Archive for the ‘Books’ Category
Posted by Bryan in Books, Comics, Home Page Top Story, Latest News on March 9th, 2010
Legendary fantasy artist Frank Frazetta and acclaimed publisher Vanguard Productions have announced a new publishing relationship.
Frazetta said, “We’ve known Vanguard publisher J. David Spurlock for many years. Vanguard publishes the very best! I’ve enjoyed their books on Hal Foster, Al Williamson, Jeffrey Jones, Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, Basil Gogos, Carmine Infantino and more. David helped on our Painting with Fire documentary and we helped him on Vanguard’s Roy G. Krenkel, Wally Wood, and J. Allen St.John books. It’s natural that we should work together. I’m looking forward to seeing the quality job they do on the new Frazetta books.”
Frank Frazetta is considered by many to be the greatest heroic-fantasy artist of all time. His work has influenced generations of artists, fans, designers, and movie directors. From his 1950s comics; to his breathtaking book covers featuring Tarzan, King Kong, and John Carter of Mars; to his 1960s monster magazines Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella; to his major movie posters, including After the Fox, The Night They Raided Minsky’s and What’s New Pussycat?; and, of course, his revolutionary Conan paintings.
Active since October 1990, Vanguard has published pop culture books, graphic novels, mystery, science fiction, and more. Vanguard is best known as the world’s leading producer of art book biographies on illustrators and cartoonists and has garnered acclaim from The New York Times, The Village Voice, Time Out New York, The IPPY Awards, Starlog, National Public Radio, Video Watchdog, The Eisner Awards, Entertainment Weekly, Fangoria, Publishers Weekly, The Society of Illustrators, Variety, The Hugo Awards, Library Journal, The Rondo Awards, Locus Science Fiction Awards, and more.
Vanguard’s publications have been distributed through Diamond Distributors since 1993 with expanded trade distribution since 2000, through nearly every major distributor including Ingram, Baker & Taylor, and Continental Sales Inc. Vanguard’s presence at tradeshows include San Diego Comic-Con International (2010 marks Vanguard’s 17th consecutive year at Comic-Con), Book Expo America (often with their longtime associates, Watson-Guptill), New York Comic-Con, Wizard World, etc. Vanguard represents many top creators. Numerous Vanguard-related talents including Neal Adams, Carmine Infantino, Jim Steranko, and Vanguard publisher, J. David Spurlock are featured on the recent STARZ network documentary, Comic Books Unbound.
Vanguard founder J. David Spurlock said, “We are very excited about launching a line of Frazetta books under the new Vanguard Frazetta Classics brand. The line will include a series of volumes collecting Frazetta’s comics work in top quality book format. Other Vanguard Frazetta Classics will include a new edition of the 2008 hit, Frazetta – The Definitive Reference, a richly illustrated index of every Frazetta work ever published; a Frank Frazetta Sketchbook; and more—all in library-quality collections fully authorized by Frank Frazetta.”
For more Vanguard news, check out their Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vanguard-Productions/127661820833
Posted by Ashleigh in Books, Home Page Top Story, Latest News, Reviews on March 9th, 2010
“As this hilariously horrifying prequel begins, the Bennet sisters are enjoying a peaceful life in the English countryside. They idle away the days reading, sewing, practicing instruments, and daydreaming about future husbands—until, suddenly, corpses are springing from the earth. As bodies pile up, Elizabeth Bennet takes charge and transforms into the zombie-slaying machine readers know and love from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.“
Anyone who has spent some time on the Internet is probably familiar with the phenomenon of fanfiction. If you’re not, allow me to explain: fanfiction are works of fiction written by fans of a particular book, movie, video game, etc. Honestly, if it exists in some form of media, there’s probably a fanfiction about it – there’s even I Love Lucy fanfiction (if you value your sanity at all, then please, in the name of all that is good in this world, do not look it up).
These fan-derived works may or may not contain characters from the original but they almost always take place in the same world of the original. Some are good, most are awful. Like, forcing-you-to-lose-faith-in-humanity awful.
