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Book Review: ‘Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films’

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Horror Noire

Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present by Robin R. Means Coleman is a compelling and comprehensive reflection on the history of Black representation in horror cinema.

Coleman (Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies and in the Center for AfroAmerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan) is incredibly thorough in her research. Horror Noire moves through several decades – from Pre-1930s to the 2000s – to study the way that racial representation has developed in American cinema.

Horror – as a genre – has always pushed boundaries. One might say that is the point; to frighten, provoke, and challenge viewers. Coleman’s book explores how – because of its provocative nature – the horror genre can be used to turn a critical eye on the ways that black characters and culture are both presented and represented.

Coleman shows how films like Night of the Living Dead (1968) were instrumental in reprogramming the primitive voodoo zombies in movies like The Magic Island (1929) and White Zombie (1932), while still delivering a powerful message about race relations and civil rights.

Frances Dee, Christine Gordon, and Darby Jones in I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
I Walked with a Zombie via IMDb

In Horror Noire, Coleman explains her points and details each example with clarity and passion. As a white woman from Canada, I am poorly equipped to speak on the subject of black history in America. Let’s just get that out of the way. That said, Coleman presents compelling arguments about representation and cultural stereotypes that are both enlightening and provocative.

She dissects a variety of sub-topics that include the treatment of monsters in classic cinema – like King Kong and Frankenstein– and how their stories parallel the racist overtones in Birth of a Nation; the attack on Black sexuality in films like Ingagi; the perpetuation of minstrelsy in the 1940s; and rising themes of Black pride and empowerment with films like Blacula (1972).

Coleman defines the terms “Blacks in Horror” and “Black Horror” and uses them as defining categories throughout the book. These perspectives give a critical look at a long period of genre films that by turns exploited, sidelined, and eventually embraced Black filmmakers and Black audiences.

As a book, it’s perhaps more textbook than novel; in fact, Horror Noire was used as a text for author-educator Tananarive Due’s UCLA class focused on Black Horror (called “The Sunken Place”). But that shouldn’t scare you off; the book is deeply insightful and written with a relaxed tone that flows through each chapter. Horror Noire succeeds as an educational and highly informative work of literature.

Shudder has gone on to create a documentary feature based on the book, which airs February 7th and features interviews with filmmakers Ernest Dickerson (Bones), Rusty Cundieff (Tales from the Hood), Jordan Peele (Get Out), and Tina Mabry (Mississippi Damned); actors Keith David (The Thing), Tony Todd (Candyman), Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead), and Paula Jai Parker (Tales from the Hood); and authors Tananarive Due (My Soul to Keep) and Dr. Coleman herself.

Sugar Hill (1974)
Sugar Hill via IMDb

February is both Black History Month and Women in Horror Month, so it feels like the perfect time to celebrate and appreciate this brilliant and comprehensive book.

As someone with only a passing knowledge of how important Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead were to Black representation in the horror genre, reading this book was top of my list. And I’m grateful that I did, as it provided me with a rich, thorough, and valuable history lesson that has affected the way that I watch horror.

Horror Noire will broaden your perspective on horror as a genre and inspire you with a whole new watch list of titles to explore. I can only just barely scratch the surface of this book’s content here, so instead I will strongly suggest you check it out for yourself.

Image result for horror noire book
via Amazon

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‘Alien’ is Being Made Into a Children’s ABC Book

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Alien Book

That Disney buyout of Fox is making for strange crossovers. Just look at this new children’s book that teaches children the alphabet via the 1979 Alien movie.

From the library of Penguin House’s classic Little Golden Books comes A is for Alien: An ABC Book.

Pre-Order Here

The next few years are going to be big for the space monster. First, just in time for the film’s 45th anniversary, we are getting a new franchise film called Alien: Romulus. Then Hulu, also owned by Disney is creating a television series, although they say that might not be ready until 2025.

The book is currently available for pre-order here, and is set to release on July 9, 2024. It might be fun to guess which letter will represent which part of the movie. Such as “J is for Jonesy” or “M is for Mother.”

Romulus will be released in theaters on August 16, 2024. Not since 2017 have we revisited the Alien cinematic universe in Covenant. Apparently, this next entry follows, “Young people from a distant world facing the most terrifying life form in the universe.”

Until then “A is for Anticipation” and “F is for Facehugger.”

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Holland House Ent. Announces New Book “Oh Mother, What Have You Done?”

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Screenwriter and Director Tom Holland is delighting fans with books containing scripts, visual memoirs, continuation of stories, and now behind-the-scenes books on his iconic films. These books offer a fascinating glimpse into the creative process, script revisions, continued stories and the challenges faced during production. Holland’s accounts and personal anecdotes provide a treasure trove of insights for movie enthusiasts, shedding new light on the magic of filmmaking! Check out the press release below on Hollan’s newest fascinating story of the making of his critically acclaimed horror sequel Psycho II in a brand new book!

