Distressed Pulib 3 is a regular weight, narrow, high contrast, upright, short x-height font.
Keywords: horror titles, album art, posters, book covers, game graphics, grunge, occult, horror, punk, handmade, add grit, evoke decay, create menace, simulate print wear, ragged, eroded, blotty, inked, spiky.
A condensed, upright serif with heavily distressed contours and pronounced thick–thin modulation. Strokes feel brush- or ink-driven, with torn, uneven edges, occasional splatters, and irregular terminals that create a jagged silhouette. Serifs are small and sharp, counters are somewhat uneven, and the baseline and sidebearings read intentionally rough, producing a restless, hand-printed rhythm across words. Numerals and capitals carry the same weathered texture, keeping the set visually consistent in its abrasion.
Best suited to display settings where texture is desirable: horror and thriller titles, event posters, zines, album covers, game UI splash screens, and packaging that benefits from a worn, gritty voice. It can also work as an accent type paired with a calmer text face, where a few words need to feel distressed and dramatic.
The font projects a gritty, ominous tone—evoking aged ephemera, DIY posters, and dark genre aesthetics. Its rough texture and spiky details suggest suspense, menace, and underground energy rather than refinement or neutrality.
The design appears intended to mimic degraded ink on paper—like a battered letterpress or brush lettering pulled from rough scans—while retaining recognizable serif structures for strong, genre-forward headlines.
At larger sizes the distressed detailing becomes a defining feature, while at smaller sizes the erosion and high contrast can visually fill in and reduce clarity, especially in tightly spaced text. The narrow proportions and irregular width add urgency and a slightly chaotic cadence in headlines.