Make no mistake: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls is a work of fanfiction, but the good kind — one that can suck you in with relative ease if you’re willing to turn logic off during a few key moments.
Allow me to just say that the entire book is a loving-crafted tribute to both the work of Jane Austen and horror in general. From the dedication (“To Jane. We kid because we love.”) to the settings, author Steve Hockensmith obviously took great pains to create an original tale that’s set in a world that’s recognizably Austen’s.
The characters are also familiar. Whether you’re a fan of Austen’s original works, or a fan of Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies you’ll recognize each character’s subtle quirks and personalities that were established by the older works.
Despite Hockensmith’s amazing attention to detail, it doesn’t match its predecessor from a comedic standpoint. This is mostly because the prequel doesn’t have the same luxury of the original, in that it didn’t have an already-established and beloved work of fiction to take liberties with.
It’s a shame because I truly believe that if this was a stand-alone book with the character’s names changed and didn’t carry the Pride and Prejudice tag, no one would even notice that the absurd humor found in the original is lacking.
In fact, it could be said that the book’s pedigree is also its biggest drawback. I’ve read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and I felt myself continuously comparing the original to the prequel. Hockensmith writes in a more modern style whereas Grahame-Smith had Austen’s original prose to fall back on; the prequel places more of an emphasis on action and gore than the original.
But overall, those complaints don’t detract from the book’s overall experience.
Dreadfuls is a damn fun read. If you’re a zombie fan with a healthy sense of humor, I guarantee that this book will latch onto your brain with rotting hands and refuse to let go. Read it, if only for the quirkiness of it all.
Posted by Earl Roesel in A Walk Through the Forrest with Earl Roesel, Books, Home Page Top Story, Latest News on March 8th, 2010
A couple of days ago I went to see Alice In Wonderland with my friend and Famous Monsters contributor Dave Marchant. It was a fairly okay film, one that won’t make me forget about the Disney masterwork anytime soon. It did, however, sport at least one feature notable to horror fans: the vocal presence of Christopher Lee as the fearsome Jabberwocky.
Forry, of course, knew Lee well when the actor was living in America during the latter part of the 1970s. The two attended many a Count Dracula Society meeting together and enjoyed a friendship based upon mutual esteem…at least until one fateful day in 1979. Forry related the following anecdote to me, which details the breakdown between the two.
Forry and Lee were attending a function of some sort when the latter took the podium. He proceeded to announce, totally without prior warning, the following: “Forry Ackerman, I have a bit of a bone to pick with you. You’ve given out my address and telephone number without my knowledge.” Lee then went out to indicate that he’d received some umpteen thousand calls from Germany alone, and that he’d been forced to change his number.
Christopher Lee, Wendayne and Forry enjoy happier times. During this period Lee had moved to the United States in a bid for more diverse film roles. Circa late 1970s.
Forry, for his part, was totally astonished, as he most certainly hadn’t given out any such information and indeed kept his rolodex written in a code known only to himself. The Ackermonster could only respond with “what has become known as righteous indignation.”
Lee though would have none of it. He finished by saying, “Well, you’d better do something about it.” Forry, having no idea how to rectify a situation he did not cause, simply stood with his jaw agape.
Lee would no longer provide his address information to Forry in the wake of this unfortunate business. Thereafter, birthday announcements in the Nate L. Daye section of Famous Monsters carried the proviso that no such greetings could be forwarded to the actor.
I highly doubt Lee, a highly cultured gentleman of the old school, continues to bear any ill will about this, especially in the wake of Forry’s death. It is nevertheless regrettable that, according to Forry, no “burying of the hatchet” apparently took place between the pair. Nor that the real culprit, whomever that may’ve been, bore the deserving brunt of Lee’s wrath.
After FJA related this story, it became my habit to pull the Ackermonster’s leg by sneaking up behind his chair and declaring, in a low sepulchral tone, “Forry Ackerman, I have a bit of a bone to pick with you.” And to my eternal astonishment, he’d always respond, “You sound exactly like Christopher Lee!”
