Category Archives: Book News

Hammer in Production Hell

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I know most of us out there love Hammer films, from their Frankenstein films, all the Dracula and vampire titles, to the black and white thrillers, and plenty of their sci-fi/horror titles as well. The more you read up on the history of the studio, you realize some titles took years to finally make it to the big screen, sometimes in a very form or version it was originally written as.

But what about the titles and ideas that never it through the process, that lingered for too long to the point there weren’t of interests anymore, or they just couldn’t agree on a final script, or maybe casting, or countless other reasons. Titles like When the Earth Cracked Open, Nessie, or even Zepplin vs Pterodactyls?

But fear no more because author Glen Davies has now given us this new book dedicated to all of those titles in this book Hammer in Production Hell: In Search of Unfilmed Hammer. It’s 222 pages all dedicated to films that were in varies stages of planning but never made it to the big screen. It’s always interesting to read about what almost happened, especially for fans of this studio.

Available in both hardcover ($48) and paperback ($25) version through Amazon. I know you can never have too many horror reference books, and that includes ones on Hammer Films! Trust me, I know all too well!

Those that Inspire

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“Read good books, say kind words, do good deeds, be a good person.”

Earlier this morning, I braved the minus 1-degree temps and headed into Chicago for a screening of the documentary Ishirō Honda: Memoirs of a Film Director, by director Jonathan Bellés. Afterwords would be a Q&A with authors Ed Godziszewski and Steve Ryfle, who’s latest book, Godzilla: The First 70 Years had just come out. They had previously written Ishirō Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa, which came out in 2023. It also gave me the chance to have them sign their new book that I recently got. So even though it was cold as hell, I knew it was an event I didn’t want to miss. The good thing (for me anyway) was because it was so cold, traffic was pretty much non-existent, so getting into the city was a breeze.

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Muchas Gracias Señor Lobo Updated

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Being a collector of horror memorabilia, it’s always nice to be able to see the wide variety of different posters, lobby cards, and other such promotional materials that were made and distributed to promote different features. Seeing the different artwork from different countries, sometimes very similar, other times being dramatically different, but always interesting to see. And depending on how much you tend to indulge in those collecting habits, sometimes just seeing the images is cool enough. Or at least it gives you something to search for!

Back in 2012, Thorsten Benzel and the fine folks from Creepy Images put out the massive volume Muchas Gracias Señor Lobo which was this huge hardcover book filled with images of different posters, lobby cards, and other promo items from different Paul Naschy films, including illustrations from Naschy himself. This volume had just under 400 pages that had over 1400 images within, showing the glorious film work of Naschy. All in color! That book had sold out, becoming out-of-print years ago, going for big bucks on the secondary market.

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Luchadores vs Everything!

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For any fans of the works of El Santo, Blue Demon, or any of the other wrestlers that moved into the world of cinema, there is a new book coming out that you just may want to know about. It’s called Luchadores vs Everything, where you’ll get to hear the story of how one family brought wrestlers, monsters, and mayhem to the silver screen! Join film activist and member of the famed cinematic Calderón and García Besné families, Viviana García Besné and her friends dive into the history of her family’s films of the beloved genre.

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Little Shoppe Unleashes Gorgo!

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While usually Little Shoppe of Horrors covers Hammer films, they occasionally cover films outside of that famous studio. Their newest issue is a prime example of that, yet still staying over in the U.K. With issue # 52, they cover the 1961 film Gorgo, where they give their version of a Kaiju film and do a damn fine job of it too! Directed by Eugène Lourié and produced the famous King Brothers, this new issue is a whopping 270 pages! Pretty damn big for a “magazine” but it shows you the kind of depth and detail that editor Richard Klemensen and LSoH are known for.

You’ll get to read production information, comments and stories from crew members and even from Maury, Frank, & Hymie King. Plus, you’ll also learn more about the King Brothers themselves, from when their last name was Kozinsky, from having some ties to gangsters before moving into being some pretty famous independent film producers.

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Headpress Books Gives Us a Nightmare

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As horror fans, we all know there are certain movies, actors, or anything under that umbrella that we can get a little obsessive over. For better or worse, it’s a little rabbit hole we go down, most of the time for the pure reason of just wanting to know as much as we can about a certain subject. Which is exactly what it seems author Nick Cato has done with his book, Dark Dreams: An Obsessive Look at Romano Scavolini’s Nightmare.

Nightmare (1981), one of the original titles on the Video Nasty lists in the UK, was one of those titles that seemed to be easy to find here in the states. Because of some of the gore, it became known as one of those flicks to watch because of just that. Even though the critics hated it, there were round-the-clock screenings in New York, as well as doing really well in video rentals. Word gets out quick amongst horror fans. But to superfan Cato, this film was much more. He spent the last 4 decades collecting and researching anything and everything he could find about this film, going to plenty of screenings, holding many interviews, and going through a ton of film reviews, most of which didn’t care too much for it, to say the least. The end result is this new book coming out from Headpress Books.

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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.

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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