This unusual example of a science fiction themed menace pulp illustration by the talented artist Lawrence Sterne Stevens was created as cover art for the July 1948 issue of Fantastic Novels. Renowned for his grotesque imaginative horror art, and often compared to contemporary Virgil Finlay, Stevens was named after his father--a deeply religious preacher--and signed much of his work simply as Lawrence and some, such as this example, not at all. Stevens did not directly focus on Christian symbolism within his work, but the deftness with which he explored taboos and the nature of good and evil attest to an upbringing steeped in the metaphor and imagery of the church. In this work, which is widely considered one of his best and which even graced the cover of an early pulp fanzine due to its perennial popularity, Stevens shows an alien with lustful eyes menacing a sleeping beauty. Evoking the supernatural and cultural fears of miscegenation, this is a masterpiece of pulp cover art.
