Now Available: The Supernatural Cinema of Guillermo del Toro - Critical Essays

Horror scholar, journalist, and blogger at TheoFantastique -- not to mention long-time friend -- John W. Morehead just notified me that his new genre-themed book from McFarland has been published.  

I've been waiting for this one!

John is the editor of The Supernatural Cinema of Guillermo del Toro - Critical Essays (2015), a new anthology of scholarly essays about the beloved horror director.  

The book looks terrific, and John is the genuine article: a cerebral horror-lover with a wealth of knowledge about philosophy, religion, and film. 

The book opens with a foreword from Doug Jones, and an introduction by John. Among  the essays in the book are "The Child Transformed by Monsters" by Jessica Bulanzategui, and "Where the Wild Things Are: Monsters and Children" by Alexandra West.

Also, I have an essay in John's collection, called "Henry's Kids: Othered Children and Karloff's Frankenstein Monsters."  

My essay considers the influence that Whale's Frankenstein has had on del Toro's film canon, and I loved writing it. John has contributed to many of my books in the past (and hopefully will in the future...) and I can say that it was a great honor and privilege to work with John on his project, his baby. 

The Supernatural Cinema of Guillermo del Toro - Critical Essays is now available through Amazon, here, and at McFarland, here.  

If you are interested in the "underneath" of the cinematic works by this monster-loving genius, I hope you'll check out John's book, and let me know what you think about "Henry's Kids."

What I'm Reading Now: Parallel Man (2014)

Author Jeffrey Morris and the artists at Future Dude unveil Parallel Man -- a seven issue comic-book mini-series from ComiXology (and Diamond Comics) -- on October 8^th. The story arc is titled “Invasion America” and involves an alternate, totalitarian version of the U.S.A. that attempts to enslave and exploit our reality, here.

The narrative commences with some historical explanation. In one alternate world, America -- instead of inventing the atom bomb in the 1940s -- discovered the technology to travel between parallel universes. 

Many alternate Earths have already been classified and conquered by these imperialists, and the first issue shows readers Gamma 31, a strange alternate Earth where giant mushrooms are the dominant life-form. 

Another alternate Earth, previously unclassified, is a world where the dinosaurs never went extinct, and man never rose to dominance.

Some of the best passages in the first issue involve the premise that our quantum reality is next in line to be subjugated. Our Air Force One is attacked while in flight, captured, and forced down in the “other” reality.

In short order, President Obama is introduced to his “new leader,” an arrogant tyrant named Warren Cartwright. Our Commander-in-Chief is told in no uncertain terms that he must surrender his world, or be destroyed. This passage of the story plays as gripping “what if” thriller, and is handled with a crisp, compelling sense of verisimilitude.

The remainder of the issue introduces our hero, Nick Morgan, and moves at lightning-fast velocity as he attempts to unravel the mysteries of Cartwright’s master plan: the Ascendancy. 

The art work and narrative approach in Parallel Man reminds me a lot of early 1960s “can do” futurism, an era before our politics and our belief in ourselves became so small. And with dinosaurs, giant mushrooms, parallel universes, heroic secret agents, and nefarious conspiracies, Parallel Man feels like an ingenious mash-up of Land of the Lost, Land of the Giants, Star Trek, The X-Files and Danger Man.  There's both a retro and futuristic feel to the whole enterprise, and Parallel Man moves with confidence, purpose and quite a bit of style.

I look forward to issue number two, to see how the compelling story-line develops….

Now Available: Space Monsters Issue #4

I received my copy of Space Monsters, Issue #4 in the mail today, and am now in the process of hungrily devouring all the great content.  

This issue is the giant monster/Godzilla issue, and it features reviews of Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster, Mothra, Gorgo, Godzilla Raids Again, and King Kong. There's also an Ultraman episode guide, and retrospectives of Logan's Run and Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

In other words... all my favorite things.  Check out the issue and the magazine if you get a chance. It's a great read!

