Was Ed Wood, Jr. the author Helen(e) Morgan?

September 07, 2025

Was Ed Wood, Jr. the author Helen(e) Morgan?

In February 2025 a lot of ten books supposedly authored by Ed Wood, Jr. was listed on Ebay for the price of $1,666.66 or Best Offer. It sold in March 2025 for an undisclosed sum. The lot consisted of

six books definitely authored by him: Blacklace Drag (1963), Orgy of the Dead (1966), Raped in the Grass (1968), Purple Thighs (1968), Let Me Die in Drag (1969), and For Love or Money (1968) [an edited condensation of Ed’s The Sexecutives (1968)].

two books previously attributed to him, but unacknowledged by Ed: The Erotic Spy (1968) by Abbott Smith – first claimed in Muddled Mind (Hayes & Davis, 2001) and The Nazi Field Whores (1968) by Michael Snow – first claimed by the Woodpile Press in 2003.

and two books newly attributed to him: Killer Dyke (1964) by Helen Morgan and The Rape Club (1965) by Helene Morgan.

In a future post, I will discuss my observations supporting the conclusion that The Erotic Spy and The Nazi Field Whores were not authored by Ed. In this post, I will address the two newly attributed Helen(e) Morgan books. Luckily, I was able to acquire a copy of each book at a reasonable price. The other known Helen(e) Morgan books are very pricy collectibles (see below).

Helen Morgan, 1964, Killer Dyke, W-3, San Diego, CA: Exotik Books, 191 pp. Cover art by Doug Weaver.

Set in and around San Francisco, Killer Dyke follows the murderous exploits of a gorgeous blonde lesbian schoolteacher. Geraldine (Jerri) Liggett is a sexual psychopath and serial killer who bites, chews and strangles her female victims to death in the throes of passionate sapphic encounters gone amuck. The victims are often underage girls that she’s corrupted and seduced. Did incest with her brother drive her down this dark and bloody path? Leave it to hard-bitten detective Sam Verner to solve the case, even if he has to screw every woman he meets along the way. An up close and personal encounter with Sam’s rigid member is not enough to deflect Jerri from her fated “appointment in Samarra.” (The evil lesbian has been rewarded with death going back at least as far as J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla [1872]). Despite its subject matter, Killer Dyke is very tamely written (e.g., breasts are described in only passing detail and everything else sexual is very vague or inferential at best). It is an interesting read that benefits from having laughably weird ideas about lesbianism, sexuality, and medical forensics. Nevertheless, Killer Dyke is no way resembles Ed’s work either in style or thematic content. I have no idea why anyone would attribute this book to him.

Helene Morgan, 1965, The Rape Club, W-8, San Diego, CA: Exotik Books, 159 pp.

A Beverly Hills rape club, led by AC/DC widow Myra Decota, kidnaps victims for sexual purposes. The reader encounters prostitutes, strap-on dildos, underage girls, incestuous transvestite twin brothers who gang rape their victims to death while French kissing each other, necrophilia, body dismemberment, as well as offensive racial language and stereotypes. The club is ultimately brought down by a heroic Last Girl and local law enforcement. Despite having even more disconcerting themes than Killer Dyke, the depravities in The Rape Club are again related as vaguely as possible. It also does not resemble Ed’s work in any way. I assume that the book was attributed to him on the basis of its transvestite content, but it lacks the loving attention to female attire that is a hallmark of the Ed Wood style.

Five additional books were authored under the apparent pseudonym of Helen(e) Morgan from 1964-1966. All command prices in the hundreds of $$$ due to their Gene Bilbrew cover art or bestiality content. The three imprints involved -- Exotik Books, Rapture Books, Satan Press -- were published out of 425 Pennsylvania Avenue in San Diego and distributed by Reuben Sturman’s World Wide News Corporation (WWNC). The books also include advertisements for his Cleveland-based Connoisseur Publications.