Horror icon and filmmaker Tom Holland returns to the world he envisioned in 1983’s critically acclaimed feature film Psycho II in the all-new 176-page book Oh Mother, What Have You Done? now available from Holland House Entertainment.

‘Psycho II’ House. “Oh Mother, What Have You Done?”

Authored by Tom Holland and containing unpublished memoirs by late Psycho II director Richard Franklin and conversations with the film’s editor Andrew London, Oh Mother, What Have You Done? offers fans a unique glimpse into the continuation of the beloved Psycho film franchise, which created nightmares for millions of people showering worldwide.

Created using never-before-seen production materials and photos – many from Holland’s own personal archive – Oh Mother, What Have You Done? abounds with rare hand-written development and production notes, early budgets, personal Polaroids and more, all set against fascinating conversations with the film’s writer, director and editor which document the development, filming, and reception of the much-celebrated Psycho II.  

‘Oh Mother, What Have you Done? – The Making of Psycho II

Says author Holland of writing Oh Mother, What Have You Done? (which contains an afterward by Bates Motel producer Anthony Cipriano), I wrote Psycho II, the first sequel that began the Psycho legacy, forty years ago this past summer, and the film was a huge success in the year 1983, but who remembers? To my surprise, apparently, they do, because on the film’s fortieth anniversary love from fans began to pour in, much to my amazement and pleasure. And then (Psycho II director) Richard Franklin’s unpublished memoirs arrived unexpectedly. I’d had no idea he’d written them before he passed in 2007.”

“Reading them,” continues Holland, “was like being transported back in time, and I had to share them, along with my memories and personal archives with the fans of Psycho, the sequels, and the excellent Bates Motel. I hope they enjoy reading the book as much as I did in putting it together. My thanks to Andrew London, who edited, and to Mr. Hitchcock, without whom none of this would have existed.”

“So, step back with me forty years and let’s see how it happened.”

Anthony Perkins – Norman Bates

Oh Mother, What Have You Done? is available now in both hardback and paperback through Amazon and at Terror Time (for copies autographed by Tom Holland)

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Sequel to ‘Cujo’ Just One Offering in New Stephen King Anthology

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It’s been a minute since Stephen King put out a short story anthology. But in 2024 a new one containing some original works is getting published just in time for summer. Even the book title “You Like It Darker,” suggests the author is giving readers something more.

The anthology will also contain a sequel to King’s 1981 novel “Cujo,” about a rabid Saint Bernard that wreaks havoc on a young mother and her child trapped inside a Ford Pinto. Called “Rattlesnakes,” you can read an excerpt from that story on Ew.com.

The website also gives a synopsis of some of the other shorts in the book: “The other tales include ‘Two Talented Bastids,’ which explores the long-hidden secret of how the eponymous gentlemen got their skills, and ‘Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream,’ about a brief and unprecedented psychic flash that upends dozens of lives. In ‘The Dreamers,’ a taciturn Vietnam vet answers a job ad and learns that there are some corners of the universe best left unexplored while ‘The Answer Man’ asks if prescience is good luck or bad and reminds us that a life marked by unbearable tragedy can still be meaningful.”

Here’s the table of contents from “You Like It Darker,”:

  • “Two Talented Bastids”
  • “The Fifth Step”
  • “Willie the Weirdo”
  • “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream”
  • “Finn”
  • “On Slide Inn Road”
  • “Red Screen”
  • “The Turbulence Expert”
  • “Laurie”
  • “Rattlesnakes”
  • “The Dreamers”
  • “The Answer Man”

Except for “The Outsider” (2018) King has been releasing crime novels and adventure books instead of true horror in the past few years. Known mostly for his terrifying early supernatural novels such as “Pet Sematary,” “It,” “The Shining” and “Christine,” the 76-year-old author has diversified from what made him famous starting with “Carrie” in 1974.

A 1986 article from Time Magazine explained that King planned on quitting horror after he wrote “It.” At the time he said there was too much competition, citing Clive Barker as “better than I am now” and “a lot more energetic.” But that was almost four decades ago. Since then he’s written some horror classics such as “The Dark Half, “Needful Things,” “Gerald’s Game,” and “Bag of Bones.”

Maybe the King of Horror is waxing nostalgic with this latest anthology by revisiting the “Cujo” universe in this latest book. We will have to find out when “You Like It Darker” hits bookshelves and digital platforms starting May 21, 2024.

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