Category Archives: Book News

Screaming and Conjuring Book

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1984 Publishing, who has given us books like You’ve Got Red on You, A Masterpiece of Disarray, and Blood Saga: Dissecting the Cult Film Repo! The Genetic Opera, now brings us a new title from author Clark Collis called Screaming and Conjuring. From the release of Wes Craven’s 1996 film Scream to James Wan’s The Conjuring in 2013, the horror genre was in on a rise. This new book covers the films that caused this influx of new horror titles between those two huge hits. Collis gives us an in-depth examination of the genre at that time. We get to hear the stories of these productions, the good, the bad, and the ugly, hearing from tales from those involved, such as Jamie Lee Curtis, Neve Cambell, Eli Roth, Sam Raimi, Greg Nicotero, and more. The pages are filled with 200 production stills, film posters, and rare images.

This 500-page book is available for pre-order, and the first 5000 copies has black foil gilded page edge. And all pre-orders through the 1984 Publishing site comes with a hand-signed author bookplate, while supplies last. If you order it through the site, the price is $26, where Amazon has it listed at the normal retail price of $28.99. Head over to their site by clicking HERE to pre-order your copy now.

FAB Press Reissues Tony Tenser Book

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If you’re not familiar with the name Tony Tenser, you will know the movies he produced. Titles like The Blood Beast Terror (1968), or Witchfinder General (1968), or The Beast in the Cellar (1971), The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971), or even Frightmare (1974). In fact, he was producer on Roman Polanski’s earlier films like Repulsion (1965) and Cul-de-sac (1966). Back in 2005, FAB Press published a book by John Hamilton called The Beasts in the Cellar: The Exploitation Film Career of Tony Tenser, which covers his work as a producer, with his company Tigon Films. The book is way out of print, with 2nd hand copies going from $70 to close to $200! But no worry. FAB Press is re-issuing the book, and even available in a hardcover edition, which is only available through the website. PLUS . . . they still had about 100 bookplates from the initial release that were signed by Tenser and will now be in a special edition of the book.

The book has a detailed analysis of his films, with all the stories behind the making of them, production details and notes, reviews, and box office numbers. It covers both the films he produced as well as distributed. It’s filled with plenty of photos, both rare and unpublished before the first release, and an extensive interview with Tense himself. If you’re a fan of British horror films of the ’60s and ’70s, this should be an interesting read for you.

Click HERE to go to FAB Press’ website for all the ordering details. For the limited signed HC, that goes for £50.00 or $66.54, or £25.00 or $32.27. Remember, you’ll have to cover the postage, which is pretty high right now. So, it will be an expensive purchase for us here in the US. But just remember look at what some of the original editions are going for, and I’d say you’re not losing any money, but investing in your education!

Making Monsters!

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Back in 2022, Howard Berger, Oscar winning special makeup effects artist, and journalist Marshall Julius gave us Masters of Make-Up Effects: A Century of Practical Magic, which covered some of the best makeup artists and their work over the last 100 years. That volume is a real page turner, as well as a tome of a massive about of amazing information about these incredibly talented artists, many who don’t get the credit they deserve. Now they are back with a whole new book, entitled Making Monsters: Inside Stories from the Creators of Hollywood’s Most Iconic Creatures!

Due out this September, this 320-page hardcover edition (also available on Kindle for $24.99) is priced at $49.95, has Berger and Julius reaching out to dozens of legendary makeup effects artists from Hollywood, asking them a simple question: What makes a great movie monster? What we get is answers from a huge list of talented makeup and digital artists like Tom Savini to Phil Tippett, to directors like John Carpenter & Ti West, to actors such as Simon Pegg and Barbara Crampton, to composers, and writers. It also has a foreword by Robert Englund and Afterword by Alex Winter. Like their previous volume, this one is filled with hundreds of images, from film stills to person, behind-the-scenes pics, as well as plenty of stories from the brilliant minds that helped bring our nightmares to life!

New Invisible Man Book

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I know that collecting books can be a slightly obsessive, especially when you are an equally obsessive horror movie fan. For me, there is always that never-ending quest for knowledge about the films we love. Whether they are the old classics to even newer films. I strongly believe that the more you know about a film, you will see it in a different light, no matter the quality of the actual finished product.

Of course, the Universal horror films of the ’30s that were really the start of the film genre, and while they are all around the hundred-year anniversary mark, we seem to continue to get more books on the subject. And while my wallet and my bookshelves might complain, I do not!

The latest edition that I just saw was the new book by Christopher Lock, called The Invisible Man: The Complete History of the 1933 Horror Classic, which just came out. I had recently read Lock’s book on The Bride of Frankenstein, and thoroughly enjoyed it, finding a lot of interesting information in there. So, when I saw this one, I knew I would be adding it to my library. Plus, this might be the first book to cover James Whale’s 1933 adaption of the H.G. Wells novel. I have several books on the Universal Classics, but not on only this particular film. I know there is one by Philip J. Riley, but that is just on an early version of the script when Boris Karloff was attached to the project. According the blub on this new volume by Lock, it is the “only in-depth book in publication solely dedicated to this iconic film; from conception, to production, and beyond.”

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New Critters Book Now Out!

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The Krites have escaped! Harker Press, who has released an amazing array of books on some of our favorite movies, now have a brand new one! It’s called We’re Here for the Krites: The Making of Critters, by Matthew DuPée. I can remember seeing Critters at our local drive-in, after reading about it in the pages of Fangoria and was very excited about it. Absolutely loved it. A great mixture of humor and horror, which as we all know, is not easy to do. And believe it or not, Critters 2: The Main Course was pretty entertaining too! So, I’m very excited to dig into this latest volume from Harker Press which I’m sure is going to make me want to revisit these films.

