Additions to the Hammer library

There was a time when books and magazines about Hammer made up a small corner of my library. Little Shoppe of Horrors was the only publication to keep the fires burning... every two years or so. And once in a blue moon we'd have a book dedicated to our favourite studio.

But times have changed. My Hammer book collection now is at least a shelf wide. And new publications keep on being announced. No sign of a draught in sight. But can the market sustain that kind of onslaught for what must still be considered something of a niche market? Or will it ultimately crash and burn like a tycoon's property empire? Does anyone really need all those books? Hell, I haven't even started reading The Unsung Heroes yet.... though I have no doubt that I am going to enjoy it once I come around to it.

For now I am going to enjoy all the attention Hammer seems to be getting over the last couple of years but I can foresee that I may possibly feel oversaturated at a point in the not too distant future and say: "Enough is enough." (Come to think of it, I have yet to order any of Hammer's recently announced series of Hammer Movie novelisations.)

And one of these days I may even write a new "proper" blog post again rather than just another trade announcement.

In the meantime I am pleased to announced that LSoH #26 has just arrived on my doorsteps. Regardless of my previous rant this magazine is always a welcome addition to my collection and it's great to see it on a regular twice-annual schedule. I have only managed a very preliminary cursory reading so far but it's the usual mixture of well researched feature articles (this time focusing on Hands of the Ripper) and additional reviews and overviews. Let's face it: Chances are you are all already more than familiar with the mag so I am preaching to the choir.

For those of you in the US, you can order it through the official website; for those of us living somewhere in the Olde Worlde Hemlock Books may be the best option and help save you on some of the postage fees.

If you still have available shelf space, mark September 27 cause that is when a new cooperation between Marcus Hearn and Titan Books will open up The Hammer Vault and present some of the companies rarities:

"This book tells the story of Hammer Films through previously unseen treasures from the company's archive. Beginning with the company's incorporation documents from 1934, and ending with promotional material from the 2011 release of The Resident, The Hammer Vault presents original correspondence, lobby cards, script pages and rare photographs alongside a commentary from the people who made some of the company's greatest films.

Highlights include:
· Letters to and from some of the company's stars
· Pages from Peter Cushing's scrapbooks
· Pages from the scrapbook of managing director Michael Carreras
· Premiere tickets
· Pre-production artwork, and poster artwork from films that were never made
· Production designs
· A map of Bray Studios
· Hammer's Queen's Award to Industry certificate
· An appendix featuring the original outline of the unmade story Kali - Devil Bride of Dracula

The result is a compelling visual history of the legendary film production company, and the greatest scrapbook of Hammer collectibles ever assembled."

Glen Davies: Last Bus to Bray – The Unfilmed Hammer

When I first heard of Glen Davies' 2-volume magazine publication of LAST BUS TO BRAY: THE UNFILMED HAMMER I was getting quite excited. Published as a special edition by Little Shoppe of Horrors these tomes were going to focus on all the movies Hammer had at one stage planned but then for various reasons abandoned. Yes, this was screaming niche niche market but I was ready to explore the murkey alleys of all the What Ifs that Hammer had once promised further. And LSoH always promises high quality research and excellent bang for your bucks. Some of the recent issues – such as the Amicus Special from a while back – were effectively standalone books in their own right for half the price of what it would have cost to have them properly published in either hardcover or paperback.

The moment LAST BUS was out I started getting emails from readers telling me that I may possibly need to lower my ridiculously high expectations and complaints were raised about anything from the general layout to the selection of photos as well as an abundance of typos and a general subpar experience.

So what is my stance now that I have read it?

