Tag Archives: BearManor Media

Creepy Bitches: Essays on Horror from Women in Horror

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Now if that title doesn’t tell you exactly what this book is about …

While we haven’t read this one (yet), I know we will be adding it to our library. One of the most important things one can do as a fan of this genre is listen to other voices. Not everyone thinks the same way you do so even if someone has a difference of opinion, you still should listen to them. Might not change your own feelings but maybe it will open your eyes a bit so at least you can see and understand another point of view. Women in horror is one voice that has been struggling to be heard for years, namely because most won’t listen. So let’s fix that. One step would to simply buy this book and read some essays on the genre by female writers, from the film industry, fandom, growing up in a video store even more in depth like exploring the gender roles in The Creature from the Black Lagoon trilogy. It also covers the “therapeutic benefits of watching horror” that I know a lot of us have been preaching for years!

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Book Review: 1000 Women in Horror

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1000 Women in Horror1000 Women in Horror: 1895 – 2018
Published by BearManor Media, 2020. 600 pages.
By Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

This book is amazing for a few reasons. First of all, it is an incredible source of information about women in the horror genre, from directors, screenwriters, costume designers, actresses, and just about every other job there is in the business. As the title states, we get to learn about women from way back to 1895 to the more recent 2018, as well as from all around the world, from Thailand to Turkey, from California to Canada, and everywhere in between. It shows this talent is everywhere.

It also proves a couple of fallacies within the horror genre. By the numbers listed in this book, it is obvious that there has been, and still are a great number of women working in the horror business, in a variety of jobs, some of which that have become immortal, such as actresses Fay Wray or Gloria Stuart. This also proves that the horror genre is definitely not just for the guys! Just by reading the author’s introduction, you’ll quickly realize there are plenty of women within these pages that are just as passionate about the horror genre as some of the men that I’ve met over the years, some even more so. It shows that gender has no bearing on one’s love of cinema. We’re all going to like and dislike different titles, which is to be expected. But sharing one’s love for the genre should not have any boundaries or hurdles. Continue reading →

1000 Women in Horror

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1000 Women in HorrorBack in Feb. of 2018, we posted a mention about this upcoming book. Well, now it is officially out and can be ordered! In this 600 page book, the author gives us a “love letter to both the stars and often-invisible women who have made the genre what it is today. From Classical Hollywood to alt-Nollywood, mumblegore to J-horror, this book offers a tiny global snapshot of the vast number of women who have worked in the creation of dark and spooky movies for well over a century, both behind and in front of the camera, and in films both widely known and comparatively obscure.”

The book covers over 700 feature films that were either directed by or co-directed by women, and also interviews with a ton of women who have been contributing to the genre over the years. In other words, this is a must for all horror fans because part of the learning about the genre is learning about those within it and the struggles and challenges they have. 

This is available in both paperback and hardcover editions, which I would recommend going through Amazon since you can save on the shipping charges that way. The book might seem a bit pricey, $44 for paperback and $54 for hardcover, but at 600 pages, I think that is more than a fair price. So order your copy now!

Buyer Beware!

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Everyone reading this knows I tend to collect horror reference books. More than your average fan. And because of my love of them, I always like to help promote them as well, either through reviews or just letting my followers know about upcoming titles that might be of interests. 

In the past, I’ve made posts about some books that publishers like to re-issue every couple of years, but change the title and cover a little to make it seem like its a new book. For example, Carlton Books have re-issued their Horror! title that was first published in 2006, at least 3 different times, all with a new cover and all with a slightly different name, adding a few pages at the end to “update” it to the current year. Sure, newer fans aren’t going to have the previous release, but at least they could do is state that it is an updated edition. Continue reading →

Weaver and The Brute Man

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scripts from the crypt brute manIn the latest volume of Tom Weaver’s Scripts from the Crypt series, No. 10 will cover the 1946 film The Brute Man. By Scott Gallinghouse, Dr. Robert J. Kiss, George Chastain, David Colton, Andrew J. Fenady, and Gary D. Rhodes, they give us a look into not only this film, it’s production and release, but there is also a biography chapter on Rondo Hatton himself.

Hatton, who became a B-Movie villain due to his particular looks that were caused by acromegaly, a disease that causes disfigurement in the hands, feet, and face. He appeared in films such as The Pearl of Death (1944), House of Horrors (1946), and his final film, The Brute Man.

It will be a very interesting read to learn more about this film, but especially more about Hatton himself. I’m sure he’d be thrilled to know that his name and likeness has become synonyms with Monster Kids around the world because of the Rondo Awards!

This has been released by BearManor Media and is available in a hardcover edition ($39.95) or a paperback edition ($29.95). You can order your copy at their website HERE.

New Lugosi and Dracula Books

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Thanks to BearManor Media, fans of Bela Lugosi and of Universal’s Son of Dracula just might be adding a couple of new book titles to their library! I know I will be.

