is it profitable to sell on The Pulp Fiction Megapack: 25 Classic Pulp Stories
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. The bad, and the not so bad, and the awfulBy Erika CI went into this with an open mind, and with all the posted warnings acknowledged. The first two stories were kind of lame, and then the third (Fiances For the Devil's Daughter) - holy cats, was that awful! I used to read Laurell K Hamilton, so it's not like I was new to that level of violence, but after the first two I suppose I grew complacent. I skimmed through the rest of the book, just hitting the main jist of each story, slowing down when something caught my eye, but there didn't seem to be anything that approached that level again. The rest is sort of blah, blah blah, ape-men, blah, blah, girl is kidnapped, blah blah, oh, she escapes, blah, blah, swamp creature, blah, blah, oh, I guess it wasn't, blah blah.... The mermaid story is just bizarre. Others went on, and on, and on, and I wanted to kill the characters myself just to make it stop.There were two or three that looked interesting enough to slow down for, and they were the only reason this book gets a three start. Tong Torture, The Ray of Madness, The Corpse on the Grating. And there was one about New York being taken out by a tidal wave that wasn't too horrible - hey, it could happen. About the only other positive for this book is that the writers' grammer, sentence structure, and punctuation is excellent (unlike so many modern writers), even if their subject matter leaves much to be desired.6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Freakishly Lovely....Needed a Shower After Bingeing on these Twisted GemsBy David S. WellhauserThis was a great deal of fun, but take the publisher's warning to heart -- Not Politically Correct!The formatting is fine...didn't notice any typos or textual problems of any kind.The stories themselves are funny, twisted, and repulsive in turn. All are worth the time of the reader. I would remember that you don't sit down, as I did, and read all the stories back to back. Better to be ready something else at the same time and maybe read one story and then take a break.FYI, these stories were meant to titillate and disturb...the erotic nature of the stories are now very dated, as is the race and gender relations...which is the kindest way possible to say that these stories will make the blood of some boil...those looking for cultural justice do not buy this book.Those looking for a window on the psyche of a vanished culture would do well to look at this book. Those looking for a dirty little secret might find this book interesting too.However, do not binge on the stories...one at a time with other reading material is the way to go.Recommended for aficionados of the Other, the Bizzare, and the downright weird.19 of 21 people found the following review helpful. Gruesome grisly, shudder-filled TERRIFIC!!!By LibrarianThis is one terrific Megapack. It's exactly as the publisher describes it, so there should be no unpleasant surprises (though it does contain many PLEASANT ones). Everyone knows in advance not to expect it to contain so-called "great" works of literature, nor should anyone take umbrage at the level of political incorrectness; you were forewarned.What IS surprising, however, is just how well-written many of these lurid works actually are. These guys sure knew how to tell a story! Despite being paid-by-the-word in a profession where quantity often trumped quality, many pulp authors proved to be talented and creative wordsmiths who were particularly adept at masterfully manipulating the English language to create thrilling tales--all the while tallying and, whenever possible, increasing their word count to boost their profits (which is why colorful, descriptive adjectives abound). Such padding could easily yield inferior results (and very often did), but in the hands of a skillful writer, a truly fanciful, entertaining and well-constructed story could still emerge--as many of the authors in this delectable collection of grisly tales so vividly demonstrate.Named for the inexpensive, low-grade, wood-pulp paper on which they were printed in the magazines that originally published them, these 25 pulp pieces are particularly remarkable inasmuch as the compilers of this collection deliberately sought tales with outrageously provocative titles. A great title, of course, is no guarantee the story to which it is attached will be equally as good (and oftentimes a powerful title was deliberately created to disguise an otherwise weak tale), but in the case of this Megapack, most of the stories really ARE equal to their titillating titles. It should also be noted that this set contains no pastiches by modern-day, pulp-author wannabes. There are no counterfeits here; these are all the real thing, the bulk of them having been written in the 1930's.I thoroughly enjoyed this bargain-priced collection featuring more than a few stories being sold individually in the Kindle Store for the same price (or more!) as this entire set. This is definitely one Megapack that should make any connoisseur of pulp fiction squirm with terror and delight. (And if you're not already a fan, it might just make you one.)