LAST BUS is quite obviously a labour of love. Glen Davies has researched this subject extensively since the 1980s and it shows from the amount of info displayed here. The first volume deals with “The Glory Years” from 1950-1970, the second one with the “Decline, Fall and Rebirth” from 1970-2010. Some of the entries are short, others quite extensive. Whenever possible we get to read not just about the project itself but also what may have happened, whether it may have been filmed before or after it was dropped by Hammer. If it was based on a novel, then you can rely on additional info about the book, cover scans, short reviews etc. The author even highlights films that appear to have been announced by Hammer but were in actual fact spoofs concocted by fans such as DRACULA WALKS BY NIGHT, a “story which tied the legend of Vlad the Impaler and Sherlock Holmes into a vampire yarn set in London in 1895”. Or projects such as ROSEMARY'S BABY and DOCTORS WEAR BLACK (later to be filmed as INCENSE FOR THE DAMNED) that were suggested to Hammer by Terence Fisher but never adopted by the company.

So if you're in any way interested in that area of Hammer research, then on that level you won't be disappointed.

The trouble is that a publication such as this one cannot be judged on the general contents alone regardless of how fascinating they may be.

And one of the first things anyone is going to notice is indeed the abundance of typos and and other kinds of editing errors. Though richly illustrated there is a general feel of a slapdash approach to the layout. Now I have been raised on cheaply produced fanzines from the 1980s and overall this alone doesn't bother me too much if only the contents are worthwhile.

Those 80s fanzines, however, only cost a few pesetas. The retail price for LAST BUS, on the other hand is $32.95 for both editions combined plus postage. So when I ordered this I ended up paying a bit more than £30 (p&p included). That is a staggering amount for a small press publication and I could have easily have got an entire McFarland book for that deal.

So with that in mind I do feel that the publication would have been better off a) proofread and b) in the regular format (either as a regular LSoH or Special Issue) at the normal rate of around $8.95 (plus postage). Had it been published that way, I am sure I would have praised it to the hills. As it is I do, however, feel that it fails with its price-value ratio.

Now I absolutely adore the ground that Dick Klemensen is walking on. He has done more than ANYONE over the years to help carry Hammer's candle on and in his publication has always provided groundbreaking Hammer (and general Brit Horror) related research. And LAST BUS TO BRAY is indeed a typical example for the kind of publication that noone else but Dick would touch. It will be well thumped by me over the years (no doubt about that) but given all the numerous layout issues and the price it retails at readers may indeed think twice about forking out their hard earned cash for this LSoH Special.

Bruce G Hallenbeck: The Hammer Vampire

Finished reading the book earlier this month so might as well come up with a short review as promised....

For regular subscribers of Little Shoppe of Horrors the name Bruce G Hallenbeck over the last couple of decades has been a guarantee for first class genre research and he has easily established himself as one of a handful of leading Hammer Historians worldwide. Though Dick Klemensen is quite clearly the creative brain behind the venture, it is writers such as Hallenbeck who ensured that LSoH has been continuously available since the 1970s.

The Hammer Vampire represents the first time that Bruce dedicates an entire book to an aspect of Hammer history. Right from the start it is very apparent that this is not anything he put together over the course of just a few weeks or even months. This is the work of a lifetime. Even the acknowledgments include the likes of Ralph Bates who already passed away nearly two decades ago.

The book takes a very in-depth look at all sixteen Hammer Vampire movies: the Dracula and Karnstein series as well as the individual entries such as Kiss of the Vampire or Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter. When discussing those movies Bruce is able to rely on his extensive interviews with all key Hammer staff to provide fascinating insights into the making of these films before subsequently reviewing those productions and their initial reception.

The book is richly illustrated and though I still don't like its cover (and never will) the inside pages are an absolute beauty. Tons of often rare black & white as well as colour photos adorn the entire oeuvre. Open the book at random and admire the visual treats on display. The pictures I took of some of the pages will not do the book justice but should give you an overall idea.

Mention Hammer to a general movie fan and the first thing they will come up with is Dracula. The Dracula movies (and to a lesser degree all its other vampire flicks) have been the cornerstone of the company during most of its heyday and are still remembered most fondly. As such these are the films that have already been most extensively written about before and it often appears that nothing much new could be said that hadn't been said before. Yet this is the genius of Hallenbeck's approach that he even finds new nuggets in the most unlikely places. His analysis of Carol Marsh's child-like performance mixing her coming-of-age and of-sexuality is very succinct and had me tempted to view the film again for the umpteenth time.

