trashy paperback time

October 2, 2023 2:18 PM

For writing reasons, I am looking for true-crime paperbacks from the 80s and early 90s that were slightly trashy. You know the kind, or you did. Maybe they were actually good or maybe they weren't, but they looked lurid, and they were printed on yellow pulp with a hard glossy photo insert that often caused the spine to break after handling. Research has pointed me in the direction of good books, which is understandable but not what I need. Can you help?

This is because I am creating parts of a fake one for a story I am writing.

I'm hoping to be able to read them on archive.org or at my library, although I have been there and they are understandably biased towards high-quality copies of more recent books. As for topics, I am open, but I would definitely like to see examples dealing with women or with "characters" like Rod Ferrell, the Kentucky vampire (whose book I have seen). What I'm chiefly interested in is the graphic design and jacket copy for books that were not necessarily as popular as, say, Ann Rule's.

posted by Countess Elena to Writing & Language (13 answers total)

Thrift stores carry a lot of books and they throw a lot of them out because they are always getting new books in. I always see trashy 80s novels, though you might have a harder time finding true crime specifically. If you find a few good books in one place, go back every couple of weeks and you will likely find more.
posted by soelo at 2:35 PM on October 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

I suspect your best bet is going to be a used bookstore - not, like, the higher end kind of used bookstore but more the paperback traders - or a thrift store.
posted by mygothlaundry at 2:37 PM on October 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

You could also ask your local librarians. They may not have any in their collection (although they might!), but they might know where you could find some.
posted by kristi at 2:44 PM on October 2, 2023

And I don’t want to live this life by Deborah Spungeon, mother of Nancy. True classic of the true crime genre. Much more to it then a sensationalist cash-in.
posted by einekleine at 2:47 PM on October 2, 2023 [6 favorites]

The site paperbackswap.com lets you search with pub date parameters.
posted by calgirl at 3:11 PM on October 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Try a search for books about Paul Bernardo.
posted by antiquated at 3:21 PM on October 2, 2023

Classic True Crime Book Covers (not all from 80s and 90s)
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:52 PM on October 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Try:

Bitter Blood: A True Story of Southern Family Pride, Madness, and Multiple Murder By Jerry Bledsoe

The Search for the Green River Killer by Carlton Smith

Son by Jack Olsen

I’ve read all of these. They have varying levels of quality, but I used to be really into these kinds of books.
posted by SomethinsWrong at 5:21 PM on October 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

The first one I listed is largely about crimes committed by a woman. Sorry, didn’t see that specification in your request until just now.

+1 to the Deborah Spungen book. I was obsessed with that book.
posted by SomethinsWrong at 5:26 PM on October 2, 2023

John D McDonald will be represented at your library, maybe at archive.org. Great trashy fun. Covers were not terribly lurid. The paper is yellow because it's cheap paper that has sulfur in it, and decomposes relatively promptly; it generates that old bookstore smell as it does that. The hard middle page was often an ad, usually for more trashy books, maybe for magazines.

As a kid, we often went to Readmor for magazines, comics and mass market books. They had some taller magazine cases that hid the covers - very trashy porn. I was so used to the name it took ages to parse it.
posted by theora55 at 7:10 PM on October 2, 2023

Mickey Spillane is the name that comes to my mind.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:24 AM on October 3, 2023

Maybe the "Mack Bolan" adventures?
posted by kschang at 7:50 PM on October 3, 2023

Response by poster: Thanks, y'all! The Classic True Crime Book Covers has given me just the kind of thing I was looking for. This weekend, I'm also hoping to get to a store that's likely to have them --
posted by Countess Elena at 6:48 AM on October 4, 2023 [1 favorite]