The Ultimate Guide to Horror Movie Books

[WesReviews]

As far as I can tell in the 5 pages that make up this sub-forum, there are no threads dedicated to horror movie reference books or behind the scenes type books... so, now there is.

I'll start things off with one of my all-time favorites...

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Read it, and referenced back through it so many times, it is literally falling apart around the middle.

Even old-boo can attest for how awesome this one is. Out of print now, but highly recommended reading for the horror novice and expert alike. I no longer read it, simply because I feel it's had its day. It's worn out. Retired. The reviews inside are short and sweet but generally do a pretty good job of giving the reader an idea of what to expect with each film. Some are overpraised, while others are underpraised, but of course, that is subjective. Highly recommended if you can find a copy.

[The Dream Master]

http://covers.openlibrary.org/w/id/172690-L.jpg

I used to check that one out religiously as a kid and actually used it to rent movies--there were a TON that obviously weren't on local store shelves though. I went back like last year and checked it out from the library (the same exact copy I had always used), and I was amazed by how many I'd managed to see since I last checked it out. I can recall reading some of those descriptions and thinking I might never see them. It just confirmed to me that the past decade was really the best time to be a horror fan--suddenly, all of those movies weren't hard to find anymore and could be seen.

Whoa, there was apparently a second volume:

http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/2367678-L.jpg

[WesReviews]

Always wanted to check out those Splatter Movie Guides by John McCarty, but never did. I do, however, own a couple of his other books...

The Modern Horror Film by John McCarty
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Picked this one up at Universal Studios in Florida back in 1988, when I was first really starting to get into horror bigtime. Notice that Lair of the White Worm is the newest book covered. Due to its prominence here and in several Fangoria issues at the time, I think they really expected that movie to be much bigger than it ended up being.

The Fearmakers by John McCarty
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The Fearmakers is excellent. Chronicles most of the popular, big name modern directors (well, modern as in the 1980s/early 90s), as well as a few of the lesser known classic horror guys like Henri-Georges Clouzot, Tod Browning, and Roland West.

There was a great horror movie book at our old library when I was a teenager, that I used to check out all the time... really wish I could remember the name. I believe the cover had a close-up of Nicholson's face breaking through the door in The Shining. profiled individual movies if I'm remembering correctly, and had great, full page pictures to go along with the profiles. Man... that's gonna bug me till I figure out what that book was. I don't think it was by McCarty. Gahhh...
ADDED:
Ahhh, found it!

The Best, Worst, and Most Unusual Horror Films by The Authors of Consumer Guide
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[WesReviews]

Justin from over at Hysteria-Lives' book, Teenage Wasteland is finally receiving a US release as "The Slasher Movie Book" in June 2012. This edition is also updated from the previous Teenage Wasteland edition. Been wanting to check it out, so I'm glad I waited. Pre-ordered (http://www.amazon.com/dp/1556520107/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=hysteria-20&camp=213381&creative=390973&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=1556520107&adid=03FD1EH69QGR9MNWBR5D&&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hysteria-lives.co.uk%2Fhysterialives%2FHysteria%2Fupdates.h tm)!

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[nottidelterrore]

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[WesReviews]

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I need to pick that up. Do they discuss/interview Clu very much?

I would imagine this book goes into a bit more detail than More Brains does.

[nottidelterrore]

Clu is showcased a good bit and is interviewed. It's a good companion to More Brains.

[Natman]

The book that has already become my bible as someone going into this professionally is "Dark Visions: Conversations With the Masters of the Horror Film" by Stanley Waiter. It contains very influential interviews with Clive Barker, John Carpenter, Larry Cohen, Roger Corman, Wes Craven, David Cronenberg, Robert Englund, Stuart Gordon, Gale Ann Hurd, Michael McDowell, Caroline Munro, William F. Nolan, Vincent Price, Sam Raimi, George Romero, Tom Savini, Dick Smith, Joseph Stefano, Stan Winston, Kevin Yagher and Brian Yuzna.

[WesReviews]

The very first horror movie book I ever bought was...

Movie Monsters by Gary Poole
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Picked it up at an elementary school book fair in '86 or '87. Covered the classic monsters and even the T-800.

[MaDMaNMaRz]

That ROTLD book is awesome! I read through everything except the parts for 4 and 5. One of these days i'll get around to it.

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[WesReviews]

Unfortunately, I lost a few books in the mold infestation and sadly... Terror on Tape was one of them. :( So many memories with that one book. Discovering movies I'd never heard of, and reading the author's thoughts on some of my favorites. Perhaps I'll re-buy it on the cheap sometime, but perhaps, it's just as well that it's gone. It was pretty much falling apart anyway, I'd read through it so much.

There is good horror book news though... this bad boy was in the mail tonight...

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Can't wait to browse through it. Looks to have some great pics inside!