Little Shoppe of Horrors #19

I am half way through reading the latest issue of Dick Klemensen’s Little Shoppe of Horrors, this time entirely dedicated to Terence Fisher. As usual with LSOH’s theme issues you practically end up having something close to resembling an entire book on the subject available to you in magazine form and hours of reading material at your disposal.

The mag is full of interesting articles and interviews about Fisher, his career in and out of Hammer, his visual style and reception.

The only minor nags I have with this issue is that I am used to a gorgeous front cover painting and am missing the letters and news pages that are usually gracing the introductory pages of the magazine. The cover in this instance is good enough, I guess, for Photoshop manipulations, but still a far cry from the original art works that Dick had used for the last couple of years.

Again, these are minor complaints. After all we are now in a situation where we actually have regular annual appearances of our favourite genre mag. In actual fact, 2008 even looks like the first year ever (or at least in my living memory) that will find not one, but two issues produced: one of them (#20) dedicated to Hammer’s rival Amicus, the other one dedicated to Hammer’s Curse of Frankenstein.

So, missing letter pages or not, Photoshop cover page or not: These are very exciting times for Little Shoppe of Horrors. I for one don’t know where Dick finds the time to produce all those amounts of quality material.

So do yourself a favour and buy, borrow or steal a copy. After all this issue also has a number of topless photos…. of Dick himself before and after a diet. ;-)