What I'm Reading Now - Back in Time: The Unauthorized Back to the Future Chronology

November 5th is an important day in Back to the Future (1985) lore so today seems like an appropriate time to call your attention to the book I'm reading right now.  

Back in Time: The Unauthorized Back to the Future Chronology by Greg Mitchell and Rich Handley is the latest master-work from Hasslein Books, an imprint fast developing a reputation for intricate, comprehensive, exhaustively-detailed texts about beloved genre franchises.

I already own Handley's Planet of the Apes Chronology, and Planet of the Apes Lexicon (for which I submitted a preface...), and the quality of this work rivals both of those impressive texts.  This Back in Time book is filled with beautiful illustrations, flow-charts, and family trees, and is appealing simply on the basis of the dynamic visual lay-out.

In terms of content, Back in Time consists of a meticulous time-line broken down into 15 segments ranging from "prehistory" to "2015 and beyond."  

The book also includes five appendices, which gaze at the history of Hill Valley, and even the ubiquitous Courthouse Square (where the clock tower plays an important role).  

I also loved the appendix which traces the various "family trees" of generations of Tannens, McFlys, Browns, Stricklands, Parkers and so forth. This seems a crucial element of the Back to the Future mythos, as the "series" concerns a core group of families that keep reliving a similar series of events (in the same places),.

The first thing that may strike the reader about the book beyond the attractive graphic design and artwork from Pat Carbajal is the fact that the Back to the Future "universe" (and franchise) is a hell of a lot more expansive than it might appear at first blush.  

The chronology thus includes not merely the three feature films (circa 1985 - 1991), but an animated series, three comic book series, Happy Meal Boxes (!), commercials, music videos, and a card game.  I frankly had no notion that half of this material even existed.

Delightfully, the book provides all the details necessary to finding a story, and understanding where and how it fits in the overall time-line. An added bonus is that the authors add scientific "notes" to many entries, such as those involving the Jurassic and Cenozoic Period, to sort of "accuracy check" the franchise.

The approach -- as that level of detail suggests -- is one of respect and complete-ism, if there is such a word.  

Again, I'm bowled over by the level of detail found in the text, and must credit, at least partially, Rich Handley, the co-author. He is a great writer for this sort of material because he approaches franchises like Apes or BTTF like some obsessed archaeologist reconstructing an ancient culture from diverse, seemingly unconnected clues..  He is constantly organizing and re-organizing chunks of data so that a new, "big" picture of the overall story emerges.  

 I (clearly...) don't know Back to the Future as well as Planet of the Apes, but for fans of the series, this chronology is absolutely a must-have if you seek be a student in that archaeology class, and desire to put all the pieces together so as to glean a sense of the "story" from the distance of an objective observer, in accordance, perhaps with Hasslein (Books?) theory of Infinite Regression.

Back in Time: The Unauthorized Back to the Future Chronology is available at Hasslein Books and at Amazon.com.

What I'm Reading Now: Un-Dead TV: The Ultimate Guide to Vampire Television

"Once a two-dimensional monster with no voice of its own, the vampire has evolved into something much greater - and television has played a critical role in the creature's enduring hold on the human psyche. It's through their undead voice that storytellers explore the social mores of society, confronting taboos, fears and prejudices..."

Brad Middleton, Un-Dead TV (Light Unseen Media; 2012), pgs 11 - 12.  (Review to follow in August).

A Matter of Time: The Unauthorized Back to the Future Lexicon

A good historian is someone who is curious, methodical, and can bring order to chaos. 

A good historian is someone who is meticulous to the point of being obsessive about the details. 

And a good historian can tie things together in a way that surprises, enlightens, and educates his or her readers.

Author Rich Handley (From Aldo to Zira: Lexicon of the Planet of the Apes, Timeline of the Planet of the Apes) is a very good historian indeed. 

His latest book, A Matter of Time: The Unofficial Back to the Future Lexicon is ample evidence of this fact.  It’s a 339-page text that leaves no factoid unturned in its exploration of the Back to the Future film trilogy and all its spin-offs.  And like the movies this encyclopedia explores so assiduously, the book is also a hell of a lot of fun.

