Soft Flesh and Orgies of Death

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 FLESH AND ORGIES OF DEATH is a new anthology which collects some prime examples of text and artwork from a range of men's adventure magazines published between 1955 and 1963. The Feature section includes a selection of semi-factual confessions and case histories on sensationalistic subjects ranging from psychotropic drugs, carnival freaks and nude gladiators to prostitution, devil worship and cannibal death cults; the Fiction section includes numerous examples of garishly illustrated short pulp fiction, with categories including war, white slavery, Nazi horror, jungle curses, pirates, Red menace, mobsters, torture, sadism, and erotic carnage. Cover art is also included, in full color and in detail. The book includes more than 30 features and stories, more than 100 illustrations, and 32 pages of full colour, with work by such classic pulp artists as Norm Eastman, Norman Saunders and John Duillo. Features and stories include: HANDMAIDENS OF HORROR FOR THE DEVILS BLOOD ORGIES; THE UNHOLY NAKED GERMAN WITCH CULTS; JUKEBOX GOONS EXPLODED MY GUTS!; DEATH ORGY OF THE LEOPARD WOMEN; SOFT FLESH FOR SATANS BUBBLING CAULDRON; HITLERS DEATH GAME; NYMPHO TIGER QUEEN OF LAOS; CHAINED NUDES FOR THE DEVILS SEAT IN HELL: LUST REVENGE OF THE DEPRAVED NAZI CAT MASTER; SHACKLED NUDES FOR THE BUTCHERS FLAYING KNIFE; SOFT BRIDE FOR THE SLITHERING MONSTER FROM HELL; and NUDE LUST SLAVES OF HITLERS RUSSIAN MONSTER. Pulp Mayhem is a new illustrated book series of vintage pulp fiction, art and pop culture.