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Stoker Review Project: Links to Reviews

 

Monster Librarian has been reviewing the nominees on the final ballot for the Bram Stoker Award and they have been coming in steadily! Here’s a list of the nominees for each category with links to our reviews so far. I’ll be updating this as new ones come in, so check back regularly!

Interested in purchasing any of these? Here’s a link to Stoker Nominees at Monster Librarian’s Bookshop Page.

 

5/22: Grotesque: Monster Stories by Lee Murray has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection.

5/20: Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies by John Langan has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection.

5/19: The Return by Rachel Harrison has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in a First Novel! We’ve reviewed all the first novels now, scroll down to the links and see what we had to say!

5/19: True Story by Kate Reed Petty has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in a First Novel.

5/19: Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel! We’ve got all the books in this category reviewed now!

5/17: The Taxidermist’s Lover by Polly Hall has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in a First Novel.

5/16: Tome by Ross Jeffrey has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in a First Novel.

5/15: Women Make Horror: Filmmaking, Feminism, Genre edited by Alison Peirse has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction.

5/12: Devil’s Creek by Todd Keisling has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in a Novel.

5/11: Bent Heavens by Daniel Kraus has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel.

5/9: End of the Road by Brian Keene has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction.

5/7: The Bone Carver (Night Weaver #2) by Monique Snyman has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in Young Adult Fiction.

5/4: Cradleland of Parasites by Sara Tantlinger has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in Poetry.

5/4:  Spectre Deep 6 by Jennifer Brody and Jules Rivera has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel.

5/3: Road of Bones by Rich Douek, art by Alex Cormack has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel.

4/22: The Masque of the Red Death  by Steven Archer has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel.

4/22:  Worst Laid Plans: An Anthology of Vacation Horror  has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in an Anthology

4/5:  Two Truths and a Lie by Sarah Pinsker has a link added in the category of Superior Achievement in Long Fiction.

 

 

Superior Achievement in a Novel

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel

Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction

Posted on April 3, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: Glamour Ghoul: The Passions and Pains of the Real Vampira, Maila Nurmi by Sandra Niemi

cover art for Glamour Girl by Sandra Niemi

Glamour Ghoul: The Passions and Pains of the Real Vampira by Sandra Niemi

Feral House, 2021

ISBN-13: 9781627311007

Available:  Paperback, Kindle ( Bookshop.com  | Amazon.com )

 

Glamour Ghoul is the biography of the woman who was Vampira, Maila Nurmi, written by her niece, Sandra Niemi. Pieced together from diaries, notes, family stories, and an unexpected family connection, Niemi weaves a fascinating tale of the late horror icon. She provides a glimpse of her aunt’s childhood,  Maila’s strict Finnish father and alcoholic mother, and how she tried to break free of their grasp. In 1941, Maila began her tumultuous journey into Los Angeles, hoping to find fame and fortune, but instead found heartbreak and betrayal, the first committed by Nurmi’s screen crush Orson Welles.

Nurmi’s creation and development of the Vampira character is discussed in the book. From entering a Halloween costume contest donning an outfit like that of Charles Addams’ Morticia (from his cartoons, not the television show), to appearing on the Red Skelton Show, to her own show and beyond, the tale of Vampira is told. There is also considerable time spent on the lawsuit between Nurmi and Elvira/Cassandra Peterson.

Interspersed between accounts of Nurmi’s life are short biographies of those who entered her life. Her relationships, platonic as well as romantic ones, with Orson Welles, James Dean, Marlon Brando, Anthony Perkins, and Elvis Presley make for an interesting read. Later in life, she was embraced by the punk community, and she, in turn, embraced the community. Her life was not glamourous: she often struggled with poverty, and was barely able to afford to scrape by. She occasionally had to return home, living with her mother and never speaking to her estranged father. Despite that, she lived on her own terms. Niemi is quite candid in telling her aunt’s story, not shying away from such things as a confrontation and violent outburst by Nurmi toward her grand-niece’s snobbish behavior during a visit to Los Angeles. Nurmi was not afraid of making her voice heard. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on March 20, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: 1000 Women in Horror, 1895-2018 by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

cover art for 1000 Women in Horror

1000 Women in Horror, 1895-2018 by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

BearManor Media, 2020

ISBN-13: 9781629333861

Available:  Hardcover, paperback ( Bookshop.org )

 

1000 Women in Horror, 1895-2018 is a beautiful book that includes the stars and women behind the scenes who have molded the horror genre. Heller-Nicholas provides a global view of the “vast number of women who have worked in the creation of dark and spooky movies for well over a century, both behind and in front of the camera, and in films both widely known and comparatively obscure.” The author includes an incomplete, as she mentions, but still impressive filmography of full-length movies directed or co-directed by women in an appendix. Also included interspersed throughout book are interviews with Rutanya Alda, Tara Anaïse, Tonjia Atomic, Anna Biller, Axelle Carolyn, Aislinn Clarke, BJ Colangelo, Mattie Do, Julia Ducournau, Jordan Hall, Catherine Hardwicke, Katherine Kean, Karen Lam, Izzy Lee, Barbara Magnolfi, Marsha Mason, Donna McRae, Patrushkha Mierzwa, Hannah Neurotica, Alexandra Paul, Isabel Peppard, Cassandra Peterson, Debbie Rochon, Mia’Kate Russell, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Elizabeth Shepherd, Jen and Sylvia Soska, Brinke Stevens, Barbie Wilde and Silvana Zancolò.

 

Since this is more of a reference book with entries in alphabetical order, readers may not want to read it from cover to cover of course. However, having done so myself, it is wonderful to see how many women, and by no means a complete list of them, have had a direct hand in horror films. I found it particularly interesting that Heller-Nicholas chose to include those in front of the camera. As she points out in her introduction, acting “is a job” and often requires hard work, dedication, and time.  With WiHM, we so often focus on the filmmakers that the actors themselves tend to go unnoticed in their efforts.

 

Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, a film critic from Melbourne, Australia, holds a PhD in Screen Studies from the University of Melbourne and is an Adjunct Professor at Deakin University and a Research Fellow at RMIT University. She has written eight books on cult, horror and exploitation cinema with an emphasis on gender politics. Given the quality of the research and care that went into 1000 Women in Horror, 1895-2018, I will definitely be checking out her other work. I do hope that at some point in the future there will be a Kindle edition released for accessibility.

 

Highly recommended

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Editor’s note: 1000 Women in Horror, 1895-2018  is a nominee on the final ballot for the 2020 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Nonfiction. 

Posted on March 7, 2021 by , Reply
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