FANTASTIC MYSTERIES COVER

(Concept for pulp magazine / book of short stories). 2025

This painting was done as a speculative concept for a proposed book comprising a collection of classic/pulpy Sci-fF and Mystery Tales. The idea was a classic pulp book or magazine cover in the vein of the sci-fi, film noir inspired crime stories of the 1940s and 50s and Saturday morning serials. Republic Pictures was the king of hill in the 1940s and 50s, so a promotional tie-in suggests some authenticity.

The painting infuses several ideas and is intentionally open to several interpretations as to what is going on.

An in-joke is the name of the safe - GAINES - named after William Gaines, the creator of the classic horror/thriller comic-book ‘Takes from the Crypt’.