MICHAEL MALLORY discusses his new book ESSENTIAL HORROR MOVIES: MATINEE MONSTERS TO CULT CLASSICS

Essential Horror Movies: Matinee Monsters to Cult Classics (Rizzoli International)

“Do you like scary movies?” If your answer is yes, and you are ready to come face-to-face with some of the most terrifying vampires, werewolves, ghouls, zombies, psychos (and other creatures that go bump in the night), you will want to check out Michael Mallory’s Essential Horror Movies: Matinee Monsters to Cult Classics.  This terrifyingly illustrated volume of the greatest, scariest, and most influential fright films is sure to be become the definitive book on the subject.

Essential Horror Movies: Matinee Monsters to Cult Classics chronicles a century’s worth of cinematic terror: from such silent masterpieces as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) to such Golden Era classics as Dracula (1931) and richly colored shockers as House of Wax (1953) to such groundbreaking independent thrillers as Night of the Living Dead (1968), Mallory goes on to spotlight modern horrors from the devilish trio of Rosemary’s Baby (1968), The Exorcist (1973), and The Omen(1976) to the terrifying residences of The Amityville Horror (1979) and The Shining (1980). With Alien (1979), we learned that in space no one can hear you scream and no one wanted to go into the water with Jaws (1975). And, how can we forget the likes of Leatherface, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Pinhead, and Jigsaw?

Behind-the-scenes anecdotes, trivia, and photos complete the story of these essential motion pictures. Mallory’s tome is not simply a catalog of horror films; it is a study of where the genre came from, how it has progressed, and what motion pictures have contributed to that evolution, set against a backdrop of cultural history. Anyone who has ever loved to be scared by a truly great masterpiece of terror—or even a film that strives for nothing more than to provide the audience with spooky, corny fun—will find Essential Horror Movies a veritable scream!

Michael Mallory is an internationally-recognized authority on film history and animation. He has written six non-fiction books on popular culture subjects, as well as some 600 magazine and newspaper articles. His books include Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Universal Studios Monsters: A Legacy of Horror, and X-Men: The Characters and Their Universe, and he has contributed to other volumes including Animation Art, The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons, and the Walt’s Peopleseries and co-authored the memoirs of animation legend Iwao Takamoto.  Mallory has been interviewed by many news outlets, including E! Entertainment Television, BBC Radio, CBC Radio, The New York Times, TV Guide, and USA Today.