Category Archives: Reviews: Horror Reference Book

Book Review: Bride of Frankenstein: The Definitive History

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Bride of Frankenstein: The Definitive History of the Horror Classic
Published by CenterLine Publishing & Consulting LLC, 2024. 422 pages
By Christopher Lock

For a film that is making its 90th Anniversary this year, there is a lot that has been written about Bride of Frankenstein (1935) over those nine decades. In fact, I have a couple of books solely dedicated to this title, not to mention more than a few that cover the Universal classic horror titles of the ’30s in general. Of course, when you see one with the subtitle “The Definitive History of the Horror Classic” it does grab one’s attention.

Who am I kidding? It’s a book on one of the most famous horror films ever made. Of course I’m going to add it to my library! So, the real question is . . . is it the “definitive history”? And is it worth adding to your own library?

The author has a lot of information in here, not just on Bride, but the original film as well, and even including some info on Mary Shelley and her original novel. There could be an argument on why it covers that stuff when the book is about Bride, but I do agree that you need to cover those first before you get to the famous sequel. Though I did find it a little strange that while going over the beginning, when the original Frankenstein was in the early stages, the author mentions the early scripts by Balderston and Webling, but nothing is mentioned about Robert Florey, who was the one that brought the original idea to Universal, with the intent of directing it. A minor quibble.

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Book Review: Bride of Frankenstein

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Bride of Frankenstein
Published by Midnight Movie Monographs, 2023. 184 pages.
Edited by Emma Westwood

This is a rather small volume, priced at a little more than I would have liked to have paid for it, but that being said, there is a lot of wisdom and information packed into these 184 pages. The thing that I really enjoyed about this is that it contains 12 essays by 12 different writers, all covering a variety of subjects that have to do with James Whale’s 1935 sequel, The Bride of Frankenstein. While some are not specifically on the movie, there is that connection.

There is one on Franz Waxman and the incredible music he created for it, written by Dr. Dan Golding. Remember, there was a time in the early day of sound films that the studios didn’t want musical scores, feeling they would interfere with the voices and other sounds in the film. Then there is Scott Essman’s essay on the makeup for the Bride and the makeup artist Jack Pierce. Lots of good stuff in here.

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Book Review: Cinema Speculation

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Cinema Speculation
Published by HarperCollins, 2022. 392 pages.
By Quentin Tarantino

This is sort of a first here at the Krypt, because this book isn’t really about the horror genre. While there is a chapter on Tobe Hooper’s The Funhouse (1981), it covers a bunch of other films, mainly in the action genre. So why am I covering it here? Simple. Because I can’t remember the last time I read a book where the writer’s passion for cinema was felt in every single word.

The title alone, Cinema Speculation, shows that this isn’t Tarantino making a statement that the titles covered are the best in the history of cinema, but he writes why they are to him. It is his “speculation”. And he goes into great detail as to why, all coming from his deep-rooted passion for them. Everyone knows anything about Taratino knows how much he knows about cinema. You can’t see an interview with him where he’s usually name dropping some obscure film that he loves. There are reasons for that.

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Book Review: Naked Theater & Uncensored Horror

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Naked Theater & Uncensored Horror
Published by FAB Press, 2023. 360 pages
By Stuart Gordon

I’ve been wanting to get to this title ever since it arrived in the mail from FAB Press when it first came out. But like all things in life, something else always came up. Until a few days ago when I decided now was the time. It was a Sunday, and I didn’t have any real plans for the day, so I knew I could at least start it. 3 days later, I finished it.

I’ve known Gordon’s work since his debut film, Re-Animator (1985), hit the theater I worked at when it first opened. All horror fans immediately knew him as “the guy who did Re-Animator” and would watch for his next venture into the film world. The more films Gordon did, the more interviews and articles about him came out, the more we got a hint of his history. I knew very well that he came from theater background, even being here in Chicago for quite some time, but I really had no clue to the extent he had, or the impact that he made.

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Book Review: Feeding the Monster

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Feeding the Monster
Published by Faber & Faber, 2024. 256 pages
by Anna Bogutskaya

These days, way more than before, I love reading a book about the horror genre, and especially other writer’s views, thoughts, and opinions out it. Unfortunately, in my early days, it would be more like “this person doesn’t know what they are talking about”. But once I (thankfully) grew out of that phase and realized that everyone can bring something new to the conversation, especially when it gets you to think, it is always a good thing. Even when you don’t agree with them, if it makes you think about something more or even a little differently, then it’s a win.

I had picked up this new book because, well, it was on the horror genre and that’s what I do. But I didn’t have any intention of reading it right away since I have several other books I want to get to first. Then as I saw it sitting on my desk, waiting to be put away in my library, I picked it up and started browsing. Then I started reading. Next thing I know, I’m 50 pages into it.