Posted by Peter Schwotzer in Books, Reviews, Terror Tales with Peter D. Schwotzer on March 8th, 2010
“Theatre director Beth Ortiz is the newest resident of The Castle, an exclusive Los Angeles artists’ community. Anxious actors aren’t all Beth has to worry about in her new space, however, for The Castle has a secret history of madness and murder, and a celebrity artist who develops a strange fixation on Beth.
And The Castle also happens to be haunted.
By some particularly uneasy spirits.”
Lisa Morton is probably best known for her short fiction (she won the Bram Stoker Award for short fiction in 2006) and for her non-fiction (she won the Bram Stoker Award for Non-Fiction in 2008 for A Hallowe’en Anthology: Literary and Historical Writings Over the Centuries). She is also a screenwriter and was editor for the anthology Midnight Walk which I reviewed at the link.
Castle of Los Angeles is a genuinely creepy story about The Castle, an artist’s community and theater in LA. Beth Ortiz moves into to take over the theater company and soon finds out that it is supposedly haunted.
Lisa fills her story with diverse characters; a genius artist that dabbles in the occult, prostitutes that are steadily disappearing one by one and other artists and talent behind the scenes of a theater company. I found the characters wonderfully written and believable, I could make an emotional connection with them and that is what always makes a great book as far as I am concerned.
The story also has a few nice twists and turns that will pleasantly surprise you. No spoilers from me though, buy the book.
My favorite part of the story besides the chills it provided was the detail she provides on the behind the scenes working of a play. I have been to a few plays in my life and never really thought about all the work that is needed behind the scenes to successfully pull it off.
Haunted places and ghost stories are some of my most favorite reads and Castle of Los Angeles ranks up with there with some of my all time favorites like Ghost Story and The Shining.
If you are looking for a well written, page turner of a ghost story you would be hard pressed to find anything published in the last few years as good as this.
Visit Lisa at her website www.lisamorton.com.
You can purchase the book at Gray Friar Press or at Amazon.com
Posted by Jonathan in Books, Movies on March 5th, 2010
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Matthew Greenberg, writer of the Stephen King adaptation 1408, will once again bring King’s words to the big screen with a remake of Pet Sematary.
The idea of a remake has been circling for a while, and at one point producer Alphaville, writers Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, and actor George Clooney were being considered. With a 20 year break and producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Steven Schnieder jumping on board, this will be an interesting remake of a classic to look out for.
Paramount first brought the book to life in 1989 under director Mary Lambert, which starred Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby and Fred Gwynne.
King’s 1983 novel follows the Creeds, a family who trade their city life in for a new life in the country, only to discover the pet cemetery behind their house rests on an ancient burial ground, which local legend claims has resurrective abilities. When their toddler son is killed in a tragic auto-accident, the father takes the body the burial ground in hopes of bringing him back to life. He awaits his return, only what comes back isn’t his son, but a demonic form set to kill!
Posted by Jonathan in Arts, Books, Latest News, Movies on March 5th, 2010
Patrick Bateman, the New York yuppie fixated on designer suits, business cards, and the typical daydreams of mutilation, is in the process of adding one more obsession to his list of very peculiar hobbies: singing in a musical.
Bret Easton Ellis’ controversial 1991 novel American Psycho was first adapted as a film in 2000 starring Christian Bale. Now, under the supervision of composer Duncan Sheik, Ellis’ vision will be transformed into a stage musical with lyrics and accompaniment reminiscent of 1980’s pop.
Sheik, who won two Tony Awards for Spring Awakening, will write the music and lyrics for the show while playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is set to write the book.
“I came to feel that what some people (including myself) may have seen as an over-the-top literary folly of the early nineties was in fact a pretty timeless tale of alienation and solipsism,” said Sheik, reflecting on a re-read of American Psycho.
“And, really, what could be more subversive fun than murderous bankers breaking into song?” he added.
Posted by Bryan in Books, Latest News, Movies on March 2nd, 2010
Remember back when in high school history class, when you’d stare out the classroom window and think of how much more interesting the material would be if there were just more monsters? Apparently you’re not the only one.
