The Horror Film Reference Book Thread

[Splatterdragon73]

Originally Posted by platostotal

The Gore Score is a small almost pocket sized personal view of the 80s horror wave. Kinda outdated now.

My initial exposure to the late Chas. Balun was with the above volume way back when and imo the late gore guru took something of a sneaky liberty including '79's Zombie Flesh Eaters in a tome subtitled 'Ultraviolent horror in the '80s'.

Later Balun books More Gore Score and Gore Score 2001:The Splatter Years are worth perusing too. So are The Connoisseurs Guide To The Contemporary Horror Film, The Deep Red Horror Handbook, Horror Holocaust and Beyond Horror Holocaust by the same author.

[Splatterdragon73]

Balun's book Lucio Fulci:Beyond The Gates isn't a bad read either but it pales in comparison to the titan of a tome that is Stephen Thrower's Beyond Terror:The Films Of Lucio Fulci.

[Phurious]

The three collected volumes of Shock Xpress edited by Stefan Jaworzyn are absolute treasures that collect some of the best articles form the fabled magazine.

As I was too young to ever get round to buying the magazines, these have proven invaluable for expanding my exploitation needs. They're often reasonably priced on Amazon marketplace although I was pretty lucky and got the first two volumes for £4 on eBay.

Of course Stephen Thrower's Nightmare USA is the ultimate book in exploitation/horror (for me). His witty, heartfelt and insightful reading makes it an absolute joy to read.

Newman's Nightmare Movies (latest edition) is also brilliant, but I sometimes get a bit jaded with the lists of films, but saying that they can be a great jumping off point for undiscovered gems.
Also Newman and James Marriott's Horror! 333 Films To Scare You To Death, is a really well laid out and insightfully written reference books and has helped me to find out about some overlooked genre classics.

For fans of the Evil Dead trilogy Bill Warren's The Evil Dead Companion is an exhaustive source for all things Evil and Dead (and makes a great double bill read, if such a thing exists, with Bruce Campbell's If Chins Could Kill).

[Splatterdragon73]

Originally Posted by Phurious

For fans of the Evil Dead trilogy Bill Warren's The Evil Dead Companion is an exhaustive source for all things Evil and Dead.

Indeed it is and surely more or less the final written word on Raimi's hallowed horror hit. Well worth reading and owning imo.