Pulp Fictions: 20 Stories

by Peter Haining (Editor)

A unique blend of rapid-fire action and cynical humor are the hallmarks of the story-telling style developed by such writers as Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. Those two pastmasters are joined here by eighteen other gifted and innovative practitioners of the art, among them Cornell Woolrich, James M. Cain, Mickey Spillane, Elmore Leonard, Ross Macdonald, and Jim Thompson. To demonstrate the fascination that pulp fiction has exerted on superb writers more often associated with other genres and artforms, stories by Stephen King and Quentin Tarantino are also included.

Contains the stories:

"Torch Number", by James Ellroy
"The Egyptian Lure", by Carroll John Daly
"Arson Plus", by Dashiell Hammett
"The Man Who Liked Dogs", by Raymond Chandler
"Dead Man's Head", by Robert Leslie Bellem
"The Singing Pigeon", by Ross Macdonald
"The Hunting of Hemingway", by MacKinlay Kantor
"Dead on Her Feet", by Cornell Woolrich
"Nice Work", by Peter Cheyney
"The Lady Says Die!", by Mickey Spillane
"Accident Report", by Ed McBain
"Freaky Deaky", by Elmore Leonard
"Travelling Light", by W. R. Burnett
"Pastorale", by James M. Cain
"The Deadly Circle", by Samuel Fuller
"Get a Load of This", by James Hadley Chase
"It's a Wise Cadaver", by David Goodis
"The Frightening Frammis", by Jim Thompson
"The Fifth Quarter", by Stephen King
"The Watch", by Quentin Tarantino

Genres: Short Stories, Mystery, Fiction, Anthologies

331 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Peter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.

Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.

In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).

He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.

Reviews

[Still · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't read any more short fiction for now.
To be finished some time in the future.

[Mori Mementa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first foray into this genre and it was just fine. The stories are a product of their time to an embarrassing extent; there's tons of slurs and casual racism and many of the hallmarks of men writing women badly. I think there's value to be gained from reading these stories; they remind us of where we've been culturally speaking, and how far we've come. I'm not if I'd ever read this genre again, but this was a good primer.

[Rafal Jasinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Znakomity zbiór opowiadań, który z pewnością docenią wszyscy wielbiciele klasycznego, czarnego kryminału. Nie ma w tej antologii tekstów słabych a każdy z autorów to znakomitości i mistrzowie tego gatunku. Chociaż zagadki, z jakimi borykają się legendarni detektywi nie są zbyt skomplikowane a akcja, w jakiej wir wrzuceni zostają zarówno twardzi policjanci, jak i bezwzględni gangsterzy, czasem trąci sensacyjną sztampą, to sposób specyficzny sposób narracji i gęsty klimat sprawiają, że niemal każde z opowiadań po prostu się chłonie i nie sposób się od zbiorku oderwać. Napisałem "niemal każde opowiadanie", bo wieńczący zbiór wyjątek z "Pulp Fiction" (znany monolog o zegarku ukrytym we wiadomej części ciała) kompletnie nie przystaje do całości a z czarnym kryminałem łączy go tylko nazwisko Quentina Tarantino.

Świetna rzecz, choć mniemam, że czytelnikom nie przepadającym za nurtem noir może do gustu przypaść w nieco mniejszym stopniu. Ja ze swojej strony gorąco polecam!

[Derek · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a hard time with stories where the "protagonist" is unlikable, stupid, criminal, and will certainly get comeuppance before the end. The action-criminal-pulp genre overflows with that, and I had my fill well before this book was over. Fortunately, there's a balance here, and the stories are sized nicely.

[Brett]

Anthology