by LARRY TODD
edited by Peter Haining with an introduction by Vincent Price and an afterword by Christopher Lee $7.95
Peter Haining’s THE GHOULS is an anthology of nineteen stories which have found their way (in some form or another), to the screen as horror films. That is, some of them are horror films, others are monster flicks. Editor Haining has produced several other anthologies, including a competent one on vampyres; THE MIDNIGHT PEOPLE.
THE GHOULS is published by Stein and Day, for the truly blood-curdling sum of $7.95. Its other attributes, (apart from the impressive price tag); a garish cover done in early Grand Guignol and ziptone, with hints of decadence and bad taste, (the inside cover is even worse; its in Day glo Christmas colors with a reproduction of Christopher Lee yawning) an introduction by Vincent Price, an editor’s forward, an afterword by Christopher Lee, and stills from the films.
The stories are by Ambrose Bierce, Edgar Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Bram Stoker, Nikolai Gogol, and Robert Louis Stevenson to name a random few. Literary excellence, and the role these stories have played in the history of the horror film are Mr. Haining’s chief considerations.
The stories are, on the whole, excellent. Some, such as Tod Robbin‘s SPURS and Gaston Leroux‘s THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, have inspired, respectively, the cine-masterpieces FREAKS, and the immortal Chaney film. Others, Poe’s THE OBLONG BOX, for example, have been butchered and transformed beyond recognition. As Boris Karloff once remarked during an interview “Poor Poe, the things we did to him when he wasn’t around to defend himself.”
The best story is W.F. Harvey‘s grisly THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS; a classic which has been anthologized since the Flood, and is perhaps one of the most frightening stories of all time. Also good are Poe’s THE SYSTEM OF DOCTOR TARR AND PROFESSOR FETHER, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s FEATHERTOP. and Nicolai Gogol’s THE VIY.
Harvey’s BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS concerns a man relentlessly persecuted by (and finally murdered by) his dead uncle’s possessed hand. A beautifully crafted piece of work, from its subtle beginning to its climactic ending, it was, unfortunately, made into an undistinguished film in 1947. That it survives at all, despite its typical 1940’s gimmick ending, is due entirely to the acting ability of the late Peter Lorre. And the pauperdom of Warner Brothers TV department.
THE SYSTEM OF DR. TARR AND PROFESSOR FETHER deals with the strange doings in a lunatic asylum when the patients take over. It’s by Poe. Need I say more? The critic who remarked-“One does not go to Poe for humor.” can eat his words. It may be black humor, but it is definitely humor. The film, under the title THE LUNATICS, was produced in 1912 by the Edison company; which also produced the lost FRANKENSTEIN of 1910.
FEATHERTOP is about a scarecrow who through the whim of a New England witch, becomes alive. Gogol’s THE VIY, a story of vampirism and witchcraft in Russia, was turned into an excellent film by Mario Bava. Bava had been a cameraman before becoming a director, and his visual sense of values and ability to use his actors (Barbara Steele and John Richardson in this case), were what made BLACK SUNDAY a superior film.
Now for the bad news folk. Included in the anthology are Gaston Leroux’s PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Tod Robbin’s SPURS, and Francis Oscar Mann’s THE DEVIL IN A CONVENT.
The PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is quite a good novel in the original French. This translation is terrible. To judge Gaston Leroux by this mess is comparable to judging Chaney’s performance by the rotten Hammer remake. I’ve read the original, complete, French version. I know. (I’ve also seen the rotten Hammer remake.)
I was disappointed in Tod Robbin’s SPURS. I expected the story that inspired Tod (Dracula) Browning’s magnum opus, the incomparable FREAKS, to be made of sterner stuff. Well. That is life. THE DEVIL IN A CONVENT is a bore. It may have inspired the first horror film of all time, but it is a mushy Pre-Raphaelite-like bore. Enough. If you’re curious about what exactly a Pre-Raphaelite-like bore is, read it.
Now: the question that is doubtless foremost in your hearts as you sit, perched on your chairs breathlessly perusing this review. Do I recommend the book? After all, $7.95 is a lot of bubble gum in these depression days. And is it worth it?
Yes.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Jessica Clerk is The Monster Times’ Staffe Vampyr Expert, 17 years old, and claims to carry a torch for Chris Lee. We plan to ship our precocious li’l tyke to England to interview England’s No. 1 vampire in a forthcoming ish of M.T.
Peeleth thine eyes!