One common thread in this book is that every new Dracula production emphasised a new approach at how Hammer and its artists took a look at society. This is of course more than just painfully obvious in the likes of Taste the Blood of Dracula (outwardly respectable members of society visiting brothels to fulfill their decadent needs) or Dracula A.D. 1972 (a fun picture telling us a lot about how the older Hammer guard *believed* that the younger generation was living it out in Swinging London). I don't, however, recall anyone before making a such a concentrated attempt to highlight all the different takes each of their Dracula movies had on looking at society and at the way religious symbolism was handled in them.

While discussing all the vampire movies, Hallenbeck also puts these into a wider context and focuses on other similiar genre entries both from the UK and abroad and thereby charts the way Hammer gradually lost its hold over the fans and from a market leader slid into the role of a market follower.

All in all this was a fabulous read that I would recommend to anyone reading this blog. Longtime readers of LsoH may occasionally get a sense of Deja Vu as some of the material is also quoted in this book but you can't really blame a writer for referencing himself and it is nice to see the material all packaged together in one big bundle.

The book was published by Hemlock Books and though it is available through Amazon you may get it faster by ordering directly with them. In actual fact (commission be damned) I am not even going to include an Amazon link for this review as Amazon US lists this as being available for $83 from a private seller (the letters WTF were invented for this kind of deal) and Amazon UK has the regular rates but order times of 1-2 months.

The first print run had sold out quickly and new copies have now been made available. Later on this year the same team will also publish a similar book dedicated to Hammer's Sci Fi and Fantasy movies. Given that this is an area that hasn't been covered as extensively yet this could be even better than the current volume.

Little Shoppe of Horrors #24 now available

Little Shoppe of Horrors #24 is now out and can be ordered through their website or through Hemlock Books. The last is the best option for anyone in the UK/Europe as you'll be able to save on postage fees.

I have only begun reading the mag but by now you will of course know that any issue is mandatory reading. Dick Klemensen (and his contributors) just seem to be unable to come up with anything sub par. This issue is focusing on Hammer's Mummy movies, a series that has never received the love and attention that the Dracula and Frankenstein counterparts got.

The most exciting bit of news is that all the old LSoH are now available has reprints. Given that some of the very first ones can now raise $100+ this is a very welcome option that I will avail of in order to fill up the few remaining gaps in my collection.

Bruce G Hallenbeck: The Hammer Vampire

This nearly went under my radar if it wasn't for a Tweet from@RondoAwards. Already a possible contender for one of the more interesting bits of genre film literature for 2010, Bruce G Hallenbeck's book THE HAMMER VAMPIRE is scheduled for a release in May. It can be ordered within Europe from the publisher, Denis Meikle's Hemlock Books, or in the US from Midnight Marquee.

The author Bruce G Hallenbeck is known to anyone who ever opened a copy of Little Shoppe of Horrors as one of Hammer Film's most fascinating historians and  reviewers. The book promises "an in-depth look at all the films, both the behind-the-scenes and a more cerebral look at the subject matter. Loaded with many rare photos from all the films and if you've liked Bruce's work in LSoH going back to 1981 - and his upcoming making-of articles on the four Hammer Mummy films - you are going to love this. Will be approx 260 pages. UK price will be 17.95Poundsterling. AND will have an extensive color center section."


As for the cover... yeah, don't care much for it either, but for a Hallenbeck book you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

Definitely something to look forward to.

Little Shoppe of Horrors #23 available

Looks like the new issue of "Little Shoppe of Horrors" is available anytime now and can as usual be ordered through Dick Klemensen's website. For those of you, like me, who are not based in the States it may, however, be more convenient to check out Hemlock Books. Based in the UK they have more attractive postage rates that will cut down on the overall price and the delivery time.

