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PICTORIAL HISTORY OF HORROR MOVIES, A (GONDOLA S.) [Paperback]
Paper cover book, comprehensive overview of the horror movie genre. Fully illustrated with great photographs.
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
About the author
Denis Gifford
77 books6 followersDenis Gifford was a British writer. He specialized in the history of popular entertainments such as comic books and horror films. In his lengthy career, he wrote and drew for British comics; wrote more than fifty books on various topics; devised, compiled and contributed to popular programmes for radio and television; and other, related work, including film.
In addition to being a regular at comics conventions, Gifford helped established the genre in Britain with Comics 101 in 1976, attended by dealers and comic artists. In 1978 he established the Association of Comics Enthusiasts (ACE), which ran for 14 years proper and, in reprint form in the British Comics Journal, until his death.
As a 14-year-old at Dulwich College, Gifford began drawing for Dandy, after sending a comic strip to its publisher D. C. Thomson of Dundee. His efforts caught the imagination of Bob Monkhouse, in the school year below, and they became friends and collaborators. They toured in the South East, giving charity performances with Monkhouse as the “straight man”.
After RAF service during WWII, Gifford drew cartoons for the London Evening News, Empire State News and Sunday Dispatch. He was a writer as well, not only completing the first TV series by Morecambe and Wise (for which the initial scripts had been criticised), but also providing material for the opening night of ITV and the first comedy show to be screened by BBC2, in 1955 and 1964 respectively. He wrote for Junior Showtime and contributed to The Generation Game by designing stunts.
Gifford also compiled a comprehensive list of British-made films, along with primary cast: The British Film Catalogue. It was a labor of many years, as Gifford tracked down retired industry professionals and pored through back issues of trade publications.
His collection of more than 20,000 comics and other paper ephemera (including books, popular magazines and sheet music) dominated his lifestyle and his habitat, once described in one of the colour supplements as the den of “a boy who had run away from home” and never returned. His walls were lined with bookshelves, with other bookshelves installed at right-angles to these. As well as being unable to use the oven, he could reach neither his radiators, nor a broken curtain rail. At least once he fell, due to boxes of ephemera narrowing his way upstairs to bed.
Despite hints that he might bequeath this vast collection “to the country”, via the Victoria and Albert Museum or similar, this was broken up and sold off after his death, having been rescued from the black bags of a non-specialist house clearance company.
In addition to being a regular at comics conventions, Gifford helped established the genre in Britain with Comics 101 in 1976, attended by dealers and comic artists. In 1978 he established the Association of Comics Enthusiasts (ACE), which ran for 14 years proper and, in reprint form in the British Comics Journal, until his death.
As a 14-year-old at Dulwich College, Gifford began drawing for Dandy, after sending a comic strip to its publisher D. C. Thomson of Dundee. His efforts caught the imagination of Bob Monkhouse, in the school year below, and they became friends and collaborators. They toured in the South East, giving charity performances with Monkhouse as the “straight man”.
After RAF service during WWII, Gifford drew cartoons for the London Evening News, Empire State News and Sunday Dispatch. He was a writer as well, not only completing the first TV series by Morecambe and Wise (for which the initial scripts had been criticised), but also providing material for the opening night of ITV and the first comedy show to be screened by BBC2, in 1955 and 1964 respectively. He wrote for Junior Showtime and contributed to The Generation Game by designing stunts.
Gifford also compiled a comprehensive list of British-made films, along with primary cast: The British Film Catalogue. It was a labor of many years, as Gifford tracked down retired industry professionals and pored through back issues of trade publications.
His collection of more than 20,000 comics and other paper ephemera (including books, popular magazines and sheet music) dominated his lifestyle and his habitat, once described in one of the colour supplements as the den of “a boy who had run away from home” and never returned. His walls were lined with bookshelves, with other bookshelves installed at right-angles to these. As well as being unable to use the oven, he could reach neither his radiators, nor a broken curtain rail. At least once he fell, due to boxes of ephemera narrowing his way upstairs to bed.
Despite hints that he might bequeath this vast collection “to the country”, via the Victoria and Albert Museum or similar, this was broken up and sold off after his death, having been rescued from the black bags of a non-specialist house clearance company.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 26, 2024
As I've said, I'm spending this year indulging mostly in nostalgia, recuperating from the terrible events of 2010. In moving some books in storage, I came across my copy of this. My copy has no covers, the pages are barely held together by the strip of exposed glue on the binding. The title page is hanging by a thread and is stained. All the pages are dog-eared and curled. Why all this damage? Because I carried it everywhere. I read it in the bath, in the pool, on vacations, during meals, I looked at it over and over and over again. I know every single page by heart. This, my friends, is the granddaddy of them all - this is, hands down, my favorite book from childhood and the most important book of my young life.
