Horror Stories (magazine)
Encyclopedia
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
that published tales of the supernatural, horror, and macabre. The first issue was published in January 1935, three years after the weird menace
Weird menace
Weird menace is the name given to a sub-genre of horror fiction that was popular in the pulp magazines of the 1930s and early 1940s. The weird menace pulps, also known as "shudder pulps", generally featured stories in which the hero was pitted against sadistic villains, with graphic scenes of...
genre had begun with Dime Mystery Magazine. Horror Stories was a sister magazine to Terror Tales
Terror Tales
Terror Tales was a long-running American pulp magazine of the horror comics and weird menace genres. It was originally published by Popular Publications. The first issue was published in September 1934...
, whose first issue came out a year earlier. The title went on to become one of the major pulp magazines of the 1930s. Magazines of this sort set a benchmark in macabre storytelling that inspired many of the U.S. horror comics
Horror comics
Horror comics are comic books, graphic novels, black-and-white comics magazines, and manga focusing on horror fiction. Horror comic books reached a peak in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, when concern over content and the imposition of the self-censorship Comics Code Authority contributed to...
from their appearance in 1947.
The title was published by Popular Publications
Popular Publications
Popular Publications was one of the largest publishers of pulp magazines during its existence, at one point publishing 42 different titles per month. Company titles included detective, adventure, romance, and Western fiction. They were also known for the several 'weird menace' titles...
, founded by Harry Steeger
Harry Steeger
Henry "Harry" Steeger co-founded Popular Publications in 1930, one of the major publishers of pulp magazines, with Harold S. Goldsmith. Steeger handled editorial matters while Goldsmith took care of the business side. Both were veterans of the pulp magazine business. Steeger had edited war pulps at...
and Harold Goldsmith
Harold Goldsmith
Harold David Goldsmith, known as Hal was an American foil and epee fencer.-College:...
. The magazine was issued with luridly illustrated covers featuring the theme of the damsel in distress
Damsel in distress
The subject of the damsel in distress, or persecuted maiden, is a classic theme in world literature, art, and film. She is usually a beautiful young woman placed in a dire predicament by a villain or monster and who requires a hero to achieve her rescue. She has become a stock character of fiction,...
, mostly executed by artist John Newton Howitt (1885-1958). Only one original cover painting has survived.
Due to the nature of its content and its relatively short run of 47 issues, Horror Stories is now one of the most sought-after collectible pulp titles. In 2005, Black Mask published a facsimile of issue 1.
Further reading
- Jones, Robert (1978). The Shudder Pulps: A History of the Weird Menace Magazines of the 1930s.
See also
- Science fiction magazineScience fiction magazineA science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard copy periodical format or on the Internet....
- Fantasy fiction magazine
- Horror fiction magazineHorror fiction magazineA horror fiction magazine is a magazine that publishes primarily horror fiction with the main purpose of scaring or frightening the reader. Horror magazines can be in print, on the internet, or both.-Defunct magazines:*The Arkham Collector...