match, says first match with a man (aside from Carnegie Hall). Says he was kidding at first when he talked poop to Lawler in the ring. Does the twist while names scroll of those who haven't responded to his class reunion invitation.

4/1/82 Late Night With David Letterman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GCt9CLdmew&t=1744s

Shows promo tapes for the match.

4/3/82 Championship Wrestling - Lawler refers to Andy on David Letterman, shows Andy's promo, cuts a promo in the studio. First promo I've seen on it on CWA during this time, the Lawler/Mantel feud got more attention.

4/5/82 Andy mentions being on a local Memphis talk show with Lawler, don't know more details

4/5/82 CWA match with Jerry Lawler at the Mid-South Coliseum

4/10/82 Championship Wrestling - Match shown in entirety

4/14/82  Good Morning America

4/15/82 The John Davidson Show

4/17/82 Championship Wrestling - Lawler says he's getting hate mail, mentions Good Morning America appearance

4/17/82 - Mid South Wrestling (aired footage from ABC World of Sport)

5/7/82 Hour Magazine

5/15/82 Saturday Night Live - Opens with scenes of the Lawler match. Kaufman in a neck brace with the cast of Taxi. Most of the match is aired. Andy apologizes for everything.

5/17/82 Late Night With David Letterman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GCt9CLdmew&t=1983s

Andy in a neck brace talking about his match, wants an apology. Sings a song.

6/25/82 The Merv Griffin Show https://archive.org/details/andy-kaufmans-full-discography/55.+Orson+Welles+Interview+-+The+Merv+Griffin+Show+(June+25%2C+1982).mp4

Orson Welles guest hosting. Andy still in a neck brace. Winks about Clifton being a character, Welles says "that's metaphysics"

7/28/82 Late Night With David Letterman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GCt9CLdmew&t=2547s

Notorious fight with Lawler. Lawler is booed by the audience throughout. Memphis face is a NYC heel.

9/17/82 The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV4_wLfbN-A

Tony Clifton, first time on network prime time since 1979 (if it was Andy), last for next year. George Hamilton introduces, Tony does a medley, comes back later and talks nice with Miss Piggy, later has a duet.

Cowritten by Henry Beard between founding National Lampoon and making Leslie Nielsen golf videos, and directed by Jim Henson himself. Clifton was a choice and I think his biggest TV exposure, and last Clifton appearance. Last prime time appearance for over a year.

9/30/82 Catch a Rising Star's 10th Anniversary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzhAZ_gbyvU

Opens as Foreign Man. First appearance as Andy without a neck brace I've seen since his match. Heckled by Zmuda who proceeds to critique his whole career. One of the better pieces, even with Zmuda. HBO

10/30/82 Saturday Night Live 805 - Announced in the opening credits. News segment mentions Andy supporting Jerry Brown's election campaign. Michael Keaton apologizes for cutting Andy Kaufman, who doesn't actually appear.

11/13/82 Saturday Night Live 806

Cut from reruns, Ebersol explains briefly that Andy was cut from the last two shows because his material wasn't up to the show's standards and he isn't funny anymore. Sets things up for the poll, but the poll itself isn't mentioned here. Andy wasn't mentioned in the intro to the 10/23/82 episode.

https://twitter.com/ThatWeekInSNL/status/1377698861918076928

Robert Blake had a reputation of being difficult to work with and had ranting train wreck talk show interviews about how much he hated show business, in many ways a parallel to Kaufman's appearances around this time. Blake even gets actually banned in the same SNL episode as the poll is announced to ban Kaufman. The show opens with a meta bit about Blake's reputation. I don't think Kaufman was doing a take off or he would have been way more over the top.

11/17/82  Late Night With David Letterman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GCt9CLdmew&t=3666s

Sword swallowing. At the desk said that columnists are trying to get him banned and he thinks the audience should decide. Saturday Night Live isn't referenced. Some hissing from the audience. Apologizes for Heartbeeps.

11/20/82 Saturday Night Live 807 - Drew Barrymore makes a joke about Andy being cut during the intro. Competing 900 numbers to vote to keep or dump Andy. Andy does not appear.

1983

1/7/83 Late Night With David Letterman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GCt9CLdmew&t=4600s

Promos Breakfast With Blassie. Talks about an openness seminar and gives out hugs. Has his parents on and calls Grandma.

1/15/83 Championship Wrestling - Kaufman interferes in a Lawler match. Jimmy Hart cuts a promo, says he called in Kaufman. Post match interview, Kaufman offers $5000 to any wrestler than puts Lawler in the hospital.

