What are you reading?

[Cody Layne]

Halloween: The Official Making of Halloween, Halloween Kills & Halloween Ends. Another book I got for Christmas, this is in an in-depth look into the production of the Blumhouse Halloween trilogy, with loads of behind-the-scenes photos and anecdotes about the filming. Very interesting and worth reading for fans, but like that Hayao Miyazaki book, it's more on the visual side, so you can breeze through it rather quickly. I started reading it just a few days ago and I'm already on the chapter for Halloween Kills.

[Cody Layne]

Hayao Miyazaki: A visual journey through this man's work, based around an exhibition at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures dedicated to him. You've likely seen this book at Barnes & Noble and other places, as it's a hardback with a drawing of Totoro and the two smaller ones on the cover. I love Miyazaki's movies and Studio Ghibli in general, so this was a nice Christmas present. It's a little light on the text, despite being a large book, but it's cool seeing original storyboards and drawings, as well as reading Miyazaki's thoughts not only about making movies but just life and the world in general.

[Barry M]

The Journal of Stoogeological Studies



https://www.amazon.com/Journal-Stoog.../dp/B0CPM5JBPB

[s.chivers]

I’m about 70 pages into Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell, which looks at why we find it so difficult to communicate with strangers, and in particular why we are so easily deceived by them. Anyone who enjoys the Revisionist History podcast will lap this up.

I’m also just over two-thirds of the way though Franzen’s Freedom, which is another deep dive into American life, centred on a fairly ordinary family and playing out over many years. This time around there is a particular interest in how we reconcile the primacy we give to personal freedom with practical concerns ranging from marital fidelity to finite global resources. It’s genuinely riveting and I would even go so far as saying the world would be a better place if more people read Franzen, particularly in their formative years. That’s obviously going to be a hard sell though, given the books are so long

[s.chivers]

Sonic Life - Thurston Moore
Buseyisms: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth - Gary Busey
Just a Minor Threat - Glen Friedman (Yeah, mostly pictures)

I listened to the Lydia Lunch podcast earlier today, which features Thurston Moore this week. I’m going to pick his book up at some point.

[Cody Layne]

The Creature Chronicles: Exploring the Black Lagoon Trilogy. I absolutely love the Creature from the Black Lagoon and so, I was delighted when I ended up getting this book for Christmas. I only just started reading it but it goes very in-depth on all three movies. And since it's mostly written by Tom Weaver, you know it's going to be very well-researched.

[Matt H.]

I just got Stuart Gordon's memoir NAKED THEATER AND UNCENSORED HORROR. It's apparently outstanding.

[Cody Layne]

Eaten Alive at a Chainsaw Massacre: The Films of Tobe Hooper.

Got this, along with a bunch of books I'm going to be reading, for Christmas. Never been the biggest fan of Hooper's work, but this book has been giving me a newer appreciation of it.

[Mark Tolch]

Sonic Life - Thurston Moore
Buseyisms: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth - Gary Busey
Just a Minor Threat - Glen Friedman (Yeah, mostly pictures)

[Gary Banks]

Cannon Film Guide Volume 1 1980-1984 (Kindle edition)

[agent999]

Cagliostro, King of the Dead

This is a book about one of those unproduced Universal scripts designed to be a vehicle for Karloff. The main part is the screenplay (which had elements recycled into The Mummy). The rest of the book is a bit light, but interesting stuff.

[Lorne Marshall]

I just 'read' (it's more of an artbook but it has some text in it!) Mike Howlett's Eerie Publications - The Complete Covers book. It was great, a fantastic way to check out the covers (which were always the highlights for the EP books) without tracking down each issue, complete with credits on who did what and really interesting notes on what was recycled and reused from earlier entries. If you're at all interested in the subject matter or just enjoy nice book-sized collections of crazy, gory old comic book covers, I'd say it is essential.

I'll definitely have to get this one someday (somehow). It will make a good companion to THE WEIRD WORLD OF EERIE PUBLICATIONS and THE WORST OF EERIE PUBLICATIONS.

[Ian Jane]

I just 'read' (it's more of an artbook but it has some text in it!) Mike Howlett's Eerie Publications - The Complete Covers book. It was great, a fantastic way to check out the covers (which were always the highlights for the EP books) without tracking down each issue, complete with credits on who did what and really interesting notes on what was recycled and reused from earlier entries. If you're at all interested in the subject matter or just enjoy nice book-sized collections of crazy, gory old comic book covers, I'd say it is essential.

[s.chivers]

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen.

[Matt H.]

ZOEY PUNCHES THE FUTURE IN THE DICK (2020) by David Wong. Great follow-up to FUTURISTIC VIOLENCE AND FANCY SUITS. It's hard to put down.