Deck Review: Pulp Tarot

Todd Alcott, The Pulp Tarot. 2022.  (Link to original Kickstarter page. Do note by now this deck is available in various retail establishments. I found my copy at Half Price Books, for instance, brand new. You can probably find it on the Big A if you must).

Genre: Tarot and cartomancy decks

Subgenre: Pulp art and literature

Format: small box with 78-card deck and little white book. 

Source: I own this one.

The High Priestess-II card

This is a fun Tarot deck with cards done in a pulp illustration style. This kit includes 78 cards and a little white book (LWB) in a nice small hard box. 

The LWB has 47 pages, and the text is written in English. The LWB is arranged as follows: 

• How an oracle works. This is a short introduction on how an oracle, including Tarot, can work. 
• The Pulp Tarot. A bit on why and how the author decided on the pulp concept. 
• The Major Arcana. Each card gets about a paragraph for meaning and interpretation.
• The Minor Arcana start right after the last Major Arcana card. 
• A note on process. The author describes a bit on how the deck was made and sources for the images. If you like learning how a deck is made, this may be of interest.
• Acknowledgements. 

The LWB is simple and very basic. The card entries provide some card description combined with an interpretation. The meanings fall within traditional meanings, but they also draw a bit on the pulp imagery. No deep esoteric concepts here. The text overall is easy to read, informative, and plain. You could read the cards without the LWB, but I suggest reading it to see how the author interprets the cards in terms of pulp art and literature. I found the meanings useful; they give some interesting lessons for reading the cards, a new way to look at the cards. 

Ten of Pentacles card

The cards are great, and all cards are fully illustrated. For the most part, the images fall within Rider Waite Smith (RWS) tradition. This is not an RWS clone. The art features elements and symbols from RWS within the pulp art. The result is a set of cards that is easy to read and use, and it's fun as well. The art is bright and colorful. The pulp art draws from a variety of sources including magazines, novels, and vintage advertisements. Even if you do not do cartomancy, these cards are a pleasure to view. They could be a good gift for folks who enjoy pulp works and art. 

If you do practice cartomancy, this is a very good deck to use. The images are clear and relatively straightforward. If you read within RWS. this can be an easy deck to use. If you just read intuitively, the art is clear, colorful, and expressive. The art can be serious, but it can also be playful. When I first used it, I found the deck can provide solid and strong messages. It can provide new insights into readings. I felt I learned  some new ways to interpret the cards using this deck. 

This can also be a good deck for folks who like the RWS system but not the original RWS art. It can also be good for beginners given its accessible art. However, beginners may want to add a basic Tarot reference book to supplement the LWB. Fans of pulp art may want to add this to their collections. 

The cards measure about 4 3/4 inches by 2 3/4 inches. The card back is reversible. Card stock is flexible, and it feels durable. The cards have a very soft gloss, so they slide easily when shuffling. 

Overall, I really like this deck. It's one I would use to read for others. I highly recommend it, and I would happily give it as a gift to others. For me, it is a deck I would buy a second back up copy; I would not want to be without it. 

5 out of 5 stars. 

Note: two decks that may have a similar appeal, both from Quirk Books, are the Zombie Tarot and the Housewives Tarot.