The House that Hammer Built: Vol. 3

by in Book News and tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Soon to be released by Peveril Publishing will be the 3rd volume in their series of The House that Hammer Built – The Complete Hinds/Carreras Years (1934-79), with this volume covering 1955 to 1958. Years ago, Wayne Kinsey put out a magazine called The House that Hammer Built, so these massive volumes really are like historical documents, giving fans their own Hammer History books to be used for years to come, keeping all that history and information, facts, stories, and plenty of photos, alive and well for fans that grew up with them, to the new ones that discover the famous Studio that Dripped Blood!

This volume covers the years when it got really interesting for Hammer, and started their rise to fame and fortune, so to speak. With the release of The Quatermass Xperiement and moving into The Curse of Frankenstein, there seemed to be no stopping them!

If you go to Peveril’s website (just click HERE) and sign up for their newsletter, you’ll be notified when the book goes on sale. The cover price is £40, which is about $53 here in the states, and not including the postage, which I can assume isn’t going to be cheap. But having bought most of Peveril’s books over the years, I will say they are worth every penny or pound! Gorgeously laid out, with tons of amazing photos and jammed packed up of information, they truly are beautiful pieces of work, and a must for seriously collectors of horror reference books. But they are an investment, so be warned.

Mystery Photo 10-20

by in Mystery Photo and tagged | Leave a comment

Sorry for the lack of posts lately but between conventions, 24-hour marathons, library lectures, I’m not sure I know what day of the week it is! Now that our World Tour 2025 has come to an end, there is some free time on the horizon. Just not yet! But I wanted to make sure I can at least get this posted! But first, our photo from last week was from the wonderfully titled The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959), starring Henry Daniels. Such fun! Kudos to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Kevin Hart, Bob Hartman, Dave Fronto, Doug Lamoreux, Erik Martin, and Alan Tromp. Well done!

Now let’s get down to business. Take a peek at the photo below and see if you recognize it. If you do, send your guess to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com Good Luck!

DtH Episode 107 – Making Monsters

by in Discover the Horror Podcast and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

No matter what kind of horror fan you are, most likely you’re going to love the monsters. Whether it’s from the Universal Classics, Hammer’s colorful reinterpretations, the amazing creatures from Ray Harryhausen, to even Star Wars, they all showed us a variety of monsters. It’s one of the things that us horror fans rally around, and just love to discuss, from our favorites, how some are designed, their movements, and everything in between.

Oscar winning special makeup effects artist Howard Berger and author Marshall Julius have a new book out entitled Making Monsters: Inside Stories from the Creators of Hollywood’s Most Iconic Creatures, so we asked them to be on our show to talk all about monsters, and those special memories that we all have from the films we love.

Films mentioned in this episode:

Continue reading →

Mods & Shockers from We Belong Dead

by in Book News and tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The fine folks from We Belong Dead have a new book out, Mods & Shockers: British Horror of the 1960s, which is available in 2 different covers. The one on the left is from Mark Armstrong and the one on the left is from Paul Watts. Edited by Eric McNaughton & Darrell Buxton, with a foreword by Ramsey Campbell, the book features articles on more than 150 movies, all from 1960s. I am honored to say that I have 2 articles in here, on The Frozen Dead and Island of Terror, both from 1966. As usual, the layout of their books is always a beautiful thing and I’m sure this one is no different. Yes, if you’re in the U.S., it will be a bit pricy, but I think that not only are they great books, but a damn good investment.

Continue reading →

Mystery Photo 10-13

by in Mystery Photo and tagged | Leave a comment

We survived our weekend at Monster Bash, and had one hell of a time, as usual, but there will probably be a post on that coming up. In the meantime, here’s a little pictorial puzzle to keep your mind buzzing. But first, our last photo was from the highly effective The Witch in the Window (2018). I caught this on Shudder a few years ago and it blew me away. Creepy and well done. Perfect for the Halloween season! Congrats to the following for sending in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Aaron Christensen, Chris Dyer, Damien Glonek, William Wilson, and Greg Wojick. Well done!

Now on to this week’s pic. Take a look and see if you can figure it out, but don’t think too hard. Don’t want you to end up like the guy in the photo! Just remember to send your guess to me, in an email to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck!

2025 Kryptic World Tour Coming to an End

by in Conventions and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This weekend, we are heading to our last real convention, Monster Bash, which is taking place in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. They have a great guest lineup, including Gary Clarke from How to Make a Monster, Kathryn Leigh Scott and Sharon Smyth from the original Dark Shadows series, Barbara Wilson from Blood of Dracula, Invasion of the Animal People aka Terror in the Midnight Sun, and The Flesh Eaters, John Russo from the original Night of the Living Dead, and more. You can get all the info by clicking HERE.

