Dec 11
Scott B Comments: Sure the cross-eyed owl and cherry-shaking duo being eaten by a giant flower seems bizarre, but the back cover explains that it’s a Bosch painting (so intellectual!) and it’s a better portrayal of the author’s work than any modern artist could make (so they don’t have to pay anybody for a cover!). The back cover also DARES YOU (in type so large they can’t fit a four-letter word on there) to, I don’t know, have acid flashbacks or something. Not that you should do that! But read this book, because the author did that. Or something.
Published 1958
December 11th, 2012 at 9:20 am
but…. it’s called Honeymoon in Hell ? it sounds about as terrifyingly out there as a episode of Fawlty Towers
December 11th, 2012 at 9:56 am
I only have one thing to say: DYD OOA URE!
But I do like the way they managed to fit the rooster logo between those two feet.
December 11th, 2012 at 10:07 am
My honeymoon involved naked prancing, big red balls, giant tulips and an owl and I thought it was quite nice. You just can’t please some people
December 11th, 2012 at 10:25 am
“meh… could be worse darling… they could of taken us to HULL!”
Ah ha ha ha ha ha. I’m coming to a free comedy festival near you!
December 11th, 2012 at 10:30 am
And just what is the significance of “O, OO” in Honeymoon?
December 11th, 2012 at 10:47 am
I worry for Brown’s first name. My sense is he starts out as ‘Frederick’; then the cover truncates it to ‘Fredric’; then ‘Fred’. His first name is like one of those on-the-run Loopers from the film Looper, getting bits chopped off minute to minute.
December 11th, 2012 at 12:21 pm
Yeah, what is it with the parents of SF writers, not being content with the conventional spelling of Frederick?
I assume the “O, OO” is to imply some resonance with the otherwise irrelevant owl (which, incidentally, would make a nice occasional replacement for the modesty sheep or the embarrassed C.S. Lewis. Everytime we saw it, we would think “O, OO, there must be something hidden under there.” (Imagine Frankie Howerd saying it, and you’ll get the idea.)
December 11th, 2012 at 12:55 pm
That’s not an owl, it’s conjoined penguins.And the odd spellings of what might be ‘Frederic’ are usually the result of having German-speaking dads, which used to be an entrance requirement in the 30s pulps.
December 11th, 2012 at 1:07 pm
That pic doesn’t look like it’s from one of Bosch’ ‘Hell’ pieces. Looks more like a ‘Garden of delights’ character. Unless the main character’s neighbour is the Birdman or the folks with instruments coming out of their nether regions….
December 11th, 2012 at 4:01 pm
When Twister goes bad…
December 11th, 2012 at 5:57 pm
If he isn’t careful, he’s gonna pop her cherry…
December 11th, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Seeing the location of the lower cherry just makes me wonder if it was placed there, or if it was actually produced by one of the half-people.
December 11th, 2012 at 6:56 pm
It also looks like the owl is holding out his arms and saying “nothing up my sleeves….”
December 11th, 2012 at 8:14 pm
L.B., look closely at the spine of the book.
December 14th, 2012 at 4:02 am
The owl’s all, “Don’t ask me, I just live here.”
December 15th, 2012 at 5:29 am
This pre-dates the pot smoking acid dropping hippie weirdos spray painting “Frodo Lives!” in the New York City subways. Apparently they are not to blame for all the horrific covets inflicted on the fantasy/sci-fi genre. Well, thats another bet. I’ve lost.
December 15th, 2012 at 5:31 am
Damn the typos. I really need to get a new keyboard.
December 17th, 2012 at 8:16 am
I love Fredric Brown, but surely the blurb promises a bit too much?
August 25th, 2015 at 1:02 am
A trippy Bosch painting showing a sorcerously-created abomination consisting of the parts of two unfortunate people and one unfortunate owl. “Mr. Brown, this is absolutely the PERFECT cover for your science fiction anthology!”
August 25th, 2015 at 1:15 am
Under the Cherry Honeymoon?
… I’ll get my coat.