Martin Noble - Bloodbath At The House Of Death (Star, 1984)

There is a curse on Headstone Manor - and a team of top scientists have arrived to investigate the phenomenon. But they will shortly be engulfed in a deluge of terror. For tonight is the Night of Blood - ringed in rhesus negative on the calendar of fear. The night when the Sinister Man will lead the locals in a ceremony to herald the return of THE MASTER. Can you take the Bloodbath? Or will you too die laughing?

Thanks to Franklin Marsh of Vault of Evil for the cover scan!

The Gordons - Experiment In Terror (Corgi, 1962)

As she got into the car, a strong, gloved hand slipped about her neck. A man’s voice said: “I’m not going to harm you. I just want to talk. Just sit where you are, but don’t try anything. I’ve got a gun on you - and they say I’ve got a trigger temper when I’m crossed.”

Experiment In Terror is now filmed, starring Glenn Ford and Lee Remick. A Geoffrey-Kate production for Columbia Pictures. Produced and directed by Blake Edwards.  

The work of Mildred Gordon and the splendidly named Gordon Gorden. Originally published by MacDonald as Operation Terror the previous year.

Delos W. Lovelace - King Kong (Gollancz, 2005: originally Grosset & Dunlop, 1932)

It will have to wait its turn, but I was pleased to find this in the Spitalfields Crypt charity shop today, ’specially as I was unaware of its existence. Lovelace’s novelisation of the original King Kong, given a welcome reissue to tie in with the Peter Jackson remake. There’s an afterword by Stephen Jones: The Eighth Wonder Of The World.

Like many people, I suspect, I was always under the delusion that Ramsey Campbell wrote all six of the ‘classic horror’ novelisations credited to ‘Carl Dreadstone’ and, later, on their UK publication, ‘ E. K. Leyton’, so I’m very grateful to Ian Covell for giving me permission to reproduce the following correspondence.

“The Universal Horror Library” series is interesting in about five ways -

(1) Ramsey Campbell says that it was commissioned by Star Books [W H Allen] although all the books first appeared from Berkley Medallion in the US.

Campbell: The Universal monster movie novels were commissioned by Piers Dudgeon of Star Books in London. The original idea was that I should write all six, but two werewolf novels would have been one too many, and since I can’t swim, I wouldn’t have been much use to the Creature from the Black Lagoon. At the time I didn’t know to suggest David Schow. We therefore needed a house name, and I originally suggested Carl Thunstone, but Manly Wade Wellman felt people might think it was hiding him. Dreadstone was the compromise. For the record-and no matter how many times I say this, I seem to need to repeat myself-I did not write The Mummy, The Werewolf of London or The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and even Piers can’t recall who did.

From scifi.com

(2) Campbell wrote 3 of the 6 books - acknowledged at Tartarus — and Walter (”The Day I Died”) Harris wrote 1 of the others; I don’t recall who wrote the other two

(3) Berkley published them in pairs - June, July, and August 1977 - all as by Carl Dreadstone. “Tandem-Universal” (it was on that cusp when Tandem was becoming Universal and then Star, and I can’t remember what stage they were at) published the first three in Oct, Nov and Dec 1978 as by Dreadstone.. and then stopped publishing them until 1980, when they brought them out by Star under the pseudonym “E K Leyton” - I have no idea why they changed the pseudonym, but I do know it has caused confusion all round.

(4) The UK editions (without the film covers and film stills of the US editions) do look crap alongside the US editions.

(5) I don’t think I ever knew about the hardcover omnibus of “The Mummy” and “The Werewolf of London”. I presume it preceded any of the UK paperback editions [I am not convinced it was '77 *] but it is puzzling that they collected _those_ 2 novels, and not all 6.. especially since neither of them was by Campbell.. although he has been known to sign copies because of his introduction.

* Ian’s scepticism on this point is justified. On checking the book I found it was published in 1978, not 1977 like some feeb had originally speed-posted *blush*

Ian

UNIVERSAL HORROR LIBRARY
Berkley Medallion originals illustrated throughout with stills; introductions by Ramsey Campbell

Bride of Frankenstein, The
As by Carl Dreadstone [Ramsey Campbell] Berkley Medallion June 1977 (abr); Tandem-Universal 19 Oct 1978 (restored text)
0425034143 cover

The Mummy
As by Carl Dreadstone [??] Berkley Medallion June 1977; Tandem-Universal Nov 1978
0425034453

The Werewolf of London
As by Carl Dreadstone [Walter Harris, I believe] Berkley Medallion July 1977; Tandem-Universal Dec 1978
0425034135

The Creature from the Black Lagoon
As by Carl Dreadstone [??] Berkley Medallion July 1977
As by E K Leyton [???] Star 80
042503464X

Wolfman, The]
As by Carl Dreadstone [Ramsey Campbell] Berkley Medallion Aug 1977
As by E K Leyton [Ramsey Campbell] Star 80
0425034461

Dracula’s Daughter
As by Carl Dreadstone [Ramsey Campbell] Berkley Medallion Aug 1977
As by E K Leyton [Ramsey Campbell] Star 80
0425034631 cover

The Mummy & The Werewolf of London [Omn]
As by Carl Dreadstone [??] Allan Wingate hc 1978

..oops, forgot to mention, the “Ian Thorne” who did one novelisation of The Creature from the Black Lagoon is a pseudonym of the SF writer Julian May…

The hardcover is just weird - it’s not the first two or last two published. They aren’t both by Campbell (in fact, neither is) and they didn’t follow it up with the others. [Compile an Omnibus] out all 3 Campbell books, and you could have created a Collectors’ item. Limited library printing sounds right.