1/22/83 Saturday Night Live 810 - Andy rents time to show an ad thanking those who voted for him. Lily Tomlin does her blackface soul singer character Pervis Hawkins and notably doesn't come back to deny it was her or otherwise wink at the camera.

1/30/83 Super Bowl XVII Pre-Game Show as Latka

2/23/83 Late Night With David Letterman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GCt9CLdmew&t=5800s

Promotes his one-night play Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap and Breakfast with Blassie with a clip. Announces that they're remaking Sons of the Desert. Blassie announces he's Andy's new manager and bullies him into singing.

4/23/83 Championship Wrestling - Lawler does a promo on repeat of his Letterman appearance

4/30/83 Championship Wrestling - Recap of Lawler/Kaufman History. Looks like they used tapes from late night shows for Andy's promos, you could hear laughing. Shows the slap on Letterman. Kaufman interferes in a Lawler/Bockwinkle match. Andy has a pre-taped promo.

5/7/83 Championship Wrestling - Andy and the Colossus of Death against Lawler. Andy does a promo with a convincing busted jaw. Kaufman is called from the studio.

5/14/83 Championship Wrestling - Ken Patera wants to collect Andy's bounty. Andy does a prerecorded promo.

5/21/83 Championship Wrestling - Ken Patera defeats Lawler, expresses sympathy for Andy in a promo. Andy doesn't appear

5/26/83 Up Close with Tom Cottle - straight interview, talks about childhood, grandfather's death. Doesn't get into character as a heel, but explains that wrestling is real and he's done with it, wouldn't be surprised if the rest of the interview is a work as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r0EZmAwiS8

6/11/83 Championship Wrestling - Hart says Andy sent him Man Mountain Link to collect the bounty. Andy doesn't appear

6/18/23 Championship Wrestling - Man Mountain Link defeats Lawler clean. Jimmy Hart calls Andy. We now have two defeats of Lawler, but nobody's sent him to the hospital so the bounty is still out. Andy says he's buying Graceland and turning it into the Andy Kaufman Television Museum.

7/9/83 Championship Wrestling - First time in the studio, raises bounty to 10k. In a neck brace, Andy had done the circuit the previous week. Hart and Andy accuse each other of letting the other down. Andy challenges Hart, they fight at the announce desk, crowd cheers Hart. Clips from the Hart/Kaufman on Lawler match.

7/15/83 The Andy Kaufman Show

https://archive.org/details/andy-kaufmans-full-discography/62.+The+Andy+Kaufman+Show+(2nd+TV+Special)+-+WTTW+Chicago+(PBS)+(July+15%2C+1983).mp4

Hosted by Tony Clifton puppet. Said his wrestling was due to eating meat making him aggressive.

7/16/83 Championship Wrestling - Highlights of Kaufman/Hart match. In the studio, Kaufman offers his $10k bounty to Lawler if he'll be his partner against Jimmy Hart

7/23/83 Championship Wrestling - Kaufman in the studio, Kaufman double crossed Lawler, pays the $10k to the Assassins. Match highlights. Lawler sets Kaufman's face on fire with flash paper.

7/30/83 Championship Wrestling - Video promo of Kaufman showing his burned face and stack of scripts he's been offered.

8/6/83 Championship Wrestling - Kaufman on video, gives hygiene lessons

8/13/83 Championship Wrestling - More hygiene lessons

8/20/83 Championship Wrestling - More helpful hints, says he doesn't want fan letters

9/22/83 Late Night With David Letterman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GCt9CLdmew&t=6820s

Says he isn't wrestling, not doing anything professionally, homeless and hitchhiking across the country. Letterman kept trying to prompt him to get to his schtick, that he adopted three adult men, which is meant to be funny because they're Black. Does Elvis.

11/83 My Breakfast with Blassie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWCJM8wvcg8 Think this is the date it started playing in small theaters.

11/5/83 Championship Wrestling - Lawler announces Andy is suing him. Pretape of Andy, on the phone in the studio. Says Taxi was cancelled because he was burnt. His friend Muhammad Ali taught Andy to box. Claims he was the San Diego Chicken interfering in Lawler's matches.

Late 1983 Jerry Lawler Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA2_Y4yzZXQ

11/17/83 Late Night With David Letterman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GCt9CLdmew&t=7597s

Tells bad joke. Promotes My Breakfast with Blassie and the Rodney Dangerfield Special. Shows a clip from the Big Chill. Brings back the "kids", says he's giving them vocational training, which is meant to be funny because they're Black.

