Blog | StarWarp Concepts | Publisher of Dark Fantasy and Horror

Happy 84th Anniversary, King Kong!

Posted on March 2, 2017 by Steven

kong-1933-premiere That’s right, it was 84 years ago today, on March 2, 1933, that New York movie audiences were introduced to, and terrified by, the Eighth Wonder of the World: King Kong! Eighty-four? Man, he really looks good for his age!

And apparently he’s about to meet a whole new generation of monster-movie fans with the release of Kong: Skull Island on March 10. Produced by Legendary Pictures—the same folks who brought us 2013’s kaiju-vs.-robots Pacific Rim and 2014’s Godzilla reboot—it stars Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John Goodman, Samuel L. Jackson, and John C. Reilly, and based on its trailers it looks really good. Fingers crossed.

But three days before that, we here at StarWarp Concepts will be releasing our own Kong-related project!

King Kong is an e-book exclusive that will reintroduce monster fans to the 1932 novelization of the original movie classic. Written by Delos W. Lovelace, based on the story by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper and the screenplay by James A. Creelman and Ruth Rose, it includes scenes that didn’t appear in the final cut of the film—including the notorious “spider pit” sequence in which Kong’s human pursuers are attacked by horrific arachnids and insects. Our version features six original black-and-white illustrations by comics artist Paul Tuma, whose pulp-influenced style has appeared in the pages of The Twilight Avenger, Flare, and Dan Turner: Hollywood Detective.

King_Kong_LG_Cover Not familiar with the beauty-and-the-beast story of Kong and his “love interest,” Ann Darrow (who was played by the queen of the scream queens, Fay Wray)? Well, here’s our edition’s back-cover copy to bring you up-to-date:

Ann Darrow was a down-on-her-luck actress struggling to survive in Depression-era New York when she met moviemaker Carl Denham. He offered her the starring role in his latest film: a documentary about a long-lost island—and the godlike ape named Kong rumored to live there. Denham needed a beauty as a counterpart to the beast he hoped to find, and Ann was the answer to his prayers.

Mystery, romance, a chance to turn her life around, even the possibility of stardom—to Ann, it sounded like the adventure of a lifetime! But what she didn’t count on were the horrific dangers that awaited her on Skull Island—including the affections of a love-struck monster . . .

King Kong (the SWC edition) goes on sale next Tuesday, March 7, 2017. In the meantime, visit its product page for further information.

Posted in Classic Fiction, e-books, Illustrated Classics | Tagged e-books, illustrated classics, king kong, king kong 1933, king kong's 84th anniversary | Comments Off

Happy Will Eisner Week 2017!

Posted on March 1, 2017 by Steven

Yes, it’s time again for Will Eisner Week: an annual celebration—held this week from March 1 to March 7—run by the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation, to promote literacy, graphic novels, free speech, and the legacy of the late Will Eisner, who would have turned 100 on March 6.

Eisner, for those of you who might be unfamiliar with his work, was the creator of the 1940s masked crimefighter The Spirit, and one of the founding fathers of American graphic novels. A Contract with God, A Life Force, Dropsie Avenue, and The Dreamer are just some of the fascinating tales Eisner wrote and drew, featuring ordinary people in extraordinary (and sometimes not-so-extraordinary) situations. And even though he passed away in 2005, Eisner continues to inspire generations of writers and artists. Events are being held this week around the world; visit the Will Eisner Week site for more information.

Spirit-Tracy (By the way, in case you were unaware, since December 26, 2016 and up to the present, The Spirit has been guest-starring in the Dick Tracy comic strip—these days written by Mike Curtis and drawn by comic-art legend Joe Staton—in a storyline involving an immortality formula up for auction. Among the bidders: the Dragon Lady from Terry and the Pirates and Daddy Warbucks from Little Orphan Annie! You can start with Day One of the crossover by heading over to the GoComics website.)

StarWarp Concepts, of course, has its share of graphic novels, and we wouldn’t mind at all if you happened them to order them as your reading material for this special week. 😉

Check out the following titles—there may be one (or more) that pique your interest:

Lorelei: Sects and the City: This is the critically acclaimed, Mature Readers tale of a succubus battling a cult that’s trying to revive the elder gods they worship. Basically a love letter to 1970s horror comics like Vampirella, Tomb of Dracula, and “Satanna, the Devil’s Daughter,” it’s written by yours truly, Steven A. Roman (Stan Lee’s Alexa, X-Men: The Chaos Engine Trilogy), and illustrated by Eliseu Gouveia (Vengeance of the Mummy, Lady Death), Steve Geiger (Web of Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk), and Neil Vokes (Flesh and Blood, Fright Night). It also features a cover by legendary artist Esteban Maroto (Vampirella, Zatanna, Lady Rawhide) and a frontispiece by original Vampirella artist Tom Sutton (Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night).

Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings: Perfect for superhero fans, this graphic novel is about a supernatural team of superfolk-for-hire, consisting of a wizard, a sorceress, a female ninja, a high-tech-armor-wearing rock concert lighting designer, and a werewolf. Not every superhero team has Tony Stark’s billions to play with, you understand, and the Troubleshooters are just looking to earn a living while fighting the monsters that have always lurked in the shadows. Makes sense, right? Of course it does! Written by the husband-and-wife team of Richard C. White (For a Few Gold Pieces More, Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination) and Joni M. White, and illustrated by Reggie Golden and Randy Zimmerman, Night Stalkings presents the TSI members on their first mission: protecting a multimillionaire from a trio of Middle Eastern demons out to raise a little hell!

