It’s a lesser known fact that the controversial founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, was also a prolific writer of Pulp Fiction novels in the first part of the last century and that these novels are now enjoying something of a revivalist popularity. Written in the style that reflects the “Golden Age” of Hollywood and comic books: lots of “gee-whizz” and “grand fellas”, there is plenty of retro charm in the high-jinks and hullaballoo of the Boys Own type stories.You can find his books in Hall 5 of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) at Expo Center until November 14, among millions ofbook covers,as their stall stands out for its Pulp Fiction branding with glaring yellow and red classic thriller covers.L. Ron Hubbard had 19 New York Times bestsellers with these penny-a-word stories, and his publishers claim he has 230 million copies of works in circulation, that’s some royalties. Who can resist lines such as, “The smell of moist earth mingled with the perfumes of the Undertakers.
The stench of the grave!” Sending chills down your spine yet? That is Pulp Fiction at its finest. “He was one of the most prolific and popular writers of the 1930s and 1940s,” said Claude Sandoz, senior VP at the publishing house that sells Hubbard’s work. “Hubbard wrote fantasy and suspense with a lot of American influence in the language. They were for everyday entertainment in the time before everyone had a TV or radio and were sold for 10 cents a pop. There is a part of history in the pulp genres, these are timeless and original stories and we have millions of buyers aging from 9 to 99 the world over.” Hubbard wrote stories of space crafts and aliens, chilling murders mysteries with sharp investigators and beautiful women, and the streets of swanky New York to wild Texas. The University Hatchet and the pulp magazine “Thrilling Adventure” were the first to publish one of his short stories, in February 1934. Over the next six years, magazines published around 140 of his short storiesunder a variety of pen names.The Pulp magazines were famous in first half of the 20th century; printed on cheap "pulp" paper they published fantastic fictional stories for general mass entertainment. The magazines specialized in genre tales and as time passed, pulp writers learned to fuse genres which created a host of sub-genres. This fusion of traditional mysteries with crime stories, detective fiction, and adventures tales opened the floodgates for magazines.
The low price of the pulp magazine, coupled with the skyrocketing literacy rates, all contributed to the success of the medium. Pulps allowed its readers to experience people, places, and action they normally would not have access to.The L Ron Hubbard stand features around 40 titles and all stories come in either book form or audio CD. Sandoz says that people have been buying both, listening to the CD as they read the books in order to improve their English. “The sound effects are just like the Hollywood movies and you can feel what you read. These stories if listened to while reading the books can also strengthen your vocabulary and help you understand American local dialects.”With catchy titles such as “Dead Men Kill” and “Branded Outlaw” who can resist them.