Category Archives: Book News

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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Unlocking Dracula A.D. 1972

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This is something that I just love about not just the horror genre, but of its fans. Hammer’s film Dracula A.D. 1972 isn’t one of their titles considered to be an ultimate classic, especially when you compare it to some of the studios more well-known titles throughout their reign of terror at the box office. I know myself that it took a while for me to really come around to see this Dracula tale in a modern setting (for the time it was made) for what it is and finally be entertained by it. But even though it has developed into more of a cult classic over the last 50+ years, it’s never referred to on the same level as say, Horror of Dracula.

So, when I see this new book coming out by author David Huckvale, all dedicated to this one single movie, I applauded it! Anytime that someone takes the time to do the work, meaning the research, the digging deep into the film, from the production to the locations to where it was filmed, and those involved, is a great way for fans of the film to not only learn more about it, but maybe see it in different way. Or even if you’re not a huge fan of the film, the more you understand, it could change your mind, or at least maybe have a better understanding of the final product and how it came to be.

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Return to Telos Publishing

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Back when the Krypt was at the old site, before moving into the blog format, I had reviewed the book A Vault of Horror by Keith Topping (you can read our review HERE), which I really enjoyed. The subtitle to the book was a “book of great (and not so great) British horror movies from 1956-1974”, which I really loved because as we know, movies will always be subjective on whether they are “good” or not. But one of the things I really enjoyed about this book was the format, and all the different trivial information for each of the titles. It had categories like “Nudity, Violence and Sadomasochism” or “Outrageous Methods of Dispatch“, or “You May Remember Me From…”, which gave out some pretty interesting and useful information about the films and those involved. The real shame was that it wasn’t a title that I saw around too often, like at bookstores or even many talking about it online. It’s from Telos, a small press publisher from the UK, which might be the reason. But it’s a great little book and well worth any library.

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The Blood is the Life Book

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Since it is Black Friday and all . . .

The latest volume from the creators of We Belong Dead magazine, this time covering one of the oldest monsters around, the vampire! The Blood is the Life covers “a century of filmic bloodsuckers”, starting with the one and only Nosferatu (1922), which is only fitting since next month we will be getting a new version of this tale with the release of Robert Eggers new film. This book covers a wide range of films from the classic Universal titles like Dracula (1931), Dracula’s Daughter (1936), to a slew of Hammer titles with Christopher Lee as the Count, to their other efforts like Kiss of the Vampire (1963) to Twins of Evil (1971). I was honored to be part of this tome, having essays on Al Adamson’s Dracula vs Frankenstein (1971) and José Ramón Larraz Vampyres (1974).

While these books are a bit pricy with the currency exchange and the overseas postage, because I have several of their books, I will say they are luxurious looking volumes of well written essays on the genre. With full color pages, filled with plenty of poster art, stills, lobby cards, and even some behind-the-scenes shots, it’s one of those volumes that just paging through it can be a little time machine, helping you escape into many different worlds! So yes, an investment, but I feel a worthy one.

Hardcovers are £45.00 or $57.02 US, and softcovers are £35.00 or $44.35 US. Shipping to here in the US will cost another $25. So again, it’s a bit of cash, but a beautiful investment in knowledge, and for your library. Just click HERE to see more information about the book!

New Edition to Never Sleep Again Book

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We received an email from Dark Ink Publishing about their latest book, Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy, by Thommy Huston. As we’ve said many times before, you can never have too many horror reference books. But as it turns out, we already have this book in our library from when it first came out in 2016, which is pictures on the left below, with the new edition on the right. This new edition has a new afterwards by Robert England, but that’s about it.

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New Carpenter Book from FAB Press

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Coming out sometime next Spring/Summer, FAB Press will be releasing Bringing Darkness Instead of Light: Conversations with John Carpenter by Michael Doyle. This 600+ page book will feature interviews the author did with Carpenter for over 15 years, with subjects ranging from his films, H.P. Lovecraft, politics, drugs, as well as different films and their productions. The book will also have a bunch of previously unpublished photos.

They have the pre-order price listed as £59.99 ($77.60 in US dollars) but hasn’t confirmed that will be the actual price. It does sound like there might be multiple editions, each at a different price, but they do state there will be a Collector’s Edition with a “stunning slipcase inspired by In The Mouth of Madness.

Keep tabs on the book by checking out FAB Press’ website HERE or sign up for updates so you’ll be notified directly when it becomes available for pre-order.