This book will have “new insights and rare photos” from the Critters franchise, including interviews with over 40 people involved, as well as over a hundred of rare photos from the series. You’ll learn about the creation process in creating these little eating machines, learning about alternate and deleted scenes, set design, and prop fabrications. There are call sheets, film schedules, and premiere invites, as well as reading about some “harrowing stories of on-set mishaps and follies!”

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Classic Monsters Modern Art Book

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Anthony Taylor, a celebrated writer whose work has appeared in Famous Monsters of Filmland, Fangoria, Screem, HorrorHound, Filmfax, and several books on a variety of genre subjects, as well as being the organizer of Atlanta’s Monsterama retro horror and sci-fi convention, now has a new book coming out. It is called Classic Monsters Modern Art: 20th Century Horror in 21st Century Illustrations, coming this September from Insight Editions.

According to the description, the book explores “the groundbreaking (and terrifying) pantheon of monsters from the 20th century’s greatest films and fiction interpreted by the world’s most exciting contemporary artists and illustrators in Classic Monsters, Modern Art!” With over 65 artists, taking on subjects like Frankenstein’s creature, Count Dracula, Elvira, Godzilla, King Kong, to more modern-day monsters like Freddy Kruger, this book will feature some amazing artwork of our favorite monsters, in full color, with Taylor giving us all the info needed about them!

Priced at $39.99, these 160 pages will be something you will find yourself paging through over and over, looking at the amazing work that went into each and every illustration. Definitely one for the library!

Dick Smith: Godfather of Makeup

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In the world of movie makeup effects artists, we all know that Jack Pierce, creator of most of the Universal, is one of most important names in movie history. But right up there next to him, has to be Dick Smith. In a field that was highly secretive, Smith would willingly give up his techniques and tips to anyone wanting to learn, from his recipe for blood, to any number of makeup tricks, he would be more than giving to younger artists. Not to mention he was so incredibly talented, creating some of the most amazing and innovative makeup effects in history.

Every time I see Max Von Sydow in The Exorcist, it still reminds me that for years I really thought Sydow was a 70-year-old actor! But then add in what he did for films like Scanners, Ghost Story, to all the mainstream films like The Godfather, Taxi Driver, and his (finally) Oscar winning work on Amadeus, he never ceased to amaze audiences.

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Meow! Cats in Horror Book!

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Are you a “cat person” and love horror movies? Then this book just might be up your alley! Author Vanessa Morgan has come up with another collection of essays, from a variety of writers around the world, contributing essays all dealing with cats in horror, sci-fi, and fantasy movies over the years. Full disclosure, I do have one essay in here and honestly was amazed when I saw the list of titles being covered. No idea there was that many cat titles out there in these genres!

According to the Amazon listing, the book features: Extensive Cat Movie List: A meticulously curated list of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy movies featuring cats (including short films), perfect for those seeking a thrilling feline fix or want to know more about the roles of cats in fantasy realms and futuristic adventures. There is also Best Cat Moments, which has “detailed descriptions of iconic cat jump scares and other memorable cat scenes”, as well as appearances in short films and TV episodes. Throw in some behind-the-scenes info and trivia, it all makes it out for an interesting read, not to mention adding a few titles to your Need-to-Watch list.

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Peveril’s Hammer Scrapbook Available

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Peveril Publishing has released their sixth volume in their Scrapbook series, and it is now available to order! This volume deals with the four Mummy movies that Hammer produced: The Mummy (1959), The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964), The Mummy’s Shroud (1966), and Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971).

Like all of their scrapbooks, it contains rare images, FOH stills, lobby cards, posters, press material, letters, set designs, call sheets, censor notes and documents, makeup designs and so much more. It also includes a 100-page day-by-day production diary of the making of Hammer’s Blood from Mummy’s Tomb film, using daily progress reports, parts of actress Valerie Leon’s annotated script, and a ton of images and rare photos and images, all within the 368 full color pages, and limited to only 800 signed copies.

The books are priced at £40, which is just under $50, but then will cost you another $20 to get it shipped over here to the US. So yeah, it is pricy, but when you look at all the other scrapbook volumes they’ve put out and see all of those have sold out. These are limited editions and when they are gone, they are gone, and then become collector items, or just really nice volumes for your Hammer Library!

For all the information, just click HERE.

Updating Hammer Books

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As a collector of horror reference books, and one that has been doing it for the better part of 40 years, there are a few books that get republished or updated over the years. Sometimes they are greatly expanded from those initial releases, while other times just maybe an extra chapter or just a few pages. Some publishers like to slap on a new title, add a new intro, and hope that readers that already own the original volume don’t recognize that it’s the same book. But that doesn’t happen too often, or at least not that I’ve caught! When these “revised”, “expanded” and/or “updated” versions come out, it would irritate me because since I already have the original release, do I really need to re-buy it just for a few extra pages? Okay, I usually do anyway, but that is beside the point.

But as I get wiser in my old age (insert joke here), I have realized that not all fans have been buying and collecting these volumes as long as I have. And some of them may be out of print or just too expensive to buy now. That means when these new editions come up, these fans have a chance to possibly add them to their collection for the first time. And if you’re a fan of Hammer Films, then here’s your chance to get two different titles.

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