The oldest memory I have of it is that it was bought in the book section of a department store. I was probably around 8 years old, so 1975 seems likely. I don't recognize the sleeve image shown here, so it likely did not have a sleeve or my edition was sold without one. It was not bought used, I know for sure, because this was one of those perfect moments of childhood - you're in a boring store and suddenly you find something that looks like the GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD but there's no way your parents will buy it for you - it's a new book, way too expensive. And yet they did. God bless them, Mom or Dad, they did...
I remember, when the book HAD a cover, they were stiff board covers, red in color. I always referred to it as "the Red Book". This book is choc-a-bloc with pictures from a full range of horror movies - stills, promotional shots, lobby cards, posters. ALL kinds of horror films (it is a history, after all) - silents, Universals, Monogram programmers, early Brits and Hammers, indie films, Japanese movies from Toho, German films, on and on. The text is amazingly informative and this was probably the first "reference" book I ever owned, the first book that taught me what a reference book was and what it was for (I distinctly recall that this is the book wherein I figured out what indexes and bibliographies were and how they worked) - realizing over the years that there was just goldmines of information to be gleaned from the text as I moved from reading the obvious sections I cared about (Godzilla and giant monster movies) into the parts that seemed boring when younger, but took on greater significance as I grew older and my tastes broadened and deepened. And that broadening and deepening was in part BECAUSE of this book's existence.
This is not a children's book. There are some very spooky pictures, some disturbing, some bloody (some funny, as well). There are flashes of nudity from Hammer films. Every picture in this book is near talismanic to me. I can distinctly remember sitting with my Mother on the front porch, obsessively paging through it and showing her certain pictures and she suddenly asked me if I ever got scared looking at things like this (she would ask me the same questions year's later after she heard me listening to a cassette recording I had made of a TWILIGHT ZONE episode the night before). And I was dumbfounded by the question. Of course I did, I thought, wasn't that the point? But here's the thing, when you're a kid (or at least when I was a kid, with nascent anxiety problems still getting ready to unfold) the world is a terrifying place. Watching scary films allowed me to control that terror. Having a book like this to look at allowed me to control that terror as well. There were some pictures in this book that were so scary that I couldn't actually look at them... until I *could*, finally, look at them. Other pictures implied scariness without actually being obviously scary, and so I had to try to figure out why there were in the book. Special effects and makeup were on grand display, to be examined thoroughly. This book, "the Red Book", was like an entire run of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND condensed into one package and missing the corny jokes. This book and Fantastic Television were the two seminal books of my youth.
So thank you, Mr. Gifford, wherever you are. You are one of the primary reasons that I am who I am.
And, oh, to be 11 years old again - sitting in the shade on a cool concrete stoop, with the entire world buzzing around you on a summer afternoon, the future yet to unfurl, waiting until DR. SHOCK came on in a hour or so and you could see what this week's movie was (ROBOT VS. THE AZTEC MUMMY, according to your much-examined TV guide - if the clunky UHF antenna could pick up the signal from Philadelphia through the haze), ice cream sandwich in one grubby mitt, a newly purchased copy of a HOUSE OF MYSTERY comic book waiting by your side, and "the Red Book" open on your lap, daring you to finally look at that photo from "The Phantom of Soho" full in the face and not.. be... scared...
[EDIT] - and how strange, the memory, to closely examine this tattered document and to *NOT* see some pictures I distinctly remember. And to suddenly wonder if I had *two* books, which I have conflated in my memory. I think this may be so. I see no glimpses of Hammer nudity here, no horrifying picture from THE BLIND DEAD, no shots from the British TALES FROM THE CRYPT. And so another book must await me in storage, I hope. I hope.
The oldest memory I have of it is that it was bought in the book section of a department store. I was probably around 8 years old, so 1975 seems likely. I don't recognize the sleeve image shown here, so it likely did not have a sleeve or my edition was sold without one. It was not bought used, I know for sure, because this was one of those perfect moments of childhood - you're in a boring store and suddenly you find something that looks like the GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD but there's no way your parents will buy it for you - it's a new book, way too expensive. And yet they did. God bless them, Mom or Dad, they did...
