What are you reading? — Page 62

Various (Editor: Black, Andy) - Necronomicon Three

Following Vol 01 and 02, this shows a change of publisher, and two aspects are immediately apparent. The type is larger. Same amount of pages, but with larger type the word count will be less. In addition, many images are iffy. Several are so poor as to resemble Xerox copies. Lastly, the typos are off the scale. Where is the editor throughout?

Alright, the good stuff: Opening with a humorous interview with Brian Yunza (Necronomicon, The Dentist, Dagon, From Beyond, Re-Animator), who doesn’t take his output too seriously.

Back to back articles on Scream And Scream Again (stylistically all over the place), and Baron Blood (now on my list) and others.

“The Modern Fantastic” roves from Carpenter’s The Thing to Lynch’s Fire Walk With Me, studying both films in depth.

Editor Black offers a nice remembrance of Soledad Miranda.

Essay on Herzog’s Nosferatu will be a must for fans of the film or director. Likewise another chapter on Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn, with emphasis on colleague Tarantino.

As always with this collection, a few resemble overwritten college papers, fine for those who long for additional psychological explanations for their Slashers.

There is an excellent argument for Stivaletti’s Wax Mask, another one that passed below radar, both mine and the public’s it seems.

Should I mention Wicker Man, Eyes Without A Face, Faceless? Final essays conclude another strong group of film essays.

Here’s hoping Black will rein in the typos by volume 4, and quality proof those images.

Stoker, Bram - “Gibbet Hill”

City dweller, escaping the London bustle, escapes to Surrey for a day trip.
Climbing the hill, he spies a young married couple, fellow tourists, and a trio of children.
The children later engage in a odd ritual involving a flute, dance, and a snake.
Whereupon our narrator becomes spellbound.
Recently discovered “forgotten story” is cropping up from various presses.
Mine hailed from a small Penrith bookshop, from where I have found other gems.

Collins, Max - Quarry’s Ex

Quarry is Collins’ gravy train, professional hitman, although by now, quasi retired.
He makes a living offering services to targets, dropping the killers and snuffing whoever hired.
Noir pulp all the way, in the vein of Mickey Spillane.
Quarry runs into his two-timing ex, Joni, now married to a director of exploitation flicks.
Joni is curvy and is still sexy. So is Tiffany, lead actress, ex-Playmate Of The Year.
So is Ginger, one of the young production team gofers. Waitresses, maids? All attractive.
Women are dolls, men vary from bikers to mobsters.
This provides a bit of a backstory, younger days, his progression into the world of contracts.
Collins writes old-fashioned, two-fisted stories for men.
If you enjoy those kind of novels, you should like this one.