Screaming Soup!

Howdy there, Scream Freaks! Remember how much it sucked when school tried to hi-jack our Summer breaks with homework? We’re ready to bust outta that classroom like the endin’ to Rock ‘n’ Roll High School with the Ramones jammin’ the soundtrack to our freedom from gruelin’ tests and quizzes, and teachers we haven’t even given a hard time yet wanna burden us with readin’ journals on snooze fests like Animal Farm and Madame Bovary. We earned our time off, dammit, leave us alone! 

But what if we were allowed to pick the books? What if we got to steer our required pastime as bookworms into horror related territories of our choosin’, so long as the topics were educational, historically informative, and artistically relevant? That sounds way better!

That’s why this month, we thought it’d be fun to share some of our favorite books with y’all from our own collection ya might wanna check out this Summer. Whether you’re a filmmaker or a film buff, these selections of movie encyclopedias, filmmakin’ biographies, and coffee table art galleries are all must-reads fer any horror movie fan. (*For a closer look at the covers, just click the thumbnails)

EMPIRE OF THE Bs, THE MAD WORLD OF CHARLES BAND An incredibly thorough read on the history of Charles Band‘s first major film company that churned out a big chunk of the ’80s best flicks. Reviews of every Empire flick with tons of interviews and factoids! Must for Full Moon fans!

HEAVY METAL MOVIES The ultimate guide to head bangin’ cinema! Whether it’s guerilla documentaries, barbarian bloodbaths, or gore filled monster movies, if there’s an ounce of rock ‘n roll in it, you’ll find it ‘mong 666 reviews!  

ATTACK OF THE “B” MOVIE POSTERS The illustrated history of B movies through posters! Nothin’ but cover to cover spreads of vintage eye catchers in color advertisin’ obscure titles. This series of books also includes volumes fer horror, sci-fi & fantasy, and more!

VHS VIDEO COVER ART An amazin’ gallery curated by one of today’s hottest poster artists showcasin’ hundreds of amazingly painted VHS covers (front, back, and spines!) from the ’80s! Terrific source fer forgotten flicks ya maybe haven’t heard of!

THE WINSTON EFFECT: THE ART AND HISTORY OF STAN WINSTON STUDIO The ultimate visual guide to the amazin’ career of special effects wizard Stan Winston’s! Tons of photos and trivia from his beginnings on Gargoyles and The Whiz to big budget hits like Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park to even a Gnome Named Norm!

THE GOLDEN TURKEY AWARDS The original inspiration for bad cinema hecklin’ that started the trend Ed Wood flicks were the sorriest ever made! Over 400 movies from the 1930s-70s are judged for the bein’ the worst in over 30 categories. Perfect time capsule fer film buffs!

SON OF GOLDEN TURKEY AWARDS The sequel to the granddaddy of cinematic hecklin’ with 23 new categories of the worst gimmicky cowboys, nude scenes, rubber monsters, conversations with God, etc. Hollywood had to offer from the 1930s-80s!

  TALES FROM THE CRYPT: THE OFFICIAL ARCHIVES The ENTIRE history (up to 1996 at least) of EC Comics and the Tales From the Crypt TV show packed in one beautifully laid out book slammed w/ colored photos, episode guides, comic reprints, & behind the scenes of the first two flicks from the ’90s!

MONSTERS IN THE MOVIES A big-ass picture book that categorizes over a 100 years worth of movie monsters in magnificent color spreads with runnin’ commentary from director John Landis! Top shelf goods here!

  PROFOUNDLY DISTURBING: SHOCKING MOVIES THAT CHANGED HISTORY Our favorite book of deep cut essays from Joe Bob Briggs that changed our entire perspective on the milestones of film history. Spotlights 15 important turnin’ points in cinema with tons of similar recommendations to watch!

THE ENCYLCOPEDIA OF MONSTERS A sweet collection of movie monster stats presented like ol’ superhero tradin’ cards with their origins, strengths, and weaknesses all listed out. Includes fellas as obscure as Billy from Laserblast!

THE WEIRD WORLD OF EERIE PUBLICATIONS The ins-and-outs behind one of the craziest publishers responsible fer some of the most exploitative comics and mags of the 20th century. Read how employees worked at gunpoint to recycle the same trash fer decades while skirtin’ pesky tax laws!

THE EVIL DEAD COMPANION One of the first goldmines of anythin’ ya ever wanted to know ’bout Renaissance Pictures & the Evil Dead trilogy. Includes a buncha black and white pics of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell’s road to fame and fortune, camera gag diagrams, and their complete Super 8 movie index!

CRAB MONSTERS, TEENAGE CAVEMEN, AND CANDY STRIPE NURSES: ROGER CORMAN, KING OF THE B MOVIE From Teenage Caveman to Dinocroc vs Supergator, beef up yer knowledge on the king of the exploits in this amazin’ one-stop resource packed with decades worth of behind-the-scenes trivia, colored pics, and interviews!  

JOHN STANLEY’S CREATURE FEATURES MOVIE GUIDE STRIKES AGAIN Horror host hall-o-famer John Stanley’s New York size phone book bustin’ with 5000+ reviews as recent as 1994. The mother of all resources for any horror aficionado lookin’ to dig up truly forgotten gems of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy!  

