LUCIO FULCI: b. Rome, June 17, 1927

One of the pre-eminent exponents of the zombie genre in the Italian cinema, Lucio Fulci was born on this day in Rome in 1927. He wrote scripts and was involved in the production of comedies and pop music for Italian markets during his early career, but dove headlong into the nascent shock horror genre in Italy after Dario Argento's dub of Romero's zombie classic Dawn of the Dead caused a sensation among Italian film goers in 1979.

His film Zombie was a great popular success in Italy and spawned an entire genre of imitators; The Beyond is widely regarded as his finest film. Fulci had a devoted cult following in North America. He died in 1996, dissapointing fans who were eagerly awaiting his then intended collaboration with Argento.

http://www.houseofhorrors.com/fulcibio.htm

http://brewerblob.blogspot.com/

USED BOOK REVIEWS

THE HORROR HALL OF FAME
Edited by Robert Silverberg & Martin H. Greenberg --Copyright 1991 by Agberg Ltd. and Martin H. Greenberg--Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc. 260 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10001

As the title suggests, this anthology is pitched as a collection of classics of the genre, and it does feature a number of essential stories, notably "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Poe, W.W. Jacobs horror masterpiece "The Monkey's Paw" and a chilling Ray Bradbury gem not to be read by expectant mothers, "The Small Assassin".

The remaining 15 selections vary in interest, but the worst of them is worth a read-other featured authors include Le Fanu, Ambrose Bierce, M.R. James, Robert Bloch, Harlan Ellison and a Stephen King story that is far from his punchiest but never the less worth having.

"Smoke Ghost" by Fritz Lieber is an example of what you might call a modern urban alienation ghost story and has considerable nervy atmosphere-also notable is a natural horror piece by Algernon Blackwood, "The Willows" which I found moody and scary.

The cover design is adequate but not especially exciting, however the book is attractive and has a nice weight in the hand. There is also a fairly interesting introduction which broadly traces the development of the horror genre since the publication of "Rosemary's Baby" that is well worth looking at. On the whole I have enjoyed owning this volume-if you're a collector and you spot one (I don't imagine it's a particularly rare volume) pick it up! Recommended.

The Editor

NEW FEATURE!

Another new feature begins this month here at HTM-a little item we like to call "Used Book Reviews". The idea is, we don't want to review new horror releases as there's simply way too much material to cover meaningfully, but we love to pick up old horror anthologies that can still sometimes be found in little shops here and there, and we suppose you feel the same?

So we look 'em over, and give you the results of our perusals-then if you spot a copy and it fills a niche in your collection, you know whether it's worth the $8.00 or whatever...and you can always say you saw it here first, at Horror Tales Monthly-your favourite online horror magazine in the old style. Right?

So, go on-check this space for the new feature! Cheers, Horror fans...

Your Editor

Honoured: CHRISTOPHER LEE CBE

Noted film actor Christopher Lee, who acheived strong identification with the role of Count Dracula for his portrayal of Bram Stoker's classic Transylvanian undead villian in a string of stylish and lurid Hammer Films made at Pinewood Studios in England during the 1960s and early 70s has been awarded by Queen Elizabeth II in her most recent list of honours.

Lee has been named Commmander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), the third of five levels of the Order of the British Empire. The two higher ranks are Knight or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) and Knight or Dame Commander (KBE or DBE). The two lower ranks are Officer (OBE) and Member (MBE). His award was made "For services to Drama and to Charity". Only the two highest ranks are considered a knighthood. The insignia of the CBE is a an enamelled badge worn from a neck ribbon, as pictured below.

This will work out well if Lee ever decides to revisit his Dracula characterization, since the dreaded Count often sports insignia of orders and decorations-now he can use his own...

HUGH B. CAVE: b. Chester, June 11, 1910

A belated birthday note-extremely prolific horror/suspense/adventure author Hugh Barnett Cave was born June 11th, 1910 in Chester, England and moved at an early age to Boston, Massachusetts. Cave had a lengthy and varied career and wrote hundreds of short stories for the pulps.

Note the authors listing on this classic pulp cover, at the lower right of the image.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_B._Cave

MAX SCHRECK: b. Berlin, June 11, 1879

His fiendishly frightening performance as Graf Orlock in F.W.Murnau's silent horror masterpiece Nosferatu earned Maximillian Schreck legendary status in horror film history. The movie was made without legal compensation to Dracula author Bram Stoker's estate-recognizing the obvious similiarity to his story, Stoker's widow filed an injunction to prevent the film's distribution in North America.


However, at least one bootleg print made it to these shores, and the film's iconic status was assured...fortuneately for fans of terror.

Viewing this film on television as a child with my older brother was a truly frightening and memorable experience; the film has been released often recently on DVD; I have a copy with a rather poor synth-pop music track which really spoils the effect.

http://eric.b.olsen.tripod.com/schreck.html

NEW FEATURE!

Starting this month, we will be adding new content to augment our original literature and artwork-notes and musings about the genre of horror literature and film, important dates and birthdays and other ghoulishly interesting tid-bits. Enjoy, spook lovers...