Jan 30
Frank Comments: Not only is the novel lit by the flames of Hell, but it seems Hell’s costume supplier is a taxidermist.
Published 1970
Frank Comments: Not only is the novel lit by the flames of Hell, but it seems Hell’s costume supplier is a taxidermist.
Published 1970
January 30th, 2013 at 8:56 am
That antlered animal’s eyes are wide because it can’t believe how awful this cover is.
January 30th, 2013 at 10:19 am
So this novel is about another novel about a demoniac battle? Then why are there antlered and winged Chippendales on the cover? Any excuse for showing the Butt-crack of Doom, eh?
January 30th, 2013 at 12:59 pm
Not sure what animal head the guy in the foreground is supposed to have. Unless ‘dreadlocked iguana-bear’ is an animal.
January 30th, 2013 at 2:35 pm
“Woah there, Trigger, it’s the cosplay tribe we’ve been searching for at last!”
January 30th, 2013 at 3:29 pm
Roy Rogers never carried a keg of beer on the back of Trigger.
January 30th, 2013 at 3:40 pm
Either they were tired out after cutting around those antlers or it was getting close to beer o’clock on a Friday afternoon when they cut out the horse. The trimming job is noticeably sloppier.
January 30th, 2013 at 4:11 pm
“A novel lit”. That’s technically classed between a novella and a novelette.
January 30th, 2013 at 4:22 pm
Amazing! The novel is lit by the flames of hell! No need for a flashlight to read by when you settle down deep in your closet to read this masterpiece. The only place you can escape ridicule (and other closet related innuendoes brought on by the cover).
January 30th, 2013 at 4:28 pm
I love that we have a specific tag of “Bird Hairdo”. I also love that the lone horse(wo)man of the apocalypse has to duck down to stay within the rising-sun circle.
There’s nothing else to love here, though. This cover is surely the epitome of WTF.
January 30th, 2013 at 5:51 pm
You know that the editor is desperate when he reaches for “Hell” as an argument FOR purchasing a book.
I’d love to see this in other advertising:
“Coca-Cola adds the flames of Hell to your taste buds! Have a Coke — the pause that BURNS YOU FOR ETERNITY!”
“Use Tide, the only detergent that can save your laundry from the flames of everlasting punishment! Repent, sinners — use Tide or face the judgment of HELL!”
“The new iPhone connects you to the HELL of being available to everybody, all the time!”
(Hey, wait, that’s truth in advertising…)
“
February 2nd, 2013 at 2:38 am
Snakeman (lizardman?) must have an amazing tattoo on his backside, because it looks like everyone, even the horse and rider in the distance, are checking it out.
February 4th, 2013 at 10:50 am
This cover is SO art school hipster.
August 25th, 2015 at 3:14 am
Bird Woman is clearly not having fun being in such an awkward position avoiding the horizon.
February 25th, 2022 at 9:09 pm
That’s one high steppin’ horse! (Do I see a bit of smug on him?)
February 25th, 2022 at 9:32 pm
“…A NOVEL LIT BY THE FLAMES OF HELL”
As long as the cover burns with it.
February 25th, 2022 at 10:11 pm
Mr Golding wrote a pre ‘Mommy Dearest’ article on Christina Crawford for Redbook magazine Oct 1960. Knowing what we know now, you can read a lot between the lines.
http://www.theconcludingchapterofcrawford.com/article_1960_redbook_october
February 25th, 2022 at 10:52 pm
@B. Chiclitz: looking at the larger version of the picture, it seems there is something terribly wrong with that horse’s muzzle.
The (hero?) on the horse is giving the beast-headed Chippendales dancers the side eye, they can’t quite fathom hell being so lame either.
February 26th, 2022 at 12:42 am
If it’s lit by the flames of hell, why is there a nice blue sky with wispy white clouds?
Or is the hell-lighting only on the Chippendale Chimeras?
@fred: Excellent find! And mighty plain-spoken for the genteel ladies’ magazines of the time. Morton must have been completely unsurprised when “Mommie Dearest” came out.