Suggested Halloween Reading: The Final Chapter (Or Is it?)*

When I was a kid, I, like most boys of my generation, loved paging through books about monster movies. Long before I actually laid my eyes on any of the horror classics, I'd already screened them in my head, working from grainy stills and evocative descriptions in books like "Great Monsters of the Movies" and "Classics of the Horror Film." And though I own a lot of books about horror movies as an adult (and I mean a lot), I can safely say that if nine-year-old me walked into my house, the one he'd spend the most time with would be John Landis' "Monsters in the Movies."


John Landis is, of course, the  director responsible for "Animal House," "The Blues Brothers," "Trading Places" and, most fitting for this book, "An American Werewolf in London." But he's also a huge horror movie fan whose roots in the genre stretch back from his 1973 debut "Schlock" to his underrated 2010 movie "Burke and Hare." He's a regular at the excellent Trailers from Hell site, and his love for the genre is on every page of this huge, lavish coffee table book.

Divided into sections devoted to ghosts, mad scientists, vampires, werewolves, "Monstrous Apes," "Nature's Revenge" and other fitting categories, the book collects hundreds and hundreds of photos from what I'm guessing is just about every monster movie ever made. If it was (a) on film and (b) attempted to scare audiences, it's in here somewhere, stretching back to the earliest silent films. Accompanying each photo is a caption from Landis, offering a bit of historical insight along with his opinion. It makes the book more than just a very extensive photo album. Paging through "Monsters in the Movies" is like sitting down with Landis and talking about the entire history of horror cinema. It's not too serious or academic, but when you've finished the book, you'll have a real knowledge and appreciation for the genre.

Breaking up those photo-fueled chapters are interviews with some of the top folks in the horror business, including Joe Dante, Guillermo del Toro, Rick Baker, David Cronenberg and the late Ray Harryhausen. These are obviously guys Landis has known for years, and their conversations have the easy, relaxed feel of old friends talking about one of their favorite subjects. It's another element that elevates this book above those "1,000 Movies You Must See Before You Die" tomes that clog the remainder tables during the holidays. This one has a real sense of purpose and personality -- and, as a bonus, it contains way more than a mere 1,000 movies.

Let's be honest. Despite all the beer promotions and "sexy" Halloween costumes, Oct. 31 is really a day best appreciated by kids. They're still figuring out how the world works, and though life seems scary, fake frights -- like costumes and monsters movies (and books about monster movies) can help them get a better handle on what's real and what's not ... and what's really worth worrying about. I love "The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film" and other books aimed at older (if nor more mature) readers, but there's no book in my unnervingly vast library that takes me back to the Halloweens of my youth like "Monsters in the Movies." If you've got a kid -- or want to relive your own days as a kid -- consider this my highest recommendation.

Oh, and Happy Halloween!

*Yes, it is.