Tag Archives: Stephen Jacobs

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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The Karloff Compendium

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I guess I should have figured that since I posted a little while ago about a new book on Lugosi, that there would have to be a new one on Karloff to balance the scales, right? Thanks to Stephen Jacobs, author of the amazing and highly recommended biography Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster (click HERE for our review of it), we now have another volume to add to our library: The Karloff Compendium: The Films, TV, Radio, Theatrical Work and More of Boris Karloff!

According to the book’s description, it is the most comprehensive volume on Karloff’s film roles, including several recently discovered movies (editor’s note: I have to admit, that alone has me curious), as well as selected highlights from his appearances on TV, radio, and his work on the stage. This is a “pictorial journey” through the life of one of the greatest icons in film history.

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Book Review: Boris Karloff: More Than A Monster

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KarloffmorethanmonsterBoris Karloff: More Than A Monster
By Stephen Jacobs
Published by Tomahawk Press, 2011. 568 pages.

Out of all the actors in the horror genre, Boris Karloff has always been my favorite. I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that Frankenstein is one of my favorite films, where his performance there has never lost its impact on me. But even though he was typecast as a “boogyman”, he didn’t mind it, nor did it stop him from having such a diverse career, working in so many different genres, on film as well as the stage. He was also never ashamed of his work in the field, especially with the role that made him immortal, often calling the creature his “best friend”.

There have been quite a few books written on Karloff over the years. I even have 10 different titles in my own collection, such as Dear Boris by Cynthia Lindsay, Karloff by Peter Underwood, and The Films of Boris Karloff by Richard Bojarski and Kenneth Beals, which was a title that I was eventually told to stop checking out at my school library because I needed to give other people a chance to get it! One of the best biographies I had read on him was Boris Karloff: A Gentleman’s Life by Scott Allen Nollen, which came out in 1999. I learned so much more about this great man reading this book. But now, I have recently finished another biography that I have to say surpasses that incredible volume. And that would be Boris Karloff: More Than A Monster by Stephen Jacobs.

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