by Grady Hendrix.

Quirk Books, out September 19.

A Twisted History…

Any book that begins with a tale about how the author came across John Christopher’s The Little People at a science fiction convention, which spun him off on a mission to collect all the pulp horror titles of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s boom, will have my attention from page one. Calling it his ‘gateway drug’, if you’re not familiar with the title in question, it’s about sadomasochistic Nazi leprechauns who carry whips and just happen to be psychic. And yes, that is from the same author who gave us The Tripods… But it only gets weirder from there.

Hendrix – a horror author himself, with titles like My Best Friend’s Exorcism and Horrorstör to his name – presents us here with an unparalleled exploration of all things Satanic, beastly, inhuman and gothic. Taking us from the very first novels to kick off the trend – Rosemary’s Baby, The Other and The Exorcist – right through to its dying breaths when crime put a stake in its heart in the ’90s and ’2000s, Hendrix also manages to collect these books together thematically. So, for example, we have chapters that revolve around creepy kids (who, if nothing else, always look smart in their little suits and ties), animals that attack (who could forget Guy N. Smith’s dose of The Crabs?) and real estate nightmares (ranging from Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House to the big daddy of them all, The Amityville Horror).

All of this is done with the kind of wit and wisdom you’d probably expect from Hendrix, some of his observations quite cutting – but always hilarious. One of my favourites in the entire book is what he says when tackling the proactive protagonists of James Herbert’s early novels, The Fog especially: ‘The gas turns out to be the work of a bacteria… but Holman could give a flip. He’s going to blow it the hell up!’

The book doesn’t just deal with such well known titles, however. If you thought you knew everything those oversaturated decades had to offer, think again – because Hendrix will parade in front of you books that you never even realised existed, let alone owned. From Night-Shriek and Squelch to The Plants, they’re all in here! And, of course, the greats of the genre are given their own moments in the limelight, like the aforementioned Herbert and Ramsey Campbell, Charles L. Grant and Anne Rice, through to David J. Schow and Clive Barker. It even takes a peek at the strange trend of children’s pulp horror, like Goosebumps and Dark Forces.

Complete with a selected creator and publisher biography section at the back, and over 200 full-colour illustrations, this is one book fans and students of the horror genre need to have on their shelves…alongside The Little People, naturally.

Verdict: Written in Dead Letters…And Covered in Blood!   10/10             

Paul Kane