The new issue promises to feature an in depth overview over Hammer's Cornish Classics Plague of the Zombies and The Reptile. Just as well so that I recently re-watched the latter for the first time in probably two decades.

LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS #22 Now Available

Just received this info from Dick Klemensen.

"Hi

Just to let you know that the current issue of LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORSX #22 is available.

Contents include:
*"Dracula Today! Hammer's Vampire in 1970's London" The making of DRACULA A.D. 1972 & THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA
*Historical introductions to that period of Hammer Films.
*Mean, Moody and Murderous - In Search of Hammer Noir: "Little Shoppe of Horrors" prowls the dark streets of Windsor
*Remembering Hammer Noir: Michael Carreras in conversation with Denis Meikle
*Desperately Seeking Dracula...or: "I demand an audience with his Satanic Majesty." Comic strip by Philip Nutman and Mark Maddox.
*Interviews with: Caroline Munro, Christopher Neame, Don Mingaye, Stoneground, Valerie Van Ost & William Franklyn.
*Dracula Swings - the Music of Michael Vickers and John Cacavas for DRACULA A.D. 1972 and THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA.
*Alan Gibson - a personal look at the late director of the two modern day Hammer films - with the participation of Gibson's daughters Jessie and Sarah & his brother, author Graeme Gibson.

100 Pages and gorgeous color covers.

We know it is an expensive proposition to order issues from the U.S.A.because of the high cost of postage. So, we highly recommend you contact:

Hemlock Books (run by Denis Meikle, who writes and designs for LSoH) in the United Kingdom.

Website:
www.hemlockbooks.co.uk

or his Ebay Store
www.stores.ebay.co.uk/Hemlock-Bookshop

If you are already purchasing LSoH from another of our fine distributors in the UK, buy all means continue to use them. They all support us all the way. But if you need a way to purchase our newest issue (and all our back issues & and Hemlock is the only distributor outside of LSoH itself for our CD/pdf's out our "out-of-print" back issues), Hemlock gives great service at a fair price.

They've just updated their website and should have the newest issue on hand next week."

For those of you ordering the magazine from the US, I guess the best option is still through the regular LSoH website. I am currently trying to find out whether Denis also delivers to Ireland or just within the UK.

The Rondo Awards

Another year over and the Rondo Awards are awaiting your votes again.

Here are some of my absolutely biased recommendations in case you are unsure in some categories.

There are scores of worthwhile blogs to vote for in the best horror blog category and in actual fact I have been in touch with a number of the owners of those blogs, read them regularly and could easily vote for most of them, but Curt Purcell’s Groovy Age of Horror just needs to win this year. Every year this blog shows up for the Awards and every year it gets snuffed. Yes, this may be very niche market (dedicated to pulp paperbacks and comics/fumetti), but it is a labour of love and always highly readable. Your truly in the early days of this blog also wrote some entries about German pulp horror series and about sleazy Modesty Blaise rip-off The Baroness. So if you’re undecided, you now know what to do.

Dick Klemensen’s Little Shoppe of Horrors again features in several categories. The magazine was published twice last year, so take your pick of the entries you would like to vote for:
11. Best Magazine of 2008
12. Best Article of 2008 (PLEASE PICK TWO)
-- 'Scream and Scream Again: The Uncensored History of Amicus Productions,' by Philip Nutman, LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS #20. Deep examination of the studio that emerged from Hammer's shadows.
13. Best Magazine Cover
LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS #20
Alternate cover by Bruce Timm

As you can pick two articles I would suggest to also vote for
-- 'El Vampiro Speaks,' by Bryan Senn, Richard Sheffield and Jim Clatterbaugh, MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT #24. Rare interview with Mexican horror star German Robles.
I have shared many a happy drink with Bryan Senn. He was even around when I created a new cocktail, the Grandma Baileys i.e. Grand Marnier and Baileys on ice. (Now that this is out I expect every bar in the world to serve this, but at least you dear readers now know where this came from.) Bryan’s writing is always highly entertaining and he is also the author of two of my favourite genre-books-with-an-unusual-angle, Drums of Terror: Voodoo in the Cinema and A Year of Fear: A Day-by-day Guide to 366 Horror Films, so it would definitely be nice to see him earn a Rondo.

