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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

There are eleven signatures and only nine people pictured (and one of them is presumably Helen Ford), so it isn't a guarantee Woolrich is in there, but that MIGHT be him, second from the left?

The isolated pic from the listing, as described above (eight men in drag, etc.). If you zoom in, the fella second from the left looks skinny enough to be Woolrich, and the facial structure rather resembles his, but it's hard to say for certain.

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Well, this was not something I expected to find. #CornellWoolrich www.ebay.com/itm/14512035...

A screencap of an eBay listing titled "CORNELL WOOLRICH—SIGNED SCHOOL DRAG PHOTO-HITCHCOCK REAR WINDOW+BRIDE WORE BLACK" (it's a program for the 1926 Columbia Varsity Show, "His Majesty, the Queen"). The picture from said program is captioned "Helen Ford Completes the Pony Ballet," and shows eight young white men in drag (with one white woman, presumably Helen Ford, in the middle), all performing a kick line on stage. Of the eleven signatures surrounding the photo, Cornell Woolrich's is one of them.

The price is $3,195.49 (or best offer), plus $6.00 shipping.

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Taking another look at this (April 1939) issue of COMPLETE LOVE, and can't help but notice the way it advertises "NO SERIALS!"—much the way modern #romance authors assure "no cliffhanger[s]!" in book descriptions. Fascinating to think this has been an issue for ~100 years. #pulp #romancelandia

Said cover (artist unknown). Against a dark blue background, it's a close-up of a blonde white woman and a brown-haired white man in a romantic embrace. She's turned mostly to "camera," while he's got his lips close to her cheek, and his hand around her shoulder. The upper right corner advertises "ALL STORIES COMPLETE!" and "NO SERIALS!"

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

In case you missed it, I read Cornell Woolrich's 1938 sci-fi/horror novella "Jane Brown's Body" yesterday. Formal review pending? (We'll see—I have some other stuff to take care of in the next few days.) #pulp

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Indeed! I tried to swing around to the other side for a better pic, and it blew (flew) away! THE NERVE! 😂

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

There are a lot of leaves falling to the ground as of late, but this one struck me as unusual on today's morning walk. 🤔

A very green katydid, throwing quite a dramatic shadow on some white cement.

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Oh, yeah—*very* TERF-adjacent. And (in the case of what I saw in fandom, at least) very wrapped up in internalized misogyny—i.e. demonizing canon female love-interests because they got "in the way" of the fan's pet slash pairing.

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

It's a sentiment/vibe I've def come across, in both romance & fandom. I suspect it ties into the (inaccurate & ultimately harmful) idea that men (even gay men) don't belong in female spaces—that m/m romance is AKSHUALLY for (het) women the same way lesbian porn has traditionally been for (het) men.

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Ooh, turns out the story was adapted for the (small) screen in 1968, as an episode of JOURNEY TO THE UNKNOWN. Will be neat to see how it compares to the source material.

m.youtube.com

Journey to the Unknown: Jane Brown's Body

YouTube video by Retro Classics

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Anyway, if "Vampire's Honeymoon" was Woolrich's take on DRACULA/vampires, then "Jane Brown's Body" is arguably his take on FRANKENSTEIN/zombies. Definitely not my favorite (nor even as entertainingly campy as "Vampire's Honeymoon," pfft), but there are still a few interesting things going on here.

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I don't actually think it's what Woolrich was going for, but one COULD interpret all of this as a metaphor for terminal illness.

O'Shaughnessy's bony hands claw at Denholt's shoulders. "But you can't mean that she's got to die. That there isn't anything you with your knowledge or I with my love can do for her anything at all—?" Something, like a cold hand, closes his throat. Something else, like little needles, pricks his eyes until the lashes are moistened. Nova, standing there motionless, slowly droops her head.

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I've been pretty "meh ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯" about the hero so far, but finding out that he's learned enough Chinese to at least conversationally get around DOES raise my opinion of him a bit. #GoodOnYouBuddy

O'Shaughnessy says in Chinese, "I could not wound your generosity by refusing." Then in English, "Carry your hat in your hand leaving here, so your face can be seen clearly."

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I do like this back-and-forth, and especially like the fact that the Asian character gets some snappy dialogue. (Also, no stereotypical pidgin English. 👍)

The tremblingly upraised arms are the first things they see. And the empty background behind the solitary figure. O'Shaughnessy takes a step backward, propelling her with him, not in retreat but to give himself elbow-room.

The face is Oriental, Chinese. Spectacles and close-cropped hair. Hat fallen off just now at the unexpected welcome.

O'Shaughnessy: "This is the place you wanted?"

"Yes, if you will permit me to mop my forehead—"

"You warm?"

"No, but my reception was."

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Please, someone start a riot grrrl (or else ska?) band and call it "Machine-Gun Madonna." #raspberry #commonlyknownas

"The wren would come in handy for a guide—did you ever think of contacting her?" he says thoughtfully.

