Collecting Crime and Other Things

There's a great post over at Criminal Element by Eric Beetner (here) about his love of collecting vintage film noir posters. They are absolutely fabulous and you can tell how he feels about the collection with passion dripping from every word in the post.  The beautiful photos of the pictures that hang from his walls that make me want to be invited over for a viewing (Hello? Eric?).

The thrill of the Ebay hunt is something I understand well.  Among other things, I collect old mystery paperbacks from the 1930s - 1960s. The crazier the title and the more dramatic the cover the better.  My favorite titles are now: The Lady is Afraid, The Evil Men Do and Handle with Fear.

There's a bit of rush when I find an untapped used book store full of old paperbacks. The books that retailed for 25 cents are always my favorites. We'll be featuring some of those covers in unexpected places on Sundays in our Pulp in the Wild feature for the rest of the year.

photo  by Janet Kuchler for Mystery Playground