Blood 'n' Thunder: 2014-15 Special Edition

BLOOD 'N' THUNDER returns from a long hiatus with a special edition combining three normal-sized issues. Nearly 300 pages long, it contains more than 120,000 words and well over a hundred illustrations. The big "article" is H. Bedford-Jones' 1929 treatise on pulp writing, THIS FICTION BUSINESS. Covering everything from plot ideas to the selling of foreign publication rights, this 27,000-word document is one of the most historically valuable pieces ever written about the pulps. Pulp historian Kurt Shoemaker offers an incredibly detailed chapter-by-chapter analysis of Edgar Rice Burroughs' TARZAN THE UNTAMED. It's a fascinating stream-of-consciousness article that's practically the same as reading the book over Kurt's shoulder. Former Fawcett pulp editor (and occasional story writer) Jack Smalley reminisces about the halcyon days of rough-paper magazines in a 1966 memoir, "Confessions of a Pulpateer." Long-time pulp fan Link Hullar also looks backward, this time from the vantage point of a baby boomer discovering Doc Savage in the Bantam paperback reprints of the 1960s. Tom Krabacher returns to BnT's pages with a profusely illustrated "pulp places" article about actual Southern California locations mentioned in the hard-boiled detective fiction of Raymond Chandler, who gave us the immortal phrase: "Down these mean streets . . ." Part Two of look at actual court documents from a 1936 lawsuit between Standard Magazines and Popular Publications includes a deposition from publisher Ned Pines, followed by the text of the judge's decision. BnT editor Ed Hulse introduces "80 Years of Terror," a pictorial survey of the great weird-menace pulp TERROR TALES. Ed also supplies "Her Majesty's India," which explores such classic Hollywood movies as LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER, CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, and KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES. Veteran pulp and comic-book dealer Dave Smith discusses his passion for collecting pulps and presents a look at the hobby from a dealer's perspective. Having uncovered long-buried original scripts, Old-Time Radio scholar Martin Grams describes a number of "lost" episodes from THE LONE RANGER's first year on radio. A neat bit of scholarship. In this massive issue you'll also find the usual array of departments and a reprinted pulp novelette, along with another portfolio of pulp cover art, scanned from the original paintings.