"Did we think?" scoffs the other. "His cell door wasn't closed behind him yet before we started to put on the pressure. Well we put it on too heavy. We had her figured all wrong. It just happens she was one of those innocent babes, hadn't known what it was all about until the lid blew off—musta thought he made his dough in stocks and bonds or something."

O'Shaughnessy makes that derisive sound with his lips commonly known as the raspberry.

"No, that's what we thought too," Tereshko assures him, "but it was on the level. He used to tell us everything was on the up-and-up between them—you know what I mean, and she wasn't really his moll.... He called her his madonna—"

"Machine-gun madonna," chuckles O'Shaughnessy.

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

"But death must be burned out and new life infused at molten heat, for this is not biological birth—but pure chemistry." —Cornell Woolrich, "Jane Brown's Body"

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

In an attempt to be seasonally appropriate, I'm finally reading "Jane Brown's Body" by Cornell Woolrich (originally from ALL-AMERICAN FICTION, March/April 1938), and it's giving me quite a few RE-ANIMATOR (1985) vibes. 🤔 #pulp #horror

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

And here's me bringing back a poem from the same issue! #pulp #poetry #romance #halloween

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Shelf Love Podcast @shelflove.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Elaine Gignilliat’s romance covers are lush, dramatic, and incredibly sexy. In the latest episode, Elaine’s daughter Laura Sawyer shares how her mother created these covers, the research and craft behind them, and the very specific kind of sensuality she was trying to capture. #romancelandia

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I have not yet read "True Lovers' Night" (by Barbara Bliss), but I did read Madeleine Sharps Buchanan's "The Love Island" last month, and did a short live-blog of it here. It was highly entertaining!

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Bringing this back from last year—a favorite October/Halloween cover. #pulp #romance #romancelandia

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Always love a new essay from The Loose Cravat. ❤️ #romance

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

This whole thread, but perhaps especially this: "Stop pretending people being depressed and breaking up (or 'discovering reality') is more innovative than people navigating human relationships and love."

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Flashbacks to when I was in my early twenties (so I wasn't even that old!), and I heard Elvis Costello on the local oldies station. I might have stared off into space for a couple horrified minutes.

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Jess Nevins @jessnevins.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This is my version of the Tom Holland "Umbrella" video--I have to repost it every time I see it here.

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Pro: Did not get whistled at at the actual funeral! Con: Said funeral hit me a bit harder than I expected it to (which is saying something, since I did indeed expect it to hit me pretty hard)!

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

AHH, thank you for the kind words and the share!

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JudithFlanders @judithflanders.co.uk · 02/10/2026

Important archival thread.

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Pretty sure I got whistled at, walking into a funeral home. Which…was certainly a Choice™ on the whistler's part.

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Actually part *5* of the series, but yeah. 😅 #pulp #romance #romancelandia

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Actually part *5* of the series, but yeah. 😅 #pulp #romance #romancelandia

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I'm usually gluten-free for my S.O.'s sake, but every now and then I'll indulge in it a bit, and omg, yes.

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Happy to report my newsletter, at least, is going out on time! (Click through for obligatory link, in case you have not subscribed. /plug) Actual replies to people/messages will come next. 🙃

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Pardon my brain-fart—that's supposed to read "part 5"!!! 🙃

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

New vintage article! Part 4 of Willard E. Hawkins' series on the #romance pulps, with "The Reaction" (AUTHOR & JOURNALIST, June 1943)—that is, how the hero and heroine react to each other after their initial meeting. Can you recognize these core rxns in romance novels today? #pulp #romancelandia

lucynka.wordpress.com

Vintage Article: “The Student Writer—The Reaction”

Circumstances (getting back to work on my Jane Littell collection, along with some Real Life stuff) mean that I’ve been unable to knock out a review this month, but there’s just enough time for a v…

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I know in my last newsletter I said I was hoping to (finally) have another pulp story to share in digital format, but…uh…yeah, circumstances have intervened and that's not going to happen. We'll see if I can even get my newsletter out on time this month.

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Those last lines, though. ❤️

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Back home, and it feels good, but I do miss a walkable city.

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Found a place that can make a Last Word with real chartreuse, now so tipsy, omg. Will I regret tonight and/or this post? Yet to be seen.

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Day four of the migraine. 🫩🫩🫩 Though today, at least, it feels like it's tension-related (due to imminent travel), so hopefully once I get to my destination, it lets up.

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Frankie Frankenstein @friendfrankenstein.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

gonna start tricking all the new Coyote/Roadrunner shippers into watching Lupin the Third. come closer. come closer it's Literally The Same Dynamic just the roadrunners french. come closer.

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Day three of this migraine, and I'm getting REALLY fucking sick of it… 🫩 My only consolation is they tend to finally lift after three days (though they have, on a rare occasion, been known to last four).

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Lucynka @lucynka.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

This is so amazing (to say the least)! Out of curiosity, are you at all familiar with the Tiny Pricks Project? Because your quilt is thematically right up there with it!

tinypricksproject.com

Tiny Pricks Project – Creating a material record of Donald Trump's presidency

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