Category Archives: Reviews: Horror Reference Book

Book Review: Turn to Gruesomeness in American Horror Films

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The Turn to Gruesomeness in American Horror Films, 1931 to 1936
By Jon Towlson
Published by McFarland, 2015. 240 pages

One of the wonderful things about reading up on the history of horror films is that there is always something new and interesting that can be learned once a subject is really put under the magnifying glass. Now this isn’t to say that if you look for something you’ll find it, even if it isn’t there, but Towlson has done a great deal of research to back up his thoughts and ideas in this recent book. It also shows that no matter how long you’ve been a fan, there is always more to learn.

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Book Review: When Animals Attack

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When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals
Edited by Vanessa Morgan
Published by Moonlight Creek Publishing, 2016. 415 pages.

when-animals-attackFirst of all, I must state that I am in this book, writing about the ’50s flick The Giant Claw, so some might think this review could be a little jaded. But I can assure you, I am only a very small part of a much larger picture here. What editor Morgan has done is collected a wonderful array of voices here to give praise (some more than others) to a particular killer animal movie that hits home to them. And that single element alone is reason enough to pick up a copy of this book.

While there are a ton of classic films discussed within these pages, I will say that some of them covered here are not great films at all. In fact, some are real turkeys. But that doesn’t mean they are not entertaining, or at least deserve their little day in the spotlight. Or even just the fact that they need to be covered, no matter what. I mean, this is a book about killer animal films, right? Even with the lesser films, the author gives their reasoning on why they enjoy it so much, and that is probably my favorite part about this project. The essays are personal. This isn’t just stating facts upon facts, but why the author loves it and why it means so much to them.

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Book Review: Horror Films FAQ

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Horror Films FAQ
By John Kenneth Muir
Published by Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 2013. 383 pages.

With this title, we weren’t really sure what this book was actually about. The text on the front of the book says “All that’s left to know about slashers, vampires, zombies, aliens, and more”. Is it just a collection of questions answered that the FAQ in the title would imply? Actually no. But what it does give the reader is both a very interesting and entertaining read, as well as giving some great insight to some of our favorite movies.

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Book Review: Graphic Horror Movie Monster Memories

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Graphic Horror Movie Monster Memories
By John Edgar Browning
Published by Schiffer Publishing, 2012. 192 pages.

I love movie posters. I believe these really are works of art and don’t get the appreciation they deserve, especially the ones from the horror genre. Strange though that when it comes to movie poster auctions, horror titles have always been the ones that draw the most money. But as we move more and more into the digital age, poster art is becoming more of a lost art form, or at least a completely different medium. Nowadays, these things are seemingly cranked out with very little time or effort, mainly using computer graphics/artwork to churn these out. Back in the heyday, these pieces of advertisements had a big job to do. They have to make people want to go see this movie just by looking at this poster. So it had to be catchy…and it had to be good.

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Book Review: Little Horrors

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little-horrorsLittle Horrors: How Cinema’s Evil Children Play on Our Guilt
By T.S. Kord
Published by McFarland, 2016. 228 pages.

I first became aware of this book from my friend Gavin Schmitt’s review, which immediately grabbed my attention at the author’s introduction and her feelings towards some of the more scholarly reference books. When writing this book, she was told on more than one occasion that it wasn’t academic enough. But Kord didn’t care and states that “they failed to convince me that a good idea is worth less because it’s expressed clearly, and I’ve never been a fan of the academic credo that if a book is comprehensible to more than three people, the author must have sold out.” For that, this author has my undying attention and praise! That is exactly the problem I have with a lot of these film theory books, that it seems more important to them to talk over their audience than to actually get down to their level to get their point across. So major kudos to Kord for standing by her thoughts on this subject and not be swayed to change it just to get published.

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Book Review: The Art of the B Movie Poster

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The Art of the B Movie Poster
Edited by Adam Newell
Published by Gingko Press, 2016. 320 pages.

I’ve got a confession to make: I’m a sucker for poster books. I truly believe that movie poster art really is just that…artwork. It is also something that should be treated as such, meaning it should be saved and displayed. But most importantly though, it should be remembered, since there are hundreds of talented artists that put their soul into these and got little or no fanfare, let alone getting paid a decent price. It was because of the hard work of these artists put into these designs that made us go to the theater to see the film, sometimes solely based on what the poster showed them. As Pete Tombs writes in his wonderful introduction here about what this kind of art should be doing…”move, inspire, and entertain – and occasionally startle too, for that’s all part of the plan.”

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Book Review: It Came from the 80s!

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it-came-from-the-80sIt Came from the 80s!
By Francesco Borseti
Published by McFarland, 2016. 294 pages.

Why are there not more books like this? With all the low budget films that were made in the 80s, there has to be an over abundance of incredible and fascinating stories that us movie nerds would eat up, from the high stress levels and time constraints, to no money, to dealing with once popular actors on their way down and young ones fighting their way up, to so many other things that were just a normal part of that kind of guerilla-style of filmmaking. But thankfully for us, Francesco Borseti has given us a chance to revisit some of these films, and hear from some of the different people behind them. Each chapter will cover one specific movie that will have different input from several people from the film. Might be the screenwriter, director, cameraman, effects artists, or all of the above, with each one giving their thoughts and memories of working on that particular title.

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