PAPERBACKS; The Source For The Best Horror Stories by Mr. Miller

If there's two things that Mr. Miller likes it's horror and paperback novels. Put the 70's on that list and you've got three. When I was just a wee little lad I couldn't get enough of those cheap softbound volumes of sensational, terrifying, and oft times lascivious and lurid stories. Mr. Miller was a warped kid, you can gather that much from all this.

If there's two things that Mr. Miller likes it's horror and paperback novels. Put the 70's on that list and you've got three. When I was just a wee little lad I couldn't get enough of those cheap softbound volumes of sensational, terrifying, and oft times lascivious and lurid stories. Mr. Miller was a warped kid, you can gather that much from all this.

My first real paperback novel (I'm talking outside of the kid stuff) was Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express. I must have been about 11 or 12 years old when I read it, and I was such a daft child that when I finished the story I had to ask my mom and dad who really did it (it was EVERYONE by the way). Straight after that I decided that I needed less suspense and more action, so I pulled Erica Jong's Fear of Flying off the shelf. "What are you reading?!" was my mom's response when I couldn't figure out a word that was used in the book - prophylactic.

Then, at the tender age of 14, I was given a book from my cousin. That book I can say, without any doubt, was the book that changed my life. It was Survivor, by James Herbert. It's probably the creepiest book I had ever read, and it left me wanting more of the dark and spooky. Herbert was soon my favorite author, and I began seeking out his other books, often times ordering from the short catalog in the back of his books. And when I had exhausted Herbert's collection I turned to the other titles from his publisher, Signet, for more terrible tales of horror and crime: Rooftops; Labyrinth: Blood Rites, and the list goes on. But Signet was not the only publishing house in town. Soon I was all over Bantam Books, Dell, Pocket Books, Ballentine, and countless others. But I'm getting way ahead of myself here.

But Mr. Miller, you are surely asking, since you're an old fart and you read these books way back in the prehistoric 70's, how the hell are we supposed to find them and read them and love them as much as you have? Glad you asked. Mr. Miller's favorite location to find these retro paperback pulps is at the local used books/paperback shop. Flip through your yellow pages and find shops with names like "Half-Price Books", or "Used Books", or any shop with "Paperback" in it's title. You may take a chance and check out places with "rare" books, but often times I have found that these shops only stock collectible type books, or first editions and things like that, and will have pretty high prices to boot.

I have my best luck in the half-priced book shops. These stores live and breathe paperbacks, and they are not really picky about what they stock, so you should be able to find a wide variety of titles both old and new. Avoid shops that seem too selective, choosing only popular titles or authors, and go straight for the shop with that musty, flea market smell, because you'll know that they have the books that were pulled out of the boxes hidden in the corners of the attic, forgotten for years and decades. These types of shops provide the best prices, as well. Seeing that a paperback novel from the 70's (60's and early 80's too) cost between 95cents to $2.95, paying half price for it is a steal!

Try flea markets, garage sales, and library book sales as well.

Another good resource is the internet. There are plenty of used books newsgroups, and boards where people trade and sell, and post messages on where to trade and sell. Internet auctions, like eBay, boast a number of sellers who supply oodles of tacky old paperbacks. Be warned though, you will be bidding against other paperback fans, and may have to pay more than the ypu would at a cheap paperback shop (plus shipping and handling).

To avoid having to outbid other auction-goers you could try Half.com. I have found a plethora of old 70's paperbacks for sale there, many titles of which I have had trouble finding anywhere else. They also provide a nice little rating system that lets the buyer shop by price range, and book's condition. Try Alibbris.co, and Harvestbooksearch.com, as well.

Trust me, you ain't never read paperbacks unless you've read good ol' trashy 70's paperbacks.

Copyright 2001