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1: Although it may not be a graphic novel, at 56 pages it’s still a pretty thick comic book, with three stories of Pan and the monsters that live in her New York City hometown. The Saga of Pandora Zwieback chronicles the adventures of sixteen-year-old Pandora Zwieback, a Gothy horror fangirl who possesses amazing powers that she just learned about, including the ability to see past the human disguises worn by monsters to blend in with society. And The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1 is a 56-page, full-color special that contains stories by Steven A. Roman (yep, me again) and Sholly Fisch (Scooby-Doo Team-Up, The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold), and art by Eliseu Gouveia (Lorelei: Sects and the City, The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0) and comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld).

All titles are available in print and digital formats, so visit their respective product pages for ordering information, as well as sample pages.

Happy reading!

Posted in Events, Graphic Novels | Tagged graphic novels, lorelei: sects and the city, saga of pandora zwieback annual, troubleshooters incorporated, will eisner, will eisner week | Comments Off

Carmilla’s 145th Anniversary: Carmilla’s Radio Adventures

Posted on February 28, 2017 by Steven

carmilla_large_cover One hundred and forty-five years ago, J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s classic vampire tale, Carmilla, debuted in serialized form in the pages of the magazine Dark Blue—running from the December 1871 issue through March 1872—and was then reprinted in Le Fanu’s short story collection, In a Glass Darkly, published later that year.

If you’re unfamiliar with what’s probably Le Fanu’s most famous work, here’s the back-cover copy from the edition that we published in 2010, which has become the most popular title in our Illustrated Classics line:

Before Edward and Bella, before Lestat and Louis, even before Dracula and Mina, there was the vampiric tale of Carmilla and Laura.

Living with her widowed father in a dreary old castle in the woods of Styria, Laura has longed to have a friend with whom she can confide; a friend to bring some excitement to her pastoral lifestyle. And then Carmilla enters her life.

Left by her mother in the care of Laura’s father, Carmilla is young, beautiful, playful—everything that Laura had hoped to find in a companion. In fact, the lonely girl is so thrilled to have a new friend that she is willing to overlook the dark-haired beauty’s strange actions…which include a disturbing, growing obsession for her lovely hostess.

Carmilla, it seems, desires more than just friendship from Laura….

The influence of Carmilla on horror fiction has lasted to this day, serving as an inspiration for numerous writers—including Bram Stoker in the creation of the vampire brides who threaten Jonathan Harker in Stoker’s seminal novel, Dracula. Carmilla has also been an inspiration for filmmakers—and radio-show producers!

Here’s a trio of forgotten pieces of Carmilla’s long history—full-cast audio dramas done for terrestrial radio—and, I think, a good way to wrap up not just our Carmilla celebration, but this year’s Women in Horror Month, too.

Jeanette Nolan

In July 1940, Columbia Workshop aired “Carmilla” in an adaptation by Lucille Fletcher, with Jeanette Nolan (later the voice of Norman’s nagging mother, Mrs. Bates, in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho) as the titular character and Joan Tetzel as her victim, Helen. The action is moved to then–present day New York and the script takes a few liberties with the source material—particularly in that when the drama opens, Helen is already dying. In flashbacks narrated by Helen’s father, J.S. Dodge (Bill Johnstone), we learn the events leading up to the opener that closely reflect those in the novella.

It’s a strange update of the material, condensed to a half hour, with Carmilla’s last name changed from Karnstein to Wood (why?), the ending completely rewritten, and the drama dispensing with the sexual aspects of Carmilla’s intentions to focus on her vampiric nature, which turns Le Fanu’s creation from a creature who’ll literally love her victims to death to a scenery-chewing villainess who ultimately triumphs. You can listen to the episode by visiting the Carmilla episode page at the Fred Allen’s Old Time Radio Home website.

Marian Seldes

Thirty-five years later, in July 1975, the series CBS Radio Mystery Theater presented writer Ian Martin’s dramatization. Hosted by actor E.G. Marshall, it stars Marian Seldes as Carmilla and Mercedes McCambridge as Laura Stanton. A framing device is used by which a 90-year-old Laura tells the tale of how in 1905, when she was nineteen, she met the mysterious Carmilla. Surprisingly for the time, it retains some of the sexual overtones of Le Fanu’s novella, as Carmilla openly expresses her desire for Laura, and Laura mentions in her opening narration that her “soul-destroying” relationship with Carmilla ruined love for her “for the rest of my life.”

McCambridge pulls double duty in this dramatization, as young and old Laura, and accomplishes both well, especially teenaged Laura, even though McCambridge was almost sixty at the time. (The bigger surprise is that, in her film career, McCambridge provided the creepy voice of the demon Pazuzu in The Exorcist!) And Seldes—herself forty-seven at the time—makes a youthful-sounding Carmilla an enthusiastic vampiress, passionate in her love for Laura, who grows increasingly disturbed by the not-so-subtle moves her new friend keeps putting on her.

It’s a pretty faithful adaptation that doesn’t back away from sexuality or bloodletting, and it’s fascinating that Martin could condense Le Fanu’s story into a 45-minute episode without it seeming cramped. You can listen to the episode by visiting the Carmilla episode page at the CBS Radio Mystery Theater website.

Antoinette Bower

Finally (where we’re concerned), in March 1979 Sears Radio Theater—a series sponsored by Sears, Roebuck and Company—produced its own adaptation, this one written by Brainard Duffield, hosted by horror legend Vincent Price, and starring Antoinette Bower (whom Star Trek fans might remember as the alluring witch Sylvia in the original series episode “Catspaw”) as Carmilla and Anne Givin as Amy Forester (“a young lady of quality”).

(A little off-topic, but what is it about the name Laura that scriptwriters find so unlikeable when they adapt Carmilla? With the exception of CBS Radio Mystery Theater, she’s renamed as Amy for Sears Radio Theater, Helen for Columbia Workshop, Marie for Nightmare Classics, and Emma for The Vampire Lovers. Why the Laura hate, adapters?)

