Atomic Werewolves and Man-Eating Plants: When Men's Adventure Magazines Got Weird

by Robert Deis (Editor), Wyatt Doyle (Editor)

The men's adventure magazines of the 1950s, '60s and '70s left no male fantasy or interest unexplored. Among the mags' war stories, exotic adventure yarns, accounts of clashes between man and beast, and spicy tales of sadistic frauleins and tropical queens hungry for companionship were stories that added an extra dose of weird to the equation, emphasizing supernatural encounters, monstrous cryptids, demonic death cults, killer robots, vampirism, and, naturally, atomic werewolves and man-eating plants. Action-packed, larger than life, and illustrated by top talents in the field, including iconic Famous Monsters cover artist Basil Gogos and EC's Jack Davis! Edited by Robert Deis and Wyatt Doyle, with contributions by Mike Chomko and Stefan Dziemianowicz. This latest release in The Men's Adventure Library series is available in softcover and expanded hardcover editions from New Texture. Both editions are fully illustrated, with context and commentary supplied by the editors.

Genres: Short Stories

312 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2023

About the author

Robert "Bob" Deis is a pulp and pop culture historian who collects and writes about vintage men's adventure magazines (MAMs) and paperbacks published in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He co-edits, with indie book publisher Wyatt Doyle, the MEN'S AVENTURE LIBRARY book series. That series now includes over 20 illustrated story anthologies and art books. Bob also co-edits the MEN'S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY magazine with graphic designer and pop culture maven Bill Cunningham. The MAQ reprints MAM stories and artwork and discusses paperback, movie and TV shows related to each issue's theme. Bob and Bill also co-edit THE ART OF RON LESSER book series, which showcases Lesser's famed paperback cover art, historical artwork, and more recent paintings. Bob's main website is www.MensPulpMags.com. He also writes a blog about famous quotations, www.ThisDayinQuotes.com. Bob lives near Key West, Florida with his beautiful wife (who graciously tolerates his piles of old magazines and books), their three dogs and four cats.

Reviews

[Oliver Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent collection from the Men’s Adventure Library, this time focussing on weird tales. Vampires, werewolves, giant tarantulas, sexy aliens and satanists all make an appearance in this beautifully put together book. Like everything they put out it was pure fun from beginning to end.

[Phillip Fuller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book may not be considered literature by some but it is great pulp fiction with plenty of cheesy entertainment for the avid reader of men's adventure magazines. I found many of the stories intriguing but the one about the girl who has a skin made of paper was perplexing. The artwork was by far the best part of this book since men's adventure magazines did not cut corners when they chose their artists.

[Plum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine sitting down one Halloween night for a few hours of classic TV episodes on The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and maybe even a couple from One Step Beyond. Then imagine that you're seeing these gems for the very first time. That's what it's like reading Atomic Werewolves and Man-Eating Plants: When Men's Adventure Magazines Got Weird by editors Robert Deis and Wyatt Doyle. Most horror/weird/science fiction anthologies have one unfortunate thing in common—you see the same authors and stories reprinted over and over. Not so in Atomic Werewolves and Man-Eating Plants. Deis and Doyle have dug deep into the men's adventure magazines that thrived from the 1950s to the 1970s and assembled an anthology unlike any other. In the future, early editions of Atomic Werewolves and Man-Eating Plants: When Men's Adventure Magazines Got Weird will surely become a much sought-after collector's item, so the reader would be wise to grab a copy as soon as possible.

[Dan Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m writing this on October 21, and so of course my streaming services are swarming with horror movies new and old; so what better time to read the latest offering from the Men’s Adventure Library’s Bob Deis and Wyatt Doyle: Atomic Werewolves and Man-Eating Plants: When Men's Adventure Magazines Got Weird? This is another thick tome from these two intrepid pulpmeisters, and the title says it all: the men’s adventure magazines are well-known for tales (true, true-ish, fictional, fictional presented as “true”) of war, high adventure in exotic climes, and the pervasive domestic threats of motorbike gangs, but another lesser-known category was the “supernatural” story, very much in the mode of the classic pulp mag Weird Tales, which originally ran from 1922 to 1954, by which time the classic pulps had run their course. Something had to fill in that gap, and the new “men’s adventure” magazines were ready for the task.



This collection does a great job of assembling “weird” stories from 1953 to 1966, the golden age of the “men’s adventure” era. Just as the pulps ran their course, so did the gloriously lurid men’s adventure mags, and by the mid-’70s they were pretty much gone, shoved aside by the newly-liberated skin mags, and possibly also by the drive-in and grindhouse exploitation movies of that time, which to my mind had much the same appeal as the men’s adventure magazines. As always with Men’s Adventure Library productions, one of the most enjoyable elements is the terrific art, excellent reproductions of such masters as Basil Gogos, John Duillo, Norm Eastman, Sydney Shores, Gil Cohen, Bruce Minney, and Norman Saunders. As much as I enjoy the stories in these anthologies, I absolutely love the art, which might reasonably be called photo-surrealistic, like vivid bizarre dreams in bright colors or duotone. 



Highly recommended for fans of men’s adventure as well as devotees of creepy stories told around the campfire…

[Egghead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Men face horror, beasts,
wicked women, mutations,
death, mutilation.