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Post by dem on Nov 9, 2007 23:12:17 GMT
Jack Oleck - Tales From The Crypt (Based on stories written by Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig and Bill Gaines: Bantam 1972) Blurb: Death Lives In The Vault Of Horror! Trapped in catacombs that smelled of ancient death, five forsaken men and women poured out the foul secrets of their fetid souls to a strange, sinister, black-robed monk.
Maitland .... forever doomed to a living, waking nightmare. Joanne .... who wanted one thing from Santa Claus - murder. Elliot ..... the heartless young man received visitors from beyond the grave. Rogers .... who treated the blind and helpless like dogs; they turned the tables with razor-sharp vengeance. Jason ..... returned and returned and returned from the dead.
Five tormented people
Five terrible confessions
ONE long scream of terror at the end ... And All Through The House: " ... and a man described as a homicidal maniac has escaped from the Middleton hospital for the criminally insane. He is described as being six feet three inches tall, two hundred and ten pounds, dark eyes, long black hair, and he may be wearing a Santa Claus costume stolen from a shop in Burley." In this version of the festive fave, there are a few slight elaborations on the script. For starters, its made clear that Richard Clayton adores his wife, Joanne, and has done nothing much to deserve having his head caved in with a poker beyond being slightly unimaginative and failing to provide her with a better home than their "seedy little house in the suburbs." Anyhow, Joanne having offed him, her plan is to dump him down the cellar stairs to make his death look like an accident - she even has a stroke of luck when he breaks his neck in the fall. But as James Mason recites A Visit From St. Nicholas on the radio and her daughter Carol excitedly interrogates her over whether or not Santa's been down the chimney yet, the mad strangler shows up at the front door, "A man whose face, under the overhead entrance light, was shadowed, but not so deeply that she could not see the spittle drooling from one corner of his thick-lipped mouth. A man whose big hands opened and closed spasmodically", and the siege is on ... Like the film, it is, of course, brilliant.
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Post by sadako on Oct 16, 2008 20:41:13 GMT
I read this when I was too young to see the film. I found it very frightening, especially the Santa story, and re-read it several times before finally seeing it on TV.
I also got director Freddie Francis to autograph my copy. It's one of my very favourite books - fantastic cover!
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Post by carolinec on Oct 16, 2008 22:15:13 GMT
I also got director Freddie Francis to autograph my copy. Now you've got me really jealous. Watch out, I might mug you for it! :D Oh and welcome, by the way! ;D |
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Post by dem on Oct 17, 2008 9:42:12 GMT
I also got director Freddie Francis to autograph my copy. It's one of my very favourite books - fantastic cover! Hello sadako. Yes, an all time favourite of mine, too. It's only recently I got a video recorder (!), so novelisations were the next best thing. Do you have Oleck's tie-in for Vault of Horror too? The only other stuff I can find by him are his two House Of Mystery books, yet more adaptations of E.C. scripts and this time featuring excellent artwork throughout by Berni Wrightson. House of Mystery 1House of Mystery 2 |
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Post by sadako on Oct 19, 2008 22:36:38 GMT
Oh and welcome, by the way! ;D Thank you. Love the avatar, and the name! |
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Post by dem on Oct 20, 2008 8:45:15 GMT
sadako, if you've a minute to spare and you feel so inclined, introduce yourself uptop and tell us about your super Black Hole DVD blog, guaranteed to keep our not-so-closet film buffs entertained for hours! I've just been reading up on Blood On Satan's Claw and the tribute to Tales From The Crypt. Top, top stuff! |
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Post by carolinec on Oct 20, 2008 10:43:19 GMT
sadako, if you've a minute to spare and you feel so inclined, introduce yourself uptop and tell us about your super Black Hole DVD blog, guaranteed to keep our not-so-closet film buffs entertained for hours! I've just been reading up on Blood On Satan's Claw and the tribute to Tales From The Crypt. Top, top stuff! Ooo, sounds interesting! Yes, tell us more please, Sadako ... ;D |
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Post by sadako on Nov 10, 2008 15:45:49 GMT
OK, I give in. I've written a personal intro in the Welcome folder...
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Post by ripper on Oct 30, 2015 12:00:13 GMT
I breezed through this one last night. It is probably the third time I have read it and I had a pretty good time. I don't think there is much to choose between this and the same author's novelisation of 'Vault of Horror' in terms of style. However, I have a preference for 'Tales' as I think the stories are better overall, plus the film version had Peter Cushing, so each time I read that particular story, I have him in my mind's eye. The only thing that isn't really EC about the novelisation and film--apart from the British settings--is the characterisation of the Crypt-Keeper himself. It is far removed from the cackling, pun-spouting fiend of the comic, but with Sir Ralph Richardson as the CK it could hardly have been any different. I sometimes try to imagine the novelisation and film having the CK characterisation of the comic and TV series, and I think I do see why it was changed.
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