Mocata's Den of Horror

 For decades, one of the top selling authors in the U.K. was a man called Dennis Wheatley.  His books were published in many countries around the world and translated into numerous different languages.  A handful of his novels were even adapted into films.  Wheatley's novels, by and large, were thrillers in the purest sense-- they thrilled his audience.  His books contained things such as adventure, romance, espionage, war, and, probably most famously, the occult.  Out of the fifty-plus novels he wrote, there are a total of nine which are typically categorized as "black magic stories".  These books are not a series really (although some of the included novels are part of various series he wrote), just a general topic that these books were lumped under by the publisher.  The truth is that some of the novels in that group contain little or no black magic.  Others, however, certainly are stories of black magic. The first of these books was 1934'...

The Beast Within is something of a forgotten gem of '80s horror.  Released in 1982, it features Ronny Cox (who would later appear in Robocop and Total Recall ), Bibi Besch, R.G. Armstrong, and others, including Paul Clemens as the main character, Michael MacCleary, who has inherited some monstrous curse from his unknown father.  Born as the result of an attack on his mother, Caroline (Bibi Besch), on the night of her wedding to Eli MacCleary (Ronny Cox), Michael is raised by the two as if he were any normal child, rather than the result of a sexual assault.  When, in his late teens, Michael starts exhibiting strange symptoms and the doctors are unable to determine the cause, Eli and Caroline return to the town where the attack occurred all those years ago, looking for answers.  Unknown to them, Michael heads there as well, driven by some instinct inside him. U.S. theatrical poster Michael begins to show signs of some personality change, developing an obsession with...

The Reel Ghoul is a book of movie reviews, primarily horror, but also including some action and sci-fi films.  Written by life-long horror fan, Ustumallagam, over a roughly three year period, the author had initially intended to publish them in an old-fashioned 'zine form, but found himself with too much material for that smaller size publication and instead opted to publish them in book form through Feral Books. Front cover Ustumallagam is also known as the vocalist for the Danish band Denial of God, which has been releasing music since the early '90s.  To date, the band has three full-length albums, numerous EPs, and a couple of demos to its credit.  Much of the discography would be tough to track down, as is pretty common with metal bands in general due to things going out of print and labels going out of business, not to mention the very international nature of the music.   Back cover The reviews in this book are fairly short and to the point.  He typically ...

Finally, the 1968 Hammer Films classic, The Devil Rides Out , has gotten a Blu-ray release in the U.S.  This release is courtesy of the folks at Shout Factory/Scream Factory. U.S. Blu-Ray release from Scream Factory There are two versions of the film included on the disc: the original version as released in the U.S. (including the alternate title of The Devil's Bride ) and there is also the revamped version Hammer released in the U.K. with the modified special effects.  Obviously, making changes to an old movie is a contentious issue, so it is a good move to have both versions, rather than just choosing one or the other.  For those who are curious to see the enhanced effects, it is there, but at the same time, you aren't stuck with it if you don't like it.  There is still the regular version to watch. Much of the bonus stuff is carried over from some previous releases, such as the audio commentary featuring Christopher Lee, plus some featurettes from the Ha...

Hammer's classic adaptation of Dennis Wheatley's novel, The Devil Rides Out , is now 50 years old.  Both the book and film tell the story of a group of old friends who deal with a Satanic cult. The novel, first published in 1934, is part of a series based around the character the Duc de Richleau.  The earlier novels in this series deal with an elderly Duc and his adventures with the group of friends featured in The Devil Rides Out , while later on, the novels told about his younger days. Hammer would later adapt another of Wheatley's black magic-themed novels, To the Devil-- a Daughter , with the film differing so far greatly from the source novel that the two are virtually unrelated.  There do still remain a few elements that the film has in common with the novel, but to call this one an adaptation is using the term extremely loosely.  Hammer also adapted one of Wheatley's non-occult oriented tales, Uncharted Seas , as The Lost Continent , but I am focusing on his...

The Ritual is a Netflix horror film set in the wilderness of Sweden, based upon the novel of the same name by Adam Nevill.  In both book and movie versions, the story follows four old friends hiking out in the middle of nowhere in Sweden, with tension gradually mounting between them and disturbing things start to pop up with greater frequency.  However, the movie version does make some pretty substantial changes from the novel. First off, the movie opens with the four friends plus an additional friend all gathered at a pub, discussing what they should do on their next holiday.  One of them, Rob, suggests hiking in Sweden.  After they leave, another of the group, Luke, wants to stop off and get some booze and Rob goes with him.  As it turns out, a couple of thugs are robbing the store at that time.  Luke manages to hide before the robbers see him, but Rob is caught right in the aisle and is confronted by the thieves, who end up killing him.  Fast ...

Back in January of this year, Dallas Mayr, also known as Jack Ketchum, died.  He was not the most well-known author,  but where his name was known (primarily among horror fans), his reputation was that of a writer who performed literary assaults on his readers' senses and emotions.  He gave the world two of the most legendary, brutal horror novels of the 20th century: Off Season and The Girl Next Door . Off Season was his first novel and despite the fact that the publisher, Ballantine, had required numerous cuts from Mayr to tone down the dark, gruesome, and relentlessly bleak feel of the book, it was a lean, mean, and utterly vicious read.  Not even reaching the 200-page mark, the novel left no room for the literary self-indulgence that seems to plague many novels today, stretching what should be a 250-page story into a bloated 500-page one.  Of course, many years later, Dallas was able to republish the novel in a form more to his liking, known as the Unexp...

The Halloween season is starting to kick in again and one of the things I generally like to do during the Halloween season is read plenty of horror, specifically novelizations of horror movies.  Novelizations are pretty much the whipping boys of books.  Granted, they are geared towards cashing in on a movie for the most part, but the people who write these books are still actual writers (obviously, some are better writers than others), who will take on the thankless task of penning a novelization because it is a paying gig, when writing is frequently not a very high-paying endeavor.  Sure, you have Stephen King, Tom Clancy, and plenty of other writers who make a good living from the books they write, but many other authors still have to work regular jobs in addition to writing.  Even King himself had to do this in the earlier days of his career, until he started getting the checks for paperback royalties, then he was free to churn out numerous classic works at a dizz...