Here, the story moves to post–World War I Vienna, with Carmilla the “niece” of a baroness known to Amy’s father. During the course of the drama, we learn that not only is Carmilla a “descendant” of the Karnstein family, but so is Amy, whose late mother was a family member. It doesn’t really add anything to the telling, but it doesn’t derail the story, either. In terms of the novella’s lesbian undertone, scripter Duffield sort of walks a fine line between Columbia Workshop’s complete removal of references and CBS Radio Mystery Theater’s acknowledgment of Carmilla’s intentions as a blood-drinking sexual predator, with Amy dreaming of Carmilla kissing her as she sleeps but avoiding the subject during her waking hours. And Carmilla, it’s revealed, isn’t looking so much for a lover as a constant companion.

It’s a decent adaptation, certainly more in line with its source than Columbia Workshop’s version, with Bower giving as much passion to Carmilla’s soft come-ons to Amy as the script allows; she might have been better served with a script closer in tone to CBS Radio Mystery Theater’s. You can hear the episode in its entirety—including now vintage Sears commercials that tend to be jarring, as they disrupt the gothic mood of the audio drama—by visiting the Sears Radio Theater: Carmilla page at the SFFaudio website.

Bottom line? Of the three dramatizations, I’d say go with the CBS Radio Mystery Theater production. It’s closest to the source material and definitely a version that Carmilla fans should listen to.

Carmilla—the SWC Illustrated Classics edition, which features six original drawings by Eliseu Gouveia—is available in print and digital formats, so visit its product page for ordering information.

Posted in Carmilla, Illustrated Classics, Reviews | Tagged audio dramas, carmilla, carmilla's 145th anniversary, cbs radio mystery theater, columbia workshop, illustrated classics, j. sheridan le fanu, radio shows, sears radio theater | 1 Comment

Carmilla’s 145th Anniversary: Nightmare Classics

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Steven

Before Edward and Bella, before Lestat and Louis, even before Dracula and Mina, there was the vampiric tale of Carmilla and Laura.

Carmilla, it seems, desires more than just friendship from Laura….

Carmilla-Showtime In September 1989, the short-lived Showtime series Nightmare Classics—aka Shelley Duvall’s Nightmare Classics, since the actress created and produced it—adapted Le Fanu’s tale, moving the action to a post–Civil War plantation and casting Meg Tilly (Psycho II, The Big Chill) as Carmilla, Ione Skye (Haunt, Say Anything…) as Laura, here named Marie, and Roy Dotrice (TV’s Beauty and the Beast) as Marie’s father, Leo.

Since his wife ran off with a Yankee after the war ended, Leo has turned Marie into a shut-in with no friends—until the carriage carrying Carmilla and her “mother” crashes near the home. It doesn’t take long for the two girls to become close—close enough for Carmilla to start turning Marie against Leo, and to convince Marie to become a willing victim of her vampiric bestie. The only one who seems to know what Carmilla really is is Miss Hodgett (Armelia McQueen), the housekeeper. Carmilla puts an end to her suspicions by unleashing a horde of bats on Miss Hodgett—or at least a horde of bat shadows on a wall, given the show’s budgetary limitations—that bite her to death…or as much biting as a stack of rubber bats glued to her face can do…

Meg Tilly as Carmilla

Inspector Amos (Roddy McDowall) then arrives on the scene to investigate and immediately realizes what’s going on—and who would know better when a vampire is involved than the actor who played TV horror host Peter Vincent in the original Fright Night? But can he do anything to stop Carmilla from claiming Marie when Marie appears only too willing to become a vampire herself if it means she and Carmilla can be friends forever…?

Moving the action to the American South doesn’t really add anything to the story, except maybe help keep the show’s budget within reason—if there’s one thing America isn’t lacking in it’s Civil War–era costuming and plantation-style houses—but making Marie more outspoken and willful than novella-Laura is a step in the right direction—and a bold one to take—from the source material. Carmilla might be a strong influence over Marie, and Marie might be only a food source to her, but we can see through Skye’s portrayal that the spark to rebel was always in Marie—her dad-influenced shut-in status put her in that position. Carmilla’s just there to give her that final nudge toward independence (although the ending doesn’t really make it clear if she’s going to follow-up on her emboldened status).

Ione Skye (l.) and Meg Tilly

As Carmilla, Tilly is soft-spoken and delicate—a Southern belle given to sly, knowing smiles when no one’s watching. She’s a quiet threat, never raising her voice or acting wildly as she methodically eliminates any obstacles blocking her way to Marie—but does she really love the girl, or merely see her as a beautiful meal? Despite her flowery speeches about loving Marie and urging her to see the world, we’re never certain if this vampire is capable of true love. But Tilly is definitely Dotrice’s equal in the scenes they share.

Bottom line? Nightmare Classics might have been canceled by Showtime after four episodes, but their adaptation of Carmilla is one that fans of Le Fanu’s work should definitely catch. You can watch the episode over at YouTube. Go give it a view.

Nightmare Classics: Carmilla (1989)
Starring Meg Tilly, Ione Skye, Roy Dotrice, and Roddy McDowall
Directed by Gabrielle Beaumont
Screenplay by Jonathan Furst
Produced by Think Entertainment

Posted in Carmilla, Illustrated Classics, Television, Television Shows | Tagged carmilla, carmilla's 145th anniversary, horror movies, illustrated classics, ione skye, j. sheridan le fanu, meg tilly, movie reviews, nightmare classics | 1 Comment

Carmilla’s 145th Anniversary: The Vampire Lovers

Posted on February 26, 2017 by Steven

Before Edward and Bella, before Lestat and Louis, even before Dracula and Mina, there was the vampiric tale of Carmilla and Laura.

