From the late 1930s to the 1950s, L. Ron Hubbard wrote and published hundreds of stories in various pulp fiction magazines and now after six decades these timeless classic stories are being brought back to life by Galaxy Press Publishing.
In October of 1936, Hubbard's story, "Tomb of the Ten Thousand Dead" was released to avid pulp fiction enthusiasts. It is a story about Captain Gordon who is hired to fly a group of American anthropologists into a remote arid mountain region (which is now part of Pakistan bordering the Arabian Sea). This civil group, the Lancaster-Mallard Expedition, is bound by the common goal of obtaining scientific information but soon find themselves pitted against each other when the team finds an ancient map in an old pottery jar that is twenty three centuries old. It tells of a tomb built by "Alexander the Great" and the vast treasure he collected from their conquests in India. Buried there is not only the treasure but 10,000 Macedonian Soldiers. It is a tragic tale of these anthropologists falling prey to greed and their willingness to kill for the contents of the tomb. Captain Gordon will be lucky to make it out of the desert alive, with or without the treasure.
These collections of 153 stories in 80 volumes are being reproduced in their original format as a paper back with the beautifully done original pulp art work and inside illustrations. It also comes in a full-cast audio book with cinema quality music and sound enhancements. Reading the book is great but listening to the story on a cd gives a whole new dimension to the quality of the story that puts you smack in the middle of all the action. The audio book of "Tomb of the Ten Thousand Dead," features Josh R. Thompson and also stars R.F. Daley, Jim Meskimen, Ralph Lister, Joey Naber, Noelle North, Enn Reitel, Fred Tatasciore and Michael Yurchak. These actors breathe life into their characters and are worth listening to.
Included as a bonus is two more adventure stories; "Price of a Hat" and "Starch and Stripes" "Price of a Hat' was originally published March, 1936 tells of a Kubanka (a Russian fur hat) with a secret message stitched into its hatband. It cost the lives of six men in their many efforts to save the last Russian Czar, Nicholas II and his family.
"Starch and Stripes," was originally published January, 1936 and is a story that takes a humorous stab at the expense of the Marine Corps brass. A marine captain tries to capture a dangerous rebel leader, but just as the Marines are closing in on this villainous character, some U.S. senators and top brass decide it is time to inspect the base and decide on future funding for the marines.
Hubbard seems to have an ability to tell a timeless story with unique characters that are as fun to read today as it was in the 1930s. If you are not familiar with pulp fiction stories then it behoove you to explore the writings from that era. Many great writers came from the pulp era such as H.P. Lovecraft, Lester Dent, Agatha Christi, Raymond Chandler etc. all of whom contributed to what is fondly referred to as "The Golden Age of Pulp Fiction" and Hubbard is a part of that alumni.
Fred Duckworth is working to reintroduce Stories from the Golden Age, a line of 80 books and multi-cast, unabridged audio books, featuring 153 stories written by L. Ron Hubbard in the 1930s and 1940s. Click here to view the "Spy Killer trailer; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpqUD5tiTZo&feature=youtu.be
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