The Cryptologist doesn’t like the summer months, but I suspect vampires aren’t keen on them either. No leisurely meals, just a quick bite and go.
For the opening article, writer Mark Voger looks at fifteen Blaxploitation horror movies. I hope there’ll be a follow-up asking the actors who are still alive why they made them. Well, money helped. I can understand the crime movies, because they were successful and bridged both audiences. The horror films, though, were more a case of near-rewrites of the classics than an attempt to create something new.
There’s the usual look by writer Michael Bonesteel at pre-Comics Code EC Comics, with a selection of covers and what made them so iconic. It’s interesting how closely the depiction of werewolves stuck to the Lon Chaney Jr. interpretation.
An interesting turn from writer James Bacon is a look at comicbooks in Ireland. For those who don’t know, Northern Ireland is part of the UK, while the Republic of Ireland is independent. I think his article centres on the Republic, although the way American comicbooks arrived as ship ballast is much the same as in the UK.
I’ve never seen ‘Dark Shadows’, but I’ve certainly read a lot about it. Mark Voger interviews Kathryn Leigh Scott, who played first the waitress Maggie Evans and then the vampire Josette du Pres, and she gives some insight into working with actor Jonathan Frid. What struck me is that I think I’ve actually seen her on stage. She mentions appearing in London in 1975 with Jimmy Stewart in ‘Harvey’, which I saw. You missed a treat there, especially at the curtain call, when Harvey got as much applause as the human cast as he came through the gate.
Writer Anthony Taylor looks at the ‘Dark Shadows’ spin-offs: comicbooks, model kits and stories. Novelist Dan Ross wrote some 350 novels, at a rate of two a month. Surely that must be something of a record. Good luck finding them all.
Writer Will Murray (who recently died) looks back at his youth and his collecting of corny, humorous spook cards, issued in various sets using photos from the horror films. Based on the samples here, I think I would have gone after them for the photos alone.
Writer Steve Kronenberg looks at the covers of Fawcett’s horror title ‘This Magazine Is Haunted’ and, specifically, the cover art by Sheldon Moldoff and Norman Saunders and how restrained it was. The samples here are still spooky.
I’m less sure about writer Barry Forshaw grouping three British horror films together, especially as ‘Night Of The Demon’ (1957) surely deserved a piece of its own. It’s the quintessential horror film because it pits a disbeliever in magic against a master magician who was asked to do his worst, and did. Guaranteed Halloween viewing. Niall MacGinnis’ Karswell could be both human and terrifying.
Kronenberg also looks at the films of Richard E. Cunha. I must be spoilt here, as I remember, and reviewed, the Tom Weaver book he quotes the interview from, although, to be fair, Cunha was rarely interviewed.
Writer Tim Leese looks over the 1959 Hammer film ‘The Mummy’. The injuries Christopher Lee accumulated in the title role show how much he made the part his own after the earlier Universal versions. More unusually still, the role didn’t require him to speak, which hid what we later discovered was a deep, melodic voice.
Lastly, the Cryptologist’s lackey, Peter Normanton, wants to know if you have musophobia, a morbid fear of rats, and looks at how it was exploited in horror comicbooks. He also draws together threads from other articles in this issue, which makes for a neat connecting conclusion. Is an article on the film ‘Ben’ in the works? Stop by for a bite.
GF Willmetts
September 2026
(pub: TwoMorrows Publishing. 82-page illustrated magazine. Price: $10.95 (US). ISSN: 2997-4-416X. Direct from them, you can get it for $10.95 (US))
check out websites: www.TwoMorrows.com and https://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_194&products_id=1901&zenid=r2hhef855h42tfcdtqm7kfdii5
Join the conversation (0)