Both the Hardy Boys Casefiles and Christopher Pike books were a huge part of my childhood and a reason I continued to enjoy reading through my teens and up until the present. Like anyone else, of course, I can’t help but judge a book by its cover. Luckily, both series had an incredible cover artist for most of their books that instantly drew in younger and older readers alike: Brian Kotzky. The son of comic illustrator Alex Kotzky, Brian painted a large number of book covers along with continuing his father’s comic strip, Apartment 3-G, for a few years after his death.

Among all of the covers that Kotzky has done, some of my favorites would have to include Die Softly and See No Evil (pictured above). My absolute favorite? That would have to be the cover for Christopher Pike’s See You Later. It perfectly matches Pike’s tendency to mix horror with science fiction and mystery.