Danse Macabre
Page 49
Now before you decide to clout me upside the lead or to scream "Do we have to eat this shit again?" let me point out to you what my wife pointed out to my son on the day of the turkey sandwiches: there are hundreds of different recipes for turkey, but they all taste like turkey.
And coupled with that, she said, it is a shame to waste good things.
This is not to say that my article in Oui was so paralyzingly great or that my thoughts on Ramsey Campbell were so deathless that they deserved to be preserved in a book; it is only to say that, while my thoughts and feelings on the genre I've spent most of my life working in may have evolved or shifted somewhat in perspective, they haven't really changed. That change may come, but since there has only been a passage of four years since I originally stated many of my feelings about horror and terror in the Night Shift introduction, it would be surprising-even suspect-if I were to suddenly deny everything I had written previous to this book.
In my own defense, I'll add that Danse Macabre gave me the space to develop some of these ideas in more detail than I had ever been given before, and for that I must thank Bill Thompson and Everest House. In no case did I simply reheat something I had written before; I tried as hard as I could to develop each idea as fully as possible without beating it into the ground. In some cases, I may have done just that, though, and all I can do in such cases is to beg your indulgence.
And I think that really is the end. Thank you again for coming with me, and rest you well.
But, being who I am and what I am, I cannot find it in my heart to wish you pleasant dreams . . .
APPENDIX 1
THE FILMS
Below is a list of roughly one hundred fantasy/horror films tied together by their time and their excellence. All were released during the period 1950-1980, and all of them seem to me to be particularly interesting in one way or another; if I may say so without sounding like an Academy Awards presenter, all of them have contributed something of value to the genre. You will find my own personal favorites marked with an asterisk ( * ). Special thanks are due to Kirby McCauley, who provided invaluable help with the list.
TITLE DIRECTOR YEAR The Abominable Dr. Phibes Robert Fuest 1971
*Alien Ridley Scott 1979
Asylum Roy Ward Baker 1972
The Bad Seed Mervyn LeRoy 1956
The Birds Alfred Hitchcock 1963
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage Dario Argento 1969
*Black Sunday Mario Bava 1961
*The Brood David Cronentberg 1979
Burnt Offerings Dan Curtis 1976
Burn Witch Burn Sidney Hayers 1962
*The Cage Walter Graumann 1961
*Carrie Brian De Palma 1976
The Conqueror Worm Michael Reeves 1968
*Creature from the Black Lagoon Jack Arnold 1954
*The Creeping Unknown Val Guest 1955
*Curse of the Demon Jacques Tourneur 1957
The Day of the Triiffids Steve Sekely 1963
*Dawn of the Dead George A. Romero 1979
The Deadly Beer Freddie Francis 1967
Deep Red Dario Argento ?
*Deliverance John Boorman 1972
*dementia-13 Francis Coppola 1963
Diabolique Henri-Georges Clouzot1955
Doctor Terror's House of Horrors Freddie Francis 1965
Don't Look Now Nicholas Roeg 1973
*Duel Steven Spielberg 1971
*Enemy from Space Val Guest 1957
Eraserhead David Lynch 1978
*The Exorcist William Friedkin 1973
The Exterminating Angel Luis Bunuel 1963
Eye of the Cat David Lowell Rich 1969
The Fly Kurt Neumann 1958
*Frenzy Alfred Hitchcock 1972
The Fury Brian De Palma 1978
Gorgo Eugene Lourie 1961
*Halloween John Carpenter 1978
*The Haunting Robert Wise 1963
The H-Man Inoshiro Honda 1958
Horrors of the Black Museum Arthur Crabtree 1959
Hour of the Wolf Ingmar Bergman 1967
The House that Dripped Blood Peter Duffell 1970
Hush . . . Hush, Sweet Charlotte Robert Aldrich 1965
*I Bury the Living Albert Band 1958
The Incredible Shrinking Man Jack Arnold 1957
*Invasion of the Body Snatchers Don Siegel 1956
Invasion of the Body Snatchers Philip Kaufman 1978
I Saw What You Did William Castle 1965
*It Came from Outer Space Jack Arnold 1953
It! The Terror from Beyond Space Edward L. Cahn 1958
*Jaws Steven Spielberg 1975
The Killer Shrews Ken Curtis 1959
Last Summer Frank Perry 1969
*Let's Scare Jessica to Death John Hancock 1971
Macabre William Castle 1958
*Martin George A. Romero 1977
The Masque of the Red Death Roger Corman 1964
Night Must Fall Karel Reisz 1964
*The Night of the Hunter Charles Laughton 1955
*Night of the Living Dead George A. Romero 1968
Not of This Earth Roger Corman 1956
No Way to Treat a Lady Jack Smight 1968
Panic in the Year Zero Ray Milland 1962
*Picnic at Hanging Rock Peter Weir 1978
The Pit and the Pendulum Roger Corman 1961
*Psycho Alfred Hitchcock 1960
*Rabid David Cronenberg 1976
Race with the Devil Jack Starrett 1975
*Repulsion Roman Polanski 1965
*Rituals ? 1978
*Rosemary's Baby Roman Polanski 1968
Salem's Lot Tobe Hooper 1979
Seance on a Wet Afternoon Bryan Forties 1964
Seizure Oliver Stone 1975
*The Seventh Seal Ingmar Bergman 1956
*Sisters Brian De Palma 1973
*The Shining Stanley Kubrick 1980
The Shout Jerzy Skolimowski 1979
Someone's Watching Me John Carpenter 1978
The Stepford Wives Bryan Forties 1975
Strait-Jacket William Castle 1964
Suddenly Last Summer Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1960
*Suspiria Dario Argento 1977
*The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Tobe Hooper 1974
*Them! Gordon Douglas 1954
They Came from Within David Cronenberg 1975
*The Thing Christian Nyby 1951
The Tomb of Ligeia Roger Corman 1965
Trilogy of Terror Dan Curtis 1975
Village of the Damned Wolf Rilla 1960
*Wait Until Dark Terence Young 1967
*What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Robert Aldrich 1961
When Michael Calls Philip Leacock 1971
The Wicker Man Robin Hardy 1973
Willard Daniel Mann 1971
*X-the Man with the X-Ray Eyes Roger Corman 1963
X the Unknown Leslie Norman 1956
APPENDIX 2
THE BOOKS
Below is a list of roughly one hundred books-novels and collections-which span the period we have been discussing. They are listed alphabetically according to author. As with my list of films, you may not find all of these to your taste, but all seem-to me, at least-important to the genre we have been discussing. Thanks again to Kirby McCauley, who helped with the list, and a special tip of the hat to "Fast Eddie" Melder, who owns a pub in North Lovell and who put up with our wild talk until well past closing time.
