Pulp Modern: Volume 2 Issue 8

by Alec Cizak (Editor), Tia Ja'nae, Brian Asman

Pulp Culture.
Pulp Fiction.
Pulp Modern.

The most influential independent fiction digest evolves yet again. In addition to the usual selection of outstanding short stories by today's top writers, Pulp Modern now features a host of non-fiction articles and opinion pieces.

Continuing its celebration of its first decade of independent publishing excellence, the year 1981 is examined, a year pivotal in the formation of society's current state. This means a number of stories taking place in the year 1981 as well as articles about the events and social concerns of the era. The AIDS and crack-cocaine crises are explored as well as the dawn of hip hop as a major musical force and 1981's gold rush of slasher cinema.

Before the issue closes out, Switchblade Magazine editor Scotch Rutherford addresses the infection in independent publishing that generated needless controversy over the course of 2020 and 2021.

Interior illustrations are provided by the immensely talented Carmelo J. Guarnera while cover art is provided by Michael Neno. This issue features cartoons by Clark Dissmeyer. As always, art direction by Richard Krauss and super easy editor-in-chief duties are attended to by Alec Cizak.

141 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 6, 2022

About the author

Alec Cizak was dropped off on the planet Earth by Lao Tzu after the old wizard made love to a seven-legged go-go dancer from the interior regions of Neptune. The dancer refused to care for the infant Cizak and so Lao Tzu brought the baby to Earth and left him with a cult of syphilitic monks on an island in the Pacific Ocean. Cizak was granted immortality by the goddess Molena, a stripper from Spain, on the condition that he never reveal her recipe for spaghetti and eyeball soup. Unable to contain this magnificent secret, Cizak whispered the recipe to a Belgium nun named Poinsettia. The goddess Molena cursed Cizak to mortality and a bit of talent as a writer no significant number of his fellow mortals would ever care too much about. He currently lives with his wife in a cave in Antarctica where he writes dime novels under a pen name that cannot be revealed here for national security purposes.

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The new era of Pulp Modern begins with the churning landscape of 1981 in fiction and fact. A satisfying mix of crime, SF, supernatural, and fantasy fiction offset by opinion works rooted in pop culture and ripened by controversy. A thoughtful, invigorating lesson for modern pulpsters. Read it now before its banned.