Admittedly, it’s a compelling image. What’s more attention grabbing and fitting for a macabre tale than the image of a human skull? Yet, it’s an understatement to say it was an overused concept, with an endless number of paperbacks using the trope. What was once compelling, soon became tired. Let’s look at just the tip of the bony iceberg…
Well, I think you get the picture. If there was a horror anthology or slightly macabre story to be published – the book jacket designers basically just said, “slap a skull on it.”