Handley writes in his introduction that his new text is “designed for anal-retentive, die-hard fans, as well as those who simply enjoy the movies.”  However, I think he’s soft-peddling the obsessive nature of the book there. The abbreviation key alone provides nearly four dozen sources of information on the Back-to-the-Future-verse, from interviews with the writers to music videos, to “photographs hanging in the Doc Brown’s Chicken restaurant at Universal Studios.”

You want complete?  Hello, McFly!  This encyclopedia is complete.  There are (exhaustive) entries on every detail in the mythos from the bicycle shop seen in Courthouse Square (in 1955) to the von Braun family album. The book incorporates facts from an animated series, video games, amusement park rides and more…half of which, I must confess, I didn’t even know existed.

I can’t claim that my passion with Back to the Future runs as nearly deep as my passion for Planet of the Apes, but I am unhealthy obsessed, no doubt, with Back to the Future Part II (1989).  It’s actually my favorite film in the cycle -- kind of a Back to the Future Unbound -- and in my opinion it’s a seriously underrated and technically accomplished film.  I liked the original 1985 movie just fine, but it played, in some sense, on romantic nostalgia for a decade/time period I never lived through.  Back to the Future Part II travels to the past, the future, and even “inside” the events of the first movie.  It’s a crazy brilliant film that moves at a breakneck pace.

Reading through A Matter of Time, I really wanted to watch Back to the Future Part II again, and perhaps review it here on the blog.  Handley’s text reminded me of that film’s sense of joy…and utter madness. It left me feeling "Fired Up," to refer to a 2015 Marty McFly and the Pinheads compilation album (addressed in the book on page 93).

If Rich Handley keeps writing books of this depth and detail every year, I have no doubt his hair will soon go as stark white as Doc Brown’s.

Occupational hazard for madmen historians, I suppose…

What I'm Reading Now: A Matter of Time: The Back to the Future Lexicon

"It's rare that comedy sequels manage to re-capture the magic of their progenitors, as anyone who paid to see the disastrous Police Academy, Revenge of the Nerds and Look Who's Talking follow-ups knows all too painfully well.  But the BTTF trilogy indisputably pulled it off.  Between the multi-colored sci-fi future of 2015, the dark "Biffhorrific" alternate 1985, the nostalgic revisiting of the first film's 1955 sequences, and the sentimental Spaghetti Western riff in 1885, the sequels hit it out of the park, scene after scene."

-Rich Handley, author of A Matter of Time: The Back to the Future Lexicon, Hasslein Books, page xii.

Back to Frank Black Book Now Available on Amazon

I received my copy of Back to Frank Black a week ago and have been stealing moments here and there to read it.  

It’s an impressively written, edited, and presented book, featuring terrific insights about Millennium (1996 – 1999) from many of those talents (writers, directors, directors of photography, actors and actresses) who made the series such a special endeavor.   The book also includes well-written, provocative and intriguing essays about the series and its implications from the likes of Gordon Roberts and Brian Dixon.  The art work -- inside and out -- by James McLean is stunning as well.  

In all, it's an absolute must-read and important next chapter in the campaign to bring Millennium back to our screens.

Back to Frank Black is available now on Amazon.

What I'm Reading Now: Graphic Horror: Movie Monster Memories

Last year, I was invited to participate in a really cool horror book project, and it has recently come to fruition, to beautiful effect, so I wanted to put out the good word about it here on the blog before the weekend.

Schiffer has just published editor and author John Edgar Browning’s Graphic Horror: Movie Monster Memories, a gorgeous coffee table book featuring the poster art of scary movies from the 1920s right up through 2009. 

The art is supplemented by terrific commentary from horror luminaries including David J. Skal (who also writes the introduction), Donald Glut, Peter Hutchings, Tony Timpone, Gregory A. Waller and many, many more. There’s also an afterword by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, and John himself sets the scene well with his introduction, “Movie Monsters and the Printed Page.”