The first book, Scripts from the Crypt # 9: Son of Dracula is written by Gary D. Rhodes, Tom Weaver, Dr. Robert Kiss, and Robert Guffey and contains all the wonderful information in this series of books. You’ll get the production history, fun facts, the pressbook, essays by Robert Siodmak and Curt Siodmak, as well as the script! These are great titles when you’re wanting to more about a particular film. You can get the softcover edition for $29.95 or the hardcover edition for $39.95.

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Book News!

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Oargentone more thing we can look forward to in 2019 is the continuing proof that print is definitely not dead. Sorry folks, but not even close. Granted, my bank account very well could be, but there are more than a few books coming out this year that I know will be must additions to my library. Not sure where I’m going to be putting them when they do arrive, or when I’ll get around to reading them…

FAB Press announced that they will be publishing the English language edition of Dario Argento’s autobiography, simply called Fear. That is the only details FAB released but since I hadn’t even heard that he was even writing an autobiography (that was actually published in 2014…thanks Troy!), I am more than a little excited about hearing his stories, right from him. I can only imagine the insights and stories we’re going to hear right from the man responsible for so many incredible pieces of cinema.

Add this to the fact that Troy Howarth’s new book, Murder By Design: The Unsane Cinema of Dario Argento, will be out in 2020, that means we’ll have a few more Argento books for the library shelves. Maybe we’ll even get to see Volume 3 in Howarth’s So Deadly, So Perverse giallo series. Positive thoughts, my fellow book fiends.

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Book Review: The Dr. Phibes Companion

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Dr Phibes CompanionThe Dr. Phibes Companion
Published by BearManor Media, 2018. 274 pages
By Justin Humphreys

One of the first movies I rented when I bought my very own VCR was one of my all time favorite films, The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), starring the amazing Vincent Price, and it still remains the same to this day. How could you not love this movie about this evil genius who sets out to get revenge of those who he believes caused the death of his wife, each one in a very creative way? It’s one of my favorite character’s that Price brought to life and is always a treat to watch. So when I first read about the news that there was going to a book dedicated to the Phibes films, I was more than a little excited.

With contributions by Mark Ferelli, Sam Irvin, and David Taylor, and a forward by Phibes co-screenwriter William Goldstein, author Humphreys has compiled so much information about the first Phibes movie, its sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972), as well as the many proposed sequels that never got off the ground. Humphreys has done an amazing job compiling information about these titles from the original screenplays, letting us know the differences between them and the final product, finding and hiring the director, the art direction, casting, makeup, the score, and just about everything you could want to know about them! As a Phibes Phan, you’ll learn more here than you thought you could.

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You Won’t Believe Your Updated and Revised Eyes!

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youwontbelieveyoureyes RevisedOne of my favorite books that I read in 2016, which still remains as a favorite, is Mark Thomas McGee’s You Won’t Believe Your Eyes!, published by BearManor Media. It’s a recollection from a young Monster Kid as he went to see those amazing films of the ’50s. It is a very funny and entertaining read, which I reviewed on my site back in 2016, where you can still find the review if you search for it.

But now, there is an all new “Revised and Updated Monster Kids Edition, that has just been released by BearManor, with almost a 100 pages of more fun recollections. McGee’s writing is full of humor and admiration for this pictures, even if they might not be the greatest of movies. I found a lot of great titles from that era that I had missed out on, but thanks to McGee and this book, I quickly fixed that error.

If you’re a fan of that era of sci-fi and horror films, then I really think you’ll enjoy this one. Plus, with the holidays right around the corner, it would make a great gift. It is available in both hardcover ($35.95) and softcover ($25.95) editions. For more information, head over to BearManor Media’s site HERE. 

Looking for a New Book?

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While I continue my quest to add more books to my personal library that I’ll ever be able to read in my lifetime, I thought I would give a little shout out to a few titles that are currently sitting in my Want List on Amazon. I don’t have any of these yet (key word…yet) so all I know about them is what I’ve read on the Amazon description. But they do sound pretty interesting, and I know that I intend to pick them up at some point. While I’m in the middle of reading 3 different books right now, and have a few piled up that I still need to find room in the bookshelves for, it might be a bit.

Who am I kidding, I’ll probably order them next payday!

I’ll list this these alphabetically so it doesn’t look like I’m playing any favoritism!

Ad NauseamAd Nauseam By Michael Gingold
Any horror fan worth their weight in magazines knows Gingold from his decades working for Fangoria magazine, but has been keeping himself quite busy since those days. His book The Frightfest Guide to Monster Movies is just awesome and is simply a must. But his new book is something that older fans will love paging through, as well as giving younger fans a look into the past. In his youth, Gingold would cut out the ads for horror films, the bigger named ones as well as the smaller titles that snuck out. This book is a walk through the 1980’s in a year-by-year guide to Gingold’s archive, featuring more than 450 ads. Remember folks, years before the internet, this is how we found out movies that were playing so these ads had the tough job of capturing the attention of the person paging through the newspaper and make them want to rush out to see this movie. And more times than not, at least for us horror fans, it worked.

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