Claim OwnershipVigilante Crime and Pulp
Subscribed: 0Played: 15
Subscribe
© Vigilante Crime & Pulp
Description
24 Episodes
Reverse
Robert Bloch was best known for his novel Psycho, on which Alfred Hitchcock’s cinema masterpiece was based. However, he began as a teenage literary prodigy under the intense tutelage of weird fiction master H.P. Lovecraft. In this episode, we discuss those early stories, especially the debut collection The Opener of the Way.Don’t miss the first two books from the Vigilante imprint of Gutter Books LLC: The Vigilante Crime Pulp Fiction Anthology and Fast One by Paul Cain. Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
In honor of the launch of the hotly anticipated Vigilante Crime Pulp Fiction Anthology, we discuss the niche of short fiction, limited readership, value of the form, and one of its masters (Joe R. Lansdale). Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
In this episode, we begin with a discussion of whether reading is dead in the 21st century. Spoiler alert: it’s not! Next, we discuss horror master Stephen King’s 1980s body horror short story titled “Survivor Type.” I read this as a young teen and have been haunted ever since. You can read the story, and many other bangers, in King’s sophomore short story collection Skeleton Crew.Why miss a single post when it’s FREE to subscribe?Why are you letting your friends remain ignorant of this phenomenal publication? Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
A review (no spoilers) of the novel Ubik by Philip K. Dick. Was the legendary speculative fiction forefather suffering insane delusions or did his fiction capture the future of technology and its impact on our modern sense of reality? Plus: one star reviews are back!Pre-Order the first ever Vigilante Crime Pulp Fiction Anthology!It’s free to subscribe. What are you waiting for?Invite your friends to the cool kids’ table in the cafeteria: Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
A deeper dive into American weird fiction master Thomas Ligotti: his bleak philosophy, mental health, and the extreme despair of his frightening tales of cosmic horror and uncanny nightmare realities. This is the second installment of our special October 2025 Halloween series. Buy some books mentioned:THOMAS LIGOTTI The Conspiracy against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe Teatro Grottesco My Work Is Not Yet DoneROBERT W. CHAMBERSThe King In Yellow Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
From short pulp fiction to Hollywood screenplay machine, we discuss the career of Richard Matheson. He wrote 10% of the total episodes of Twilight Zone, invented the zombie genre, and got Steven Spielberg his start. Not bad for a working class typewriter jockey. Listen and learn how Matheson influenced Stephen King and even surpasses King as a top notch horror, speculative fiction, and weird fiction author. Buy books mentioned here: Richard Matheson, Stephen King, Charles Beaumont, Dean Wesley Smith’s Writing Into the Dark.Visit us at Vigilante Crime. Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
An exploration of the late great king of Philadelphia, David Goodis, and his even better contemporary, Jim Thompson. Parallel themes and parallel careers. A deep dive into these two bleak writers and their impact and influence today. LINKS to buy books mentioned in this episode: David Goodis, Jim Thompson, Frank Kidd. Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
David Lynch’s 1997 masterpiece Lost Highway deserves to be considered a neo-noir classic despite its unconventional elements of story, character, and audio-visual misdirection. Here we analyze and discuss how Lost Highway tells both a classic crime of passion murder story and a femme fatale narrative while exploring seemingly endless poignant themes, including lust, demonic influence, and the nature of reality itself. What is left in a man’s mind and soul when he steps too far into evil? Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
A discussion of masterful yet obscure literary noir author Scott Wolven, and his excellent short story collections, Controlled Burn and Hundred Proof. Why should every men's fiction and noir fan read Wolven? Listen to learn. Also discussed: the rise and fall of Barnes & Noble, new books from Vigilante, and Horror and Weird Fiction themed episodes coming this October! Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
Using B.R. Myers’s A Reader’s Manifesto (2002) as a starting point, we break down why the intractable purple prose of post-modern literary fiction is inferior to both classic literary fiction and commercial/pulp fiction. Why writing is meant for readers and not writers. In short, a lot of fun smack talk against snobs. Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
A review and discussion of Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025) starring Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey. The latest in the iconic series, inspired by Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel Jurassic Park, is a masterclass in using traditional pulp adventure sensibilities and updating them for contemporary times. Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
We discuss the life and writing style of the great James M. Cain, especially his 1934 masterpiece The Postman Always Rings Twice. We cover Cain’s minimalist prose, flirting with censorship boundaries, and how to say more with less. Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
We explore the broad and uncanny world of weird fiction, cosmic horror, and its progeny. A discussion of H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Robert W. Chambers and his King in Yellow mythos, Lord Dunsany, Algernon Blackwood, William Hope Hodgson, Stephen King (The Mist), Thomas Ligotti, True Detective, and so much more. Shoutouts to podcasts: The Lovecraft E-Zine Podcast, Elder Sign Podcast, and Weird Studies podcast. Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
This episode details my personal winding trail to discovering the excellence of pulp western fiction, from stumbling on to spaghetti western films to reading Louis L’Amour. The western will never die! Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
In this episode we review She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper. It’s a modern noir take on True Grit, featuring a memorable young lady with balls of steel and her convict father against a world a bad guys set on killing them and making it hurt. Stay tuned till the end for our popular One Star Reviews segment. Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
Alfred Hitchcock, one of the greatest and most influential film directors of the 20th century, brought noir and hardboiled pulp crime stories to a TV audience via his classic NBC series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (later The Alfred Hitchcock Hour). Hitchcock championed the work of short fiction greats like Robert Bloch (also the author of Psycho), Cornell Woolrich, and Patricia Highsmith. This episode reviews the ways Hitchcock’s television experiment influenced the crime genre for decades, and how he pushed the envelope every week. Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
This episode is an author spotlight on International Thriller Writers Award-winner James Scott Bell. We discuss Bell’s distinguished career as both a writing craft instructor to a generation of authors and entertainer of the literate masses, with a special focus on his high-action men’s adventure and modern pulp fiction series, Mike Romeo Thrillers. Oh yeah, and before he became a bestselling author he was a successful trial lawyer who’s appeared as an expert commentator on Good Morning America, CBS radio, and in Newsweek magazine during the O. J. Simpson murder trial.BUY A MIKE ROMEO THRILLER HERE! Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
On the strength of his early screenplays, Taylor Sheridan created Yellowstone for Paramount and the rest, as they say, is history. Beyond being simple one hit TV show, Yellowstone opened an intellectual property universe with prequels 1883 and 1923, as well as the forthcoming spinoff 6666 or The Four Sixes. We discuss what makes Sheridan’s neo westerns and historical westerns so captivating. Tulsa King, The Lioness, and Mayor of Kingstown are also mentioned. Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
Before Taylor Sheridan became a household name for creating and writing blockbuster TV series Yellowstone and its prequels 1883 and 1923, he wrote two of the greatest neo western/neo noir movies of the 21st century, Sicario and Hell or High Water. In this first of two episodes on Taylor Sheridan, we take a deep dive into the two early classics. Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
A review, analysis, and discussion of the blockbuster crime novel Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Listen to the end so you won’t miss hilarious one-star reviews of the legendary feminist thriller. Get full access to Vigilante Crime & Pulp at vigilantemag.substack.com/subscribe
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States