Mark West's Blog, page 6

Halloween Horrors (Old School Horror Paperback Covers)

It's almost Halloween, when all the ghosts and ghouls come calling (usually for chocolate), when the evenings are dark and the air smells of woodsmoke and the thoughts of us all turn to the idea of watching or reading something scary and creepy.For my fourth Halloween post (previously I wrote about VHS cover art, behind the scenes special effects shots and Top Trumps), I've decided to stick

Writing News!

I have some exciting writing news that, to be perfectly honest, I'm chuffed to bits with.  As of last week, when I signed the contract, I became a writer for The Book Folks.Although the bulk of my published work is horror, I got some great feedback on my novellas Drive and Polly, both of which were dark thrillers.  To that end, as long-time readers of the blog will know, I've spent the last few

Skin For Skin, by Terry Grimwood - review & guest essay

In a new edition of the occasional series, I want to tell you about a book I've read and loved, which I think adds to the horror genre and that I think you'll enjoy if you're a fan.  And as a bonus, Terry has contributed an essay explaining where the story came from."And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life." Job 2:4Troublesome

The Year Of The Ladybird, by Graham Joyce

In another edition of the occasional series, I want to tell you about a book I love.  This review originally appeared on the blog in 2013 but, following a long overdue re-read, I feel the need to - once again - let as many people know about it as possible.  Back then, Graham was still with us but as that's sadly no longer the case, I've included a biography of the wonderful writer and thoroughly

Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain), by INXS, at 35

In August 1986 (a year I thoroughly enjoyed, as I wrote about here), INXS released the superb Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain), the third single from the excellent Listen Like Thieves album.Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain) was written by Andrew Farriss & Michael Hutchence and released in Australia on 3rd March 1986 - in the UK we had to wait until 30th August.  It was backed

Starlog 49, August 1981

This came out forty years ago (it really, really doesn’t feel it) - look at the range of terrific films it covered!Starlog wasn’t a magazine I picked up a lot - my film reading at the time was focussed more on Starburst (which I wrote about here) - but I did when they had great covers and content like this.  I mean, any magazine that has Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Escape From New York and For

900th blog post!

Blimey, welcome to my 900th post!  After deciding to stick to a regular posting schedule (every Monday), I've thoroughly enjoyed working on the blog (especially in the depths of the pandemic) and, as ever, I'm surprised at how much I've managed to fit in since the last milestone catch up.Since the 800th post (back in July 2019), life has been a bit weird (to say the least), but the blog's been

The Making Of Raiders Of The Lost Ark, by Derek Taylor (a review)

Regular readers will know I'm always fascinated by the behind-the-scenes process of films, especially special effects work with miniatures (which I've blogged about here), matte paintings (which I've blogged about here) and making-of books.  I also love Raiders Of The Lost Ark (and wrote a retrospective piece on it, which you can read here) which, unbelievably, turns 40 this week (released on

The Damocles Files Vol 1: Ragnarok Rising, by Benedict J. Jones & Anthony Watson

To mark the publication of their new novel, Ragnarok Rising, I hand over the blog to a guest post from my friends Benedict Jones and Anthony Watson.As the fires of conflict engulf the globe and empires viefor dominance, a secondary shadow war is being fought for control of the worldsoccult treasures, among them the keys to the prisons of long forgotten,sleeping gods. Allied academics join

Summer XS, 30 years on

Following the huge international success of their album Kick, INXS toured it extensively starting in August 1987 and running through to November 1988 (including five UK dates during June).  Understandably burned out by the end, the band took a year off during which most members started musical side projects, before reconvening to record X, which was released in September 1990.INXS, 1991from