The Unvarnished Gary Phillips: A Mondo Pulp Collection

Award-winning author, screenwriter, and editor Gary Phillips has collected his most thrilling, outlandish, and madcap pulp fiction in an 17-story collection that straddles the line between bizarro, science fiction, noir, and superhero classics. The stories feature Aztec vampires, astral projecting killers, oxygen stealing bombs, undercover space rangers, aliens occupying Los Angeles, right-wing specters haunting the hood, masked vigilantes, and mad scientists in their underground lairs plotting world domination. Pulp combines grindhouse melds with blaxploitation and strong doses of B movie hardcore drive-in fare, with elements of characterization and a glimpse behind the steely eyes of these doers of incredible deeds. Phillips also resurrects Phantasmo, a Golden Age comics character created by Black artist-writer E.C. Stoner, in an all-new outing of ethereal doings.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 400 pages
Publication date: 24 October 2023
Publisher: Three Rooms Press

Award-winning author, screenwriter, and editor Gary Phillips has compiled his most exhilarating, outrageous, and whimsical pulp fiction in an 17-story collection that seamlessly blends elements of bizarro, science fiction, noir, and superhero classics. Within these pages, a vibrant tapestry of characters emerges, including Aztec vampires, astral projecting killers, oxygen stealing bombs, undercover space rangers, aliens occupying Los Angeles, right-wing specters haunting the hood, masked vigilantes, and mad scientists residing in their underground lairs, plotting global dominance. This rip-roaring collection seamlessly blends grindhouse, blaxploitation, and robust doses of B-movie hardcore drive-in fare. Phillips, the editor of the Anthony Award-winning The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir, and the author of One-Shot Harry and Matthew Henson and the Ice Temple of Harlem, offers his perspective on pulp. "The most common definition of pulp is its fast-paced, a story containing out-there characters and a wild plot. There is that. But certainly, as we've now arrived at the era of retro-pulp, these stories have elements of characterization: not just action, but a glimpse behind the steely eyes of these doers of incredible deeds." As a delightful bonus, Phillips resurrects Phantasmo, a Golden Age comics character created by Black artist-writer E.C. Stoner, in an all-new outing of ethereal adventures (includes 4 original illustrations by cover artist Adam Shaw).

Dimension: 209 x 139 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781953103369