Crestwood House [US] had other novelisations done at roughly the same time (1977???)…

By Carl R. Green, William R. Sanford, Howard Schroeder
Black Cat
Black Friday
Bride of Frankenstein
Dracula’s Daughter
Ghost of Frankenstein
House of Fear
House of Seven Gables
Invisible Man, The
Mole People, The
Murders In The Rue Morgue, The
Phantom of the Opera, The
Raven, The
Revenge of the Creature, The
Tarantula
Werewolf of London

By Ian Thorne [really Julian May]
Blob, The
Creature From The Black Lagoon
Deadly Mantis
Dracula
Frankenstein
Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman
Godzilla
It Came From Outer Space
King Kong
Mad Scientists
Mummy, The
Wolf Man, The

…and Paul DiFilippo recently (2007?) wrote a sequel to the film called CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON: TIME’S BLACK LAGOON

Dave Stern - Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (Pocket, June 2001)

Based on the screenplay written by Patrick Massett & John Zinman and Simon West.

The clock is ticking and time is running out …

William Pattrick (ed) - Duel: Horror Stories Of The Road (W. H. Allen, 1987: Star, 1987)

William Pattrick - Introduction

William Le Quex - The Car With The Green Lights
E. F. Benson - The Dust-Cloud
Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle - How It Happened
Archie Binns - The Last Trip
Elizabeth Bowen - The Demon Lover
H. R. Wakefield - Jay Walkers
Betsy Emmons - The Ghost Of The Model T
Ken Batten - The Ghost Car
L. T.C. Rolt - New Corner
William F. Nolan - “Just Like Wild Bob”
Charles Beaumont - Autosuggestion
Richard Matheson - Duel
Jack Finney - Second Chance
Stephen King - Trucks
Roald Dahl - The Hitch-Hiker

First published as a short story in “Playboy” magazine, adapted by the screen by the author, Richard Matheson, and made into a film directed by a young man with a great future - Stephen Spielberg. Long out of print, it is published here for the first time in an anthology.

This unique collection also features the work of some of the finest horror writers of all time ….

“William Pattrick” is a pseudonym of Peter Haining.

 Gaston LeRoux - The Phantom Of The Opera (W. H. Allen, 1985)

The story of the Phantom of the Opera, a half-crazed musician hiding in the labyrinth of the famous Paris Opera House and creating a number of strange and mysterious events to further the career of a beautiful young singer, is today regarded as one of the most famous of all horror stories: widely mentioned in the same breath as Frankenstein and Dracula. Yet the fame of this novel, first written by the French journalist turned novelist Gaston Leroux, in 1911, is based almost entirely on the various film versions which have been made over the years. Remarkable performances by two actors, Lon Chaney and Claude Rains, helped to make the Phantom an immortal figure. The original book, however, has been largely ignored, rarely in print, and the first edition (in either French or English) is now a collector’s item.

To mark the 75th Anniversary of the story, this new edition of the book is appearing complete with a Foreword by leading horror expert Peter Haining. In this extensive essay, he traces the history of the Phantom of the Opera — its basis in fact, the poor reception of the novel, but its astonishing success in the cinema. He also describes the larger-than-life character of Gaston Leroux and notes how the figure of the Phantom has become so familiar that it is even used by the media when describing terrible theatre tragedies. The book is also enlivened by some sketches and illustrations.

This edition of the classic horror story also has a special Appendix in which the Phantom is linked with that great detective of the same period — Sherlock Holmes. The speculation concerning these two makes this volume a must for all Sherlockians.

Peter Saxon - Corruption (Sphere, 1968)

Where will the bodies turn up next?

A brilliant surgeon becomes a multiple killer … to preserve the beauty of the woman he loves.

Himself responsible for the accident which disfigures her, Sir John Rowan performs a brilliant operation to restore Lynn’s horribly scarred face.

But the effects are short lived.

Spurred by his infatuation for her, he is forced to repeat in secret the dangerous but vital operation on Lynn’s face.

And each time he operates, a woman is found murdered … and disfigured.

Thanks to Andy (nightreader) of Vault for yet another brilliant scan.

William Johnston - Asylum (Bantam, Dec. 1972)

Novelisation of the Amicus classic adapted from Robert Bloch short stories.

See Vault of Evil’s Bloch at Amicus thread

Thanks to Andy for the cover scan.

 Dan Greenberg - The Guardian (Berkley, 1990)

Phil and Julie have everything going for them: a happy marriage, promising careers, and now a new baby boy. Into their lives comes Nanny, experienced with children and blessed with glowing recommendations. Granny brings Phil and Julie the kind of freedom every parent desires.

Phil and Julie can’t live without Nanny. And if they try, she might not let them live at all ….