The infusion of horror into classic literature began with Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the success of which encouraged him to write a similarly themed follow-up, the intriguingly titled, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Although the book is only hitting shelves today, Variety is reporting that it has already been optioned for a feature film by producers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov.
The story itself can be coyly summarized by a line from its press release: “While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years.”
We’re all for sprucing up historical stories with some fictional but fun horror twists, and its exactly the type of oddball project that suits Burton’s sensibilities. Burton recently collaborated with Bekmambetov on last year’s animated Shane Acker film, 9. Grahame-Smith is also on board to write the screenplay.
This news follows the last several years in which we’ve heard a lot about another project about our sixteenth president, Steven Spielberg’s long gestating Lincoln. Liam Neeson has been rumored to be starring in that film, which likely eliminates the ideal casting choice here. Knowing Burton, could he reach out to Johnny Depp, put him on a pair of stilts and hand him the axe? It would definitely be an interesting choice.
Obviously this project is in the very early stages of development, so we’ll keep an eye on it and provide additional information as it becomes available.
Posted by Bryan in Books, Latest News, Television & Web Series on March 2nd, 2010
It’s been a big day for HBO. Earlier they confirmed rumors that famed screen actor Dustin Hoffman had been cast as the lead in a new David Milch (Deadwood) horse-track gambling series, Luck. Now they’ve followed that announcement with another that fantasy buffs have been eagerly awaiting for several years — George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones has been ordered to series.
For those not in the know, Thrones is the first in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of epic novels written by George R.R. Martin. The first (Thrones) was published in 1996, and to date four out of a projected seven volumes have been published. Three years ago, HBO optioned the rights to adapt the novels into a weekly television series, and since that time the project has gone through various stages of development.
Finally in 2009, the project got off the ground, with the pilot going into production under the direction of Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent, The Visitor), and featuring such actors as Sean Bean and Peter Dinklage. Devoted fans followed the process through a trail of informational scraps left by Martin on his blog, culminating in his recent proclamation that the pilot had been completed, and they now merely awaited the official decision of the HBO executives on whether it would be ordered to series.
That news came today, courtesy of Variety, that the official decision has been made, and A Game of Thrones will enter production in Belfast in June. Ten episodes will be produced for the first season.
HBO should be the perfect venue to provide the proper treatment for the very adult themes in this fantasy series — they’ve proved with both Deadwood and Rome that they can tackle historical periods while allowing for whatever mature themes the story might require. The fantasy of Thrones takes place in a fictional world that the production will film primarily on foreign soil in Belfast. It’s definitely an ambitious project — probably the most expensive HBO has tackled since the unceremonious decline of Rome, but it’s encouraging to see the pay-cable channel reinvesting themselves in ambitious projects.
Thrones is set in the mythical land of Westeros, and tells the story of the noble Stark family who become entangled in some unwanted intrigue when patriarch Eddard becomes the king’s new right-hand man. The books take the approach of setting each chapter from the perspective of a separate character, with each ending in a cliffhanger — a structure that would likely lend itself well to television translation. Martin himself got his start in writing for episodic TV (Beauty in the Beast).
The plan will be to have each book cover the length of one season, in much the same manner as True Blood is produced. The pilot was written by David Benioff (The Kite Runner, Brothers) and D.B. Weiss. In addition to Bean and Dinklage, the cast includes Mark Addy, Lena Headey, Jennifer Ehle, Richard Madden, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
With production beginning this summer and looking at the slate of upcoming projects they have planned, it’s probably reasonable to guess that Thrones would premiere sometime in the coming spring. Color us insanely excited about this news, as it’s always nice when some great material seems to get the treatment it truly deserves. The wait until next spring will be brutal.
Posted by Ashleigh in Books, Home Page Top Story, Latest News, Reviews on March 2nd, 2010
So you think you know classic literature, eh? Maybe you’ve read some Shakespeare and Brontë in your day, and you consider yourself something of an expert when it comes to the books English teachers love and high school students fear. All right, hotshot, then you should remember that scene at the very beginning of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice when Elizabeth Bennet first encounters Mr. Darcy.
