Now Shipping: SLEAZE ALLEY Volume 1 by Peter Enfantino in FULL COLOR!

Cimarron Street Books is pleased to bring you the first volume of Peter Enfantino's Sleaze Alley: The Annotated Guide to Vintage Sleaze Paperbacks!

STEP RIGHT UP . . .

. . . and take a look at the offerings we keep hidden under the counter. Sleaze Alley is where you come to find the best of the illicit, the gold nuggets amongst the most depraved fiction of the 1960s. Looking for Lesbians? Devil Worshippers? Serial Killers? Bad dudes just out for a good time? You’ve come to the right place. Peter Enfantino opens up his trench coat to share with you which titles from Greenleaf, Nightstand, Ember, and others are worth your time — and for those that aren’t, he offers a glimpse into how entertaining their purple prose can be. In this first volume, you’ll find reviews of nearly 100 titles from the golden age of the sleaze paperback — with every cover reproduced in full color! You’ll be treated to early work by Lawrence Block, Evan Hunter, Donald Westlake, and Robert Silverberg; sordid fiction that at least one of these men denied authorship of right to the grave. But you need a guide, one who’ll help you avoid stepping in something sticky. What are you waiting for? Step through the beaded curtain and discover what glory awaits you down . . .

. . . SLEAZE ALLEY!

The author refuses to be photographed without disguise. Adult fiction is not a genre to take lightly. There are risks. Peter Enfantino is sure the feds are following him (a guy who looked uncannily like J. Edgar came to the door the other night, supposedly selling aluminum siding); his family has received death threats (well, maybe not death, but the HOA called about the tree stump in the yard); and his house (literally) has bugs. When Enfantino is not drooling over his latest Greenleaf acquisition, he co-edits bare•bones and oversees the Sleaze Alley imprint. He is the author of The Manhunt Companion (Stark House Press), The Wild World of Two-Fisted Detective, Mystery and Terror Digests, The Wild World of Off Beat Detective, Crime and Sleaze Digests, and the forthcoming The Wild World of Guilty and Trapped. He lives in a sleaze alley in Gilbert, Arizona with a saucy broad named Paula.

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Sleaze Alley: The Annotated Guide to Vintage Sleaze Paperbacks Volume One by Peter Enfantino

Publication Date: January 9, 2025

Suggested Retail Price: $30

Full Color Trade Paperback - 148 pages

ISBN-13: 979-8304797788

Dimensions: 6 x 0.35 x 9 inches

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Now shipping: INCUBUS — Inside Leslie Stevens' Lost Horror Classic by David J. Schow

KEEP TELLING YOURSELF: IT’S ONLY A MOVIE 

In Black and White. In Esperanto.

IT’S ONLY A MOVIE . . .

Featuring William Shatner, and shot by Academy Award winner Conrad Hall.

IT’S ONLY A MOVIE . . .

It’s only one of the weirdest movies ever made — by the man who created TV’s The Outer Limits.

IT’S ONLY . . . INCUBUS.

The God of Darkness compels you!

Cimarron Street Books proudly brings you the latest non-fiction exploration from David J. Schow, author of The Outer Limits Companion, delivering everything you never knew you needed to know about Incubus (1966), including dozens of photos and two complete scripts!'

Take a peek inside — if you dare!

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INCUBUS: Inside Leslie Stevens' Lost Horror Classic by David J. Schow

Publication Date: January 1, 2025

Suggested Retail Price: $25

Trade Paperback - 264 pages

ISBN-13: 979-8321607169

Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches

INCUBUS: Inside Leslie Stevens' Lost Horror Classic by David J. Schow

Publication Date: January 7, 2025

Suggested Retail Price: $35

Hardcover - 264 pages

ISBN-13: 979-8304368865

Dimensions: 6 x 0.79 x 9 inches

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Now shipping: Wrecks & Violets by Mehitobel WIlson

Cimarron Street Books is pleased to bring you Wrecks & Violets — Mehitobel Wilson’s newest and biggest collection of flammable short fiction. She’s been doing this since 1998 and it’s time you caught up with her singular voice, pinpoint prose, caustic ways and devilish imagination. Be prepared to be caught unaware. As Bel says, “It’s unnerving when one’s reptile brain has something to say, especially when it whispers secret truths.”

