Pulp fiction has moved from cheap paper to Kindles, but most people still love the sensational covers pulp fiction had. Some shops like Pulp The Classics even issue new pulp-ified copies of literary favorites.

But pulp fiction wasn’t meant to be kitsch—it was meant to sell. That makes for some unusual bedfellows with a few literary classics. You won’t believe which works were given pulp covers to move them off shelves. These aren’t retro remakes—they’re real covers that were used to sell sensational books.

1. The Great Gatsby

When Alan Ladd starred in a 1949 adaptation of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, there was a movie tie-in done in true pulp fashion.

2. The Catcher In The Rye

Salinger’s classic looks good in this painterly cover.

3. A Farewell To Arms

That’s right—even Papa Hemingway couldn’t escape a pulpy cover.

4. The Adventures of Augie March

Saul Bellow’s lengthy classic would have stretched out a reader’s back pocket.

5. Heart Of Darkness

This cover makes Conrad look like a rip-roaring good time.

6. Brighton Rock

This cover makes Graham Greene’s novel look like more of a thriller than it was.

7. Sanctuary

William Faulkner, dime store novelist. (Though Sanctuary was a bit of a potboiler, Faulkner and pulp is always a stretch.)

8. Brave New World

In this version of Brave New World, the savage is buff.

9. 1984

This makes the famous 1984 Apple commercial look subtle.

10. All Quiet On The Western Front

This makes war look far too exciting.

11. The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

A thoughtful, meditative story of a small town? No, this version is fire and explosion-focused.

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