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Book Review: Horror Express by John Connolly

Horror Express by John Connolly.

PS Publishing, 2018

ISBN-13: 978-1786364098

Available: Hardcover

 

Non-fiction books in horror tend to be labors of love. Look to Stephen King’s Danse Macabre and Grady Hendrix’s Paperbacks from Hell for two amazing examples of examining the macro side of the horror genre. Then there are those authors who prefer to hone in on a single topic. John Connolly has done so here in Horror Express from the always quality PS Publishing. Connolly has long been a force in the thriller genre, especially with his dark thriller series starring PI Charlie Parker, ,the classic The Book of Lost Things and its successors.

Curiously, Connolly admits that he hadn’t watched the movie since he was a child. Why focus on a little known movie that he saw so long ago? Psychologically speaking, that’s a bit fascinating and intriguing, if a bit of a head-scratcher, since the film isn’t a classic either in cult status or in popular circles. but it will likely cause many to seek out the lost film.

Filmed in 1972, Horror Express is a Spanish film that stars Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, usually enough reason to watch. Set in 1906, the iconic pair discover a strange humanoid in the ice, and have to transport it across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Express. As it evokes both the best of Hammer movies and John Carpenter’s The Thing, it’s easy to see why Connelly has this movie stuck in his craw. Even though it may not be well-known, countless gems do exist, and those of us who were weaned on horror films understand the passion for movies such as this.

Connolly separates the book into four sections, each chronicling his experience with the movie. They are: “The Excavation”; “The Protagonists”; “The Autopsy”; and “The Afterlife”.  What is most impressive is the way Connolly delves into the relationship between the two stars, and how they worked on this odd piece. Upon closer inspection, one can begin to draw parallels between his own dark novels and see how Horror Express  may have influenced him as an author. That section is a piece worth the purchase for diehard Connolly fans alone. His work has, in turn, influenced countless writers in the past twenty years so to dissect how an iconic member of the thriller/horror community was shaped is something that readers rarely get to experience. Recommended for film fans and those who can’t get enough of this fine author.

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms

 

Editor’s note: Horror Express is a nominee on the final ballot for the 2018 Bram Stoker Awards in the category of Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction. 

 

Posted on May 5, 2019 by , Reply

Book Review: We Don’t Go Back: A Watcher’s Guide to Folk Horror by Howard David Ingham, illustrated by Steven Horry

We Don’t Go Back: A Watcher’s Guide to Folk Horror by Howard David Ingham, illustrated by Steven Horry

Room 207 Press, 2018

ISBN: 9781722748814

Available: Kindle, paperback

Full disclosure: We Don’t Go Back: A Watcher’s Guide to Folk Horror is Ingham’s authoritative (although he would probably cringe at me using that term) look at folk horror. Pagan conspiracies, witchfinders, dark fairy tales, and cult activity are only a few of the themes of the movies he presents.

Ingham lays out some guidelines to how he wrote this book. Entries are arranged by theme and not chronologically. He states that this is not meant to be used as a reference book, and there are plenty of spoilers throughout. The author uses various icons, designed and illustrated by Steven Horry, to indicate specific information for readers (a bony thumbs up indicates he enjoyed the film, a bloody knife indicates gore, a stop sign warns readers of more sensitive material such as rape, abuse, etc.). Ingham specifies that he makes use of content warnings as a means to inform the viewer and help them make an informed decision before they watch a film. The author also provides a synopsis of each film with autobiographical information, as a means to break down the piece at hand. Similar to Kier-La Janisse’s autobiographical topography, House of Psychotic Women, Ingham includes personal information in each section. So much content blended with the autobiographical information makes for a very long read, but also an interesting one. While he states in his introduction that his purpose is not to review the films, he does provide many of his personal opinions of the works discussed.

There are 16 total chapters in this book. Ingham covers folk horror from the Silent Era to modern film, and has an international scope. I won’t go into every chapter in this review, as it would be a weighty endeavor on both myself and the reader to parse out. However, I do have some favorite chapters. Ingham begins with what he calls “The Unholy Trinity (Plus One)”, which includes Curse of the Demon (based on an absolutely beautiful tale by M.R. James, whom the author discusses in multiple chapters), Witchfinder General (a favorite of mine, given that I adore Vincent Price), and The Wicker Man (starring another favourite of mine, Christopher Lee). The “plus one” Ingham includes in the chapter is Blood on Satan’s Claw, another film based on the work of M.R. James. In the second chapter, Ingham discusses folk horror on British television from the 1970s, such as Against the Crowd, selections from the Play for Today series (Robin Redbreast, Penda’s Fen, A Photograph, and Red Shift), Ghost Stories for Christmas, The Stone Tapes, and others. Particularly interesting in this chapter is the discussion of his own experience with class hierarchy and how he felt like an outsider.