Carmilla, it seems, desires more than just friendship from Laura….

Vampire_lovers_poster Today we’re taking a look at one of those movies: The Vampire Lovers. Released in 1970 through a collaboration between Hammer Films and American International Pictures, it was the first entry in what became known as Hammer’s “Karnstein Trilogy,” the others being Lust for a Vampire (with Yutte Stensgaard taking over the role of Carmilla from Ingrid Pitt) and Twins of Evil, both released in 1971. (Spoiler: “Karnstein” comes from Mircalla Karnstein, Carmilla’s real name.) All three are loosely based on Le Fanu’s novella, although The Vampire Lovers comes closest to being a direct adaptation.

Sometime in the nineteenth century, in the Duchy of Styria—which in the real world is located in southeast Austria, where it’s a good bet not everyone sounds like they’re in a British repertory company—Laura von Spielsdorf (Pippa Steel) is celebrating her birthday at a lavish ball thrown by her father, the General (Hammer veteran Peter Cushing). Among the guests are The Countess (Dawn Adams) and her “daughter,” Marcilla (Ingrid Pitt). The Countess explains to the general that she must leave to see a dying friend; the General invites Marcilla to stay as his guest until her mother returns. Marcilla, who’s been making moon eyes at Laura all evening, agrees.

Ingrid Pitt as Carmilla/Marcilla

The girls become friends, but over time Laura begins suffering from nightmares of a giant cat entering her room and draining her life. Soon enough, she dies, and a doctor spots the telltale bite marks of a vampire on her breast. Marcilla, meanwhile, has mysteriously disappeared…

Not long after, businessman Roger Morton (George Cole) and his daughter Emma (Madeline Smith)—who was Laura’s best friend—come across a carriage broken down in the road; its passengers are The Countess and her “niece,” Carmilla (would you be surprised to discover she’s really Marcilla with a few letters shifted around in her name?). The Countess leaves Carmilla in Morton’s care, Carmilla takes an instant liking to Emma…you can see where this is going, right? If Morton doesn’t pay attention to what’s going on in his home, it’s a certainty that Emma—and her governess, Mme. Perrodot (Kate O’Mara)—will be following Laura to an early grave with Carmilla’s help…

As adaptations go, The Vampire Lovers does a good job of translating the story to the screen, with some changes. Laura is the protagonist/narrator of Le Fanu’s novella; here her name is used in place of the novella’s Bertha, and she becomes Carmilla’s first victim before the newly created character Emma steps in to fill novella-Laura’s part. But it’s Pitt’s performance that keeps you riveted, her Carmilla equal parts seductress and lost soul, a passionate monster who devours the objects of her affection no matter how often she tells them she loves them. She dominates the film when she’s on screen, and her influence is still felt even when the scene shifts to other characters.

Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith

Of course, being a Hammer film, a great deal of focus is placed on the sexuality of the women, with Carmilla casually disrobing at various points to entice her male and female victims (and the movie watcher!), and draining blood from Laura and Emma by biting them on the breast instead of the neck (thus providing a reason for spotlighting Steel’s and Smith’s bosoms in extreme close-ups). And then there are the long wooden shafts used to stake Carmilla and the other members of the Karnstein family—you don’t need to be Sigmund Freud to see the phallic symbolism at play.

Bottom line? A fairly faithful and slightly expanded adaptation of Le Fanu’s novella, combined with Ingrid Pitt’s entrancing portrayal of Carmilla, makes The Vampire Lovers a definite must-see for vampire fans. Come for the sexy-vampire time, stay for the gothic atmosphere. Even if you’ve never read Carmilla (which you really should, since we have our own edition for sale), you’ll find The Vampire Lovers to be a well-done vampire film on its own.

The Vampire Lovers (1970)
Starring Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing, Madeline Smith, Kate O’Mara, and George Cole
Directed by Roy Ward Baker
Screenplay by Tudor Gates
Adaptation by Harry Fine, Tudor Gates, and Michael Style
Produced by Hammer Films and American International Pictures

Posted in Carmilla, Illustrated Classics, movies | Tagged carmilla, carmilla's 145th anniversary, horror movies, illustrated classics, j. sheridan le fanu, movie reviews, the vampire lovers | 1 Comment

Simian Saturdays: King Kong (1976)

Posted on February 25, 2017 by Steven

Welcome back to Simian Saturdays, a series of reviews that examine the movies (and other media) that focused on King Kong, the giant monkey that captured generations of monster fans’ hearts. It’s part of our countdown to the March 7 release of King Kong, the next addition to our Illustrated Classics library.

King_Kong_LG_Cover Not familiar with the beauty-and-the-beast story of Kong and his “love interest,” Ann Darrow (who was played in the 1933 original by the queen of the scream queens, Fay Wray)? Well, here’s our edition’s back-cover copy to bring you up-to-date:

KingKong-1976 Today we’re viewing the 1976 version of King Kong, starring Jeff Bridges (Iron Man), Charles Grodin (Midnight Run), makeup effects artist Rick Baker as Kong (he wore the gorilla suit), and introducing Jessica Lange (American Horror Story) in her big-screen debut as Dwan (no, not Dawn). Produced by Dino De Laurentiis—a bombastic, Carl Denham–esque figure in his own right—the screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr. (Adam West’s Batman series, 1980’s Flash Gordon remake) adapted and updated the Creelman-Rose screenplay for contemporary audiences.

