THE RETURN OF THE RETURN... x GOREY DETAILS x GENTLEMAN MONSTER
THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD
The title doesn’t lie, this is indeed a complete his-
tory of The Return of the Living Dead films, although a more accurate moniker might have been The Un- necessarily Long History of The Return of the Living Dead. At 288 pages, it’s got more padding than the Tarman has slime. As a devout fan of the series (to the point of penning
the RotLD cover story for RM#71), I’m confident in saying that the nearly 50 pages dedicated to the loathsome in-name-only sequels Necropolis and Rave to the Grave are pointless. No need to have the people involved confirm and re-confirm and then re-recon- firm that parts five and six were artless cash grabs. Similarly, the oral history structure leads to much
repetition throughout the book, as actors, producers, directors, special effects guys, etc. share many of the same memories and give information that could eas- ily have been paraphrased. Authors Christian Sellers and Gary Smart should be applauded for diligently tracking down so many folks from the series (includ- ing an actor that didn’t get a part in RotLD!), but their interviews need some serious editing. If you are willing to wade through it, though,
there are rewarding tales of how it all began, ex- cellent insight into the explosive and creative per- sonalities involved, and ultimately heartbreaking stories of how the series was severely misman- aged. In addition, horror effects and makeup geeks will love the low-budget tricks and fixes talked about by crew members. But even if you don’t read a word of the book, there’s still a wealth of concept designs (including the amazing work of William Stout), production stills, behind-the- scenes photos and international poster art on dis-
play – though some of it is marred by the book’s randomly placed pullquotes. Of course, there’s one major thing missing. While
part two director Ken Wiederhorn makes it clear that he doesn’t give a shit about horror and didn’t really know what he was doing, and part three director Brian Yuzna proves that he genuinely does and did, the man who envisioned the series, writer/director of part one, Dan O’Bannon is absent, having died in 2009. A few more quotes from him taken from sec- ondary sources could’ve really demonstrated his wild, entertaining persona. Alas... Like the Tarman himself, The Complete History of
the Return of the Living Dead may be shaky and messy but it’s ultimately a welcome addition to the zombieverse.
DAVE ALEXANDER
THE STRANGE CASE OF EDWARD GOREY
It is surprising that someone with as large a fol-
lowing as Edward Gorey would not have had more written about him. Perhaps this oversight has added to the mystique surrounding the writer/artist who lived with a collection of cats “who were damned im- portant to him” and created delightfully dark and funny works such as The Gashlycrumb Tinies. The only insight into Gorey’s mind (other than through his own creations) came in the form of two books, As- cending Peculiarity: Edward Gorey on Edward Gorey and Alexander Theroux’s The Strange Case of Ed- ward Gorey, both long out-of-print – until now. Fantagraphics recently reissued the latter and is
giving readers hungry for Gorey minutiae a lot more to munch on. When it was originally published in 2000, the book was only 68 pages long. This updated version has been redesigned and expanded to in-
clude an additional 100 pages. For those interested in the (ahem) gory details of the writer’s life, this is the best (and admittedly only) book to read. Among the gems unearthed here is Gorey’s pas-
sion for the works of Mozart, Bach and Schubert (he had 500 CDs of Bach alone). Theroux tells us about his hobby/fixation of hand-sewing beanbag frogs, as well as his recording of episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Granted, Gorey’s desire to collect things and his television viewing habits may not come as news to those who already possess a familiarity with the man, but it does shed some light for neophytes. (It is also interesting to read his opinion of celebrities such as Jesse Jackson and Bill Cosby.) As in the previous edition, Theroux (a friend of
Gorey’s) provides us with a generous supply of art- work and personal photographs. In addition to the much-used image of Gorey in his attic with one of his cats, Theroux offers up photos of a more intimate Gorey, sitting with his cousins around the kitchen table, and in assorted environs on Cape Cod. We get to see the man who read Friedrich Nietzsche and Thomas Merton with equal fervour – the complex man, not the simple image. For those who already own the previous edition,
this is definitely worth buying again. The additional information is worth twice the price alone. And, like one of his many drawings of cats, readers of this book are virtually guaranteed to go away “contently licking [their] chops.”
PAUL GOODIN MOBORIS KARLOFF: RE THAN A MONSTER Arguably, no other actor has contributed more to
the culture of horror than Boris Karloff. After his por- trayal of the Frankenstein monster in 1931, the actor
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