Category Archives: Book News

Island of Terror Book

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Way back in 2017, I reviewed the book A Vault of Horror by Keith Topping, (click HERE for my review) which was one that I truly enjoyed. Sure, I’d seen most of the titles covered in this film guide, but it was mainly because of the format and his writing. Lots of fun information and trivia in there, the kind that makes you want to bust out the movie you just read about to watch again. Then last year, Topping put out a follow-up guide, entitled Return to the Vault of Horror, continuing in the same format. I haven’t gotten to reading it yet, but hopefully soon.

But now, Topping switches over from British horror films from the ’50s to the ’70s to science fiction and fantasy movies, even widening the years covered. The new book is called Island of Terror: A Guide to 60 Great British SF and Fantasy Movies from 1936-1984. When you put The Green Slime on the cover, I definitely am going to add this to my library! Some of the titles covered include H.G. Wells’ Things to Come, Hammer’s Four-Sided Triangle and the Quatermass films, to The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye, The Earth Dies Screaming, Island of Terror, Scream and Scream Again, Alien, Lifeforce and many more in between.

This 598-page book will be coming out this October and can be purchased through the publisher, Telos Publishing, through their website HERE. The price is £19.99, which is about $27 here in the states.

Harker Press Unleashes a Nightmare Book

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Harker Press has announced their latest book, Nightmare Autopsis: A Return to Elm Street by author Lowell Greenblatt, with introduction by Nathan Thomas Milliner. The book contains story analyses, production info and behind-the-scenes stories, and much more. Here what you’ll get:

  • A foreword by Nathan Thomas Milliner
  • A franchise-spanning photo gallery
  • New insights from three Nightmare directors
  • Extensive looks at unused sequel scripts
  • Deep dives on each film’s story origins
  • Long-overdue appreciations for the sequels
  • A history of Freddy’s evolving iconography
  • A look at how each entry influenced the next

This is obviously a must for any fans of the Nightmare on Elm Street series, but I would just throw it out there that I have read and reviewed plenty of titles from Harker Press, some on a subject that I really had little interest in, such as the Halloween sequels, but still found them very fascinating and a lot of information I didn’t know. If you’re a horror fan, don’t just walk away because it’s a book on those “Freddy movies”. Trust me.

The other great thing about Harker Press’ releases is the price. You get a decent size book at a very reasonable price. This one will be available in hardcover at $32.99, softcover at $24.99, and is 423 pages. Plenty for any Freddy fans to dig into. For more info, head over to Harker Press by clicking HERE. Or you can order your copy through Amazon by clicking HERE.

The (Latest) Definitive Guide to Horror Films

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Being a collector of horror reference books, which includes several different film guides from throughout the past 30 years, I can’t help but add new ones to the collection. But as serious collectors know, you have to be a little careful before immediately picking up a new release, because you might already have an older version of the book, and sometimes the new version isn’t that much newer. Thankfully, it seems this version at least some more content added than just a few pages. But again, the rest of the book seems to be exactly the same as the last edition.

This title started back in 2006, under the title Horror: The Definitive Guide to Cinema of Fear. Then it was released again in 2010 under the title Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death, with a few pages of added content. Then three years later, it was released again as Horror! The Definitive Companion to the Most Terrifying Movies Ever Made, again with a few more papers of content added. Then five years later, and another 8 pages added, it was released again under the title The Definitive Guide to Horror Movies: 365 Films to Scare You to Death. And now, it is being released once again, with seemingly a bit more content, more than 30 pages added, under the same Definitive title, now with Ghostface from the Scream series on the cover.

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New Jack Hill Book

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Fans of exploitation films, especially in blacksploitation sub-genre definitely know the work of Jack Hill. The man has worked in many sub-genres, from the above mentioned, to horror, gothic, racing, sexploitation, and so many more. In the early days of his career, he was often called in to “fix” or “finish” a film that had issues, such as The Terror (1963) or Blood Bath (1966). He also worked with Karloff on his last four films, or at least the parts with aged actor that were filmed in the states. Afterwards, the rest of the film was finished in Mexico.

The shame is that unless you’re a real fan of the genre, most people don’t realize the impact Hill had on the films we love. Thanks to editor Anthony Taylor, Headpress Books, and a great selection of authors, they are putting together a collection of essays on the works of this unheralded master of cinema.

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Animals Attacks!

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The fine folks at We Belong Dead have a brand-new book out covering all those pesky and nasty animals, insects, and all those other beasties that revolt against us humans in Animals Attacks! now available through their website that you can get to by clicking HERE. Like all of their titles, these are beautiful volumes, filled with amazing images from stills to movie posters and so much more. Not to mention a wide array of talented writers giving us their thoughts on these movies. Yes, for full disclosure, I have 3 essays in this volume myself. But I know I would have been buying this latest volume even if I didn’t. Yes, they are also a bit pricy, especially when you get them shipped over here to the states. But because of their quality, and that you can just order them through Amazon, they are well worth the investment, both to your library, as well as your continued learning about the different films in the genre.

This book covers everything from the fun ’50s era of the big bug films, such as Tarantula (1955) to the major blockbusters like Jaws (1975), to even the modern-day cheesy CGI titles flooding the market. A lot to be covered here, and a lot to learn about, as well as maybe adding a few movies to your “need-to-watch” list.

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Hitchcock and Herrmann Book

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Composer Bernard Herrmann worked with Alfred Hitchcock on some of his most well-known scores, such as Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), and of course, Psycho (1960). They would work on 8 films together, creating some of the finest in cinematic history. Now, author Steven C. Smith gives us a book that delves into that relationship in his new book Hitchcock and Herrmann: The Friendship and Film Scores that Changed Cinema, due out this fall. Smith spent over four decades doing research, from unpublished documents, new interviews, giving us readers a look inside the collaboration between Hitchcock and Herrmann.

When you have to strong-willed characters like these two, you know there are going to clashes. But they still were able to work together for some time and helped create some amazing films and film scores. This 312-page hardcover book is being published by Oxford University Press and can be pre-ordered now, with a cost of $39.99.

Making of the Descent Book

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Back in 2002, Neil Marshal did something that not many directors could do. And that was getting a film to premiere on the Sci-Fi Channel that was actually a damn good movie! That film was Dog Soldiers. And then, in 2005, he broke another rule by making a movie about spelunking . . . and making it damn good as well! That film was The Descent, which is about a group of women out on a cave exploring vacation that end up not only getting stuck underground but then come across something else living down there.

In 2022, author Janine Pipe gave us Sausages: The Making of Dog Soldiers, but now she is back giving us another book on Marshall’s second feature film, The Descent, this time with Marshall working alongside Pipe. The title is simply called The Making of The Descent and is the definitive book that contains extensive interviews with the cast and crew, with plenty of photographs and illustrations, Marshall’s notes and memories of the film, and much more.

This 176-page hardcover edition will be available in August, being published by Telos Publishing, priced at £34.99, or about $47. For a film that director Guillermo del Toro calls a “bona fide top-tier horror film”, I’m sure this book with be more than worthy of any film fan’s library.

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!