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.
#1 Animal Farm By George Orwell
© Photo: elmlp
#2 Emma By Jane Austen
© Photo: nigelghostdog
#3 Basic Self-Defense By Fred Neff 1976
© Photo: gravelEater5
#4 Your Erroneous Zones By Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
© Photo: FightinRndTheWorld
#5 Recipes For Romance By I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!
© Photo: FightinRndTheWorld
#6 Drácula By Bram Stoker
© Photo: Other-Spell-342
#7 Jurassic Park By Michael Crichton
© Photo: digitalcitizenalpha
#8 We Like Kindergarten
© Photo: Book_1love
#9 Satan Was A Lesbian, By Fred Haley
© Photo: digitalcitizenalpha
#10 Little Women By Louisa May Alcott
© Photo: Unfair_Umpire_3635
#11 Make Way For Dragons By Thorarinn Gunnarsson
© Photo: 02K30C1
#12 The Old Man And The Sea
© Photo: mrnnymern
#13 El Retrato De Dorian Gray By Oscar Wilde
© Photo: Flowesque
#14 Skin Of The Soul
© Photo: guywhosaysthingsrAI
#15 The Metamorphosis, By Franz Kafka
© Photo: contextproblem
#16 Tilly Mae And The Toothache By Renita A. Burgess
© Photo: Fuzzy-Reaction1201
#17 Crabs: The Human Sacrifice
© Photo: blue_boy_robot
#18 Self-Defence For Women
© Photo: guywhosaysthingsrAI
#19 Hatchet… Amazing Book, Terrible Original Cover. There’s Just Too Much Going On
© Photo: AVeryBoredApple
#20 Regalbop By Leonard Wasserman
© Photo: teruteru-fan-sam
#21 3 Guys And A Squirrel: A Slacker's Guide To Adventuring
© Photo: ActuariesGoneWild
#22 Im Taumel Des Lebens By Erwin Sittig
© Photo: before_it_was_kuehl
#23 Psychic Pets: The Secret World Of Animals By Joseph Wylder
© Photo: suspiciouschunks
#24 Margaret L. Miller - "Love In The Time Of Coronavirus"
© Photo: iack4
#25 Schrödinger's Cat By Robert Anton Wilson
© Photo: NIKO-JRM
#26 The Gaean Enchantment By T. Jackson King
© Photo: silveragecollector
#27 The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow By Washington Irving
© Photo: Unfair_Umpire_3635
#28 He-Man And The "Lost The Will" Dragon
© Photo: rigdomna
#29 Hi There, High School! By Gay Head
© Photo: pilgrimboy
#30 Anne Of Avonlea: That Time Green Gables Was Cursed By A Witch
© Photo: Book_1love
#31 The Joy Of Pasta
© Photo: Puppychow123
#32 His Monkey Wife By John Collier
© Photo: Unfair_Umpire_3635
#33 The Picture Of Dorian Gray By Oscar Wilde
© Photo: PsychoticBlobfish
#34 Dracula By Bram Stoker
© Photo: Flowesque
#35 The Monk (...About A Catholic Monk In Spain)
© Photo: ReallyLargeHamster
#36 The Gay Teacher, By Randy Reid
© Photo: themehboat
#37 Dorian Gray: What Would You Do?
© Photo: Signal_A
#38 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
© Photo: RanoTraino
#39 Put Your Hands Up! [An Arrest Warrant From God]
© Photo: perpetualmotionmachi
#40 The Plot Against The “King” Don’t Delete Mods, It’s A Real Book
© Photo: MrsGrayWolfe
#41 This Old French Edition Of Bilbo The Hobbit
© Photo: Rappaccini_6
#42 The Picture Of Dorian Grey By Oscar Wilde
© Photo: PurpleTheOnlyOne
#43 Baby Consealed By Leah Mills
© Photo: ZoeKitten84
#44 Candide By Voltaire
© Photo: CartoonSeals
#45 Poirot's Early Cases By Agatha Christie (1979 Fontana Books Edition)
© Photo: Ghosts_of_Bordeaux
#46 Northanger Abbey By Jane Austen
© Photo: VampireMulch
#47 A Little Princess By Frances Hodgson Burnett
© Photo: LittleNigiri
#48 The Legacy Begins By E C Pando
© Photo: puje12
#49 Everworld Brave The Betreyal By K.a. Applegate
© Photo: Maenelias
#50 The Case Of The Lame Canary
© Photo: SpiceRackRhapsody
#51 Lolita By Nabokov
© Photo: crabalockerrr
#52 Fred Durst Coloring Book By Yamaguci A. Hyuga
© Photo: Dry-Impression-2403
#53 Mutation
© Photo: FlyOptimal1799
#54 I Am Haunted - Living Life Through The Dead By Zak Bagans And Kelly Crigger
© Photo: FilmFizz
#55 "Watchers" By Dean Koontz
© Photo: campaxiomatic
#56 A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
© Photo: rigdomna
#57 Slim For Him - Patricia B. Kreml
© Photo: AlivePassenger3859