A little background, first, that actually connects with how StarWarp Concepts is re-publishing the 1932 novelization. In the early seventies, De Laurentiis announced his intention to remake King Kong, and started negotiating the rights with property owner (and Kong’s original studio) RKO. Universal Studios, which was considering its own remake—to be titled The Legend of King Kong—also started negotiating with RKO. When RKO went with De Laurentiis’s offer, Universal sued him and RKO. The suit was dismissed, but Universal then discovered that Lovelace’s novelization had slipped into the public domain (PD) years before, and argued that their remake would be based on the elements of the PD book, not the ’33 classic. (Truly a matter of splitting hairs, since the novelization was based on an early draft of the Creelman/Rose screenplay.) Then RKO countersued Universal on copyright grounds.

Eventually, Universal and De Laurentiis settled their disagreements through negotiation and Universal gave up its plans for The Legend of King Kong—but still insisted, in their suit against RKO, that the novelization was PD and asked for a ruling on that matter, in the hopes of, perhaps, someday producing a Kong feature. In September 1976, the presiding judge ruled in Universal’s favor by agreeing that the novelization was PD “by reason of an improper copyright,” which meant that Universal could make their movie (which they eventually did, three decades later, with Peter Jackson). It also meant that it could be published in book or serialized form by anyone—like, for instance, StarWarp Concepts. And now you know!

(For the full behind-the-scenes story on this court case, track down a copy of Ray Morton’s King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon from Fay Wray to Peter Jackson [Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2005].)

Anyway, let’s talk King Kong 1976!

The world is undergoing an energy crisis—a real event in the 1970s caused by a lack of available petroleum and rising prices—and the Petrox Oil Company is out to beat competitors like Exxon in the hunt for new oil sources. Leading the charge is Fred Wilson (played by Charles Grodin), a dickish Petrox executive who’s found evidence of an uncharted island in the Indian Ocean—an island he’s certain is brimming over with untapped petroleum reserves—and he convinces his bosses to let him lead an expedition. Tagging along—in other words, stowing away on the company ship—is Jack Prescott (Jeff Bridges), a primate paleontologist who wants to check out the island. During the voyage the ship comes across a life raft; its sole occupant is Dwan (Jessica Lange), an aspiring actress who was a passenger on a yacht that exploded.

Left to right: Rene Auberjonois, Jessica Lange, Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, Ed Lauter

From that point on, the movie follows most of the beats established in the 1933 original: the crew arrives on the island and interrupts the natives’ ceremony for the intended “bride” of Kong; they kidnap Dwan as the replacement sacrifice (though here no reason is given as to why the natives need her specifically); Kong carries her off to his mountain hideaway; the ship crew, led by the hero (in this case, Prescott), sets out in pursuit, and Kong wipes out most of them by tossing them off a log over a canyon (no spider pit scene, here, either); Prescott gets to Dwan and takes her back to camp with Kong on his heels; and Kong is captured and brought to New York to meet his fate. Only here Kong climbs to the top of the World Trade Center instead of the Empire State Building.

Where things go wrong is Semple’s script. Although he was lauded for his work on such dramatic films as Papillion, Three Days of the Condor, and The Drowning Pool, Lorenzo Semple is also the man who helped establish the campy tone of the 1966 Batman TV series starring Adam West—a tone he unfortunately carried over to such later movies as 1980’s Flash Gordon, 1984’s Sheena, Queen of the Jungle…and King Kong.

Via Semple, Wilson is a loudmouthed caricature of a company executive, a far cry from Robert Armstrong’s showman-explorer Carl Denham in the original Kong. Prescott is the stereotypical longhaired, enthusiastically vocal environmental defender. And Dwan is the bubbly, airheaded starlet who babbles about horoscopes and spouts such cringe-worthy lines as “Did you ever meet anyone whose life was saved by [pornographic movie] Deep Throat?” No one would ever confuse her for Fay Wray’s world-weary but adventurous Ann Darrow. Even the oil company name Petrox practically screams that Semple is trying to be cute, no doubt naming it as a wink to the fad for Pet Rocks (literally a rock in a box) that gripped the US at the time he was working on the screenplay.

Effects-wise, Kong is literally a man in a monkey suit (played by effects master Rick Baker, in a suit he designed with Carlo Rambaldi) making sexy googly eyes at the somewhat airheaded blonde who’s stolen his heart. It looks comically awful—especially in a scene in which Dwan takes a mountain shower and Kong actually blows on her to dry her off (whaaat?)—and has aged terribly in the forty years since then.

Worse yet, the only monster that Kong fights on the unnamed island (it’s never referred to as Skull Island, although an infrared satellite picture shows it has a skull shape) is a crappy-looking giant snake—no T-Rexes, no pterodactyls, not even a triceratops to bellow at. Boo, I say.

Bottom line? It’s a pretty bad remake, marred by paper-thin characters, bad dialogue, and a serious lack of dinosaur fights. Stick to the original Kong and give this one a pass.

King Kong (1976)
Starring Jessica Lange, Jeff Bridges, and Charles Grodin
Directed by John Guillermin
Screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr.
Based on the screenplay by James A. Creelman and Ruth Rose
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis Company

Coming Next Saturday: The twenty-first century has arrived, and the one visionary believed perfect for the job of bringing a new Kong to the big screen is a major Kong fanboy who also happens to have been the man who found a way to make the epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings a major box-office success. It’s writer/director/producer Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake of King Kong, next on Simian Saturdays—see you then!

King Kong (the SWC edition) goes on sale on March 7, 2017. In the meantime, visit its product page for further information.