11/19/83 CWA Wrestling - Andy in the studio, commentates

11/21/83 Andy's final match, following week's show is unavailable

11/29/83 The Rodney Dangerfield Special: I Can't Take It No More https://archive.org/details/andy-kaufmans-full-discography/63.+Doctor+Sketch+-+The+Rodney+Dangerfield+Special+-+I+Can%E2%80%99t+Take+It+No+More+(November+7%2C+1983).mp4

 ABC  Last network appearance, in skits Losers Anonymous, sings along with Rappin' Rodney, does Dr, Vinnie Boombatz

1984

2/12/84 Superstars of Comedy Salute the Improv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9U7CttW8i8

Rock Island from Music Man on Congas, does his laundry

11/26/84 The Top (last TV appearance) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmnZcPCYuuo

KTLA. Directed by David Jove who was implicated in the murder of Peter Ivers, host of New Wave Theater and composer of the In Heaven song from Eraserhead. Chevy Chase got into a fight with an audience member and walked off - Andy came in later as host and was edited in.

Introduces Cyndi Lauper. Explains the I Love LA video in detail. Talks to Rodney Dangerfield about his Rappin' Rodney video.

After Andy's Death

10/7/86 Elayne Boosler: Party of One 

1989 I'm from Hollywood https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB0hLuDdbD0

Good place to see his wrestling excerpts in one place, mostly in order, with a lot that I couldn't find in original programming. Shots from Fridays 2nd appearance a full year before the Lawler fight. Swaps the Jimmy Hart feud and the hygiene lessons in the timeline.

Jerry Lawler and Lance Russell stay perfectly in character, Robin Williams is clearly playing along.


Thursday, June 12, 2025

Daddy's Little Girl by Daniel Ransom

Daddy's Little Girl
by Daniel Ransom (Ed Gorman)
1985, Zebra


A man travelling through a small town has his teenage daughter disappear. He fiddles around town with the local widowed journalist and they, despite the lack of any evidence, assume a conspiracy. We look in on the various townfolk and occasionally pop in on the captured teen to remind us this is supposed to be horror.

Spins it's wheels pretty much the whole length before exposing the baddies which we already know about. I saw a review that described this as a watered down Richard Laymon tribute, and that kind of tracks.

Tame and aimless. One of Gorman's first books, and presumably improved later in his career.

From Amazon

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Phoenix 2: Ground Zero by David Alexander

Phoenix 2
Ground Zero
by David Alexander
1987, Leisure

With this second installment of Phoenix, David Alexander adds a vital component to post-apocalyptical men's adventure: hard core pornography.

Magnus Trench makes his way through Las Vegas, where he's forced by the town boss The Sheik to fight in the Murder Marathon and ends up with a hippie mutant sex cult in the desert.

Fights, car battles, exploding heads, gun porn, porn porn, a gladiatrix with a strap-on pistol. One of the most excessive novels of the 80s.

The whole series from Amazon

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

The Bartender 1: Highballs and High Kicks by R.J. Calder

The Bartender 1
Highballs and Highkicks
by R.J. Calder
2023, Point of Impact Publishing

Tough gal Brodie goes undercover as a bartender at a cover for an underground fight club to avenge a dead friend. Quick and brutal action, more good stuff from Point of Impact.

From Amazon

Monday, June 9, 2025

Black Brute 3: Slave's Revenge by Robert Tralins

Black Brute 3
Slave's Revenge
by Robert Tralins
1974, New English Library


Escaped slave Brutus is on the run, comes across bandits and bounty hunters, and meets up with an escaped slave community hiding in the swamp. He tries to build them into an army with a plan of marching to the coast, seizing a ship, and returning to Africa, but his plans are thwarted and he's captured.

His former slaver ties him down and tries to have a sexing contest, which Brutus of course wins. Not much subtlety with the inferiority complexes in this genre.

Included in Black Roots

Sunday, June 8, 2025

Saturday, June 7, 2025

Monsters and Things by Robert Silverberg

Monsters and Things
by Robert Silverberg
2023, PS Publishing

Before turning to respectable science fiction, Robert Silberberg cut his teeth writing monsters and aliens for magazines like Monster Parade and Super-Science Fiction. Many had the feel of sub-EC horror comics of the 50s. Some highlights:

An undertaker who brings his products to the next town where he's a butcher.

