Weird menace is the name given to a sub-genre of horror fiction that was popular in the pulp magazines of the 1930s and early '40s. The weird menace pulps, also known as "shudder pulps", generally featured stories in which the hero was pitted against evil or sadistic villains, with graphic scenes of torture and brutal murder.
The first weird menace title was Dime Mystery, which started out as a straight crime fiction magazine but began to develop the new genre in 1933 under the influence of Grand Guignol theatre.[1] Popular Publications dominated the genre with Dime Mystery, Terror Tales, and Horror Stories. After Popular issued Thrilling Mysteries, Standard Magazines, publisher of the "Thrilling" line of pulps, complained about trademark infringement. Popular withdrew Thrilling Mysteries after one issue, and Standard issued their own weird menace pulp, Thrilling Mystery. In the late-'30s, the notorious Red Circle pulps, with Mystery Tales, expanded the genre to include increasingly graphic descriptions of torture. A censorship backlash brought about the demise of the genre in the early-'40s.
In general, weird menace stories featured eerie, atmospheric situations and placed ordinary people in situations of bizarre threat. Most weird menace stories were resolved with rational explanations, although the occasional supernatural story was used.
Story titles were notably colorful, e.g. "The Molemen Want Your Eyes," "Things That Once Were Men," etc.
A horror comic book entitled Mort Todd's Weird Menace was released in Spring, 2009.
Notes
- ^ Haining, Peter (2000). The Classic Era of American Pulp Magazines. Prion Books. ISBN 1-85375-388-2.
Further reading
- Jones, Robert (1978). The Shudder Pulps: A History of the Weird Menace Magazines of the 1930s. Plume. ISBN 0-452-25190-7.
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