The history of the horror film has been the subject of many books, many of them unfortunately picture books. Where more serious efforts have been made, the genre has been explored primarily from a chronological/factual or socio-economic point of view. Studies by sub-genre (vampires, wolf men, etc.) also may be cited. In an effort to begin to fill that gap and to try to explain why such films are generally so poor today, Dr. David Soren has written this book, primarily for the benefit of his film students, who continually lament the absence of any textbook on the subject. It is also essential that future filmmakers and critics realize the tremendous debt that the horror film owes to the history of art. Beginning with the relationship between Georges Melies and his Academic contemporaries such as Bouguereau, Dr. Soren has attempted to point out the influence of Symbolist (artists who seek to express or evoke emotions, ideas, etc. by the use of symbolic language, images, color, etc.), Dada (the style and techniques of artists, writers, etc. of the early 20th-centry who exploited accidental and incongruous effects in their work and programmatically challenged established canons of art, thought, morality, etc.), and Surrealist (a style of art and literature developed principally in the 20th century stressing the subconscious or non-rational significance of imagery arrived at by automation or the exploitation of chance effects, symbolic objects, etc.) art on filmmakers such as Vigo and Cocteau. German Expressionism is also discussed by the Post-Impressionist Edvard Munch is seen as an important creative force in the German theater of Max Reinhardt and in the making of such films as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and Frankenstein (1931). The Rise and Fall of the Horror Film remains a fresh and intriguing ode to fantastic cinema and will ensnare all film fans in it's fascinating web of movie mystique.

The Rise and Fall of the Horror Film

Humor & Entertainment

Soren, David

Movies

Midnight Marquee Pr Inc

The first entry in the Midnight Marquee Actors Series offers in-depth analyses of 32 of the films that helped create Lugosi's cinematic persona as the first true horror film legend. This book covers Lugosi's films from the pre-Dracula early sound ear, details his Universal and 1930s' classics, investigates his stint on poverty row at Monogram and PRC in the 1940s, and explores the downward spiral and his much discussed film work for Edward D. Wood, Jr. in the 1950s. 
Some of today's foremost horror film writers contributed to this exploration of Bela Lugosi's work.

Bela Lugosi (Midnight Marquee Actors Series)

Biographies & Memoirs

Actor, director, producer... Robert Clarke worked in movies in Hollywood from 1944 until 1965. Appearing in all genres—Horror, Sci-Fi, Westerns, Swashbucklers, Dramas—Clarke vividly remembers such Hollywood legends as John Wayne, Bela Lugosi, George “Gabby” Hayes, Greer Garson, Boris Karloff, Alan Ladd, Clark Gable and directors like Edgar G. Ulmer and Ida Lupino. Clarke cheerfully reminisces about cult classics Hideous Sun Demon and The Man from Planet X, as well as his other genre favorites. Fans will enjoy Clarke’s refreshing candor and realistic look at his varied film career.

To "B" or Not to "B: A Film Actor's Odyssey

Arts & Photography

Tom Weaver

Robert, Clarke

Performing Arts

Join us for a walk on the subtle side of horror as Cinematic Hauntings peers past the curtain of reality into Hollywood's vision of ghostly terror. 
Films covered include: 
Carnival of Souls, Curse of the Demon, High Plains Drifter, Lady in White, Legend of Hell House, Nomads, Outward Bound, Portrait of Jennie, Scrooge, Supernatural, The Changeling, The Haunting, The Innocents, The Shining and The Uninvited.

Cinematic Hauntings

To many this may sound like an exploitative title, a book that caters to prurient tastes and features cheesecake photographs of pseudo-actresses from direct-to-video basement/bedroom productions. Those so-called Scream Queens. 
But this is not that type of book! 
No, Bitches, Bimbos, and Virgins is the history of women in the horror cinema, profiling their evolution from coffee-maker to scientist, from seductress and victim to kick-ass heroine, and finally detailing their emergence as well-drawn characters who play important roles in horror movie history-past, present, and future.

Bitches, Bimbos & Virgins: Women in the Horror Film

Monsters, Mutants and Heavenly Creatures: Confessions of 14 Classic Sci-Fi/Horrormeisters! [Paperback]

Monsters, Mutants and Heavenly Creatures: Confessions of 14 Classic Sci-Fi/Horrormeisters!

Weaver, Tom

Peter Cushing: An Autobiography and Past Forgetting

Limited Edition. British film and television star Peter Cushing movingly writes of his loving relationship with his wife Helen and wittily remembers his film and television career. He discusses his most famous appearances at Hammer Films and his friendship with stars such as Christopher Lee and Vincent Price. This new edition combines Mr. Cushing's previously British published Autobiography and Past Forgetting into one book and includes many new and rare photos selected by Mr. Cushing's secretary of 35 years, Joyce Broughton. She has also written the final chapter for this new edition.

Cushing, Peter

Arts & Literature

For many boomer horror fans, the Golden Age of Horror was the 1950s and 1960s, and occurred, courtesy, not of Universal Studios, but, from what those fans consider England's greatest export, Hammer Film Productions. 
What teenager could argue with Technicolor blood, smolderingly sexy vampires (male and female) and heaving bosoms? 
Memories of Hammer brings fans the reminiscences of the people in front of and behind the cameras at Hammer including: James Bernard, Martine Beswicke, Veronica Carlson, Freddie Francis, Val Guest, Christopher Lee, Suzanna Leigh, Ingrid Pitt, Jimmy Sangster, Barbara Shelley, Yutte Stensgaard and Virginia Wetherell. 
This important film history documents the talks give at the FANEX film conventions throughout the years. 
This book is a numbered limited edition.

Memories of Hammer

Svehla, Gary J.

Svehla, Susan

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