Continue reading →

Cinema Wasteland – 25 Years Later

by in Conventions and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“After several days of rest, we have finally recuperated from the Cinema Wasteland convention. Those of you who didn’t make it, you simply missed one hell of a show. As I’m sure everybody knew, the show was put on and run by Ken & Pam of Video Wasteland. These two have been dealers since the beginning of time, and have seen all the mistakes, screw-ups, and everything that can go wrong at a convention (and that was just at one Fangoria show). So, when doing this show, they wanted to make sure that it would be great for the dealers as well as the people spending their hard-earned cash at the show. And they did just that and more.”

That was the first paragraph of my review I posted on my website of the very first Cinema Wasteland show, back in September of 2000. The funny thing is that I could use that exact same quote for the show that I was just at over the weekend. And the one before that. And before that one. I don’t know of another show that has remained true to way they started from the very beginning. Ken Kish wanted to put on a show that wasn’t like the rest of the shows going on, and he has kept it that way. It’s small, especially compared to these huge shows where it takes hours just to get in the door, not to mention having to mortgage your house to meet a few celebrities. That is the charm to Wasteland. At Wasteland, you have a roomful of dedicated cinephiles that are more interested in the films themselves, and who made them, rather than the latest Funko Pop figure. I know that sounds a little mean-spirited, but it is the truth.

Continue reading →

Mystery Photo 10-6

by in Mystery Photo and tagged | Leave a comment

Welcome to October!!! We just returned from Cinema Wasteland, having a blast as always, and heading out to PA this weekend for Monster Bash! So needless to say… busy, busy, busy! But we wouldn’t have it anyway. Our photo from last week was kind of a trick photo. Not that it was doctored or anything, but more than a few people sent in Vault of Horror as their guess, mainly because of the famous shot in that film where the vampires are hanging up a victim with a spigot in his throat. But this show was actually from the Spanish film, Strange Love of the Vampire aka Night of the Walking Dead (1975), put out by Severin in their Danza Macabre Vol 3: The Spanish Gothic Collection box set. So, if you’re one that did send in Vault, don’t feel bad. You were not alone! Congrats on the ones that did send in the correct answer: Hoby Abernathy, Steve Archacki, Chris Dyer, and James Turner. Well done, indeed!

But on to this week’s photo. Going to try and stay in the theme of great films to be watching this month. Or at least, that’s going to be the plan. We’ll see how far it get! But take a peek and see what you can come up with. Just remember to send your answer to me in an email, to jon@kitleyskrypt.com. Good Luck and enjoy the season!

Night of the Living Dead Book

by in Book News and tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We all have those film titles that we personally think are classics of the horror genre. But George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) truly is one of them that very few would disagree. Not only did it create a whole new sub-genre of films, but close to six decades later, the film is still a powerful tale, hitting many different triggers for the viewer. Sure, it is a zombie film, but there is so much more going on within that 90+ running time.

Coming out this December from Titan Books and author Simon Braund, we are getting Night of the Living Dead: The Official Story of the Film. This book is the “official retrospective” of the film, giving the readers a look into how a small group of independent filmmakers created one of the most influential horror films ever made. Through interviews, we get to hear from different cast members and from the production crews on how it got made. From getting investors, finding locations, to even getting a bunch of people to appear as the title creatures, all outside of the normal Hollywood system, shows the talent and devotion these people had.

Continue reading →

Episode 106: Hammer’s Quatermass Films

by in Discover the Horror Podcast and tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), Quatermass 2 (1957), Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

Everyone knows the name Hammer Films (at least, we hope they do!) but most people associate it with gothic horror, particularly their reimagining of the Universal classic Frankenstein in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). Yet Hammer had been around long before Peter Cushing breathed life into that first stitched-together corpse. Founded in the 1930s as a distribution company, the studio gradually moved into producing films, often adapted from popular TV and radio series.

In 1953, the BBC aired a six-part serial, The Quatermass Experiment. Hammer quickly recognized its potential, adapted it into a feature film, and in doing so set itself firmly on the path toward becoming “the studio that dripped blood.” In this episode, we cover all three Quatermass films. While they lean more toward science fiction than Hammer’s later gothic output, they are steeped in horror… and we think they’re well worth your time.

Films mentioned in this episode:

Continue reading →