I remember, when the book HAD a cover, they were stiff board covers, red in color. I always referred to it as "the Red Book". This book is choc-a-bloc with pictures from a full range of horror movies - stills, promotional shots, lobby cards, posters. ALL kinds of horror films (it is a history, after all) - silents, Universals, Monogram programmers, early Brits and Hammers, indie films, Japanese movies from Toho, German films, on and on. The text is amazingly informative and this was probably the first "reference" book I ever owned, the first book that taught me what a reference book was and what it was for (I distinctly recall that this is the book wherein I figured out what indexes and bibliographies were and how they worked) - realizing over the years that there was just goldmines of information to be gleaned from the text as I moved from reading the obvious sections I cared about (Godzilla and giant monster movies) into the parts that seemed boring when younger, but took on greater significance as I grew older and my tastes broadened and deepened. And that broadening and deepening was in part BECAUSE of this book's existence.
This is not a children's book. There are some very spooky pictures, some disturbing, some bloody (some funny, as well). There are flashes of nudity from Hammer films. Every picture in this book is near talismanic to me. I can distinctly remember sitting with my Mother on the front porch, obsessively paging through it and showing her certain pictures and she suddenly asked me if I ever got scared looking at things like this (she would ask me the same questions year's later after she heard me listening to a cassette recording I had made of a TWILIGHT ZONE episode the night before). And I was dumbfounded by the question. Of course I did, I thought, wasn't that the point? But here's the thing, when you're a kid (or at least when I was a kid, with nascent anxiety problems still getting ready to unfold) the world is a terrifying place. Watching scary films allowed me to control that terror. Having a book like this to look at allowed me to control that terror as well. There were some pictures in this book that were so scary that I couldn't actually look at them... until I *could*, finally, look at them. Other pictures implied scariness without actually being obviously scary, and so I had to try to figure out why there were in the book. Special effects and makeup were on grand display, to be examined thoroughly. This book, "the Red Book", was like an entire run of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND condensed into one package and missing the corny jokes. This book and Fantastic Television were the two seminal books of my youth.
So thank you, Mr. Gifford, wherever you are. You are one of the primary reasons that I am who I am.
And, oh, to be 11 years old again - sitting in the shade on a cool concrete stoop, with the entire world buzzing around you on a summer afternoon, the future yet to unfurl, waiting until DR. SHOCK came on in a hour or so and you could see what this week's movie was (ROBOT VS. THE AZTEC MUMMY, according to your much-examined TV guide - if the clunky UHF antenna could pick up the signal from Philadelphia through the haze), ice cream sandwich in one grubby mitt, a newly purchased copy of a HOUSE OF MYSTERY comic book waiting by your side, and "the Red Book" open on your lap, daring you to finally look at that photo from "The Phantom of Soho" full in the face and not.. be... scared...
[EDIT] - and how strange, the memory, to closely examine this tattered document and to *NOT* see some pictures I distinctly remember. And to suddenly wonder if I had *two* books, which I have conflated in my memory. I think this may be so. I see no glimpses of Hammer nudity here, no horrifying picture from THE BLIND DEAD, no shots from the British TALES FROM THE CRYPT. And so another book must await me in storage, I hope. I hope.
June 27, 2017
This is a really fun book for any fan of classic monster movies. The author clearly loves his subject and has a great sense of humor. His puns and quips are a delight. And the pictures alone are a great trip down Memory Lane.
August 10, 2019
I have had A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF HORROR MOVIES since its publication in the early 1970’s ... and I definitely was not alone. This was “The” monster movie book to own, and I’ve frequently spoken with grown-up Monster Kids who also owned a copy.
Here is the curious thing about it. I’d never read it. And, again, I was definitely not alone. The huge attraction of the book was the “Pictorial” part, featuring a treasure trove of wonderful photographs that I returned to many times through the years.
I decided to finally read it because of so many references to it by researchers, writers, and fans of the horror film. When I opened the pages again, it was like a cherished visit with a friend. In fact, I frequently knew what picture I would be seeing when I turned the next page.
So, was it worth the read? Absolutely. Denis Gifford’s writing style is informative with frequent departures into the realm of “dry wit” with a generous sprinkling of Forrest J. Ackerman-like playfulness. It was an excellent introduction to the stylistic influences that formed horror films including literary connections. The writer insists that his interpretation of “horror” must have a fantasy element, so PSYCHO doesn’t appear. But, a boatload of others do beginning with the silent excursions of Georges Melies and continuing through the heyday of Hammer Films.
This History is told from a British perspective, so even American film product has comments included about censors and the “H” certificate. Yet, the path he traces has a logical flow, is easy to follow, and gives an excellent view of how beloved cycles developed.
There are “issues” from time to time:
* Some Information is incorrect. This is not due to carelessness for the most part. Much of this occasional misinformation wasn’t corrected until the late 1980’s to around 2005 when new horror scholars uncovered long buried information. So, for example, there is an error about Lon Chaney’s make-up as Quasimodo, and a continuation of the “urban legend” that Bela Lugosi and Robert Florey abandoned FRANKENSTEIN to James Whale and Boris Karloff when they didn’t like the proposed make-up for the Creature. (At the same time, the story behind KING KONG is quite accurate and informative.)
