Fawcett (founded 1919)
Originally a magazine publisher and distributor, Fawcett turned out lowbrow pulps and comics, until a 1945 deal with NAL to distribute their paperback reprints gave them the idea to publish their own paperback originals for casual readers. They started Gold Medal in 1950 to do just that, horrifying the guardians at the gates of culture. By paying higher royalties than the competition, Fawcett became the number two paperback publisher in America, with books by Vladimir Nabokov and Kurt Vonnegut on their list. In 1977 they were bought by a diversifying CBS, who sold their backlist in 1982 to Ballantine, effectively dismantling the company.
Gray, Linda Crockett (born 1943)
Writing under several different names, Gray has published about ten horror novels and five Harlequin romances. Her first book was Satyr (1979) for Playboy Press, and her stories veer wildly from sedate to lurid. Injuries from a car accident in 1990 curtailed her writing career, and she now teaches.
Jensen, Ruby Jean (1927–2010)
A constant presence in Zebra’s catalogue, Jensen was born in Missouri and started writing for Warner in 1974 with The House That Samael Built. After four gothic romances for them, she jumped to Manor Books and turned out three occult novels in 1978. Her horror novels, Hear the Children Cry (1981) and Such a Good Baby (1982), were published by Leisure and Tor, respectively, and in 1983 she settled down with Zebra Books for a 20-book run that started with Mama. A fairly perfunctory writer specializing in evil children, she was rewarded with Zebra’s first all-hologram cover (House of Illusions, 1988).
Klein, T.E.D. (born 1947)
Editor of Twilight Zone magazine from 1981 to 1985, Klein was an influential member of the northeastern horror community, like a less productive Charles L. Grant. Much less. His 1984 novel The Ceremonies took him five years to write and was hailed as a modern classic. His short story collection, Dark Gods, contains four novellas including the much-anthologized “Black Man with a Horn” and “Children of the Kingdom.” It is rumored that one day he’ll publish his long-delayed second novel, Nighttown, which was originally announced for publication in 1989.
Lory, Robert (born 1936)
Writing for Lyle Kenyon Engle’s book mill Book Creations, Lory delivered the eleven-installment men’s adventure series John Eagle: The Expeditor before writing The Dracula Horror Series, starting in 1973. In it, Dracula is forced to work for the forces of good thanks to the splinter of stake lodged next to his heart. In 1974 Lory pitched Engle a book of horror short stories about the zodiac, but Engle sold the Horrorscope series to Pinnacle as standalone novels. Lory didn’t enjoy writing them and Pinnacle canceled the series at book four. Lory’s day job is in advertising and consulting.
Martin, George R. R. (born 1948)
Before Game of Thrones Martin was, like Thomas Monteleone and Charles L. Grant, a science fiction guy who got into horror when the market was booming. His disconcerting 1979 novella Sandkings won the Hugo and Nebula awards, and his 1982 vampire novel, Fevre Dream, is considered a modern classic. Armageddon Rag, his 1983 novel about an occult ’60s band reuniting in the ’80s, was a commercial failure that temporarily ended his career as a novelist and sent him to Hollywood to become a television writer.
Manor Books (founded 1972)
One of the original giants of the true-confession magazine market, Macfadden Communications bought Hillman Publications in 1961 and begrudgingly absorbed its paperback publishing arm, which it then sold as Manor Books in 1972. Manor published cheap paperbacks, men’s adventure, and paranormal gothics until ceasing operations in 1981.
Matheson, Richard (1926–2013)
A more prolific and pulpier Ray Bradbury, Matheson is one of the cornerstones of twentieth-century American horror, with twenty-seven novels and more than one hundred short stories to his credit. He wrote teleplays for all the essentials—Star Trek, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The Twilight Zone—and his three novels, I Am Legend, The Shrinking Man, and The Legend of Hell House, have all been adapted as movies. He’s written films for Roger Corman’s AIP and Britain’s Hammer Films, and Anne Rice and Stephen King have cited him as an influence.
Monteleone, Thomas F. (born 1946)
A chance encounter led to Monteleone and Charles L. Grant signing on as two of future super-agent Kirby McCauley’s first clients. Monteleone wrote a fistful of sci-fi paperback originals in the ’70s before turning to horror (at Grant’s prodding) in the ’80s. His nutty but effective genre mash-ups—particularly 1984’s Night Train and his 1987 werewolves-versus-the-mafia book, Fantasma—made him a midlist regular. In the early ’90s, Melissa Singer at Tor advised him to write a hardcover, and the result was Blood of the Lamb (1992), a high-concept thriller that hit big and rebranded Monteleone as a thriller writer.
Morrell, David (born 1943)
This Canadian novelist rocketed to attention with his debut First Blood (1972), which was denounced by Time magazine as “carnography” and made into a movie starring Sylvester Stallone. His next novel was the harrowing revenge thriller Testament (1975). Although his books contained only brief horrific elements, Morrell was considered part of the horror family throughout the ’70s. The Totem (1979) was his first “true” horror novel.
New American Library (founded 1948)
Established during the post–World War II paperback boom, NAL started as American Penguin but was bought and rebranded after Penguin gave up on the American market. Considered the intellectual publishing house, it nonetheless made a mint on Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer novels and turned James Bond into a literary franchise. In 1987 NAL merged with Penguin, and as of 2016 they only publish nonfiction under the merged Penguin Random House. Their imprints included Signet and Onyx.
New English Library (founded 1961)
When the Times Mirror Company of Los Angeles acquired NAL in 1960, they merged British paperback houses Ace and Four Square to form NEL. When Gareth Powell became managing director in 1964, they hit overdrive, pumping out pulpy books aimed at teenagers looking for cheap kicks. NEL milked the horror craze and teen market hard (their eighteen-volume Skinheads series ran from 1970 to 1980) with beautifully lurid covers. In 1981, they were sold to Hodder & Stoughton and became that publisher’s mass-market imprint until being discontinued in 2004.
Paperjacks (founded 1971)
The massive Canadian publishing and distribution company General Publishing launched Paperjacks to print mass-market fiction and nonfiction by Canadian authors. By 1978, it was releasing five books per month, including some American imports. By the mid-’80s Paperjacks was releasing four to six horror and science-fiction books each year. In 1989, the company was set to be acquired by Zebra Books, who pulled out of the sale at the last minute. Paperjacks was never heard from again.
Playboy Press (founded 1963)
Originally established to dump Playboy magazine joke books onto the market, Hugh Hefner’s book outfit hired Mike Cohn from NAL in 1971 to beef up its publishing program, ultimately releasing about thirty mass-market paperbacks per month. Founded with a focus on books for male readers, the line remained dormant until 1976, when it abandoned men and began targeting female readers with horror novels and bodice rippers. In 1982, Hefner’s daughter Christie became president of Playboy Enterprises and immediately sold the book business to Putnam.