Pulp Fiction, 1943 · page 83 of 100
12 Sports Aces, May 1943 — page 83: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Mat Monster Analysis This is a story page from an early pulp magazine, featuring prose fiction with an accompanying illustration at the top. The story, "Mat Monster" by Norman Talley, concerns Stan Kalakowski, a heavily scarred war veteran nicknamed "The Gargoyle" who is apparently a professional wrestler. The visible text introduces Stan walking through a snowy street, where a newspaper dealer recognizes his disfigured face with fear, and neighborhood boys taunt him before hitting him with a snowball. The subtitle promises a plot about Stan refusing a fixed wrestling match despite pressure from those who underestimate his toughness.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Mat Monster By Norman Talley They calied Stan “The Gargoyle” because of his war scars. But when they tried to get him to accept a back-crushing mat defeat, they forgot that a man who could break a Nazi death grip wen’t flinch from a wresiling erook’s hammerlock. the stweet, his big buik swaying like a ponderous hear. His hamlike hands hung wear his knees, his broad shoulders took up half the sidewalk. He stopped at the corner for a news- paper. The dealer flapped the snow off a top paper and thrust it at him. Stan ex- tended a coin. The dealer reached for it, looked wp and his eyes went wide. “The Gangoyle!”’ he whispered. Stan’s face split. Stumps of teeth pro- truded from his gums. The horrible mass of wrinkles and scars on his twisted face crinkled mto a leer. The newsdealer h2SA Se KALABKOWSKI ambled down quickly busied himself at the far end of the stand. Stan shrugged. He dropped the coin on the papers and kept moving, A gang of boys were having a Solomons battle all of their own across the street. They spied Stan. The raging snowball battle came to a halt. The beys stared at Stan. One of them stuck out his tongue and shouted, “Yah, Gargoyle! I hope you get the rest of your face pushed in tonight!” Stan grimaced and waved his hand. The boys mistook it for a challenge. One of them pitched an icy snowball. His aim was good. It splatted against Stan’s jaw. S (E@) Gomichboo a §, , a, EL paket le ia | \ gi ON yf « 9 A aad Wr doth he (Whe A ACOA CA t) *