Category Archives: Book News

Any Black Christmas Fans?

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Black Christmas is one of those early horror films that made a huge impact, though it seems to get lost in the shadow of another big title that came out 4 years after Bob Clark’s ground-breaking film. But now you can learn even more about this film and why it is important in our horror film history. Author Paul Downey & David Hastings give us It’s Me Billy: Black Christmas Revisited, a 320-page volume going into the history and discussion of the film’s themes and characters, with interviews with the cast and crew. The book not only covers the original, but the remakes as well.

Published by BearManor Media this Feb., you can get it either in either a hardcover edition ($43 only from BearManor’s site), or in Softcover ($33). I know I’ll be adding this to my library as well, and know that once I dig into it, I’ll be revisiting the classic film once again!

New Howarth Book!!!

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Our good friend Troy Howarth has officially announced his latest book, which doesn’t have a release date yet, but I know I’ll be adding it to my library! The title is Make Them Die Slowly: The Kinetic Cinema of Umberto Lenzi, which will be published by WK Books. This will be the first ever book covering Lenzi’s work in English, which will cover all of his films in depth, with plenty of interviews with people that worked with Lenzi and his films. While some might only know Lenzi’s name from the cannibal films that gave him a lot of notoriety, his work and impact in the Italian film industry was huge.

With a forward by Eugenio Ercolani and cover art by Jolyon Yates, the page count should be around 400 and most likely will be offered in both a full color version as well as a black & white version, priced accordingly.

When we have more details, we’ll post them here. I’m not only a friend of Troy’s but have devoured more than a few of his books and have never been disappointed by the coverage he gives to each of his subjects. I expect no less with this one.

Here There Be Monsters

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I think it was either his book Golden Horrors or Drums of Voodoo when I first became aware of author Bryan Senn. Funny thing is that I had probably read several of the articles that he had written over the years for magazines such as Filmfax and Shivers, to the many books I owned from Midnight Marquee. Several years ago, I got to meet him at a Monster Bash show and we’ve become good friends since then. So anytime he has a new book coming out, I know I’ll be adding it to my library. Not just because we’re friends but because Senn knowns what he’s writing about! He’s just like the rest of us, having a huge passion for the genre, so we know what he’s writing about, comes from the heart.

His latest book, Here There Be Monsters, from BearManor Media, is a collection of “interviews, histories, tributes, and overviews on the diverse world of horror and science fiction cinema” that he’s done over the last 30 years. Some of these pieces are expanded from their original form while some are completely new. Within these pages, you’ll read about the Universal films to Hammer horrors from across the pond, Euro gothic chillers, and even heading south of the border for some mask wrestlers duking it out with all sorts of monsters. From the well-rounded genre cinema fans to ones craving to learn more about titles you might not have heard of, this book sounds like a great way to learn about, or learn more about this great selection of cinema.

It is available only in hardcover format from BearManor Media for only $38. If you get it from Amazon, it will set you back another $10, but then you’ll get probably get free shipping. Either way, I think this will be a nice addition to everyone’s library. And just think, Christmas is coming, so for any horror fans that you’re looking for a gift idea, there you go.

Becoming Dracula: Volume 2!

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Earlier this year, Gary D. Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger released the first volume in Becoming Dracula: The Early Years of Bela Lugosi. Well now, it continues with Volume 2 just being released by BearManor Media. At 436 pages, it is available in both hardcover ($46) and softcover ($36) versions. This sheds even more light on the early days of the man who would become forever known as Dracula, and just like every other book from Rhodes and Kaffenberger, both editions are a must for anybody that is a fan of Bela Lugosi.

For more information, you can head over to BearManor Media or Amazon.

More Books for Your Library

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Since I’m always on a quest to add more titles to my ever-growing library of non-fiction titles on the horror genre, I’ve recently come across a few more that I wanted to let everyone know about. Most of these haven’t been released yet, or even listed on the publisher’s website just yet. But I figure the quicker I put them on your radar, you’ll look for them.

The first one is entitled Dead or Alive: British Horror Films 1980-1989, edited by Darrell Buxton. This one has been published by Midnight Marquee and you can order it either through Amazon or their site, though they don’t it listed just yet.

The next one has only been announced by the author, Bryan Senn, and that it is coming from BearManor Media, called Here There Be Monsters, which is a collection of interviews and essays on “Classics (And Not So Classic) Horror Cinema”. Coming from Senn, I’m sure it will be well worth the read!

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Monsters, Makeup & Effects!

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With a heading like that, I knew it would get you in here! Back in November of 2018, author Heather Wixson published her book Monster Squad: Celebrating the Artists Behind Cinema’s Most Memorable Creatures, which featured interviews with 20 different makeup and special effects people in the industry. You can read our review of it HERE, but now she is back with a new book, covering more artists, creators, and technicians that have help entertain us over the years.

