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Post by dem on Feb 22, 2011 5:44:50 GMT
Your recent posts on The Waiting Room and The House of Lost Souls have made me curious enough to sample a Francis Cottam, Dr S., so will try get hold of The Resident along with the reprint of Peter Curtis's The Witches next month and take it from there. These forthcoming Hammer paperbacks look very attractive and a price tag of £6.99 (cheaper if you pre-order on Amazon) at least keeps them within the realms of the affordable. i'm so glad they've not gone down the limited edition hardback route.  |
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Post by David A. Riley on Feb 22, 2011 7:57:05 GMT
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Post by Dr Terror on Mar 7, 2011 23:41:06 GMT
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Post by dem on Mar 8, 2011 10:44:14 GMT
.... "Starting" - well continuing with - "with Twins Of Evil by 'master of horror' Shaun Hutson"' Eek! I didn't see that one coming!
Looks to me like Hammer Books are going to be one of the more exciting developments of recent years. i'm so glad they're going with both original material and some delicious reprints rather than just all new/ all old. Hey Lord & Lady Probert. Hows that Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde coming along? No slacking there!
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Post by andydecker on Mar 8, 2011 11:27:34 GMT
.... "Starting" - well continuing with - "with Twins Of Evil by 'master of horror' Shaun Hutson"' Eek! I didn't see that one coming! Neither did I. If this ever materializes this will be either bloody marvelous or a bitter disappointment. I got The Witches last week. A very well written novel. Peter Curtis is Norah Lofts who wrote tons of historical romances. But boy, can she write. She can establish time and mood with a sentence where most of todays writers would write 2 chapters. But I didn´t like the presentation. The typical Paranormal Romance cover does the book a great disservice imho. And the introduction by the director of the movie Frankel is also kind of misguided. Sadly the two pages are about himself, about the star Joan Fountaine and his discovering of meditation at the time of the shot. Oh, and writer of the screenplay Nigel Kneale gets a name-drop. But there is not one word about the novel. In any book about Hammer movies this would make a nice extra, here it seems strangly off-putting. What is the point of an introduction if you ignore the novel? |
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Post by killercrab on Mar 8, 2011 17:54:17 GMT
Oh boy thanks for highlighting Hutson on Twins of Evil Dem - I'm so there! Vampire Circus up for novelisation too . I can dream of Guy N Smith or maybe Herbert?
KC
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Post by dem on Mar 8, 2011 20:53:00 GMT
ah, i thought it might be worth mentioning because i know some admirable folk block flash and youtube. if you've still not seen it - it really is an excellent trailer - Graham Masterton's Pariah makes an appearance, so either Hammer are filming it or he's writing one of the novelisations (i've no sound on my computer right now).
andy's post has made me a little nervous now as i remember only too well what a lousy job old Redemption made of the presentation when they launched their doomed cult paperback range, but i'm gonna try for The Witches later in the week.
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Post by killercrab on Mar 9, 2011 1:09:09 GMT
The cover of the Witches doesn't bother me overly - part of the modern book style landscape. The fact these books are coming out is what excites me! Vampire Circus !!
KC
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Post by andydecker on Mar 9, 2011 11:42:59 GMT
andy's post has made me a little nervous now as i remember only too well what a lousy job old Redemption made of the presentation when they launched their doomed cult paperback range Maybe I phrased this wrong. And my growing dislike of the Paranormal Porn isn´t helping either. Of course this is a question of presentation and marketing. With disservice I meant that this looks like your common PR. The Hammer logo is rather discreet. The casual not-informed buyer - those that make their decision at the table in the bookshop and is the target-audiance, such a line can´t survive with the sales of old Hammer fans - will be very surprised when they read this book. Now don´t get me wrong, I started this novel and like it very much, but the characters seem out of this world. The 50s setting here is much more alien to modern sensibilities than the pseudo-victorian society of so many romance novels for instance. And chances are, casual readers and fan of PRs won´t enjoy this much. So there is a real risk that the brandname will be a thing to avoid than to embrace by those who are dissatisfied. And in todays´s market where not the quality or the long-term sales counts but only the first box-office weekend such ventures often die quick deaths. We are talking about massmarket here - where a moderate breaking even isn´t thought as a success. Another point. Twins of Evil by Shaun Hutson, Vampire Circus by Graham Masterton (I can dream, can I?  ), this has potential. But why don´t you start with that? Frankly a 60 year old novel of a more obscure movie (please correct me if I am wrong, for all I know this is a beloved staple on tv and every child knows that his is a Hammer movie and I am tlaking nonsense) and a movie novelisation as a launch of a new line isn´t really much to be excited about. I gather that the new Hammer is taking pains to present itself as a classy outfit, but this is a little bit unspectacular. |
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Post by H_P_Saucecraft on Mar 9, 2011 12:00:50 GMT
I got The Witches last week. A very well written novel. Peter Curtis is Norah Lofts who wrote tons of historical romances. But boy, can she write. She can establish time and mood with a sentence where most of todays writers would write 2 chapters. But I didn´t like the presentation. The typical Paranormal Romance cover does the book a great disservice imho. I agree there, Andy - I like this one much better (shameless excuse to post cover scan ;D ) : |
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Post by Dr Strange on Mar 9, 2011 12:02:10 GMT
The covers and general presentation do look like a cynical marketing ploy to grab some para-rom readers. As such, it's probably the smartest move they could have made, given the material they are working with - established Hammer fans will buy them anyway; if some of the para-rom crowd don't like them - well they wouldn't have liked them with any other cover either, would they?; and if some of the para-rom lot, who maybe wouldn't have picked it up otherwise, do like what they read and branch out a bit to "proper horror" then it's mission accomplished.
It may not be pretty, but it's a simple fact of life just now - if this venture is going to have any chance of surviving, they are going to have to be very smart and very cynical about the packaging and presentation.
And isn't misleading cover art (especially exaggerating the sexual content) a very pulpy ploy?
LATER: I've just ordered both from Amazon.
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Mar 9, 2011 14:19:31 GMT
I thought the trailer was superb too. Don't know if it was just a throwback to sort of vicarious teenage fear but I got pretty scared at some points.
God I wish I wasn't here. I'd be instantly watching hammer horror if I was in Blighty instead of thinking of ways to avoid German tv.
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Post by Dr Strange on Mar 9, 2011 15:21:20 GMT
According to wikipedia (so it must be true) The Witches has previously been published under three other titles - The Devil's Own, The Little Wax Doll, and Catch As Catch Can.
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Post by killercrab on Mar 9, 2011 18:19:33 GMT
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Post by dem on Mar 9, 2011 20:40:22 GMT
... and here's the Fawcett edition, as featured in Paperback Fanatic #17 (which is where i swiped it from) Andy, of the two Hammer covers, i prefer The Witches over The Resident, but i get your point. Agree with Dr. S about the likely thinking behind it, and if so, it's a sharp move. I guess the reason they didn't begin with Hutson is the probability that, on vintage form, he'd alienate the PR audience immediately! |
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), this has potential. But why don´t you start with that? 