I was honored too to see my own film commentary included in Graphic Horror.  In the book, I get to discuss some of my favorite genre films including King Kong (1976), Halloween (1978), Phantasm (1979), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Child’s Play (1988), among others.  It’s a kick to see my words as captions and commentary next to some great, evocative, and famous horror movie posters.

The book is about 200 pages long, and also features a thorough index and a “ghoul” library with a selection of readings in horror and the fantastic.  I got my contributor copy in the mail on Monday, and haven’t been able to put the darn thing down.  I’ve been carrying it out with me to kindergarten car line when I pick up Joel, and keeping it close at hand.

So check out Graphic Horror: Movie Monster Memories if you get a chance.  The book is eminently display-worthy, and  fascinating in terms of genre history and scholarship.   Graphic Horror is available at Amazon.com here.

What I'm Reading Now: The Sixties.

“The American mainstream greeted the challenge in its usual way: trying partly to expunge the menace, partly to domesticate it.  And sometimes both at once: Ed Sullivan insisted that Elvis Presley would never dark his Sunday night television variety door, then relented under commercial pressure and paid fifty thousand dollars for Elvis’s three famous 1956 appearances. Contrary to youth culture myth, Elvis’s famous pelvis was shown on the first two shows; it was only the third time that censors refused to let the camera descend below his waist.”

-Author Todd Gitlin discusses America and the mainstreaming of Rock-and-Roll in The Sixties: Years of Hope and Years of Rage, Revised Edition (A Bantam Book; 1993, page 42).

What I'm Reading Now: Character Actors in Horror and Science Fiction Films (1930 - 1960)

"The working lives of most character actors during this period were not easy, as they had to contend with a cost-conscious cinematic environment that gave them little or no time for rehearsals or retakes...[W]ithin this methodological framework the character actors assumed an important rules, as their characterizations were shaped by industrial concerns as well as patterns of audience reception..."

- Laurence Raw, Character Actors in Horror and Science Fiction Films, 1930 - 1960, McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers, 2012, pages 6 - 7.

What I'm Reading Now: Midnight Movie by Tobe Hooper

"I can't tell you how many times I've stood in the back of a theater during a Chainsaw screening, listening to the screams of the audience...and nothing else makes me happier. Knowing that I've given a willing crowd some nightmares is a beautiful feeling man, simply beautiful."

- Tobe Hooper. Midnight Movie. Three Rivers Press, 2011, page 57.

What I'm Reading Now: Dexter and Philosophy: Mind over Spatter!

I just received my contributor copies of Open Court's new book, Dexter and Philosophy. 

I've had a chance to leaf through the text this morning, and thus far the book, edited by Richard Greene, George A. Reisch, and Rachel Robison-Greene looks mighty impressive.

My entry, "The Killing Joke" (comparing Dexter Morgan to a superhero) is the first article following the introduction ("Knowing Thyself") and is found under  the section called "Maiming and Necessity." 

My essay is followed by a really intriguing piece that explicitly compares Dexter to Star Trek's Mr. Spock.  It's called "Dexter's Pointy Ears" and was penned by Abrol Fairweather, a Philosophy professor at the University of San Francisco.

Other sections in Dexter and Philosophy include "The Cut of Dexter's Jib," "What Would Dexter Do?," "Bad Blood and Bad Behavior" and "Dexter's Bloodline." 

So far, I've only had the chance to read four essays in the collection, but they're all very good.  I maintain Dexter is the finest genre show on television right now, and while reading this book, you can really see how the TV series has inspired a number of authors and professors to consider some basic life issues.  What does it mean to be human?  What value -- if any -- are emotions?  And can a man who is a serial killer actually be...a hero?  Is murder ever a social good?

You can pre-order Dexter and Philosophy: Mind over Spatter at Amazon.com, here, today.  It's widely available on June 1st, in both paperback and Kindle editions. 

What I'm Reading Now: Horror Noir - Where Cinema's Dark Sisters Meet

"They call her film noir. Black film. Personified as a woman, lady noir is a clever, darkly beautiful femme fatale who executes the grimmest and most mysterious decrees of fate.  Death and lust attend her, murder and obsession are her companions...

