Whenever I hear people relating their memories about “the pulps,” I’ll admit I’m more than a little envious for being born a couple generations late. All the reprints in the world can’t quite match the real deal, but coming across new tributes – like Subterranean Press’ RETRO PULP TALES – helps to compensate. Here, authors like Kim Newman, Tim Lebbon and Bill Crider bring yesteryear’s 10-cent dreams back alive, with appropriate speed and style.

A majority of the very best stories are right upfront. James Reasoner immediately puts the book in takeoff mode with “Devil Wings over France: A Dead-Stick Malloy Story.” On the surface, it seems like a simple World War II aerial combat tale, but shifts gears when an element of horror is introduced. Without giving anything away, you can probably figure it out from the title. Even more impressive is “From the Back Pages,” a murder mystery from Chet Williamson, ingeniously crafted in the form of excerpts from pulp letter columns, spanning nearly 40 years. It’s an experimental structure that could have collapsed, but not a word is wasted, and it’s exciting and brilliant.

But I’m absolutely in love with “Sex Slaves of the Dragon Tong” by F. Paul Wilson. If you read his contribution to last year’s DARK DELICACIES anthology, you know the man can handle a “Yellow Peril” yarn. This one is even better, with a detective out to crush an Asian plot to kidnap American blondes and ship them home for a life of prostitution. A break in the case comes only when an underage girl is snatched up by an overeager member, and her father happens to be a wealthy titan of industry. What makes it so great is that the villain and the girl are iconic characters, but unnamed because of copyright issues. The former is a no-brainer (Dr. Fu Manchu), but I’m keeping the child’s identity secret. Once you’re given enough clues to figure it out, you’ll laugh, smile and thank God for F. Paul Wilson. Another masterstroke, not to mention the best of the bunch.

I also really liked Al Sarrantonio’s “Summer,” a Ray Bradbury-esque look at a season that never ends and only grows more sweltering, and Stephen Gallagher’s “The Box.” No relation to the classic Richard Matheson story, it’s a crackling good tale of deep-sea terror, but from within the confines of a helicopter flight simulator in a giant water tank. It may only be 15 pages, but I couldn’t turn them fast enough to reach the conclusion. Alex Irvine’s “New Game in Town” is a snowbound crime thriller set in a pool hall full of crooks, college students and one officer of the law – a potent combination, even if the ending is a little confusing.

You’ll also find stories involving hungry buzzards, a giant in a basement, masked avengers and alien invasions. I’d argue that only one contribution is out of its element here, being Melissa Mia Hall’s GIDGET-obsessed sand/sex/saucers hybrid “Alien Love at Zero Break.” It’s too lighthearted (and the narrator’s surf-speak too annoying) to generate any excitement.

Luckily, that’s not the case for the majority of the book. Praise is due to editor Joe R. Lansdale for undertaking such a project and for allowing each writer to introduce their pieces with a little perspective and background information. Some bios would have been nice, however, as about half the authors were unknown to me. Modern homages to the pulp era are nothing new (witness the recent, similar ADVENTURE: VOL. 1), but they come largely from the small press; that makes them special, because you know they’re done out of love more than for the almighty dollar. –Rod Lott

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OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THESE AUTHORS:
• BERSERK by Tim Lebbon
• FLIGHTS: EXTREME VISIONS OF FANTASY edited by Al Sarrantonio
• HALLOWS EVE by Al Sarrantonio
• 999: TWENTY-NINE ORIGINAL TALES OF HORROR AND SUSPENSE edited by Al Sarrantonio