Books
[Gift Guide] 10 Best Books of 2018 for the Horror Fan
‘Tis the season of gift giving, and we’ve already given great suggestions for art, movies, and video games. But what about the avid reader? When it comes to books, the choices can be overwhelming. From nonfiction, fiction, to graphic novels, this year has unleashed an endless selection of great options to fill those bookshelves. Stephen King released two novels and a short story collection in Elevation, The Outsider, and Flight or Flight, making for easy gift options for the Constant Reader. But for those who already are up to date on King’s works, or want to branch out further, these 10 books make for excellent gifts for the horror loving reader in your life.
The 1990s Teen Horror Cycle: Final Girls and a New Hollywood Formula – Alexandra West
Horror academic and co-host of the Faculty of Horror podcast, Alexandra West’s latest is an in-depth study of the politics and subculture of the ‘90s applied to the teen horror scene that gave us Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Craft and more. She brings her critical eye to an oft-maligned decade in horror, and builds a case for these films’ recurring themes of feminism. In short, West champions the horror films written off as teen schlock and offers historical context and deeper meaning.
Ad Nauseam: Newsprint Nightmares from the 1980s – Michael Gingold
Michael Gingold has been a well-known Fangoria writer and editor for nearly 30 years, as well as a Rue Morgue contributor, and he’s taken his life-long love of horror and turned it into one of the coolest hardcover books in recent years. Featuring a collection of horror ads from newspapers that he clipped himself for years, Ad Nauseam is a deep dive into ‘80s horror featuring more than 450 ads and commentary by Gingold, bringing new insight to one of horror’s most beloved decades.
Anna and the Apocalypse – Katharine Turner with Barry Waldo
Inspired by the musical zombie film of the same name, Anna and the Apocalypse makes for perfect holiday reading. Anna Shepherd is a high school student still coping with the loss of her mother, the fallout from a fling, and typical friend drama. She’s counting the days until she can skip town, but her plans are derailed when a zombie apocalypse arrives with the holiday season. This one brings the laughs, holiday cheer, and all the feels.
Baby Teeth – Zoje Stage
This debut novel is a button pusher. Little Hanna adores her father so much that her mother, Suzette, needs to die so she can have dad to herself. Stage alternates the story’s perspective, from evil Hanna to panicked Suzette, upping the ante on this homicidal Bad Seed-like tale. Creepy and full of twists, Stage intends to disturb, which has proved to be polarizing for readers.
The Cabin at the End of the World – Paul Tremblay
Tremblay leaves behind the supernatural horrors of A Head Full of Ghosts and Disappearance at Devil’s Rock to put his horrific spin on home invasion horror in his latest. Wen and her parents Eric and Andrew think they’ve begun an idyllic vacation at a remote cabin with no neighbors in sight. It is, until the arrival of four strangers bearing strange weapons changes everything. The strangers present the family with a choice that begins a tumultuous tale of sacrifice, paranoia, survival, and the fate of the world.
Halloween: The Official Movie Novelization – John Passarella
Considering the original 1978 film’s novelization by Curtis Richards, this is yet another way in which the new Halloween has come full circle. A faithful adaptation of the film, in which Laurie Strode and Michael Myers face off once again after forty years, Passarella gets into the headspace of the characters and even includes scenes cut from the film. For collectors, Halloween franchise fanatics, and those that are just curious about added content, this novel is for you.
Harrow County Library Edition Volume 1 – Writer Cullen Bunn, Artist Tyler Crook
Essential horror graphic novel series Harrow County has been around and ongoing for a few years now, but 2018 brought the new release of the oversized Library Edition, in all its hardcover glory. Containing the first two volumes with a new cover, sketchbook art, essays, and bonus stories, this edition makes for a great gift for longtime fans and those just getting started. As for plot, it follows Emmy, a girl who learns she may be connected to the monsters and ghosts that live in the woods near her home on her 18th birthday.
Our Lady of the Inferno – Preston Fassel
Here’s your chance to get ahead of the curve, as this Fangoria publication was recently announced to have a feature length film adaptation in the works. Fassel, who has also written for Scream Magazine, Rue Morgue, and Fangoria, penned a 1983 set serial killer thriller that’s unafraid to get brutal. A collision course between prostitutes and a religiously-motivated psychopath, Our Lady of the Inferno delivers great character work and gritty horror.
