The Digest Enthusiast, Book Fifteen - Richard Krauss, ed.

The history and evolution of Fantasy Tales as told by its editors Stephen Jones and David A. Sutton in a behind-the-scenes interview, complete with vintage photographs and artifacts.

Gary Lovisi exposes the licentious Marijuana Girl by N.R. de Mexico, as cited by the Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials in 1952.

Howard Browne’s vision for the ultimate fantasy and science fiction digest: Fantastic. An in-depth review of its debut year, packed with the inside stories behind its fiction.

Tom Brinkmann uncovers the original 7 Year Itch with buxom beauty Vanessa Brown and Tom Ewell via the pocket-size pages of People Today.

Anthony Perconti corresponds with author William Preston about his Old Man series for Asimov’s Science Fiction, that includes a peek into the final episode, yet to come.

Peter Enfantino wraps up Manhunt’s third year in an edifying, gripping exposé, capped with his top ten picks for 1955.

Jack Seabrook lauds Avon’s Murder Mystery Monthly No. 31 with William Irish’s “If I Should Die Before I Wake” in a revealing examination of the master’s talent for terror and suspense.

Joseph Gollomb, once credited as the premier true crime reporter of the day, proves the conceit in our in-depth review of his digest classic: 11 True Crimes.

The crime fiction of “Lost Author” Carl G. Hodges is ripe for revival. Join the ranks of his fans as we recount his career with a deep dive into 1951’s digest novel: Crime On My Hands.

Steve Carper returns with a robust report on the rare children’s digest series, Boys’ and Girls’ Fiction, straight out of Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Robert A.W. Lowndes’ Startling Mystery Stories No. 2 gets its due in an inclusive review of its stories, with author backgrounds and feature summaries.

Industry news—with over 30 cover previews—from the digest world’s favorite editors, publishers, and writers.

In all, there’s nearly 150 magazine covers, cartoons by Bob Vojtko, and more. Cover by Rachel Krauss.

160 pages, published in color and b&w print editions, and Kindle, by Larque Press LLC.

There are a number of non-fiction journals devoted to subjects near and dear to my heart being published. One that I’ve been reading and greatly enjoying for several years is THE DIGEST ENTHUSIAST, which is up to Book Fifteen in its run. I was too late for the pulps, or rather, mostly too late; they were still being published after I was born, but I don’t recall ever seeing any new pulps except for some of the final issues of RANCH ROMANCES AND ADVENTURES, and by then it was only a quasi-pulp, not quite the same size and with trimmed edges. But I digress. I was talking about digest magazines, devoted mostly to genre fiction, and I was around for their heyday in the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties. The format really got started in the late Forties and picked up a lot of steam in the Fifties, and when I was a kid those days were recent enough that I often came across used copies of those magazines and bought them, too, along with new issues off the magazine racks at the drugstore and grocery store.

To get back to THE DIGEST ENTHUSIAST, BOOK FIFTEEN, editor Richard Krauss and various contributors deliver the usual well-written, entertaining collection of articles, essays, and reviews pertaining to a wide variety of digest magazines. My favorites are Krauss’s article about the creation and first year of the SF/fantasy digest FANTASTIC; Peter Enfantino’s continuing examination of the iconic crime digest MANHUNT, this time focusing on the issues from 1955; and Krauss’s review of STARTLING MYSTERY STORIES, No. 2, Fall 1966. But as usual when I sit down with an issue of THE DIGEST ENTHUSIAST, I read it cover to cover and enjoyed everything about it. All the issues are available on Amazon, and if you’re interested in genre fiction, you really need to read these. Very high recommendation.