Once again, I've marked with an asterisk ( * ) books which I felt were particularly important.
Richard Adams. The Plague Dogs; Watership Down*
Robert Aickman. Cold Hand in Mine; Painted Devils
Marcel Ayme. The Walker through Walls
Beryl Bainbridge. Harriet Said
J. G. Ballard. Concrete Island*; High Rise
Charles Beaumont. Hunger*; The Magic Man
Robert Bloch. Pleasant Dreams*; Psycho*
Ray Bradbury. Dandelion Wine; Something Wicked This Way Comes*; The October Country
; Joseph Payne Brennan. The Shapes of Midnight*
Frederic Brown. Nightmares and Geezenstacks*
Edward Bryant. Among the Dead
Janet Caird. The Loch
Ramsey Campbell. Demons By Daylight; The Doll Who Ate His Mother*; The Parasite*
Suzy McKee Charnas. The Vampire Tapestry
Julio Cortazar. The End of the Game and Other Stories
Harry Crews. A Feast of Snakes
Roald Dahl. Kiss Kiss*; Someone Like You*
Les Daniels. The Black Castle
Stephen R. Donaldson. The Thomas Covenant Trilogy (3 vols.)*
Daphne Du Maurier. Don't Look Now
Harlan Ellison. Deathbird Stories*; Strange Wine*
John Farris. All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By
Charles G. Finney. The Ghosts of Manacle
Jack Finney. The Body Snatchers*; I Love Galesburg in the Springtime; The Third Level*; Time and Again*
William Golding. Lord of the Flies*
Edward Gorey. Amphigorey; Amphigorey Too
Charles L. Grant. The Hour of the Oxrun Dead; The Sound of Midnight*
Davis Grubb. Twelve Tales of Horror*
William H. Hallahan. The Keeper of the Children; The Search for Joseph Tully
James Herbert. The Fog; The Spear*; The Survivor
William Hjortsberg. Falling Angel*
Shirley Jackson. The Haunting of Hill House*; The Lottery and Others*; The Sundial
Gerald Kersh. Men Without Bones*
Russell Kirk. The Princess of All Lands
Nigel Kneale. Tomato Caine
William Kotzwinkle. Dr. Rat*
Jerry Kozinski. The Painted Bird*
Fritz Leiber. Our Lady of Darkness*
Ursula LeGuin. The Lathe of Heaven*; Orsinian Tales
Ira Levin. Rosemary's Baby*; The Stepford Wives
John D. MacDonald. The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything
Bernard Malamud. The Magic Barrel*; The Natural
Robert Marasco. Burnt Offerings*
Gabriel Maria Marquez. One Hundred Years of Solitude
Richard Matheson. Hell House; I Am Legend*; Shock II; The Shrinking Man*; A Stir of Echoes
Michael McDowell. The Amulet*; Cold Moon Over Babylon*
Ian McEwen. The Cement Garden
John Metcalf. The Feasting Dead
Iris Murdoch. The Unicorn
Joyce Carol Oates. Nightside*
Flannery O'Connor. A Good Man Is Hard to Find*
Mervyn Peake. The Gormenghast Trilogy (3 volumes) Thomas Pynchon. V.*
Edogawa Rampo. Tales of Mystery and Imagination
Jean Ray. Ghouls in My Grave
Anne Rice. Interview with the Vampire
Philip Roth. The Breast
Ray Russell. Sardonicus*
Joan Samson. The Auctioneer*
William Sansom. The Collected Stories of William Sansom
Sarban. Ringstones; The Sound of His Horn*
Anne Rivers Siddons. The House Next Door*
Isaac Bashevis Singer. The Seance and Other Stories*
Martin Cruz Smith. Nightwing
Peter Straub. Ghost Story*; If You Could See Me Now; Julia; Shadowland*
Theodore Sturgeon. Caviar; The Dreaming jewels; Some of Your Blood*
Thomas Tessier. The Nightwalker
Paul Theroux. The Black House
Thomas Tryon. The Other*
Les Whitten. Progeny of the Adder*
Thomas Williams. Tsuga's Children*
Gahan Wilson. I Paint What I See
T. M. Wright. Strange Seed*
John Wyndham. The Chrysalids; The Day of the Triffids*
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