Christopher Frayling - The Birth Of Horror

[dem bones]

Christopher Frayling - Nightmare: The Birth Of Horror (BBC1, 1996)

This one deals at length with the inevitable Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde and The Hound Of The Baskervilles. I seem to recall that the series was repeated quite recently on the BBC Learning Zone. Haven't started this coffee table hardcover yet but it belongs to a personal sub-genre: books I'd never consider buying at cover price but if i see them going spare in a Charity shop for a few quid (as I did this one yesterday) then that's another matter, even if I'm not all that enthused about reading them. Actually, in Frayling's case, there's a good chance I will get around to this as I rate his commentary to The Vampyre: Lord Ruthven To Count Dracula (Gollancz, 1980).

File under: nice to have if hardly indispensable.

[stuyoung]

I picked this one up at a charity shop too. Still haven't got round to reading it yet.

[dem bones]

hi Stu

it's an interesting enough read and lovely to look at, but i got the feeling Frayling wasn't the least stretched by the subject matter and its a shame he didn't go for a more comprehensive early history of the horror story.

if i remember correctly, the series and book were the BBC's way of celebrating the Dracula centenary in 1997, and Royal Mail issued this set of stamps to tie in with the occasion. Naturally, crafty old Peter Haining gazumped everyone by a decade with his Dracula Centenary Book for Souvenir Press.

[stuyoung]

Is it just me or does the Hound of the Baskervilles in those stamps look like Droopy if he got old and fat?

[chastel]

I have seen the documentary and liked it.