FORREST J ACKERMAN PRESENTS MR. MONSTER’S MOVIE GOLD Forrest Ackerman’s hodge podge collection of rare black and white stills from early to mid 20th century sci-fi/fantasy flicks. More lookin’ than readin’, fun tid bits of trivia, and some insightful history lessons!  

GRANDE ILLUSIONS BOOK 1-2 Both volumes of Tom Savini’s do’s, don’ts, and how-to’s from his movie magic make-up bag with examples from his days at the playhouse theatre to all his flicks through Mr. Stitch. Must fer any aspirin’ special effects artist!

CHEAP SCARES! Low budget fearmakers behind classics like Slime City, Street Trash, and The Dead Next Door walk up-and-comin’ filmmakers through every stage of filmmakin’ from script writin’ to marketin’ on a microbudget. Little dated, but still a terrific resource!

THE FEARMAKERS A go-to biography from 1994 on 20 of horror’s greatest directors from early fear pioneers like Tod Browning and William Castle to modern fearmakers like Dario Argento & Stuart Gordon. Real eye opener to their struggles and successes as filmmakers!

IT CAME FROM THE VIDEO AISLE! The COMPLETE history of Full Moon (up to 2017) in one big-ass book with the inside scoop on EVERY one of their movies fer young’ns and adults, interviews with filmmakers and commentaries on bein’ one of the big dawgs in the home video market!   

TELEVISION HORROR MOVIE HOSTS A terrific who’s who ‘mong popular pre-internet horror hosts circa 1991. Diggin’ up dirt on 68 hosts from all corners of the U.S., learn the history of this TV tradition with chronological bios from Vampira to Grampa Munster!

BARBARIANS AT THE GATES OF HOLLYWOOD A simple little book on ’80s sword and sorcery flicks that offers insight into the genre’s cinematic origins with humorous plot crunches. No pics, but at least it introduced us to a kick-ass movie like The Devil’s Sword!    

WORLD GONE WILD: A SURVIVOR’S GUIDE TO POST-APOCALYPTIC MOVIES One MAMMOTH guide to post-apocalyptic themed movies, shorts, TV shows, animes, and pornos featurin’ alien invasions, nature gone awry, zombie viruses, and heavenly raptures with bonus interviews from the filmmakers behind them!

THE ART OF GOOSEBUMPS A coffee table art gallery featurin’ the complete collection of Tim Jacobus’ unforgettable Goosebumps covers. Includes mini-bios, commentaries behind every masterpiece, and thumbnail sketches. Terror-ific source for artistic inspiration!!

CONFESSIONS OF A PUPPETMASTER Charles Band finally gives his fans a backstage pass to his crazy life as an unstoppable indie filmmaker. Full of conquests, comebacks, and compellin’ life lessons any reader can learn from, we couldn’t put this fun read down! Must fer fans!!  

CHICAGO TV HORROR MOVIE SHOWS FROM SHOCK THEATRE TO SVENGOOLIE A nifty chronicle on the history of Chicago’s horror host personalities over the decades from Mad Marvin to Svengoolie with bonus lists of movies they played that includes the Shock & Son of Shock TV packages!

YOURS CRUELLY, ELVIRA: MEMOIRS OF THE MISTRESS OF THE DARK A no holds barred autobiography from the most successful horror host to date. Filled with every victory and misstep from her adventures ’round the world that led to her bein’ the most recognized movie host in the world from La La Land!

ON SET WITH JOHN CARPENTER: THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF KIM GOTTLIEB-WALKER It’s more lookin’ than readin’ at tons of amazin’ behind the scene photos from the glory days of John Carpenter’s film career makin’ Halloween 1-2, The Fog, Escape From New York, and Christine. Top shelf stuff!

JOE BOB GOES TO THE DRIVE-IN & JOE BOB GOES BACK TO THE DRIVE-IN Joe Bob Briggs’s collection of printed hits from his heyday as a film buff journalist that paved the way fer his endurin’ success as a TV horror host. Read all ’bout his redneck origin, the history of the drive-in, and bein’ cut from Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2!

PHANTASM: EXHUMED Anythin’ and everythin’ you could ever wanna know ’bout one of horror’s most amazingly bizarre film series, this is a Phantasm fan’s VIP ticket to every bit of trivia behind the actors, stunts, special effects, and Don Coscarelli’s origin as a filmmaker. 

Other than that, please show your support for our show with donations through Patreon, Buy Me A Coffee, and Ko-fi, catch up on all past Screaming Soup! Seasons, check out this week’s Howl’n Hottie, read recent reviews for the newer horror films and comics we’re checkin’ out in our blogs, R-Rated Reviews and Sequential Slime, and help us get the word out about the web’s #1 animated horror host show! Please use our social buttons in the upper right corner of the site and follow our tweets, subscribe to our video channels, like our Facebook, watch and share all our vids, and keep that fan mail comin’. You can also warm up some Screaming Soup! leftovers with reruns currently playin’ on Beta Max TV, Sluggo’s The Vortexx, and Mr. Lobo‘s OSI 74 .

See ya later, Scream Freaks!