Poor Elizabeth is sitting by herself at a ball. Mr. Darcy’s friend sees this and urges him to go dance with her, to which he responds by insulting her. Understandably upset, Elizabeth takes a knife out of her boot and is prepared to slit Mr. Darcy’s throat until a zombie horde suddenly crashes through the door, devouring anyone in their path.
Revenge will have to wait as Elizabeth takes her place with her four sisters in the “Pentagram of Death” formation; the five young women hacking and slashing their way through the undead masses.
Wait, sorry, that’s the beginning of Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a book that proves anything good can be made better with a heaping helping of zombies. It’s science, folks.
But what led Elizabeth to become a hunter of the undead in the first place? Why aren’t the dead staying, well, dead? Why are poker games broadcast on ESPN when everyone knows that poker isn’t really a sport? I mean, seriously.
Enter Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith, a prequel that will answer two of those questions while exploring Elizabeth’s earlier romantic adventures – hopefully amidst all the blood and action of the original. Because, as all horror fans know, it’s just not a proper zombie story until someone gets eaten.
The book also features fifteen illustrations by artist Patrick Arrasmith, adding a visual element to Elizabeth’s origin story.
Dreadfuls will be published by Quirk Books (which also published the monster-meets-classic-literature-mashups Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters) and will be available for $12.95 wherever books are sold on March 23. Audiobook and eBook formats (for the Kindle and Sony Reader) will also be available for purchase.
In the meantime, look out for FM’s review of Dreadfuls coming soon.
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Posted by Steve in Books, Events, Home Page Top Story, Latest News, The Magic Lantern - Steve Weintz on February 25th, 2010
Once again, the Mystery & Imagination Bookshop in Glendale, CA, was the place to be for genre gold, this time for the launch party and signing for the new horror anthology, The Bleeding Edge. Published by Cycatrix Press, this collection of 19 tales by modern masters of the macabre, edited by Jason V Brock and William F. Nolan, received a lavish send-off by a host of its contributors. The book itself is a handsomely mounted volume, printed in a limited edition of 400 and an extremely limited deluxe signed edition of 75.
As usual, hosts and proprietors Malcolm and Christine Bell managed the moiling mobs of fans with courtesy and aplomb, showing how one should run the last standing brick-and-mortar genre bookstore in America’s second-largest city.
Jason Brock took a moment from the busy event to speak with FM.
Earl Hamner, Jr., Jason Brock and William Nolan
“I was annoyed with the current crop of horror authors and magazines and thought them too cliquish. James Beach and I publish Dark Discoveries magazine, and I told James I wanted to do a real book; James is a brand-new father and with that on his mind, pointed out that a book would be a BIG project. That didn’t deter me; I’ve worked on many graphic novels and my wife Sunni and I have already made two documentary films. One’s about the great Twilight Zone writer Charles Beaumont and the other is about Forry Ackerman. That’s how I met many of these people.
Ray Bradbury, William Nolan, Norman Corwin
“Now, William Nolan and I had worked together on the new graphic novel adaptation of Logan’s Run, and he’s been a mentor to me in so many ways. We agreed to collaborate on an anthology of short stories and between us we assembled a stellar group of contributors. Bill had lots of connections with other writers, and I had many contacts as a result of the documentaries. We worked out what material was available, and insisted that all stories be new or unpublished, and editable.
Ray Bradbury, Norman Corwin, George Clayton Johnson, John Shirley, Jason Brock
“Out of 70 stories we accepted only 22, and the open call for submissions placed only 2 stories in the final collection. We started getting the shape of the book as the stories came in, and its shape was dark and edgy. The first story we bought was that of James Robert Smith; we said to each other, ‘If every story is as good as this one, we’re gold!’ It was a very short development cycle — we sent out our first feelers in December 2008, and it was sent to the printers December 2009. We didn’t let anyone see the thing until publication.
Ray Bradbury and Norman Corwin
“We knew right away we wanted the book to be a hardcover edition, artistically striking and full of remarkable fonts (I admit it — I’m a fonthound). We worked hard to lay out the material in ways that evoked their original contexts: pulp-magazine columns, screenplay formatting, quick drafts. We also wanted to break up the layout with sketches, photos and border artwork. The very talented Kris Kuksi did the cover art and it turned out really well. Each individual story also received its own signature page for the author. That’s a printing feature that’s rarely been done.”
