Description
Book Synopsis Most horror film fans are familiar with the movie classics, from the early Universal archetypes to the Hammer landmarks--all of which have been celebrated in countless books and magazines. But what about the parallel universe of television horror? The series, made-for-TV-movies and specials?
With detailed coverage of shows from Britain, America and Europe, this book chronicles the small-screen appearances of Dracula and Frankenstein''s monster, adaptations of stories by Edgar Allan Poe and M.R. James, performances of beloved stars like Boris Karloff and Vincent Price, groundbreaking series like The Television Ghost, Lights Out and Dark Shadows, and such memorable movies as The Night Stalker, The Norliss Tapes and Salem''s Lot, along with unearthed gems like The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre and Mrs. Amworth. The work of such key directors as Dan Curtis and Lawrence Gordon Clark is also examined.
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Section One. In the Beginning: Horror in Television's Stone Age (the 1930s and 1940s)
Live from Ally Pally 5
The Big Apple Bites Back 10
The Rise of Poe 14
Picture Perfect 18
Questions in the House 23
The Pepsi Challenge 25
Section Two. The Monsters Arrive (the 1950s)
Cue Frankenstein 29
Enter Professor Quatermass 34
Vamping It with Vampira 40
A Hitch in Time 43
The Great Beyond 50
Entering the Zone 54
Section Three. The Genre Takes Hold (the 1960s)
Beloved Boris 60
Who? 73
Canned Laughter 75
Mysterious Imaginings 83
Tales from Europe 89
A Rum Collins 92
A Fateful Whistle 97
Strange Journeys 100
Scooby and the Gang 104
And Now the Gallery 108
Section Four. The American TV Movie Comes of Age (the 1970s)
Movie of the Week 112
Kolchak Scores a Hit 120
The Devil to Pay 128
Creature Feature 136
A Fetish for Horror 143
MTM Goes for the Jugular 151
The True Story 159
Bringing In the Harvest 171
Gargoyles 181
Up at the Marsten House 191
Meet the Hardy Boys 201
More Tales from Europe 210
Section Five. Enter the Brits (the 1970s)
The Doomsday People 216
The Play's the Thing 217
Festive Frissons 225
Dead of Night 243
Country Matters 250
A Party with Barty 259
Teatime Terrors 266
What Music They Make 274
Mrs. Amworth Pays a Visit 279
An Old Master 286
Section Six. New Realms (the 1980s)
Hammer Has Risen from the Grave 291
Venturing into the Darkside 304
The Spielberg Touch 308
Ready for Freddy 317
Tut, Tut 323
The Music of the Night 328
Raising Caine 337
Further Tales from Europe 343
Section Seven. The End of an Era (the 1990s)
The Anthology Lives On 349
Duped by Auntie 356
The X Factor 358
The Color Purple 361
It 366
Corman Quickies 373
King of the Airwaves 378
Epilogue: A New Era (the 2000s and 2010s)
Bibliography
Index
