Earle Bergey's Dark World Cover, Startling Stories Summer 1946

This is the Summer 1946 cover of Startling Stories, a flagship Thrilling Publications pulp magazine, painted by prolific cover artist Earle Bergey. The illustration depicts a fiery red-haired woman in a green midriff-baring outfit and boots, clutching a ray gun while entwined by a monstrous dark tentacled creature, facing a crouching man in a red uniform who reaches toward a fallen weapon — a scene tied to Henry Kuttner's fantasy novel 'The Dark World.'