Cinemonsters

by Charles G. Waugh (Editor), Martin H. Greenberg (Editor), Frank H. McSherry Jr. (Editor)

Who goes there? / John W. Campbell, Jr. --
Masque of the Red Death / Edgar Allan Poe --
Casting the runes / M.R. James --
The foghorn / Ray Bradbury --
The skull of the Marquis de Sade / Robert Bloch --
Mother by protest / Richard Matheson --
The empire of the ants / H.G. Wells --
Herbert West, reanimator / H.P. Lovecraft --
Killdozer! / Theodore Sturgeon --
The enchanted kiss / O. Henry --
Dracula's guest / Bram Stoker --
There shall be no darkness / James Blish.

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Anthologies, Fiction

319 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1988

About the author

Charles Gordon Waugh was born in Philadelphia, PA, in 1943.
He has published over 261 books, most of which are SF, fantasy, or horror anthologies and he has taught at Syracuse University, Ithaca College, Kent State University, and the University of Maine at Augusta.

Waugh is known primarily as a co-editor (with Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg) of the “Mammoth Book” series of genre anthologies.

Reviews

[Ross Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an anthology of classic science fiction and horror stories that have been adapted into film and television programs.

The book contains the following stories:
"Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell, Jr. filmed as "The Thing"
"Masque Of The Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe filmed as "Masque Of The Red Death"
"Casting The Runes" by M. R. James filmed as "Night Of The Demon"
"The Foghorn" by Ray Bradbury filmed as "Beast From 20,000 Fathoms"
"The Skull Of The Marquis De Sade" by Robert Bloch filmed as "The Skull"
"Mother By Protest" by Richard Matheson filmed as "The Stranger Within"
"The Empire Of The Ants" by H. G. Wells filmed as "The Empire Of The Ants"
"Herbert West, Re-Animator" by H. P. Lovecraft filmed as "Re-Animator"
"Killdozer" by Theodore Sturgeon filmed as "Killdozer"
"The Enchanted Kiss" by O. Henry filmed as "The Enchanted Kiss"
"Dracula's Guest" by Bram Stoker filmed as "Dracula's Daughter"
"There Shall Be No Darkness" by James Blish filmed as "The Beast Must Die"

This is a terrific collection of stories, one of the few anthologies where I have liked everything in it.
The book also has an appendix that compares the original stories with their filmed versions,includingeach different production where appropriate, noting the similarities as well as the differences from page to screen.

[Kooshmeister · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it's nice having all these stories together, for a book edited by three different people, it's a pretty slapdash affair. Although it promises to cover the differences between the stories and the films based on them, it saves this for an appendix at the end and each individual story/movie(s)' entry, with cast list(s), is lazily brief, and there are a number of errors. For Re-Animator, it credits Robert Sampson as Dean Halsey twice, and even though it correctly identifies David Gale as Hill, in a still of Hill's headless body carrying his own head in a tray that accompanies the actual story, it identifies Hill as being played by Fritz Weaver (!). In the cast list for 1982's The Thing, it credits Richard Dysart as playing "Dr. Cooper," not Dr. Copper, and in its synopsis of that movie, claims that "the closing scene reveals that the attempt [to kill the alien] has failed," which is in no way definite, and very misleading of Waugh, Greenberg and McSherry to put in.

Another puzzling thing is theme under which Killdozer! is placed. Most of the stories are classified under different themes - Who Goes There? is under Aliens, Herbert West - Reanimator is under Mad Scientists, There Shall Be No Darkness is under Werewolves, etc. - but Killdozer! is under... Mutants. I confess that I haven't tucked into Killdozer! yet (I've only seen the film and never read the original story), but how exactly does a possessed vehicle count as a mutant?

And finally, there's the judgment against (then) new horror. I know nothing about Waugh, Greenberg and McSherry outside of this collection they've edited, but considering that the introduction waxes philosophic about seeing 1932's The Mummy and 1944's The Mummy's Ghost in the theater, refers to Hawks' The Thing from Another World as the superior film to Carpenter's The Thing (which is debatable and reeks of kneejerk reactionism), and disgustedly dismisses Re-Animator as "repulsively carnographic," I'm thinking the three were old fogies who shook their heads in scowling distaste at what the 80s had to offer in terms of sci-fi and horror.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best anthology of stories I read for quite a while. Those 12 stories were made into movies. The movie is presented in the story at the beginning or the end with a movie still (nice idea). It kicks off with Aliens and John Campbells superb story "Who Goes There?". The 1982 movie is one of my all time favorites. Then we meet Death Personified in Poe's "The Mask of the Read Death" (Vinent Price is unforgettable here). Demons are introduced with M.R. James great story "Casting the Runes". When it comes to Dinosaurs we listen to Ray Bradbury's "The Floghorn". Ghosts are here with a very special one, Robert Bloch's "The Skull of the Marquis de Sade". Halflings scared the living daylights out of me with Richard Matheson's "Mother by Protest". Insects are featured in Wells "The Empire of Ants". The Mad Scientist is no one else than "Herbert West, Reanimator" by Lovecraft. Mutants are in with Sturgeon's "The Killdozer". Sorcerers are featured in O. Henry's "The Enchanted Kiss". Vampires are presented in "Dracula's Guest" by Stoker and last and least Werewolves come in with James Blish's "There Shall Be No Darkness". Excellent anthology from 1987 featuring scary stuff and great movies. Highly recommended!

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad collection of short stories, all of which were made into horror or sci-fi movies or both. Most of them were great fun to read.