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The phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” sounds nice on paper, but if everyone actually followed it, publishers wouldn’t spend so much time and money creating them. And that’s not something we, the readers, want.
The subreddit ‘Terrible Book Covers’ is dedicated to finding the thoughtless, poorly executed, or otherwise baffling designs that were eventually greenlit and sent to print. Turns out, there’s no shortage of them.
We put together some of our recent favorites from the community that got our attention—albeit for all the wrong reasons—and invite you to take a look as well.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Your Erroneous Zones By Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
RELATED:
#2
Emma By Jane Austen
#3
Animal Farm By George Orwell
#5
Recipes For Romance By I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!
#6
Little Women By Louisa May Alcott
#8
Make Way For Dragons By Thorarinn Gunnarsson
Beak Hookage 2 hours ago
Well that's the most aggressively 90s thing I've seen in a long time.
#9
Jurassic Park By Michael Crichton
#10
The Old Man And The Sea
#11
We Like Kindergarten
#12
Self-Defence For Women
August West 2 hours ago
I'm feeling frisky today so I better put on my all-black creep uniform
#14
Satan Was A Lesbian, By Fred Haley
#15
The Metamorphosis, By Franz Kafka
BeesEelsAndPups 2 hours ago
Lol "change really bugged him". Oh that Gregor guy got so annoyed all right. Almost as annoyed as the character Georg in another Kafka story. He was pretty peeved right before drowning himself in that river.
#16
Tilly Mae And The Toothache By Renita A. Burgess
#17
Hatchet… Amazing Book, Terrible Original Cover. There’s Just Too Much Going On
Beak Hookage 2 hours ago
The copy I read in highschool had a b****s hatchet smashing through ice on it. It is indeed a great book. An exciting story, and you learn a LOT about the North American wilderness.
#18
Im Taumel Des Lebens By Erwin Sittig
#19
Psychic Pets: The Secret World Of Animals By Joseph Wylder
#20
Margaret L. Miller - "Love In The Time Of Coronavirus"
Stephanie Did It 2 hours ago
Love in the Time of Cholera is a 1985 novel by Colombian Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez. Maybe Margaret thinks she dreamed it.
#21
Schrödinger's Cat By Robert Anton Wilson
#22
The Gaean Enchantment By T. Jackson King
Toujin C'Thlu 1 hour ago
A fine example of pre-Photoshop graphic art. Also, the leaf monster looks like it was made by a kid
#24
Put Your Hands Up! [An Arrest Warrant From God]
Whiskey Tango Delicious 1 hour ago
And the follow up book will be S*x Education. Because why let the awkward stop at one book?
#25
He-Man And The "Lost The Will" Dragon
Whiskey Tango Delicious 1 hour ago
I feel like this dinosaur fellow should be voiced by the late, great Gilbert Gottfried.
#26
Hi There, High School! By Gay Head
#28
The Joy Of Pasta
#30
The Picture Of Dorian Gray By Oscar Wilde
Beak Hookage 2 hours ago
Wasn't there a movie adaptation? Maybe this is the tie-in edition with the actor's face on it.
#32
Crabs: The Human Sacrifice
Whiskey Tango Delicious 1 hour ago
A whole wide world of STD related jokes, and this book comes along... 😂
#34
Dracula By Bram Stoker
#36
The Monk (...About A Catholic Monk In Spain)
Beak Hookage 2 hours ago
...how the hell did FOUR different cover designers somehow miss the part where it's about a Catholic monk, not a Buddhist monk?
#37
The Gay Teacher, By Randy Reid
Whiskey Tango Delicious 1 hour ago
I know it's AI generated, but what a distractingly handsome fellow.
#38
Dorian Gray: What Would You Do?
Toujin C'Thlu 57 minutes ago
This one actually seems to fit the novel more than the others we've seen. Still looks goofy, though
#39
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
#40
The Plot Against The “King” Don’t Delete Mods, It’s A Real Book
BeesEelsAndPups 2 hours ago
In case you didn't know. The author is the orange dictator's head of the FBI.
#43
Baby Consealed By Leah Mills
#45
Poirot's Early Cases By Agatha Christie (1979 Fontana Books Edition)
Northlander72 44 minutes ago
When you say "Man, I'd like to be a fly on the wall for THAT conversation" too close to a monkey's paw.
#46
Northanger Abbey By Jane Austen
#47
A Little Princess By Frances Hodgson Burnett
Beak Hookage 2 hours ago
I've read the book and it definitely didn't star a child beauty pageant victim. Heck, the protagonist isn't even blonde.
#48
The Legacy Begins By E C Pando
August West 2 hours ago
Publisher: The space is too narrow for 2 horses in this pic. Artist: Ok no one will notice this edit. Publisher: Looks great
#49
Everworld Brave The Betreyal By K.a. Applegate
#50
The Case Of The Lame Canary
#55
"Watchers" By Dean Koontz
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What do you think ?
BlitheSpirit 2 hours ago
I was expecting to see a horrific Watership Down cover… the cartoon certainly fit that. A CGI version was made several years later; definitely an improvement, although I felt some of the characters’ personalities were altered, not for the better.
sturmwesen 1 hour ago (edited)
I watched that at about 8 -10. you can't pay me enough to watch it again....same as Felidae
Load More Replies... Northlander72 38 minutes ago
There sure are a lot of New York Times best selling whatevers, isn't there?
Beak Hookage 1 hour ago
What the hell did poor Oscar Wilde do to deserve appearing on this list THREE TIMES?
BlitheSpirit 2 hours ago
I was expecting to see a horrific Watership Down cover… the cartoon certainly fit that. A CGI version was made several years later; definitely an improvement, although I felt some of the characters’ personalities were altered, not for the better.
sturmwesen 1 hour ago (edited)
I watched that at about 8 -10. you can't pay me enough to watch it again....same as Felidae
Load More Replies... Northlander72 38 minutes ago
There sure are a lot of New York Times best selling whatevers, isn't there?
Beak Hookage 1 hour ago
What the hell did poor Oscar Wilde do to deserve appearing on this list THREE TIMES?
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