I have always been an admirer of Michael Wilks, who together with me is also a member of the Isle of the Dead Yahoo Group, so I also recommend voting for his cover of the new (or should I say relaunched) Scarlet #1 magazine.

And last, but not least:

10. Best Book of 2008
Truth be told, the only newly published genre cult film book I read last year was David Zuzelo’s and Paul Cooke’s TOUGH TO KILL which is *not* on the list for the awards, but a few buddies of mine from the Eurotrash Paradise figured it would be fun if we all start voting for it regardless as in every category you can also vote for entries that were not featured on the list. David is a good buddy of mine and runs the excellent TOMB IT MAY CONCERN blog, so drop by his blog and vote for the man. Wouldn’t it be funny if a book is picked for the Rondos that wasn’t on anyone’s horizon before?

Voting finishes on March 21, 2009. So what are you waiting for?

Little Shoppe of Horrors # 21

2008 has proved to be a very special year for Little Shoppe of Horrors as Dick Klemensen has managed not just to produce one issue of his excellent magazine – trust me, there were years when even that would have been labelled an achievement – but two! Following hot on the heels of his superb Amicus special, Dick has now released another issue dedicated to The Curse of Frankenstein. Can’t wait to receive my issue in the mail and let you know more about it. Undoubtedly this will be yet another Must Have issue: You can just never expect anything less than perfection from the man!

Run, don’t walk to get a copy. If none are available to you locally, you can order them through Dick’s website.

Speaking of Curse of Frankenstein: Check out this short new interview with Jimmy Sangster that was taken during Curse's anniversary event in Bray.

Vault of Horror uncut on Film 4 in the UK

For those of you living in the UK or Ireland: Set your timers for August 25 when Film 4 will be screening a new Hi-Def, remastered and uncut print of Amicus' Vault of Horror at 11:35 p.m. I am not exactly sure how much this version will differ from the previous DVD releases, but will definitely check it out.

Speaking of Amicus: I have finally started reading the latest edition of Little Shoppe of Horrors, this time entirely dedicated to Amicus. I am half way through and it is absolutely excellent. This is effectively not a magazine as such, but the publication of a book length manuscript by Philip Nutman. His "Scream and Scream Again: The Uncensored History of Amicus Productions" was originally meant to be published in the 1980s, but then lingered for various reasons (partly legal issues) unpublished until now. This is a completely reworked and updated version of the original manuscript. Not only is this highly readable but also comes with some of the best art work (front cover, back cover, inside covers etc) that LSoH has ever seen.

You can order the issue directly from Dick Klemensen's website. Also of interest is the fact that Dick will soon make CD copies of all his old and unavailable back issues available. Given the fact that some of the very early ones are now auctioned off for $100+, methinks that yours truly will definitely avail of this much cheaper option to fill up the holes in my collection.

Little Shoppe of Horrors cover: Correction

A week or so ago I complained that the current edition of Little Shoppe of Horrors had gone the way of computer generated, Photoshop style graphics. Dick Klemensen contacted me about this and wrote:

"I noted in your Hammer blog that you lamented we had gone to a computer generated cover. Well, it isn't. It is all hand done, each piece and layer put in by hand and each character painted in by hand. Nancy and I bought the original and it hangs outside my office. And is gorgeous. Steve K did it like he did his collages for TIME and NEWSWEEK back in the l970s."

Well, that quite took me by surprise and although I would generally still favour the previous style of cover graphics, I *am* now seriously impressed about the expertise with which this collage was created.

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. ;-)