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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

Women in Horror Month: Book Review: The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick by Mallory O’Meara

cover art for The Lady from the Black Lagoon by Mallory o"Meara

(  Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com  )

The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick by Mallory O’Meara

Hanover Square Press, 2019

ISBN-13: 9781335937803

Available: Hardcover, paperback. Kindle, Audible audiobook

 

When Mallory O’Meara discovered that one of her favorite movies, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, featured a monster designed by a woman, Milicent Patrick, she knew she had to find out more. Sadly, there was little information available about this elusive figure. Through her research, O’Meara learned much about Patrick’s contribution to The Creature from the Black Lagoon and her eventual disappearance from film history. O’Meara, herself working in the horror movie industry, “set out to right the wrong and in the process discovered the full, fascinating story of an ambitious, artistic woman ahead of her time.”

O’Meara’s book is well-researched, using primary archival resources and interviews as a basis for her work. She describes pushback she received from different parties in her introduction. Similar to asking the question, “why is there a Women in Horror Month?”, she was asked why she was searching so much for a woman who was denied her craft for decades. O’Meara spends the bulk of the book answering this question.

The book isn’t strictly a biography of Milicent, but also of those closest to her. O’Meara includes biographical information on Milicent’s parents, William Randolph Hearst, Bud Westmore, and other people who had been influential in Patrick’s life. Interspersed in the chapters are the author’s discussion of her discoveries and “aha moments”, such as finding Hearst Castle as a clue to unveiling more of Milicent’s life, her time at Glendale Junior College, her eventual dropping out to attend Chouinard Art Institute, and Walt Disney hiring her on in the animation department of his humble studio. Milicent worked as an uncredited model, developing her own sense of style, something her father disapproved of. The author does not hide that some of Milicent’s life choices led to heartache and agony, her own as well as others. O’Meara discusses Milicent crossing paths with the infamous Bud Westmore and her time designing the Gillman, Universal’s monster in Creature from the Black Lagoon. The author also provides some great information on the history of special effects, and the ongoing gender inequality in the film industry.

A major criticism I have about the content is O’Meara’s exaggerated lack of understanding of the research process. She discusses her struggles with the process and, thankfully, credits those who helped her by providing her with clues or pointing her in the right direction. She seemed to be unaware of databases, or how to conduct oneself in an archival room. While such things are undoubtedly unknown to some people, including her own ignorance and gasping, and telling the reader she probably annoyed others in the research room of the archives, would probably be best left out. However, O’Meara’s conversational style of writing is appealing, to a point, and makes the pace of the book go quickly. Recommended.

 

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on February 22, 2021 by , Reply

Women in Horror Month: Book Review: The Burning Girls: A Novel by C.J. Tudor

cover art for The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor

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The Burning Girls: A Novel by C.J. Tudor

Ballantine Books, 2021

ISBN-13 : 978-1984825025

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

Some of the best books straddle genres and wind up splintering the boundaries in the process. Some of the best authors writing today have nailed this, refusing to be pigeonholed.

C.J. Tudor broke through with the phenomenal novel The Chalk Man and now takes her blend of horror, mystery, and thriller, churning it into one of the first hits of the new year.

Set in modern-day England, Reverend Jack Brooks appears to be running from her past when she is reassigned to a church in Chapel Croft, a town where the previous vicar committed suicide. Jack and her daughter Flo reluctantly leave Nottingham after a case that may have involved an exorcism left a young girl dead. Immediately, Jack discovers the small town is full of mysteries, conspiracies, and hidden shadows that make her past resemble heaven.

The legend of the burning girls harkens back to the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary in the sixteenth century, whose purge of Protestants resulted in the deaths of eight victims, including two young girls, through, of course, burning. Thirty years ago, another pair of girls disappeared from the town, apparently meeting with foul play. Toss in another missing vicar, and the stage is set for a creepy tale that might bring to mind the best of Shirley Jackson if channeled through Lauren Beukes.

The legend says that whoever sees the burning girls is destined for a horrific fate. On her first morning, Jack discovers effigies on her doorstep, while Flo catches a fiery specter on film when exploring a disturbing, abandoned house with a boy whose past carries its own hefty shadows.

As Jack discovers the terrors that Chapel Croft has spent centuries burying, she struggles to find who to trust, and who might be seeking to add her to the body count the church seems to invite.

Tudor brings a strong dose of horror that evokes folktale. mythology, and evil in human form, by way of small town mentality. What sets The Burning Girls apart from other novels is the writing. Tudor’s strong voice is both alluring and conversational, deceptively simple in its complex characterization, especially of the role of a female priest in a setting stuck on living in dangerous nostalgia. Humor is utilzed as a foil to the terror Tudor wraps around the twisting plot, succeeding in keeping the reader off guard until the final note is played. Both this novel and the author’s previous offerings are highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

Posted on February 21, 2021 by , Reply
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