Giant Termite Menaces Shrunken Humans – Astounding Stories June 1932
A monstrous termite towers over two desperate, loincloth-clad humans cowering among enormous tropical leaves in this pulse-pounding pulp cover. The shrunken protagonists clutch each other as the chitinous, multi-legged insect looms from the upper right, its segmented body rendered in earthy browns against a vivid blue-green background. Illustrating Paul Ernst's 'The Raid on the Termites,' this cover perfectly captures the Golden Age pulp obsession with miniaturization, survival horror, and humanity at nature's terrifying mercy.
Peak shrink-ray nightmare fuel — two barely-clothed humans about to become termite chow amid leaves the size of billboards. Ernst's premise is gloriously absurd and the cover artist delivers every ounce of chitinous dread it deserves.
“ASTOUNDING STORIES 20¢ JUNE A CLAYTON MAGAZINE THE RAID ON THE TERMITES By PAUL ERNST And TWO THOUSAND MILES BELOW An Amazing New Mid-Earth Novel By CHARLES WILLARD DIFFIN”
