Paperbacks from Hell [N.F. - Literature, Art]

Established to challenge paperback powerhouse Pocket Books, Avon issued paperback reprints for the mass market, which means lots of mysteries, westerns, and nurse romances. The New Yorker called them “one of the most resolutely down-market of the major paperback imprints.” In 1969 they started printing original fiction. Their first blockbuster hit was Kathleen Woodiwiss’s bodice-ripper The Flame and the Flower, which sold 2.5 million copies. Avon was bought by Harper Collins in 1999.

Bantam Books (founded 1945)

Ian and Betty Ballantine were sent by Penguin UK to found Penguin in the United States. After parting ways with owner Allen Lane, they founded Bantam as the paperback arm of Grosset & Dunlap. In 1952 they were fired because the line was foundering. Oscar Dystel was hired and quickly turned things around, grabbing paperback rights to blockbusters like Catcher in the Rye, Jaws, and The Exorcist (he sold the hardcover rights to Blatty’s book to Harper & Row). By 1980 Bantam was the largest publisher of paperbacks in America. In 1998 it was merged into Random House.

Ballantine Books (founded 1952)

The next stop for Ian and Betty Ballantine, this paperback house was founded to release paperback and hardcover editions simultaneously but became famous for their fantasy and science fiction lines. Based on a recommendation from their switchboard operator, they picked up the paperback rights to The Lord of the Rings and got rich. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in 1973 and absorbed Fawcett in 1982.

Barker, Clive (born 1952)

This British-born author’s 1984 six-volume short story collection The Books of Blood rocked the horror market. He went on to direct Hellraiser and Nightbreed, both films based on his writings, and to write a lot of super-long dark fantasy novels like Weaveworld and The Great and Secret Show.

Berkley Books (founded 1955)

The editor-in-chief and the vice-president of Avon Books broke away and started this rival paperback company that became known for science fiction. In 1965 they became G. P. Putnam’s paperback arm. In 1982, Berkley struck gold with The Hunt for Red October and began publishing military thrillers. In 1996, Putnam was acquired by Penguin; Berkley is now an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Bloch, Robert (1917–1994)

The youngest of H. P. Lovecraft’s acolytes, Bloch was an enormously prolific writer, turning out hundreds of short stories, dozens of novels, and scripts for the original Star Trek and Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV shows. He wrote crime and horror but is best remembered for his 1959 novel Psycho, based on real-life murderer Ed Gein, a book that pioneered the psychological serial killer story.

Brautigam, Don (1946–2008)

Most famous for his Stephen King paperback covers, Brautigam delivered striking, iconic, sophisticated covers for Cujo, Firestarter, The Stand, and ’Salem’s Lot, plus the hand full of eyeballs on the paperback Night Shift. He’s also the man behind the album covers of Metallica’s Master of Puppets and Mötley Crüe’s Dr. Feelgood.

Conner, Jeff (born 1956)

After starting his career in a southern California record store, Conner launched his Scream/Press imprint in 1981, delivering beautiful limited-edition volumes of works by Stephen King, Richard Matheson, Ramsey Campbell, and Dennis Etchison, which often featured extensive illustrations. He was the first to publish Clive Barker’s Books of Blood in hardcover in the United States. Scream/Press wound down in 1992 as the horror market died.

Coyne, John (born 1937)

After writing a stack of unpublished novels, Coyne studied The Exorcist and delivered The Piercing (1979), a carefully calibrated knockoff about stigmata. Before its release, he wrote the novelization for the lukewarm 1978 horror movie The Legacy, which sold two million copies. The Piercing became a best seller in paperback, as did The Searing. His next book, Hobgoblin (1981), was a paperback original whose cover featured his name above the title. After The Shroud (1983), he married the editor of The Piercing and declared he was done with horror. He delivered the family saga Brothers and Sisters in 1986 before returning to horror for three books, and then he took a seventeen-year break from publishing. His next books were golf novels, published in 2007 and 2009.

Daniels, Les (1943–2011)