* There are rare careless errors. A glaring example is the mis-identification of Barbara Shelley as “The Gorgon” in the caption for a photograph.
* While the photographs are wonderful, their placement throughout the book is sometimes confounding.
* Everyone is entitled to their opinion. It is curious, though, that a British writer equates the bulk of the output from Hammer Films as being on par with Monogram! (He did like PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES, though.)
A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF HORROR MOVIES was both informative and nostalgic for me. I did learn some things that I had not known before. And I did have the chance to revisit a much beloved book.
Here is the curious thing about it. I’d never read it. And, again, I was definitely not alone. The huge attraction of the book was the “Pictorial” part, featuring a treasure trove of wonderful photographs that I returned to many times through the years.
I decided to finally read it because of so many references to it by researchers, writers, and fans of the horror film. When I opened the pages again, it was like a cherished visit with a friend. In fact, I frequently knew what picture I would be seeing when I turned the next page.
So, was it worth the read? Absolutely. Denis Gifford’s writing style is informative with frequent departures into the realm of “dry wit” with a generous sprinkling of Forrest J. Ackerman-like playfulness. It was an excellent introduction to the stylistic influences that formed horror films including literary connections. The writer insists that his interpretation of “horror” must have a fantasy element, so PSYCHO doesn’t appear. But, a boatload of others do beginning with the silent excursions of Georges Melies and continuing through the heyday of Hammer Films.
This History is told from a British perspective, so even American film product has comments included about censors and the “H” certificate. Yet, the path he traces has a logical flow, is easy to follow, and gives an excellent view of how beloved cycles developed.
There are “issues” from time to time:
* Some Information is incorrect. This is not due to carelessness for the most part. Much of this occasional misinformation wasn’t corrected until the late 1980’s to around 2005 when new horror scholars uncovered long buried information. So, for example, there is an error about Lon Chaney’s make-up as Quasimodo, and a continuation of the “urban legend” that Bela Lugosi and Robert Florey abandoned FRANKENSTEIN to James Whale and Boris Karloff when they didn’t like the proposed make-up for the Creature. (At the same time, the story behind KING KONG is quite accurate and informative.)
* There are rare careless errors. A glaring example is the mis-identification of Barbara Shelley as “The Gorgon” in the caption for a photograph.
* While the photographs are wonderful, their placement throughout the book is sometimes confounding.
* Everyone is entitled to their opinion. It is curious, though, that a British writer equates the bulk of the output from Hammer Films as being on par with Monogram! (He did like PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES, though.)
A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF HORROR MOVIES was both informative and nostalgic for me. I did learn some things that I had not known before. And I did have the chance to revisit a much beloved book.
February 11, 2019
this was one of my favorite books as a kid. i would sit for hours studying these bizarre images.
February 9, 2017
I only picked this up in regards to my uni work but I was thoroughly impressed! The arguments and supporting facts throughout the book brought new ideas and concepts to my eyes, despite the book not being contemporary. Thoroughly recommend for any film theorists.
June 15, 2011
This is not a review (I'm still not comfortable doing that) merely a reminiscence. My parents bought me this book when I was six(!) years old, to keep me occupied in the car during long trips. Amazing photographs. A dark journey from Edison and Melies to the then current horror films of 1971. I owe a large chunk of my (some say) disturbing imagination to this book. My bible from 1973-1980.
April 3, 2010
1974! This is the book i checked out of the Whiting library about 10 times as a kid. It was instrumental in making me odd. I admit it. There.
March 27, 2013
Good collection of stills--but the cutesy text leans on word play to an extent that becomes annoying/distracting.
October 24, 2021
Very comprehensive international history of horror films. In some cases there might not be too much text about your fave horror movie but there will be a still or poster. Mostly b&w photos, a few in color.
Oversize with a good amount of full page pictures. Good for browsing. Bonus is an 8mm filmography, as well as bibliographies and an “H” certificate listing. A must for horror fans. As of 2021 this book was featured on the set of the TV show, Off Beat Cinema on Retro TV.
Oversize with a good amount of full page pictures. Good for browsing. Bonus is an 8mm filmography, as well as bibliographies and an “H” certificate listing. A must for horror fans. As of 2021 this book was featured on the set of the TV show, Off Beat Cinema on Retro TV.