Posted in Illustrated Classics, movies | Tagged illustrated classics, king kong, king kong 1976, movie reviews, simian saturdays | 2 Comments

Carmilla’s 145th Anniversary: Creepy’s Carmilla

Posted on February 24, 2017 by Steven

First off, let me apologize for the late start on this series. I’ve been riding herd on a number of projects for SWC, the foremost right now being overseeing the final touches on our King Kong e-book (coming March 7!). But now that things are back on track, let’s talk about Carmilla!

carmilla_bookfest One hundred and forty-five years ago, J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s classic vampire tale, Carmilla, debuted in serialized form in the pages of the magazine Dark Blue—running from the December 1871 issue through March 1872—and was then reprinted in Le Fanu’s short story collection, In a Glass Darkly, published later that year.

Before Edward and Bella, before Lestat and Louis, even before Dracula and Mina, there was the vampiric tale of Carmilla and Laura.

Carmilla, it seems, desires more than just friendship from Laura….

Creepy_019_Cvr In recognition of Carmilla’s anniversary, we’re examining some of those adaptations. Today, though, we’ll be taking a look at one that’s not on film, but paper—specifically the one that first appeared in Warren Publishing’s Creepy #19 (cover-dated March 1968).

According to The Warren Companion (David A. Roach and Jon Cooke, eds.; TwoMorrows Publishing, 2001) and Horror Comics in Black and White: A History and Catalog, 1964–2004 (Richard J. Arndt, author; McFarland & Company, Inc., 2013), the twenty-page adaptation was originally done for a short-lived series (as in, only one volume was published) called Christopher Lee’s Treasury of Terror, packaged by former Warren editor Russ Jones. When the series was canceled, Warren picked up the project.

Below are the first four pages. As the saying goes, click to embiggen the images.

Writer John Benson and artist Robert Jenney present a fairly straightforward adaptation, but overall it’s a pretty dry translation, lacking the disturbing intensity of Carmilla’s interest in Laura and squeezing the storytelling into six-panel grids that force most of the art to be close-ups and mid-shots of the characters; I imagine the latter was done to accommodate its intended spot in the canceled Treasury of Terror. And, little surprise given the time of its publication, the comic version skims the sexual undertones to focus more on Carmilla’s vampiric habits. There are some indications in her talks with Laura that she considers the girl more than a friend (“I shall live in your warm life and you shall die, sweetly die, into mine.”), but without a greater focus on the girls’ relationship—and Laura’s growing realization that her new friend’s weirdly passionate speeches are starting to freak her out—it just comes across as standard vampire-to-victim wordplay.

A minor head scratcher is that in Le Fanu’s text, Laura narrates the story as she recounts her terrifying encounter with Carmilla to what appears to be a psychiatrist—the novella opens with a note explaining that what follows is a transcript of Laura’s sessions—but halfway through the comic version the focus is put on General Spielsdorf, a friend of Laura’s father’s and the distraught parent whose daughter was Carmilla’s previous victim. With Le Fanu, Laura ends her account by saying that she sometimes imagines hearing Carmilla’s footsteps in the hallway; in the comic, Uncle Creepy remarks that it’s the general who often hears this. An odd decision on Benson’s part, since it suddenly relegates Laura to a lesser role in her own story.

If you’re interested in checking out the rest of this adaptation, “Carmilla” can be found in the hardcover collection Creepy, Volume 4, published by Dark Horse Comics.

Coming Sunday: Grab a bucket of popcorn, a box of Jujubes, and a giant-size soda because we’re off to the movies! Carmilla makes the jump to the big screen in the form of scream queen Ingrid Pitt, in Hammer Films’ production of The Vampire Lovers. If the Creepy comic adaptation merely skimmed the surface of the lesbian-vampire aspects found in Le Fanu’s tale, this 1970 film jumps in with both feet—and brings veteran vampire slayer Peter Cushing along for a swim! See you Sunday!

Carmilla—the SWC Illustrated Classics edition, which features six original drawings by Eliseu Gouveia (Lorelei: Sects and the City, The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1)—is available in print and digital formats from our webstore, so visit its product page for ordering information.

Posted in Carmilla, Comic Books, Illustrated Classics | Tagged carmilla, carmilla's 145th anniversary, comic books, creepy, illustrated classics, j. sheridan le fanu | 1 Comment

Author Richard C. White at MystiCon 2017

Posted on February 23, 2017 by Steven

pieces_gold_large_book_cover2017 Starting tomorrow, February 24, science fiction and fantasy fans will be gathering at the 7th annual MystiCon convention, being held at the Holiday Inn Tanglewood in Roanoke, Virginia. And among the guests in attendance will be SWC’s own Richard C. White, who’ll be there to promote the release of his latest book, For a Few Gold Pieces More, which is now on sale at bookstores and the SWC webstore.

For a Few Gold Pieces More is a collection of ten critically acclaimed short stories by Rich, who’s the author of Star Trek: Starfleet Corps of Engineers: Echoes of Coventry, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil, and the SWC titles Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination, Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings, and The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special. For Gold Pieces, think Lord of the Rings meets the “spaghetti Westerns” of director Sergio Leone (A Fistful of Dollars; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), as a Rogue With No Name travels a world of epic-fantasy adventure, looking for treasure—and revenge against the woman who sent him to prison for a crime he didn’t commit (but she did).

For a Few Gold Pieces More is available right now in print and digital formats; visit its product page for ordering information. And if you’re attending MystiCon this weekend, be sure to purchase For a Few Gold Pieces directly from Rich, who’ll be selling copies of that and his other SWC titles all weekend.

For more information on the convention, visit the MystiCon website.

Posted in Conventions, Publishing | Tagged conventions, for a few gold pieces more, mysticon, richard c. white | Comments Off

Women in Horror Month Spotlight: Clemence Annie Housman

Posted on February 19, 2017 by Steven

Clemence-Housman As ’Warp fans are aware, on February 7th we launched our new SWC Horror Bites chapbook series (“short tales to appease your monstrous hunger for suspense”) with White Fell—The Werewolf, the classic horror tale by renowned author, artist, and suffragette Clemence Annie Housman. Today, as part of our recognition of February being Women in Horror Month, I thought it would be the perfect time to take a closer look at Ms. Hosuman and her work.