A spaceship lands on a planet where a ship had crashed a decades ago. A leaky reactor produced a generation of cannibalistic mutants.

After repelling endless waves of unstoppable giant monsters who just wanted to lay their eggs, the human survivors break open the giant eggs and stop on the embryos.

Solipsistic horror as a returning vet finds that most people aren't real.

Fun stuff, probably more my style than his classier stuff.

From Amazon

Friday, June 6, 2025

Hardman 2: The Charleston Knife is Back in Town by Ralph Dennis

Hardman 2
The Charleston Knife is Back in Town
by Ralph Dennis
1974, Popular Library



Hardman and Hump (who should have gotten equal billing) are hired by the family of a kid who participated in a robbery at a mobbed up party, trying to find him before the mob assassin The Charleston Knife does. The characters and sleazy setting of 1970s Atlanta carry a lot of the weight, and for me it seems as time goes on it won't cover for the plotting as effectively.

Available from Amazon

Thursday, June 5, 2025

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Apache 1: The First Death by William M. James

Apache 1
The First Death
by William M. James (Terry Harknett)
1974, Pinnacle


Apache warrior Cuchillo is discovered with a stolen knife, which he had traded for some horses. He refuses to defend himself, preferring to get his own revenge, and has two fingers removed by the corrupt military. Cuchillo gets vengeance on the man who traded the knife, and the military captures his wife and newborn child to force his surrender.

His wife is forced to serve a hundred drunken men in the saloon after a wake and things get predictably uglier from there in a sequence that felt like a third of the book. Cuchillo leads an attack on the military, though he is hesitant to kill and is mocked by his more bloodthirsty tribesmen.

The ending felt rushed, and we don't get the Cuchillo of later installments. I've felt the first issues of Men's Adventure series are often the weakest, focused on the origin story.

Available from Amazon

Monday, June 2, 2025

True West April 1955

True West
April, 1955


Children of the Raven by Norman B. Wiltsey

Part of a series about Crow leader Plenty Coups. During a ceremony he cuts off a finger so that his tribe can find him by the smell of blood, the first of multiple defingerings in this magazine.

Bob Ford, The Man Who Killed Jesse James by Stephen Balcomb

Ford's post-James gang life as a dirtbag saloon owner. He spend some time in Creede Colorado, a mining boomtown that could be a substitute for Deadwood. Creede also turns up multiple times.

I Still Dig for Buried Treasure by Josh Drake, Jr.

Man with a vague sense of where buried loot might be in Oklahoma spends most of his time digging false holes to throw other treasure hunters off the trail.

The Lost Fingers of Mack Hughes by Fred Gipson

Quickie about a cowhand getting his fingers yanked off from a rope tied to a horse, then eaten by various pets.

Devil's Grin by John T. Lynch

The story of Soapy Smith, petty conman turned criminal kingpin who ran the town of Creed before making his way to Alaska, where he was shot while trying to storm a town meeting.

Tombstone, Arizona by Kent Christy

Good overview of the town, from this history of mining operations to the OK Corral.

Outlaws Never Die by J. Charles Davis

A review of various claims of wild west figures faking their deaths and living well into the 20th century.

"Heap Good Medicine" by Bill Huntington

A bit about a native tribe thinking a reused mustard plaster could cure all ailments.

Gentleman Jackass by A.M. Hartung

A tribute to the noble burro.

Wash Barker and the Rock Pens by J. Frank Dobie

More never recovered buried loot.

Buffalo Roundup at Sea by Douglas Nelson Rhodes

In 1934, gum tycoon William Wrigley, Jr. brought a breeding population of buffalo to Santa Catalina Island, which proceed to wreak havoc. 

They Stole the Parson's Pants! by Stan Zamo

Back to Creede, CO, a travelling priest rounds up donations, having his pants stolen so donators could count his earnings and double it.

Creede, CO, current claim to fame is having the world's largest fork at 40 feet. It was built to beat the fork at Springfield, Missouri, which now specifies they have the World's Largest Fork By Mass.

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Crow 4: The Black Trail by James W. Marvin

Crow 4
The Black Trail
by James W. Marvin (Laurence James)

Crow becomes the guide and bodyguard of Zulu Prince Mavulamanzi, who is touring America with his entourage of slaves, which includes a White woman who Crow, of course, has sex with. They run afoul of the local Apaches, and the two make a move to rescue their captive servants.

A step down in the action and sleaze, replaced with casual racism. I didn't get the sense that Crow hates Black people any more than he hates everyone else, but that doesn't stop him from using slurs just to be a dick.

