The Spicy Pulps
» Pulp Magazines
The original Spicy Stories - like the more famous Black Mask - was created by H.L. Mencken (one of my heroes) as a means of funding the more literary Smart Set. After he sold the pulp the new publisher (seeking synergy from sin I guess) created multiple Spicy titles.
May 1935
I've read a few stories from the old Spicy pulps and they are downright risible. A man sees a woman - often she is an exploitative vamp (sort of a bad dominatrix without kink), occasionally so pure you want to kick her - but whatever she's like his blood starts to sizzle, his heart acquires a boogie woogie beat and he just goes plain crazy and does something stupid and self-destructive because he's drunk on lust.
A suggestion that the moonlight afforded a glimpse through her (inevitably) gauzy gown of part of her (inevitably) milk white skin was about as spicy as it got. At least on the inside. Some of the covers were pretty neat.