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Book Review: The Soul of Wes Craven

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The Soul of Wes Craven
Published by Harker Press, 2024. 460 pages
By Joseph Maddrey

Out of all the directors that were reigning supreme in my formable years, the ‘80s, with names like Romero, Carpenter, Cronenberg, Hooper, Coscarelli, Wes Craven was never in my favorites. There were a few of his films that I still love to this day, such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, but for a career as a whole, he’s not high up in my list. But by reading this new book on him, it proved yet once again that by learning more about a subject, really going behind and deep into the person, you cannot help but see things differently. Doesn’t mean it changed my feelings towards some of his work, but it gives one so much more understanding on what you see.

There was a lot about Craven that I knew, such as him being a very intelligent man, that he used to be a teacher at one point, as well as wanting to break free from the genre that he was continually forced to work in. A younger me would state that he just used the genre to get his foot in the door, but never really was a fan. Once you read of his life, being raised in a very fundamental religious background, you realize he is never far away from true horror. And wanting to do something different from just that genre, that he was a very creative person who wanted to show that while he enjoyed working in scary tales, he also could show you something else.

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Book Review: New Israeli Horror

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New Israeli Horror
Published by Rutgers University Press, 2024. 220 pages.
By Olga Gersheson

There is nothing I love more than a doorway that opens up a whole new world to me when it comes to horror cinema. Whether it is a documentary or a book, especially one that its main focus is on a subject of the genre that I’m not familiar with, or maybe know a little, but don’t realize just how little I know. So, when I have the opportunity to venture into that unknown territory, I usually come out excited and anxious to dive into some of that subject matter. All of that encompasses what happened upon reading Gersheson’s book New Israeli Horror.

As I started reading it, I recognized a few titles and even seen a couple mentioned, such as Big Bad Wolves (2013). But then it hit me that several of the titles I had no idea where Israeli films! Nor did I realize the number of films that have come out from Israel in the last couple of decades. Boy did my To-Watch list start to grow.

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Book Review: Watching the World Die

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Watching the World Die: Nuclear Threat Films of the 1980s
Published by McFarland, 2023. 261 pages.
By Mike Bogue

Back in 2018, I reviewed Mike Bogue’s previous book, Apocalypse Then: American and Japanese Atomic Cinema, 1951-1967 (click HERE for that review), which I really enjoyed since it was much more than what it looked like at face value, not just about giant monsters created from atomic energy, but giving a really good insight to even the differences between countries and how they each looked and perceived what had, or could, happen.

When I received his latest book, Watching the World Die, at first thought it would just be about movies dealing with nuclear war and the aftermath, along the lines of films like The Day After (1983). And honestly, I have to say for someone that likes to use movies as an escape, reading about some truly terrifying films like Testament (1983) or Threads (1984) is a bit rough. Not to say that cinema can’t have a message, and a lot of these films do exactly what they set out to do, and do it well, but for me personally, it’s not a particular sub-genre that I enjoy watching or reading about. On that same note, writing about futuristic worlds that are struggling to survive after the destruction is easier to put it in more of terms of a fantasy, and even horror, that I can enjoy a lot easier. It’s about the after-effects, not the actual holocaust, if that makes sense.

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Book Review: They Made How Many?!

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They Made How Many?!
Published by Rotted Rainbow Press, 2023. 646 pages
By Jason Paul Collum

Not only am I a sucker for horror film reference books, but even more so when there is a particular theme to it. I picked this up from Mr. Collum at the Flashback Weekend in 2023 and finally had the chance to really dive into it. If you’re looking for something to give you ideas of what movies to watch, then this is it. But tread lightly, which I’ll explain a little later.

Collum has taken on the monumental task of trying to go through all the American horror franchises of the 20th century, or “mostly” as stated on the front cover. But this massive 600+ page volume covers more than enough to keep you reading through it, as well as building that “I-Need-To-See” list of films. I really enjoyed the format, stating whether the individual titles are direct sequels or in name only. Trust me, in a few of these series, that alone gets pretty sketchy! Plus, the fun facts are great. There is a lot of trivia information that is really interesting and a lot of things I never knew.

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Book Review: The Karloff Compendium

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The Karloff Compendium
Published by Unstoppable Cards Limited, 2023. 328 pages.
By Stephen Jacobs

Boris Karloff is my all-time favorite actor, not just because Frankenstein (1931) is one of my all-time favorite films either, but due to his huge work in the genre throughout his career. Because of that fact, I will buy any book that comes out that is on him. Without question. When the news of this new one was going to be released, I immediately ordered it when it was available. It also helped because it was by author Stephen Jacobs, who had previously written probably the best Karloff biography back in 2011 entitled Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster (click HERE to read our review of that title). Honestly, I didn’t even read what the book was about before ordering it, because it didn’t matter. When it arrived, I finally paged through it briefly seeing that it was really a historical look at Karloff’s career, starting at the very beginning when he was a stage actor, going through to the end.

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