From Amazon

Saturday, May 31, 2025

Saturday, April 12, 2025

Available Now - Die Naked, Bitch

New novel from yours truly!


Hot Pants ... Cold Corpses

Tampa in the last quarter of the 20th century, where the young and beautiful trade soft flesh for hard cash.

Detective Samantha "Legs" Rosenberg fights an uphill battle against the pimps, women haters, and traffickers who stalk the streets for fresh prey.

To stop a killer filling the city morgue with the women she swore to protect, Sam goes undercover in the seedy underworld of Tampa's nightlife and comes face to face with evil itself, taking it on alone with only her courage, her cleavage, and her Colt Python.

The gritty sleaze of 42nd Street grindhouse!
The hard hitting martial arts and two-gun mayhem of Hong Kong Girls-With-Guns cinema!
The non-stop action of direct-to-video VHS!
Hotter than late night cable!

Die Naked, Bitch!


Her legs will send you to heaven before sending you to hell!


Friday, March 28, 2025

The Spider 113: Secret City of Crime by Grant Stockbridge

The Spider 113
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?

Ebook available from Radio Archives 

Thursday, March 27, 2025

Bedeviled by Wenzell Brown

Bedeviled
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.

Included in Wildside's True Crime Megapack, from Amazon

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Nick Carter: Killmaster 188 Death Island by Nick Carter

Nick Carter: Killmaster 188
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.

From Amazon

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

True Confessions August, 1974

True Confessions
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

Bunco Brawl: Hand Four

 


Crow shoots Renegade and Lassiter under the table and scoops up the pot.

Sunday, March 23, 2025

Lassiter 6: High Lonesome by Jack Slade

Lassiter 6
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.

From Amazon

Saturday, March 22, 2025

Renegade 5: Macumba Killer by Ramsey Thorne

Renegade/Captain Gringo 5
Macumba Killer
by Ramsay Thorne (Lou Cameron)

Captain Gringo is hired to deal with zombie revolts on a British sugar plantation. The previous installments have a great sense of movement, with Gringo constantly on the run, but this one felt quite stationary. There's a few mild Scooby Doo reveals and not much else.

The last installment had Gringo having sex with an underage girl, and this one has him raping a woman who pissed him off. The scene was out of character and felt like it was shoehorned in. I almost get the feel Cameron is being revolting on purpose.

From Amazon

Friday, March 21, 2025

Crow 3: Tears of Blood by James W. Marvin

Crow 3
Tears of Blood
by James W. Marvin

Full blown psychopath Crow is looking to make some money and is town when a prominent citizen and his poorly reputed young wife are kidnapped. Crow agrees to a bounty to rescue them with a bonus for each kidnapper he kills. Crow tracks them down, killing a few folks along the way, is captured, sleaziness ensues, he escapes, then resolves in mass violence.

Continues the pattern of well staged tactics performed by a remorseless monster with no redeeming qualities, so of course the series is a favorite of mine.

There's a weird framing device of someone telling this story years later and a few references to the Apache series shoehorned in at the beginning, neither of which have anything to do with the story.

From Amazon

Thursday, March 20, 2025

Bunco Brawl: Hand Four

 

Three new players ante up. Sociopathic Crow joins the buttstuff bandit Renegade and new-comer Lassiter.

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

The Executioner 10: Caribbean Kill by Don Pendleton

The Executioner 10
Caribbean Kill
by Don Pendleton

Mack Bolan flies straight from Las Vegas to Puerto Rico, smashes his plane into a mafia compound and hits the ground running. After some jungle combat he rescues a sex worker who ends up being a federal agent, rescues a hostage, and raids a mansion to take out the local head. Along the way he recruits a mafia pilot 'Nam veteran.

Bolan learns of a Federal Government effort to have him snuffed out. The perceived enemy also expands, to include governments and corporation who profit from organized crime.

Available at Amazon 

Friday, March 14, 2025

WWX Tag Title: Rocket Stories v01n01

Rocket Stories v01n01
April 1953
v01n01


The Quest of Quaa by H.A. De Rosso

A man stranded on Venus after getting space sickness as a teen is recruited in a mission to discover who's been putting mind destroying Quaa in the Venusian cure-all Panaceum. With a different McGuffin this could have been a western with detective elements, riding animals in a hunt and facing savage aborigines. Without much reading to back it up, I've had a low opinion of 50s scifi fiction as being formulaic and juvenile, and stories like this haven't changed my mind.

