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May 04

The flying saucer art group proudly presents, disembodied Romeo and Juliet.Click for full image

Don’s Art Direction: Decapitated heads on strings gazing soulfully at each other while their occipital regions morph into Wookiees. Oh, and guess you’d better put some flying saucers in there, since they’re in the title of this 1930s pulp novella that we’re trying to pass off as a modern 1970s novel.

Freaky. Thanks to Don!

Actually, that cover IS a classical work of art!I would touch it without protective gloves.I've seen worse. Far, far, worse.Interesting, but I would still read it in public.Middlng: Neither awful nor awfully goodWould not like to be seen reading that!Awful... just awful...That belongs in a gold-lame picture frame!Gah... my eyes are burning! Feels so good!Good Show Sir! (Average: 8.48 out of 10)
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33 Responses to “Night of the Saucers”

  1. SI Says:

    This kinda scares me a little. I’m afraid that little flying saucers will come and get me during the middle of the night and leave with my head.

  2. Sage Tyrtle Says:

    SI – That totally happened to my Aunt Lois.

  3. James Lovegrove Says:

    The Vexxans have infiltrated human minds. That’s them on the backs of the heads. And they’re pulling our strings. Just like, y’know, puppet masters. Does the artist’s name happen to be something like Derek Literal?

  4. SI Says:

    Sage> Don’t tell me that. Now I won’t sleep! Though I can’t imagine I’d be alive if they took my head. Unless they were keeping my head alive through Alien science.

    In fact, where’s Adam when you need him. Isn’t he the expert on disembodied heads. Or was it disemheaded bodies?

  5. CSA Says:

    I think the tag makes the novel sound so refreshing. “Now they plan to blow everything up”, the Vexxans, its seems arent interested in the minerals of our planet, they just like exploding shit. YEEEEHAW!

    @James, lol i can just see the author explaining the intricacies of the plot to the artist, about humans being pulled on strings etc. And all the artist is hearing is “heads attached to stings, being pulled by tiny spaceships”

    Is that cover meant to be on earth? Last time i checked, we didnt have 3 moons.

  6. Jen Says:

    Notice before the aliens decided to put on the puppet show, they took bites out of the back of each head. Yummy.

    And what on earth (heh, earth) are they flying over? Dunno about you guys, but I’ve never seen a field of white grass surrounded by bare white trees with a pile of white puke in the middle. Of course, the three moons kind of suggest that the saucers might have taken the heads on a little joyride (keelhaul?) through the solar system after they decapitated them.

  7. dad23g Says:

    I love this site, but would it be too much trouble to include in the post the date of publication? I would love to know when these were published: are they modern, from the 50s, etc.

    Keep up the good work!

  8. Adam Roberts Says:

    Is that cover meant to be on earth? Last time i checked, we didnt have 3 moons.

    When was the last time you checked, CSA?

    ‘Vexxans’, eh? Well, they certainly seem to be vexin’ that couple with the hair! O-ho! Oh I’m too droll! No, no, stop!

  9. James Lovegrove Says:

    The big one might not even be a moon. It might be Jupiter, magnified. Do you see what I did there? Adam? Do you see?

  10. Adam Roberts Says:

    I was going to say, ‘James’ (I was going to say), ‘James, surely that’s an author name that cries out to be anagrammatised?’ Then I realised what you did. You took an ordinary name, turned it into an absurd anagram, went back in time and insinuated it into the printer’s copy.

  11. James Lovegrove Says:

    Yeah, I took In Dead Boner’s name and turned it into Eando Binder.

    My guess would be that a married couple co-authored this mighty tome, Mr E and Mrs O Binder. But that’s just a guess.

    …and then I Googled the name, and it turns out I’m right. Sort of. In fact the authors are brothers, Earl and Otto. Ain’t the internet a wunnerful thing?

  12. Ron Obvious Says:

    I thought Eando Binder was a pseudonym for Philip Roth? If anyone can write a modern 70s novel about disembodied heads and crazy wookie sex, it’s Philip Roth.

