Author Archives: Jon Kitley

Happy Halloween from Kitley’s Krypt!

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This month has been a complete whirlwind, from conventions, a 24-hour movie marathon, 4 library lectures, as well as with all the regular real-life BS that everyone has to deal with. Trying to find to time to actually enjoy the month’s festivities can be a bit tough, while also trying to squeeze some movies whenever you can get a free 90-minutes! I always say at the end of each October, as tired and stressed as I might be, I have had an absolute blast and wouldn’t change a thing.

These are the choices we make. The choices may put extra work on our already full plate, but we do it anyway because it feeds our soul. We know we’re doing it for the right reasons and no matter how much work goes into it, when we look back and see all that we’ve done at the end of the month, you do get that sense of accomplishment.

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DtH Podcast Episode 108 – Hammer’s Frankenstein Part 1

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The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), and The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)

What can you say about the Hammer Frankenstein films that hasn’t been said before?

Well, a lot, actually!

In 1957, a relatively small, mostly unknown studio made a film that would forever change horror and kick off a cycle of sensual, bloody, and atmospheric fright flicks that would dominate the genre for around twenty years. To say that The Curse of Frankenstein is a classic is almost like saying that water is wet, but it is also a film that lives up to its reputation. It and its sequels are films that not only deserve regular revisits, but they also belong in more modern conversations about horror. While nearly all the films shard crewmembers and all but one were directed by Terence Fisher, one constant defined the series: Peter Cushing’s mesmerizing take on Victor Frankenstein, equal parts gentleman and ghoul.

On this episode we look at the first three films in the Cushing Frankenstein cycle, and in a very real way, make a pilgrimage to one of horror’s holy places. We love these films, and we hope that either you do too, or that you will by the time you are done listening.

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Mystery Photo 10-27

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Just a mere week left in our beloved Halloween season. I’m hoping everyone has had fun this month, celebrating all things dark and spooky. Though, for a lot of us, that is every day of the year! So, let’s not waste time here so you can get back to watching those movies and enjoying October. Before we get this week’s photo, let’s send a congrats out to Hoby Abernathy, Dave Fronto, Kevin Hart, Doug Lamoreux, Erik Martin, Bryan Senn, and Vincent Simonelli for correctly identifying Night Monster as last week’s photo. A nice and fun little Universal pic from 1942 featuring Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill. Well done!

Now on to this week’s photo, from one of my personal favorites of all time. See if you can identify it from just this shadow… Just remember to send your guess in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. And Good Luck!

Movie Review: In the Mouth of Madness

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Directed by John Carpenter
Starring Sam Neill, Jürgen Prochnow, Julie Carmen, David Warner, John Glover, Charleton Heston, Peter Jason, Frances Bey, Bernie Casey, Wilhelm von Homburg

There have been many, many film adaptations of the works of H.P. Lovecraft, in both short films and feature-length ones. The first one was from Roger Corman, with his 1964 feature The Haunted Palace. It was titled after a poem from Edgar Allan Poe, to keep in line with the rest of the Corman/Poe cycle, but the story itself is entirely based on Lovecraft’s The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward, which didn’t get published until after the author’s death. While some films have come sort of close to the original tales, I would say that very few have really captured the essence of Lovecraft’s work. Describing things so terrifying, so strange and weird, that if one was to actually see it, you’d simply go mad. He wrote about things beyond our human comprehension.

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McFarland’s Halloween Sale

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While McFarland does put out some amazing books, we all know they can be a bit pricy. So, when they have these big sales, now is the time to jump on that title or two that you’ve been thinking about. If you use the code: HORROR40 you will get 40% off your total. That’s a pretty good discount. Plus, they already have quite a few titles on sale. I know I will be adding a few titles to my cart before this sale ends, which will be on Halloween. So, you only have 1 week left. Don’t wait!

Need a suggestion? The volume Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff: The Expanded Story of a Haunting Collaboration is an incredible read. This one is a bit pricy, at $59.95, but with the sale it is only about $36. Or the Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and Horror Cinema by Mark A. Miller & David J. Hogan which is on sale at $29.95, which means your sale price is about $18! Not to mention plenty of other great titles on a variety of subjects, from the Italian giallo film, Jess Franco, Ray Dennis Steckler, and more!

Browse through their listings by clicking HERE and see if you can’t find another interesting title for your own library, or with the holiday coming up in a couple of months, buy a book for a horror-loving friend!

The House that Hammer Built: Vol. 3

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Soon to be released by Peveril Publishing will be the 3rd volume in their series of The House that Hammer Built – The Complete Hinds/Carreras Years (1934-79), with this volume covering 1955 to 1958. Years ago, Wayne Kinsey put out a magazine called The House that Hammer Built, so these massive volumes really are like historical documents, giving fans their own Hammer History books to be used for years to come, keeping all that history and information, facts, stories, and plenty of photos, alive and well for fans that grew up with them, to the new ones that discover the famous Studio that Dripped Blood!

This volume covers the years when it got really interesting for Hammer, and started their rise to fame and fortune, so to speak. With the release of The Quatermass Xperiement and moving into The Curse of Frankenstein, there seemed to be no stopping them!

If you go to Peveril’s website (just click HERE) and sign up for their newsletter, you’ll be notified when the book goes on sale. The cover price is £40, which is about $53 here in the states, and not including the postage, which I can assume isn’t going to be cheap. But having bought most of Peveril’s books over the years, I will say they are worth every penny or pound! Gorgeously laid out, with tons of amazing photos and jammed packed up of information, they truly are beautiful pieces of work, and a must for seriously collectors of horror reference books. But they are an investment, so be warned.

Mystery Photo 10-20

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Sorry for the lack of posts lately but between conventions, 24-hour marathons, library lectures, I’m not sure I know what day of the week it is! Now that our World Tour 2025 has come to an end, there is some free time on the horizon. Just not yet! But I wanted to make sure I can at least get this posted! But first, our photo from last week was from the wonderfully titled The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959), starring Henry Daniels. Such fun! Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Kevin Hart, Bob Hartman, Dave Fronto, Doug Lamoreux, Erik Martin, and Alan Tromp. Well done!

Now let’s get down to business. Take a peek at the photo below and see if you recognize it. If you do, send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com Good Luck!

DtH Episode 107 – Making Monsters

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No matter what kind of horror fan you are, most likely you’re going to love the monsters. Whether it’s from the Universal Classics, Hammer’s colorful reinterpretations, the amazing creatures from Ray Harryhausen, to even Star Wars, they all showed us a variety of monsters. It’s one of the things that us horror fans rally around, and just love to discuss, from our favorites, how some are designed, their movements, and everything in between.

Oscar winning special makeup effects artist Howard Berger and author Marshall Julius have a new book out entitled Making Monsters: Inside Stories from the Creators of Hollywood’s Most Iconic Creatures, so we asked them to be on our show to talk all about monsters, and those special memories that we all have from the films we love.

Films mentioned in this episode:

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Mods & Shockers from We Belong Dead

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The fine folks from We Belong Dead have a new book out, Mods & Shockers: British Horror of the 1960s, which is available in 2 different covers. The one on the left is from Mark Armstrong and the one on the left is from Paul Watts. Edited by Eric McNaughton & Darrell Buxton, with a foreword by Ramsey Campbell, the book features articles on more than 150 movies, all from 1960s. I am honored to say that I have 2 articles in here, on The Frozen Dead and Island of Terror, both from 1966. As usual, the layout of their books is always a beautiful thing and I’m sure this one is no different. Yes, if you’re in the U.S., it will be a bit pricy, but I think that not only are they great books, but a damn good investment.

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