In the past few posts, I’ve had a chance to share with you lots of different library resources ranging from newspapers to government documents, handbooks and much more.  These non-fiction sources are important to know and use both professionally and personally.

Today I want to share something quite a bit different.  Involving murder, mayhem, and perhaps even an adventure or two in space, I’ve found some great “pulp” fiction resources for your reading device.  Available in lots of formats and most often free, these probably wouldn’t make today’s best-seller lists, but that doesn’t take away from the spirit of adventure and intrigue that comes to mind when you read them.

The pulp heroes you’ll find in these stories and sites run the gamut from space to jungle and crime-infested city streets.  Much more than the stereotypical Indiana Jones and crumpled fedora, these were heroes from a different era–with different methods of getting their message across in fighting the bad guys.

Visiting BlackMaskMagazine.com, you’ll find your first introduction to just some of them.  Mostly in PDF format, you can find quite a few free adventure stories to download to your device or just read online.  With titles ranging from “Scotty Scouts Around” by Raoul Whitfield to “The Corpse in the Doorway” by James H.S. Moynahan, what’s not to like?  Top it off with great artwork and 15+ stories to read for free!

Moving on to a hero known both in the Thirties and even today as The Shadow, this pulp character has come to symbolize all that is unknown and mysterious yet good.  With titles such as City of Shadows and City of Ghosts available for download, you’ll have some excellent reading the next time you find yourself in line at the bank or doctor’s office.

The famous Internet Archive has its share of titles to read, share, and download as well. With a concentration in magazines such as Amazing Science Fiction Stories and Galaxy Magazine, you’ll find lots of adventure in a great many formats, though PDF and HTML are most common.  Use this site as a starting point for more titles in the same vein.

Finally, don’t overlook Google Books as the great place for singular detective stories from the 1800’s up through the early 1920’s.  While many are not so “pulpy” as the ones mentioned above, you’ll find great titles such as Joe Muller: Detective and more generic works like Famous Detective Stories. With your memory card full of fistfights, car chases and much, much more, you’ll be set for the next board room meeting.

One of the nicest things about Google Books and titles you’ll find there is that many of them are native ePub formatted downloads already–with no conversion hassle!

I’ve only just mentioned a few titles and informational sources with today’s post, but there are many more stories waiting to be re-discovered and read again.  For more information on these as well as background information on the pulp story scene, consider trying ThePulp.Net as well as some of the sites and titles mentioned in the links below.

If you’re familiar with this era and type of stories, what other sites are out there you can share with us?  What have I forgotten or didn’t mention–let us know in the comments.  Right now, I’d better get back to reading…I’m about 4 stories behind and my Sony needs to be recharged!

Have a great day!


Links:

Black Mask Magazine

Pulpgen.Com

Air Wonder Stories (Virginia Tech.)

Nostalgia League (Background on pulp fiction & more)

Dynamic Science Fiction Vol. 1 (Internet Archive)

BLOGical Thoughts (The Shadow stories)

Famous Detective Stories (Google Books)

Syracuse University Digital Projects (Pulp Fiction)

Sources:

Image sources: Google Books & The Internet Archive

1 COMMENT

  1. Put me down as HUGE fan of pulp fiction. I have long read these stories. Recently I sold my collection of 250+ pulp magazines after having read them all. The Shadow, Doc Savage, the Spider, so many great characters and fun stories- and even the long ones are only novella length (about 100 pages at most).

    I discovered the Black Mask site years ago (now owned by Munseys) when I got my first ereader, the Franklin bookreader. I downloaded MANY stores and had great fun. At that time, the website sold a series of CD’s with 100’s of books on them in various formats. These included the COMPLETE Shadow and Doc Savage. (I now realize that these were in violation of copywrite, but I still have them and can put them on my Kindle. Apologies to the rights holders, but I didn’t know at the time they were pirated.)

    Don’t forget other classic pulp writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs, Dashiell Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner, and the original Zorro stories. Enjoy!

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