Paid $40 for a 'collector's edition' cover art that was just a weird AI blob mess

Found this horror novel at a thrift shop in Tacoma, the cover had this melting face thing that looked like someone smeared wet clay on a scanner and called it art. Spent $40 online because I thought it was some rare printing, turns out it was a 2022 batch where the publisher clearly let a computer design the whole sleeve. The actual story inside was fine but I couldn't stop staring at the cover, it felt like it was judging me. Has anyone else paid way too much for a cover that turned out to be a total disaster? What's the worst rendering you've bought?

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leo10725d ago

Man I feel this in my bones. Bought a sci-fi paperback once where the cover looked like a dog chewed on a CGI alien and then someone smeared it through a Photoshop filter. Paid way too much because the listing said it was a "rare misprint." Turns out the whole print run was just bad. The story was decent but every time I looked at that cover I felt like I got scammed twice. You're not alone in the weird AI art trap. It's like these publishers don't even look at what they're shipping.