May 18, 2023
This book has some of the most iconic scenes inside. Vincent Price (House on Haunted Hill), Frankenstein, Living Skeletons, Heads of Horror, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Clay Man Cometh, Lon Chaney, Claude Rains, Karloff and Lugosi, monsters, creatures... a beautiful pictorial stroll through movies that defined the genre. Great selection of pictures and screenshots. Highly recommended!
November 14, 2024
Reminded me of when I used to check out the old Crestwood orange black n white Monster movie books from the library as a kid.
The black n white photography in this is so so excellent. Love the old movie posters presented here as well.
It's highly recommended to leaf through this if you enjoy old horror movies.
The black n white photography in this is so so excellent. Love the old movie posters presented here as well.
It's highly recommended to leaf through this if you enjoy old horror movies.
January 17, 2022
I love this book. My mother bought it for me when I was 10. I replaced my original with a used copy.
It's a must for any one who grew up watching late night horror movies on Chiller Theater. Loaded with photos and history that we will never again see in our lifetime.
It's a must for any one who grew up watching late night horror movies on Chiller Theater. Loaded with photos and history that we will never again see in our lifetime.
September 8, 2019
This book was suggested by a booktuber HELLY, so I thought of giving it a try as I have a liking towards horror movies. It was good. The pictures in this were great.
May 22, 2020
This book contains a fantastic collection of stills but the writing is just average and pretty dry in parts.
May 16, 2017
I received this book when I was a kid; probably around the time I started reading the classic magazine FAMOUS MONSTER OF FILMLAND (an event that not only had a huge impact on my life, but on kids around the world. Thank you Forry!).
I know that Denis Gifford's A HISTORY OF HORROR MOVIES was definitely the first genre movie book I ever received, but it may very well be the first non-fiction book regarding film I ever got as well. I now have several copies of this book, but if you saw the tattered first copy I got as a child, held together after multiple reading by numerous rubber-bands, you would have no trouble believing that I have owned this book longer than many of you have been around.
This book is old skool, covering the classic horror films that existed long before Michael, Jason and Freddy made their film debuts. It is informative and entertaining, but what makes it most enjoyable is that you can tell it was written by someone who cared about the genre (not just someone looking to cash in on the horror movie market, as many authors have tried to do through the years).
So, if the names Chaney, Karloff, Lugosi, et al. mean anything to you, this is a book that would well be worth getting to know; like and old friend, it shares the same memories as you do, and it reminisces about them in a way that is always a pleasure to read.
I know that Denis Gifford's A HISTORY OF HORROR MOVIES was definitely the first genre movie book I ever received, but it may very well be the first non-fiction book regarding film I ever got as well. I now have several copies of this book, but if you saw the tattered first copy I got as a child, held together after multiple reading by numerous rubber-bands, you would have no trouble believing that I have owned this book longer than many of you have been around.
This book is old skool, covering the classic horror films that existed long before Michael, Jason and Freddy made their film debuts. It is informative and entertaining, but what makes it most enjoyable is that you can tell it was written by someone who cared about the genre (not just someone looking to cash in on the horror movie market, as many authors have tried to do through the years).
So, if the names Chaney, Karloff, Lugosi, et al. mean anything to you, this is a book that would well be worth getting to know; like and old friend, it shares the same memories as you do, and it reminisces about them in a way that is always a pleasure to read.
June 26, 2012
This was my favourite book as a kid. I remember somebody in our school having a copy, and after glancing at a few pages, it became top of my 1973 Christmas list. I got the book I wanted, and digested every morsel from its pages. I knew a bit about Hammer from late night TV, but this also covered early cinema as well as touching on Sc-Fi especially Japanese monster films. I used to flick through it on a regular basis, getting excited over pictures of The Wolfman, or Giant monsters destroying Tokyo. I had a clear out years ago, and thought I had got rid of this. But it has surfaced again albeit with a torn dustjacket to Once again rekindle some fond memories. I collected similar books over the years, but this was the best by a mile.
January 9, 2018
Not sure what book all the other reviewers read, but this was really hard to get through. The writing was very stilted and the sentences just didn't seem to flow. Its mostly just a list of movies and descriptions of what happens in them. At least the photos from the films were interesting, even if they were randomly placed in the book nowhere near where they were discussed...
April 20, 2010
chock full of pictures from classic horror movies, this updated book(from 1973) is a lot of fun. The text is a straightforward history, including chpaters on British movies etc. Nothing deep, one for the casual fan (like me) rather than the aficionado.
March 19, 2013
A great introduction to Horror Movies, even if the author's pro Universal, anti Hammer bias is evident.
July 6, 2013
This book cover takes me back to a time before I had seen any of the films, and was reading about them for the first time.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews