With Axe-mas right around the corner, I’m sure everyone is starting to compile their own wish list or thinking about what to get others. I’m going to give a few suggestions to help not only find a great gift, but to also help increase the knowledge for the person receiving it, as well as maybe showing support for those out there that are putting their blood, sweat, tears, and talent into their work. We need to show our support for them, to let them know what they are doing is worth it.
For those out there that are looking for the special gift for the horror obsessed fan in their life, or to add it to your own personal list, let me start with a shameless plug and humbly suggest picking up a copy of my book, Discover the Horror? While it is available on Amazon, if you order it directly from me, you’ll get it personally signed to you, or whoever you request. How cool would it be to surprise your special someone with a personalized autograph copy? You can read what some people have thought about it on Amazon or some of the reviews I’ve posted on the link to the right.
But…this isn’t just about my book, but the countless titles out there that would make wonderful gifts to any horror fan. Here are some examples.
Depending on how much you’re willing to spend, here’s a couple that are pricy, but are well worth the money and would make any horror fan beam with happiness. Peveril Publishing have continued their amazing line of books with their latest, Hammer’s Grand Design. If you know someone who is a huge fan of Hammer Films, then this one is for them. This beautiful hardcover covers the set designs for the Studio that Dripped Blood, with sketches, layouts and set designs, and so much more that went into creating the wonderful worlds our favorite films lived in. Yes, it is a bit pricy, especially getting it shipped over here to the states, but I think it is well worth it. Because of that, and the limited quantity being published, if you are interested, I would act now so you can get your copy and get it in time for the holiday. Click HERE for more info. I would also highly recommend their Fantastic Films of the Decades series as well.
Something a little a little more in price, but again well worth it, is the new 2-volume book called Metamorphosis: The Art of Rick Baker. Originally priced at $250, Amazon now has these listed at only $166, and for the size of these two volumes, it is worth it. Over 700 pages, filled with hundreds and hundreds of photos of Baker’s work from his early days in the 50s to his present day, it shows the incredible talent he possesses, along with the many amazing movie memories that he has help create for us genre fans. I’m not sure how what the pressing of this book is, if it will go out-of-print or if it is being massed produced, but I wouldn’t want to take that chance and pick up a copy while you can. Yes, once again, this isn’t cheap. But I pretty much guarantee if you have a young horror fan, that especially has a leaning towards makeup effects, this will make his Christmas morning.
But there are plenty of other books out there that might not be fresh of the presses that are still great gifts. If you know someone that is a fan of the Italian giallo genre, then I would strongly suggest picking up any or all of the 3-volume set of Troy Howarth’s So Deadly, So Perverse series on the history of the giallo. You can’t read through any of these volumes and not come out of it with a list of films you need to either seek out for the first time, or dig out and re-watch again. Not to mention all the information you’ll learn about them!
Oh yeah…Howarth also wrote an incredible book on Spanish actor/writer/director/horror icon Paul Naschy, called Human Beasts: The Films of Paul Naschy that is essential for any fan of Spanish cinema, or horror films in general.
If you’re looking for some good biographies, then here are a few to wet your appetite. Gregory William Mank is one of the best in the business, if you ask me. Everything I have read by him, I have not only just devoured them, but have learned so much about the subject matter that I didn’t know before. Here are some of the titles that I would consider a must for any fans of classic cinema.
Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff: The Expanded Story of a Haunting Collaboration, with a Complete Filmography of Their Films Together is like a double biography, with info on both Karloff and Lugosi, but then also goes into a lot of detail on the films they made together. This huge volume is filled with so much information waiting to be absorbed, that I can pretty much guarantee you’ll be busting out some of these movies to re-watch after reading about them.
Two other straight biographies are Laird Cregar: A Hollywood Tragedy and “One Man Crazy … !” The Life and Death of Colin Clive; Hollywood’s Dr. Frankenstein. Cregar is one that fans might know a film or two that he was in but maybe not a lot about his life. This book will change all of that. And while most fans definitely know the name of Colin Clive, the most famous Dr. Frankenstein in cinema history, there is a lot to be learned about the man behind the madness. Once again, you can’t go wrong by something Mank.
Of course, we’ve recently posted and reviewed this last one, but it is still a must for fans of Italian horror. FAB Press’ Fear: The Autobiography of Dario Argento is an incredible read, up front and honest, and filled with so many great stories right from the master himself.
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