Illustrated by Erik Wilson, with an Introduction by Brian Keene.

Praise for Mehitobel Wilson:

Caustic, classic, classy, nasty, elegant, relevant post-punk horror for people who give a shit.

— China Miéville, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the British Fantasy Award.

Think of Bel Wilson as a Ralph Ellison or a J.D. Salinger of horror. With mere words she chisels art out of darkness, and manipulates prose the way Munch, Bosch, and Goya manipulated brush strokes. Her exceptional skills couldn’t be better exemplified than in Last Night at the Blue Alice, likely the most intriguing and original horror-fantasy book I’ve ever seen, and Dangerous Red is purely and simply one of the five best horror collections I’ve ever read in my fuckin' life.

— Edward Lee, author of The Bighead, Header and The Dunwich Romance

Bel writes dark but she writes from the heart. You won’t find any cliches here. you’ll find clean lines, tight work, and somebody who gives a damn about you. Meanwhile, you will be scared.

— Jack Ketchum, author of Off Season and The Girl Next Door

Mehitobel Wilson (no relation) doesn’t write nearly enough, so something new from her is a cause for celebration. “Last Night at the Blue Alice” reveals a writer in full control of her considerable talents. The unique premise lifts it far above other tales of hauntings as each character comes alive on the page and pulls you in. Do not miss this.

— F. Paul Wilson

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Wrecks & Violets by Mehitobel Wilson

Publication Date: December 17, 2024

Suggested Retail Price: $17.95

Trade Paperback - 386 pages

ISBN-13: 979-8871029732

Dimensions: 6 x 0.97 x 9 inches

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Now shipping: bare•bones #20

 

INSIDE THIS SUPER-SIZED 20th ISSUE SPECTACULAR YOU WILL FIND:

• William Schoell turns on the lights and sirens for Code 3
• A look at the Doomed Professional in film by Larry Blamire
• J. Charles Burwell on Steve Frazee’s vision of the west
• Joseph Wambaugh on screen by Derek Hill
• Jack Seabrook untangles the lost TV show, The Web
• The Weird Tales of Not at Night by Stefan Dziemianowicz
• Tim Lucas explores the crime quickies of Montgomery Tully
• More Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine coverage by Richard Krauss
• Duane Swierczynski spotlights Robert Edmond Alter in his Field Guide to L.A. Pulp
• Night of the Living Dead and more, as seen on Bay Area TV by John Scoleri
• Peter Enfantino is back in Sleaze Alley
• The Search for New Grails in David J. Schow’s R&D column

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bare•bones #20 - Fall 2024

Publication Date: November 19, 2024

Suggested Retail Price: $14.95

Trade Paperback - 154 pages

ISBN-13: 979-8343571752

Dimensions: 6 x 0.39 x 9 inches

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Now shipping: bare•bones #19

Inside the nineteenth issue of bare•bones, you will find:

• Going up river with Yancy Derringer, rebel with a cause, by William Schoell
• Bryan Kuriawa investigates the alien invaders of W. Lee Wilder
• A round-up of the weird western episodes of Rawhide by Larry Blamire
• Matthew R. Bradley checks into Casino Royale — on page and screen
• Pre-Code Horror in Adventures Into Weird Worlds explored by Peter Enfantino
• Richard Krauss on a fistful of Mike Shayne’s Mystery Magazine
• Three classic noir reads in Duane Swierczynski’s Field Guide to American Pulp
• Robert Deveau on the Belmont Shadows of Dennis Lynds
• How much filth lines Sleaze Alley? Only Peter Enfantino knows for sure
• David J. Schow on the trail of Jack the Ripper in his latest R&D column
• Find out which Monster is considered an Old Maid in John Scoleri’s Monster Gallery

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bare•bones #19 - Summer 2024

Publication Date: August 18, 2024

Suggested Retail Price: $9.95

Trade Paperback - 112 pages

ISBN-13: 979-8333860125

Dimensions: 6 x 0.28 x 9 inches

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Now shipping: bare•bones #18

Inside the eighteenth issue of bare•bones, you will find:

• William Schoell tunes into Science Fiction Theatre
• An overlooked classic, No Grave for Us, reviewed by Bryan Kuriawa
• Larry Blamire hits the front lines to experience Combat first hand
• Curt Siodmak and His Dr. Patrick Cory Trilogy celebrated by Matthew R. Bradley
• Peter Enfantino highlights the best of Pre-Code Horror in Adventures Into Terror
• The Big Caper and Alfred Hitchcock Presents examined by Jack Seabrook
• Peter Enfantino delivers another Six-Pack of Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine
• It’s time for destination: Quentin Tarantino in Duane Swierczynski’s Field Guide to L.A. Pulp
• S. Craig Zahler reviews some LitRPG . . . and more
• Can you stand to see what Peter Enfantino has uncovered in Sleaze Alley?
• Our very own David J. Schow portrayed Freddy Krueger — read all about it!
• In space, no one can hear styrene, in John Scoleri’s Monster Gallery

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bare•bones #18 - Spring 2024

Publication Date: May 27, 2024

Suggested Retail Price: $9.95

Trade Paperback - 108 pages

ISBN-13: 979-8323398935

Dimensions: 6 x 0.27 x 9 inches

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Now shipping: The Wild World of Off Beat Detective, Crime and Sleaze Digests by Peter Enfantino

Once upon a time, magazine racks overflowed with crime fiction. For thirty-five cents you could lose yourself in another world for a couple of hours while riding the train back home from your office, or sitting on the beach, or enjoying a bit of quiet time while the brats napped. The ‘50s and ‘60s were decades ripe for violent escapism in the digests, and Manhunt, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine each sold thousands of copies every month. 

But what if you were the kind of reader who wanted something a little naughtier; a little more taboo; a little more dangerous? You’d have to kneel down and look at the bottom row, way in the back behind the Farmer’s Almanac and Fate, to find such jewels as Justice, Keyhole Mystery, Keyhole Detective, Sure Fire Detective, and Off Beat Detective.

Crammed cover-to-cover with feuding JDs, greedy wives, adulterous husbands, and serial killers, the ‘sleaze’ crime digests were an acquired taste, and a bitter pill for the traditional mystery fan to swallow. Combining elements of Black Mask and Dime Mystery, the sleaze digests spit in the face of the old fuddy-duddies and dared readers to try something different.

Within these digests, you’ll make acquaintance with: a morally bankrupt high school teacher who impregnates one of his teenage students; the beautiful Renfreda, who’s being chased through the swamp by an evil marijuana harvester; the gorgeous Peggy Ann, who may be the notorious Ice Pick Murderer; the brave small-town reporter who investigates a local cult and risks her life (and her clothes) for a good story; the printer who unknowingly becomes a publisher of smut; and a young couple who discover their neighbors are Satan worshippers.

The Wild World of Off Beat Detective, Crime and Sleaze Digests is the second volume of a continuing series, in which Peter Enfantino breaks down each and every story that appeared in the pages of these five legendary titles. Now rare and fetching exorbitant prices on the secondary market, these magazines contained some of the most chilling and daring crime stories published at that time. So which issues are worth your hard-earned dollars? Open this book and find out!

Peter Enfantino is the author of The Manhunt Companion (Stark House Press), an exhaustive story-by-story discussion of the greatest crime magazine of all time. He was an editor of The Scream Factory (1988 - 1997) and bare•bones (1997 - 2001, 2020 - present). He is an obsessive collector of crime, horror, and western digests, and has written for all the major channels on the topics, including Paperback Parade, Mystery Scene, and The Digest Enthusiast. He lives in a sleaze alley known as Gilbert, Arizona.

Praise for The Manhunt Companion:

The story annotations are concise and well-written, and reflect a consistent critical standard . . . Enfantino is a tough, sometimes idiosyncratic critic.

— Jon L. Breen, Mystery Scene

The Manhunt Companion is not only a must for readers and collectors of the magazine, but for anyone interested in cutting-edge noir fiction of the 50s and early 60s.

— Bill Pronzini

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The Wild World of Off Beat Detective, Crime and Sleaze Digests by Peter Enfantino

Publication Date: May 16, 2023

Suggested Retail Price: $14.95

Trade Paperback - 178 pages

ISBN-13: 979-8324517861

Dimensions: 6 x 0.45 x 9 inches

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