The new book is called Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Conversations with Cinema’s Greatest Artists – Vol. 1 is a “celebration of the creative spirit and artistic endeavors of those who have worked tirelessly for decades to create the memorable monsters, creatures and onscreen personas that have terrified us, made us laugh and filled us with a sense of wonder.” Published by Dark Ink, this 500 page book runs only $25.99 on Amazon, but they will be having a special book signing and Dark Delicacies in Burbank, CA, that you can either attend, or order your copy to be shipped to you. They have both hardcovers ($30) and softcover ($19.99) versions available. They haven’t listed any other guests besides Wixson to be there, but I have a feeling they will be adding a few more names that were covered in the book. I got my copy of Monster Squad this way, so it is well worth the extra month. Plus it supports a great independent book store at the same time!

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They’re Children … How Could They Be Bad?

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Well, pick up this new book and you’ll get close to 250 examples of just how bad kids can be! Evil Seeds: The Ultimate Movie Guide to Villainous Children is out now and available on Amazon, and priced at only $19.95! Edited by Vanessa Morgan, we get reviews on some of the “creepiest, weirdest, and most dangerous kids to inhabit cinematic landscape, sourced from over 40 different countries.” This means that no matter how hardcore of a horror fan you are, I can pretty much guarantee you’ll find a few titles in here you never knew existed, such as a Turkish version of The Bad Seed! Hitting just under 400 pages, with a variety of talented writers, they will delve into the depths of deviant offspring, from the alien invaders to young sociopaths, this volume will cover it all.

Morgan has previous given us volumes on vampires in Strange Blood: 71 Essays on Offbeat and Underrated Vampire Movies, and killer beasts with When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals, both of which are available on Amazon.

To order your copy of Evil Seeds, just click HERE.

Need More Books?

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Of course you do! And these are ones to definitely add to your library.

The first one is from our good friend Troy Howarth, published by BearManor Media, this time covering a movie that not only is one that doesn’t get much attention, it is one well worth your attention. The film is Alfred Sole’s 1976 film Alice, Sweet Alice, and the book is entitled Unholy Communion: Alice, Sweet Alice from Script to Screen.

Within the 300+ pages, Howarth goes through the history of this little film that was made outside of the Hollywood system, as well as background information on Sole. It “explores the genesis, production, and reception of one of the key horror films of the 1970s.” We get a brand new in-depth interview with Sole, going through his entire career, as well as reproducing the original shooting script, and plenty of analysis of not only the film, but the genre at the time as well.

Howarth has written several books, such as a 3-book series on giallo films, as well as one on Dario Argento, John Carpenter, Mario Bava, Paul Naschy, and more. Like all of his titles, I can only assume it will be a must read. You can order this directly from BearManor Media or through Amazon. It is available in both hardcover ($39.95) and softcover ($29.95).

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Sam Sherman Speaks!

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I am shocked and amazed that I am just hearing about this new book and am eternally thankful to my friend Gavin Schmitt for putting it on my radar, which I quickly ordered!

So … not sure who Sam Sherman is? If you’ve ever seen any of the classic Al Adamson flicks, like Satan’s Sadist, Dracula vs Frankenstein, Blood of Ghastly Horror, or the Blood Island movies from the Philippines, such as Mad Doctor of Blood Island or Beast of Blood, then you at least know the work of Mr. Sherman. Or should I say, a small part of Sherman’s work. In the world of low-budget filmmaking, Sherman was involved in pretty much all aspects, especially when it came to promoting and distributing. He would help come up with the lurid titles, help with the ad campaign, and so much more.

Now, thanks to Murania Press, you’ll get to read all the juicy bits from his career, working with Independent International Pictures, Al Adamson, and much more. In this 378 page trade paperback book, you’ll read along as Sherman “revisits those halcyon days and reveals the behind-the-scenes story of IIP’s rise and fall.” But he also goes into the entire drive-in era, having to deal with independent producers and distributors, trying not to get ripped off, and all the other fun things you had to do when you were working well below the major studios.

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Peveril Publishing Update – More Hammer!

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First news is that their latest book, The Hammer Vampire Scrapbook, is now available to order. There are only 700 copies being printed so when those are gone, it’s gone! So make sure you order your copy now if you’re interested. Yes, they are a bit pricy, especially if you’re having them mailed over here to the States. But since I have copies of all of their books in my own library, I can honestly say they are worth every penny spent. They are lavishly produced and look amazing, not to mention all the incredible content within the pages. Really a must for any serious Hammer fan. Just click HERE to order your copy now.

But wait! There’s more! While Mr. Kinsey stated that the next entry in their Scrapbook series will be on the Karnstein films, he is also working on the next volume in his Fantastic Films of the Decades series, Vol. 4 – 1940s Part 2: 1944-1949, he stated in his last email update that he is working on a 3 volume set called The House that Hammer Built, which will cover the complete Carreras years, from 1935 to 1979. According to Kinsey, this will be “my own personal definitive Hammer work, a chronological journey through Hammer’s history looking at all of their films during this period, so will be finally covering the early Exclusive films as well as Journey to the Unknown and un-filmed projects, with new research and bringing together info from my previous Hammer books.”

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