True Indie: Life and Death in Filmmaking – Don Coscarelli
The director/creator behind Phantasm, The Beastmaster, Bubba Ho-tep and John Dies at the End delivers a candid, tell-all memoir that spans his entire career. It isn’t just full of great anecdotes and insights to Coscarelli’s catalog of films, but it also provides helpful advice for the aspiring indie filmmaker. Coscarelli will make you laugh, and he’ll also make you cry- his touching chapter on Angus Scrimm is a heartfelt tearjerker. In short, if you’re a fan of his films or in any way interested in filmmaking, this book is a must.
We Sold Our Souls – Grady Hendrix
As evidenced by Horrorstor, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, and Paperbacks from Hell, Hendrix is a captivating storyteller and We Sold Our Souls further proves that. 1990s heavy metal band Dürt Würk was on the verge of breakout stardom when lead singer Terry Hunt left his bandmates high and dry for new band Koffin. Twenty years later, former guitarist Kris is broke and unhappy, stuck working at a hotel on the night shift. A chain of traumatic events coinciding with Koffin’s farewell tour sets Kris off on a larger-than-life journey as she suspects the fateful night that changed everything might have been rooted in something far more sinister. An epic voyage filled with metal, supernatural terror, conspiracies and paranoia, We Sold Our Souls is an addictive read for the metalhead and horror hound alike.
Books
‘Halloween: Illustrated’ Review: Original Novelization of John Carpenter’s Classic Gets an Upgrade
Film novelizations have existed for over 100 years, dating back to the silent era, but they peaked in popularity in the ’70s and ’80s, following the advent of the modern blockbuster but prior to the rise of home video. Despite many beloved properties receiving novelizations upon release, a perceived lack of interest have left a majority of them out of print for decades, with desirable titles attracting three figures on the secondary market.
Once such highly sought-after novelization is that of Halloween by Richard Curtis (under the pen name Curtis Richards), based on the screenplay by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. Originally published in 1979 by Bantam Books, the mass market paperback was reissued in the early ’80s but has been out of print for over 40 years.
But even in book form, you can’t kill the boogeyman. While a simple reprint would have satisfied the fanbase, boutique publisher Printed in Blood has gone above and beyond by turning the Halloween novelization into a coffee table book. Curtis’ unabridged original text is accompanied by nearly 100 new pieces of artwork by Orlando Arocena to create Halloween: Illustrated.
One of the reasons that The Shape is so scary is because he is, as Dr. Loomis eloquently puts it, “purely and simply evil.” Like the film sequels that would follow, the novelization attempts to give reason to the malevolence. More ambiguous than his sister or a cult, Curtis’ prologue ties Michael’s preternatural abilities to an ancient Celtic curse.
Jumping to 1963, the first few chapters delve into Michael’s childhood. Curtis hints at a familial history of evil by introducing a dogmatic grandmother, a concerned mother, and a 6-year-old boy plagued by violent nightmares and voices. The author also provides glimpses at Michael’s trial and his time at Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, which not only strengthens Loomis’ motivation for keeping him institutionalized but also provides a more concrete theory on how Michael learned to drive.
Aside from a handful of minor discrepancies, including Laurie stabbing Michael in his manhood, the rest of the book essentially follows the film’s depiction of that fateful Halloween night in 1978 beat for beat. Some of the writing is dated — like a smutty fixation on every female character’s breasts and a casual use of the R-word — but it otherwise possesses a timelessness similar to its film counterpart. The written version benefits from expanded detail and enriched characters.
The addition of Arocena’s stunning illustrations, some of which are integrated into the text, creates a unique reading experience. The artwork has a painterly quality to it but is made digitally using vectors. He faithfully reproduces many of Halloween‘s most memorable moments, down to actor likeness, but his more expressionistic pieces are particularly striking.
The 224-page hardcover tome also includes an introduction by Curtis — who details the challenges of translating a script into a novel and explains the reasoning behind his decisions to occasionally subvert the source material — and a brief afterword from Arocena.
Novelizations allow readers to revisit worlds they love from a different perspective. It’s impossible to divorce Halloween from the film’s iconography — Carpenter’s atmospheric direction and score, Dean Cundey’s anamorphic cinematography, Michael’s expressionless mask, Jamie Lee Curtis’ star-making performance — but Halloween: Illustrated paints a vivid picture in the mind’s eye through Curtis’ writing and Arocena’s artwork.
Halloween: Illustrated is available now.
Dev Patel’s ‘Monkey Man’ Is Now Available to Watch at Home!
‘Infested’ Review – One of the Best Spiders Attack Horror Movies in Years
Five Underseen Vampire Horror Movies to Stream This Week
Limited Edition ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’ Monster High Doll Releasing This Week!
‘Stream’ – Horror Movie from the Team Behind ‘Terrifier’ Sets August Theatrical Release
You must be logged in to post a comment.