Norman Corwin, George Clayton Johnson, John Shirley
Paul Salamoff and Bill Nolan
The Bleeding Edge
Edited by William F. Nolan and Jason V Brock.
Signed by 23 contributors. Separate signature page for each author.
Handcrafted Deluxe Hardcover with dust jacket; cover and interior art by Kris Kuksi.
Foreword by S. T. Joshi.
A landmark anthology; contains original, never before published works by:
Ray Bradbury, Gary A. Braunbeck, Jason V Brock, Christopher Conlon, Norman Corwin, Cody Goodfellow, Earl Hamner, George Clayton Johnson, Nancy Kilpatrick, Joe R. Lansdale, Richard Matheson, Richard Christian Matheson, Lisa Morton, Kurt Newton, William F. Nolan, Dan O’Bannon, Frank M. Robinson, John Shirley, James Robert Smith, Steve Rasnic Tem, and John Tomerlin.
Both editions feature opaque vellum pages, printed with 100% vegetable inks using windpower; printed and bound in the USA.
Trade Hardcover: 400 copies
Deluxe Hardcover: 75 numbered copies
Posted by Ashleigh in Books, Latest News, Movies on February 24th, 2010
Theatergoers may be taking a 3D journey through the bizarre halls of the Shadowland mansion. PFG Entertainment has announced on its official site that plans are being made to adapt Peter Straub’s classic horror novel into a 3D movie.
From PFG’s website: A cross between Dead Poet’s Society and The Shining, Shadowland 3D is a teenage-Faustian thriller about a 17 year old schoolboy who has to choose whether or not to join the forces of evil in order to save the life of his best friend. Directed by Erik Canuel. Written by Larry Leahy. Produced by Donald C. Archbold and Larry Leahy.
Shadowland’s story is comprised of three parts. The beginning takes place on the campus of an all-male prep school in Arizona where two magic-obsessed boys, Del and Tom, meet and quickly become good friends. Next, the boys are shipped off to Del’s uncle’s strange estate called Shadowland for the summer. Del’s uncle is an alcoholic former magician who preformed using less than conventional means. Finally, the boys are forced to battle the forces of evil after they’re whisked off to an alternate world.
Published in 1980, Shadowland was released on the heels of Straub’s other horror classic, Ghost Story.
For an in-depth review of Shadowland, read this column by FM’s own Peter Schwotzer.
Shadowland is currently in pre-production.
Posted by Ashleigh in Books, Comics on February 24th, 2010
If you’ve been counting down the days until the release of the first issue of Stephen King and Scott Snyder’s American Vampire — well, you’ll still have to wait until March 17. But hey! Look! DC/Vertigo has released images of Vampire’s variant cover as designed by the legendary Jim Lee.
Horror fiction powerhouse King was pleased with the design, saying, “That’s one of the best comic mag covers I’ve seen since the days of my misspent youth, when I haunted the newsstands in Brunswick, Maine each month for the new Creepy or Eerie. Kudos to Mr. Lee.”
Some background on the upcoming release: The new ongoing series, AMERICAN VAMPIRE, will introduce readers to a new breed of vampire – a more muscular and vicious species of vampire with distinctly American characteristics. The series’ first story arc, to be told over the course of five issues, will feature two different stories, one written by Snyder, the other by King.
Snyder’s story will be set during the Roaring Twenties and follows wannabe starlet Pearl as she searches for her first big break in Hollywood. Her quest for fame soon turns into a nightmare after she encounters something far more frightening than a motion picture contract.
King will tell the story of Skinner Sweet: murderer, bank robber, cowboy and the first-ever American vampire. I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that he doesn’t sparkle in the sun.
Future installments of the series will follow Sweet’s descendants through the decades as they blaze a bloodstained trail through American history.
Check out the variant cover below.
Legendary fantasy artist Frank Frazetta and acclaimed publisher Vanguard Productions have announced a new publishing relationship.