Born on November 23, 1861, in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England, Clemence was one of six children born to Edward and Sarah Jane Housman; one younger brother, Laurence, would grow up to become a writer and illustrator, while their older brother Alfred would later be known as the famous poet A. E. Housman. In 1883, Clemence began attending the South London School of Technical Art, where she learned engraving, which would prove useful for her artistic career.

Her first novella, The Were-wolf, debuted in 1896 from London-based publisher J. Lane at the Bodley Head; illustrations were provided by Laurence. A tale of twin brothers put at odds to each other by the arrival of a mysterious woman in their village, it was praised by critics—among them H.P. Lovecraft, whose work, especially his Cthulhu Mythos stories, has inspired generations of horror writers. In his lengthy examination of the genre, “Supernatural Horror in Literature” (first published in 1927), he remarked:

“Clemence Housman, in the brief novelette ‘The Were-wolf’, attains a high degree of gruesome tension and achieves to some extent the atmosphere of authentic folklore.”

Clemence Housman (in gray, 3rd from right) at a suffragette gathering. Photo courtesy of Schwimmer-Lloyd collection, NYPL

But it was her work outside literary circles that brought Clemence the most attention and praise, particularly her efforts in the suffrage movement to gain voting rights for women in the United Kingdom. In 1909, she and Laurence, along with cartoonist Alfred Pearse, founded the political organization/publication Suffrage Atelier; a majority of its members were women who, like Clemence, were professional illustrators. She was also a member of the leading suffrage organization, the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), and the Women’s Tax Resistance League. Clemence also gained attention by being, in September 1911, the first woman imprisoned by the British government for nonpayment of taxes (she’d done so intentionally, to make a point about British tax laws). She was released after spending a week in Holloway women’s prison.

Clemence Housman (center) at a demonstration by the Women’s Tax Resistance League.

In addition to The Were-wolf, Clemence wrote a number of short stories as well as the novels The Unknown Sea (1898) and The Life of Sir Aglovale de Galis (1905), and provided illustrations for the books Moonshine & Clover and The Blue Moon, both written by Laurence. She retired from both writing and engraving in 1924, and died on December 6, 1955.

As for Clemence’s most famous literary work, it recently became the debut release in our new SWC Horror Bites line of chapbooks, published under the title White Fell—The Werewolf. If you’re unfamiliar with this story—regarded by some literary scholars as perhaps the first feminist werewolf tale—here’s the back-cover copy from our edition:

A beautiful woman wanders into a snowbound village—and into the hearts of twin brothers, one of whom immediately becomes smitten by her.

The other brother, however, soon grows suspicious of the enigmatic White Fell. Where did she come from? Why does she always carry an ax? And is her sudden appearance somehow related to the recent sightings of a bloodthirsty wolf in the area?

He may come to regret being so inquisitive…

Critics have continued to enjoy it, even 121 years after its first publication:

“For Housman, the female werewolf is a vehicle for her to present a strong feminist-inspired female character…. It is possible that Housman was telling the world that women had a hidden strength and that men should beware of their own hidden nature.”
—The Nuke Mars Journal of Speculative Fiction

“Housman manages to show women as dangerous and more developed than what the thinking of the time gave them credit for…. By being an intelligent, beautiful, and primal woman, [White Fell] is a revolutionary antagonist that only Housman and her political ideals could conceive of.”
—Spectral Visions

“White Fell is interesting because she subverts many of the tropes of the monstrous woman—i.e without maternal instincts, animalistic, lustful, etc. She is a femme fatale only in the most basic sense that she is a deadly woman.”
—International Gothic Association

White Fell—The Werewolf is on sale right now in print and digital formats, so visit its product page for further information and order it today.

Sources:
Crawford, Elizabeth. The Women’s Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866–1928 (London: UCL Press, 1999)

Lovecraft, Howard Philip. “Supernatural Horror in Literature” (The H.P. Lovecraft Archives)

New York Public Library Digital Collections: Suffragette procession, Oct. 7, 1911 [Miss Clemence Housman], Schwimmer-Lloyd collection, 1852–1980

Valancourt Books: Clemence Housman author biography

Posted in Publishing | Tagged clemence annie housman, swc horror bites, werewolf fiction, werewolves, white fell the werewolf, women in horror month | 1 Comment

Simian Saturdays: King Kong (1933)

Posted on February 18, 2017 by Steven

Welcome to the first installment of Simian Saturdays, a series of reviews I’m writing that will examine the movies (and other media) that focused on King Kong, the giant monkey who’s captured generations of monster fans’ hearts over the course of eight decades. It’s part of our countdown to the March 7 release of King Kong, the next addition to our Illustrated Classics library.

King Kong is an e-book exclusive that will reintroduce monster fans to the 1932 novelization of the original movie classic. Written by Delos W. Lovelace, based on the story by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper and the screenplay by James A. Creelman and Ruth Rose, it includes scenes that didn’t appear in the final cut of the film—including the notorious “spider pit” sequence in which Kong’s human pursuers are attacked by horrific arachnids and insects. Our version features six original black-and-white illustrations by comic artist Paul Tuma, whose pulp-influenced style has appeared in the pages of The Twilight Avenger, Flare, and Dan Turner: Hollywood Detective.

king_kong_ver7 To kick off Simian Saturdays, I figured nothing could be better than to take a look at the movie that launched a monster legend: the original King Kong!