...But wait, noir has a twisted sister, a twin of even blacker reputation. Morbid and irrational, she is even more depraved and given to violence than her sibling.  She also travels in dark realms of fate and death, madness and murder, but journeys even deeper into blackness.  She consorts with mounters out of hell and demons of the void.  She is horror itself."

- Paul Meehan, Horror Noir: "Introduction" (McFarland; 2010; page 3).

What I'm Reading Now: Richard Matheson on Screen

 

"While Richard Matheson has enjoyed a formidable and richly deserved reputation in the literary world since his first professionally published short story, "Born of Man and Woman," appeared in the summer 1950 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, he has also occupied a unique, and arguably as important, place in the cinema and television of the fantastic for more than fifty years.  Beginning with The Incredible Shrinking Man in 1957, Matheson's cinematic oeuvre epitomized and in many ways propelled an overall renaissance in horror, science fiction, and fantasy films, a genre that had been in significant decline since the Golden Age horror films of the 1930s and '40s was supplanted by the mostly mediocre science fiction films of the 50s."

 -- Matthew R. Bradley. Richard Matheson on Screen: A History of the Filmed Works. Foreword by Richard Matheson. ("Introduction," page 3; McFarland; 2010).

What I'm Reading Now: I Am Number Four

"The events in this book are real. Names and places have been changed to protect the Lorien Six, who remain in hiding. Take this as your first warning. Other civilizations do exist. Some of them seek to destroy you..."

-- Pittacus Lore.

What I'm Reading Now: A Cinema of the Psychic Realm

"The medium of film is ideally suite to render the fantastic world of psi visible. A technique as simple as an off-screen voice-over can simulate mental telepathy. Unusual lighting, set design, fades, dissolves and other optical tricks can conjure clairvoyant visions. The advent of ultra-sophisticated computer graphics and other exotic cinematic techniques have made it possible to picture any conceivable visionary state, no matter how unusual or bizarre."

- Paul Meehan, A Cinema of the Psychic Realm: A Critical Survey (McFarland, 2009, page 2)

What I'm Reading Now: Beyond Hammer: British Horror Cinema Since 1970

"The majority of the films analysed within this book share this essential trait: first and foremost they exist to entertain by terrifying their audience but on a deeper level they are written as a response to the era in which the writer and film-maker are living: The Vampire Lovers blatantly communicates the fear of the emergent independent woman whilst The Descent explores the emotional collapse and consequential regression of one such woman; The Wicker Man critiques a society that embraces freedom and sexual liberation through its very opposite, the repressed Christian; whilst Death Line suggests an examination of societal ignorance towards the poor and the impoverished."

- James Rose, Beyond Hammer:British Horror Cinema Since 1970, Columbia University Press, 2009, page 9.

What I'm Reading Now: The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings (1981)

"We are not aware of our own folklore any more than we are aware of the grammatical rules of our language. When we follow the ancient practice of informally transmitting "lore" - wisdom, knowledge, or accepted modes of behavior - by word of mouth and customary example from person to person, we do not concentrate on the form or content of our folklore; instead, we simply listen to information that others tell us and then pass it on - more or less accurately - to other listeners."

-Jan Harold Brunvand, The Vanishing Hitchhiker (W.W. Norton & Company, 1981, page 1).

What I'm Reading Now: Obscene, Indecent, Immoral and Offensive: 100+ Years of Censored, Banned and Controversial Films

"Since their inception, motion pictures and their content have been at the center of countless legal, political, social , moral and religious battles between the people who make them (filmmakers, studios), those they are made for (the audience), and the institutions (local and state censorship boards, the Roman Catholic Church, etc.), who believe it is their God-given right to determine what movies can and cannot say and show."

- author Stephen Tropiano, from the preface (page viii) of Obscene, Indecent, Immoral and Offensive: 100+ Years of Censored, Banned, and Controversial Films (Limelight Editions, 2009)