Welcome Voyagers by Hubert J. Bernhard

Future year 1970, Americans attack a Martian envoy with missiles, but they cure a general's cancer and we all become friends.

This World is Condemned by Ward Botsford

A low-tech planet joins an interplanetary confederation by exporting stamps to philatelists. That world was not condemned.

From achive.org

Thursday, March 13, 2025

WWX Tag Title: Spicy Western Stories v02n03

Spicy Western Stories v02n03
July, 1937
v02n03


Sheep Hater by Clint Morgan

Dirtbag cowboy is in love with a woman who won't marry him because she's ashamed of her father. He bangs her, bangs her sister, gets caught, and is forced into marrying sis, who turns out to be a shrew. He becomes a drunkard, is framed for murder, cleared, the marriage is invalidated, and his first love evidently didn't have other options.

Rodeo Rats by Rex Norman

Contemporary crime story. A rodeo star bangs the suspect in his boss' murder, a bubble dancer used by the New York syndicates as bait in a gambling scam.

Hell in Hidden Valley by King Saxon

A wandering cowpoke stumbles across a rancher under attack.

Available from archive.org

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Monday, February 17, 2025

Slocum 1: Hanging Justice by Jake Logan

Slocum 1
Hanging Justice
by Jake Logan
1977, Playboy Press


Slocum is forced into jury duty for a trial of a notorious criminal gang. There's a subplot or maybe a flashback of Slocum being captured and turned in by a crooked bounty hunter. None of these really go anywhere, and the plot is confusing despite not much going on.

Slocum himself is hard on his luck schlub, which would have worked better with a less grim tone. I don't think there were any on-screen sex scenes, and there was little action. By the end it was just rambling.

Some literary flourishes in parts, but they just seemed to underline that the author would rather be writing a different book.

From Amazon

Sunday, February 16, 2025

Six-Gun in Cheek: An Affectionate Guide to the "Worst" in Western Fiction by Bill Pronzini

Six-Gun in Cheek: An Affectionate Guide to the "Worst" in Western Fiction
by Bill Pronzini
1997, Crossover Press

There's a serviceable history of popular western fiction in the framing, but I've been so broken by pulp fiction that all of this sounds normal to me. There's a little bit of silliness with overdone slang, but there was nothing here to snicker at or appreciate the audacity, it's just western fiction.

From Amazon

Saturday, February 15, 2025

Bunco Brawl: Hand Three

 


Last hand's winner Breed antes up against Slocum and Six Gun in Cheek

Thursday, February 13, 2025

Garth Marenghi's Incarcerat

Garth Marenghi's Incarcerat
by Garth Marenghi 
2023, Coronet

Three more stories escaped from the mind of Nick Steen, the fictional author written by another fictional author, etc.

The first involves Steen being captured by a secretive corporation for psychic research. The second is a gothic/folk/evil doll combination, and the third is a Freddy parody with a dash of Candyman - the Randyman, a wrongfully accused toilet attendant getting vengeance from beyond the grave.

This one didn't do it for me. Trimmed down the underlying stories may have been better, and I know that it's half the schtick to have purposefully repetitive and overwrought exposition, but it wears a titch thin after 400 plus pages.

From Amazon

Monday, January 27, 2025

Pavement Princesses by Kathy Woods

Pavement Princesses
by Kathy Woods 
1977, Fawcett Gold Medal


A thin veneer of investigative journalism over Penthouse Forum style smut vignettes of the pavement princesses, also known as lot lizards, sex workers who frequent truck stops. A few accounts make some attempt at realism, but a lot of the narrative depends on the notion that truckers are incredibly desirable and women get on the game for the amazing sex. Too sleazy for a sociological text, a bit restrained for 70s smut, though some interest as a time capsule.



Available to borrow on archive.org 

Available for purchase on Amazon

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Frenzi 3: Six Bullets Left by R.J. Calder

Frenzi 3
Six Bullets Left
by R.J. Calder
2022, Point of Impact Publishing

Former mafia hitman John Frenzi is on the run since his last encounter in Florida. He makes it as far as Belle Rivière, Louisiana before his car breaks down and he runs into mafia goons in town to smuggle in some dope. Wounded, under-armed, and outnumbered, he uses his wits to hide in the small town before dealing with the mob and corrupt sheriff.

Starts off small scale until things ramp up once mafia backup and the Black Panthers get involved, giving us the best action yet in the series.

From Amazon https://amzn.to/40vDYcX