For those of us who like our horror comedies (especially of the British variety), the author presents solid reasoning as to why shows like Dr. Terrible’s House of Horrible, The League of Gentlemen, Look Around You, and Detectorists belong firmly in the folk horror genre. If you haven’t seen Inside No. 9, developed by the creative team behind The League of Gentlemen, go check it out. You won’t be disappointed. The last chapter, “The Revived”, discusses films such as The Wicker Tree, Kill List, Sightseers, A Field in England, The Witch: A New England Folk Tale, and others that have been created in the last decade.

The author includes an extensive index of films referred to in the text, which makes my horror film must-see list much longer. If you are new to folk horror, or just want to brush up on your favorite horror subgenre, I recommend picking this book up. I think the major criticism I have with this book is (and again, I read the advanced readers’ copy so some of this may have been picked up upon final edits), there is an excessive use of “and” at the beginning of many sentences, and a few sections could use a tighter edit. Otherwise I think this is a solid addition to a horror film collection. Recommended.

Contains: a lot of spoilers

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Editor’s note: We Don’t Go Back: A Watcher’s Guide to Folk Horror is a nominee on the final ballot for the 2018 Stoker Awards in the category of Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction.

Posted on May 4, 2019 by , 1 comment

Book Review: It’s Alive! Bringing Your Nightmares to Life edited by Joe Mynhardt and Eugene Johnson

It’s Alive: Bringing Your Nightmares to Life by Eugene Johnson

Crystal Lake Publishing (December 14, 2018)

ISBN-13: 978-1684545452

 

There are books on writing that inspire, ones that feed the muse, ones that teach, but rarely has there been one that encompasses all three aspects, resulting in a must-read, must-have companion for the writer’s lair.

Last year’s Where Nightmares Came From came pretty close, with articles and essays on the horror genre from a writer’s perspective. It’s Alive continues that journey, but burrows deep within the authors’ psyche to where the story lives and breathes, and pushes its way out into the world. The massive collection of articles and interviews has something for every fan and everyone who has ever thought of writing, in this genre or others. Yes, it’s a book on horror, but its knowledge can easily be transferred to other genres as it focuses on the true ART of storytelling, something most reference books fail to acknowledge.

The following pieces are highlights for this reviewer, but in no way do I mean to diminish the others. Wherever the writer is in his or her career, or whatever stage of the story they may gravitate towards, any chapter could hit the bullseye for them. Tomorrow, a new favorite may emerge, which is the beauty and accessibility of the book. Some chapters at first appear to cover similar material, such as the age-old “show versus tell” argument, yet how it’s approached varies in style and application. Reading how so many greats in the field carve into their imaginations and create something from nothing proves there are infinite paths to travel to arrive at the story’s end.

Jonathan Maberry kicks off the book with his recollections of learning from two of the greatest writers of the the twentieth century, Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson. His experiences as a child playing the “What If” game with these giants sounds simple but delves into the crucial questions that every storyteller must answer.

Yvonne Navarro tackles the “to outline or not to outline” in a sensible manner that doesn’t demonize either and shows how both can aid the writer in distress. For the artist who abhors one method or the other, this should be mandatory reading as it can redirect a story over the roughest terrain.

“The Horror Writer’s Ultimate Toolbox” by Tim Waggoner at first looks simple for the seasoned writer but when read  thoroughly, it takes on different meaning. There exists here a trio of articles on characterization that all bring something special to the table,even though the initial premise is similar.

Paul Wilson, Brian Kirk, and Kealan Patrick Burke pen intelligent, easy to apply tutorials on how to craft the characters that will stand out in a short story or novel. Creating empathy, conveying the true heart of that main protagonist or villain, or simply adding layers to an existing person that will keep the reader engaged is something every writer strives for yet often comes up short on. The applications by Wilson bring to mind his iconic “Repairman Jack” character, who could have been a terribly bland player on the page, but by utilizing the suggestions in the chapter, force the writer to dig deep and give the characters life in ways he or she likely had not even considered. Kirk and Burke delve further into this, stoking empathy for even the toughest characters to love.

Delivering the writer’s voice onto the page is something that’s been written about in countless books, yet Robert Ford almost makes it sound easy. Del Howison’s interview with Heather Graham, Mick Garris, Steve Niles, Maria Alexander, and Mark Anderson unravels their methods of getting the idea stuck in the writer’s head onto the page or screen.

Finally, there’s the interview with the elusive, but legendary, Clive Barker, by Tim Chizmar. While several pieces can be pointed to as the pinnacle of the book, this one hits home with just one bit of advice from the master. Barker’s insight into the macabre art of creating is worth the price of admission.

It’s Alive creates something special here. Crystal Lake continues to prove why they’re at the top with this.

Highly recommended reading for anyone who feels the need to create—it should be required reading for the anyone starting out in the field.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

Editor’s note: It’s Alive: Bringing Your Nightmares to Life is on the final ballot for the 2018 Bram Stoker Awards in the category of Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction. 

Posted on April 5, 2019 by , Reply
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