  13. e.lee Says:

    I hope the publisher’s and author’s reactions to this cover went along the lines of, ‘heads will roll in the Art Department!’

  14. Jose @ Daemon's Says:

    Well thats where they got the idea for the talking heads in Mars Attacks. Cover actually looks like fun, but how did it compare to Menace of the Saucers?

  15. Don Hilliard Says:

    @CSA: Vexxans – the Duke Boys of the galaxy.

    @Jen: You had to say “puppet show”. The decapitated heads are now officially named Gerry & Sylvia.

    @dad23g: 1972 for this one. (As noted, the actual story appears to be from several decades earlier.)

  16. Simon Says:

    ‘Now they plan to blow everything up’ Is the best shoutline in the world. Ever.

  17. Simon Says:

    ‘ . . . up everything’ You’d think I’d quote it accurately given that.

  18. SI Says:

    “Skwalark, get that inflatable pool up dam it! Jezfizn! For god’s sake how long does it take to blow up a beach ball?!”

  19. Adam Roberts Says:

    Simon: of course, that was also the strategic military plan for the US invasion of Iraq.

  20. Simon Says:

    This may even have been where they got the idea from. Pity they didn’t go for the ‘dangling massive heads by their hair’ aspect of the plan.

  21. Simon Says:

    Also, the person holding this book seems to be purple. Are they are Vexxan? Have we been infiltrated already? Will everything blow up soon?

  22. Bruce Says:

    Huh. I’ve seen this cover before, but I never noticed the wookie faces in the backs of the skulls. As Sherlock used to say, “You see, but do not observe.”

    “Now they plan to blow up everything”

    Perhaps with an Illudium PU-36 Explosive Space Modulator?

  23. tyrone Says:

    Their faces would be covered with bruises from banging into each other–they’re swinging at the end of hundreds of feet of rope. Unless the rope operators in those saucers are really skilled.

    Or are the saucers really tiny (or the heads really huge) and so it’s only a few feet of rope. Hmmm…perspective.

  24. Nix Says:

    No matter how bad you think this cover is, the book is worse.

    I wish I could find my copy so I could ceremonially burn it.

  25. Brian B. Says:

    Love this site, first time posting. Anyway as we are having fun with the tag line of this cover, has anyone noticed the grammatical awkwardness of “Now they PLANNED to blow up everything?” How can one use a pronoun indicating the present moment (right now) but still use a verb in the past tense? This is particularly ironic to me in that the sentence itself is clearly constructed to avoid ending in the preposition “up.” In everyday conversation most of us would of course say “blow everything up.” So clearly the cover designer was paying some attention to grammer, but apparently hadn’t gotten to the chapter on “literary present tense” in his/her English grammar handbook yet.

  26. Brian B. Says:

    Oops, clearly I meant the preposition “now,” not pronoun. Damn I hate when I get my grammar when while pointing out grammar issues.

  27. JustinLeego Says:

    No better induction to a site full of fond mockery, BB, welcome!

    These guys have fantastic hair. For a book that was published in the 70’s it certainly nailed the mid 2000’s post-Rachel look.

  28. Darci Says:

    http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?NGHTFTHSCR1971 lists the cover is by John Cayea

  29. Dead Stuff With Big Teeth Says:

    The saucers landed on Earth. The hippies introduced them to their bong. Now they planned to blow up everything.

    NIGHT OF THE ENORMOUS RIPS

  30. Tom Noir Says:

    When I’m having a bad day, this cover never fails to lift my head.

  31. A.R.Yngve Says:

    “Give your hair cosmic lift and strength with Bloreal Active Reactive Enzyme Schmenzyme Shampoo!”

  32. Ray P Says:

    Mein Gott! The aliens have allied to Islamic state.

  33. Dead Stuff With Big Teeth Says:

    The saucers landed on Earth. The Trumps infiltrated. Now they planned to blow up everything and build a hotel on top.

    THE SMALLHANDS

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