To be completely honest, I have a soft spot in my heart for this version of Kong. It was one of the first horror movies that left a lasting impression on a developing monster kid—others being Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein, and Lon Chaney Jr.’s The Wolfman—and star Fay Wray was my first scream queen (and like the saying goes, you never forget your first scream queen). It was also a movie that, oddly enough, became a staple of New York television broadcasting, running every Thanksgiving (!) on WOR-TV/Channel 9 during the 1970s. (For more about this weird annual tradition, check out this article at DVD Drive-in.)

At face value, Kong has all the pulp-inspired earmarks of a 1930s movie: tough-talking men, a pretty woman who acts self-assured but melts into her romantic lead’s arms at the first sign of danger, sexism (a ship is no place for a woman—you’re only gonna get in the way!), and racist stereotypes (Charlie the Chinese cook with his mangled English, the only black members of the cast being the “savages” who inhabit Skull Island). And Lord knows there’s a good-sized info dump right at the start: who Carl Denham is; the mysterious, potentially dangerous film expedition he’s set up; the fact no agent in New York will provide him with an actress for this project, so he’s got to find one himself (“even if I have to marry one!”). But in spite of those things, Kong remains an enjoyable, fast-paced film.

Robert Armstrong and Fay Wray in a publicity photo for King Kong.

A lot of that has to do with the performances of Wray as Ann Darrow and Robert Armstrong as Carl Denham. When she isn’t screaming in terror—which she does way too often—Wray presents Ann as the plucky heroine who hints at a tragic background (out of work, starving, no family) but who’s eager for the chance of adventure. Unfortunately, that aspect of Ann’s character disappears once Kong arrives on the scene, forcing her into the role of swooning damsel in distress for the remainder of the picture. In fact, except for screams and whimpers, Ann (when she’s onscreen and conscious) doesn’t have a word of dialogue from the time she’s kidnapped by the natives until she’s rescued by love interest Jack Driscoll—a forty-minute chunk right in the middle of the film! As for Armstrong, his Denham is brash and loud and just a hair short of scenery chewing—the closest modern parallel I can think of is J.K. Simmons’s memorable portrayal of newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson in director Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. Except ol’ JJJ never shot a stegosaurus in the head at point-blank range with an elephant gun, the way Denham does! There’s also another level to Armstrong’s performance—in Denham, he’s basically playing a composite of Kong’s two directors: creator/producer Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack, both of whom were showmen and adventurers in their own right.

What I found really interesting in this rewatch was that, for all the harping Denham does on his “beauty and the beast” love-affair theme—subsequently expanded on in the 1976 and 2005 remakes, in which both Jessica Lange and Naomi Watts fall in love with the big lug—the one person who wants nothing to do with a romantic monster is Ann. Unlike her cinematic descendants, 1930s’ Ann has no love for Kong. She isn’t looking to protect him from biplanes or helicopters—she just wants to get the hell away from him.

For her, the events in King Kong are a living nightmare: she’s kidnapped by the islanders and offered as a sacrifice to their monster god; almost eaten by a T-Rex, an elasmosaur, and a pterodactyl; has her clothes partially torn off by Kong (who even leers and sniffs his fingers after pawing her!); jumps off a cliff to escape him and is then chased by him through the jungle. And after Kong is captured and the story shifts to New York, he breaks free, tracks her down, and carries her off to the top of the Empire State Building.

That sounds more like an abusive relationship than a romance, doesn’t it?

Characterizations aside, it’s stop-motion-animation sequences by Willis O’Brien and his team that are the heart of the movie, giving Kong plenty of screen time to menace Ann and battle his enemies. And he does it all in brutal fashion, shoving people in his mouth and biting down, snapping a T-Rex’s jaws, derailing an elevated train filled with passengers, and throwing a woman from a building. And of course there’s Kong’s climactic showdown with army planes at the top of the Empire State Building—the one scene where you can really feel sorry for the “beast-god” destroyed by civilization. As a whole, it’s an astonishing feat of visual effects that still looks amazing eighty-four years later, especially when compared to the often badly rendered computer-generated digital animation of modern films.

Beyond the adventure and monster shenanigans, there are also humorous moments that involve the sort of snappy one-liners common to movies of this period—as, for example, demonstrated in this exchange between audience members at Kong’s Broadway debut after Denham drags him back to New York City:

Woman: Say, what is it, anyhow?

Man: I hear it’s a kind of a gorilla.

Another man rudely shoves past her. The woman glares at him.

Woman: Gee, ain’t we got enough of them in New York?

If that isn’t an observation of life in the Big Apple that still resonates today, I don’t know what is! 😉

Bottom line? If you’ve never seen the original Kong before, you owe it to yourself to give it a viewing—it’s a classic (monster) movie and a fun time. If you have seen Kong before, break out the popcorn and Raisinets and take another look at it; like me, you might notice things in it you never saw before. And then you can compare it to the upcoming SWC release of Delos Lovelace’s novelization to see how the book differs from the movie!

King Kong (1933)
Starring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, and Bruce Cabot
Directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and Merian C. Cooper
Screenplay by James A. Creelman and Ruth Rose
Story by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper
Produced by RKO-Pathe Studios

Coming Next Saturday: The disco era is in full swing, and it’s back to Skull Island we go, this time accompanied by Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, and Jessica Lange in her big-screen debut, in producer Dino de Laurentiis’s 1976 remake of King Kong. “When the Jaws-a die, nobody cry. When my Kong-a die, ev’rybody cry!” de Laurentiis imitator John Belushi declared in an old Saturday Night Live skit. Let’s see if that’s still true!

King Kong (the SWC Illustrated Classic) goes on sale on March 7, 2017. In the meantime, visit its product page for further information.

Posted in Classic Fiction, Illustrated Classics, movies | Tagged illustrated classics, king kong, king kong 1933, movie reviews, simian saturdays | 7 Comments

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