Fangoria Magazine’s 2018 rise from the grave saw the publication move in new directions– namely by moving to a quarterly, more collectible print run and by publishing traditional novels like Our Lady of the Inferno and My Pet Serial Killer. Earlier this week Fangoria announced another new venture in the form of the new “Lifecast” series, a line of memoirs and biographies meant to shine a light on the people behind the monsters. The first of these new books, titled Naked Theater and Uncensored Horror, will focus on Stuart Gordon, perhaps best known for directing Reanimator. Fangoria provides us with this information on the book and the series as a whole:
Today FANGORIA is announcing the first installment in their LIFECAST series, which investigates the depths and inside secrets of the industry’s most prolific makers and minds. The series will give FANGORIA’s ravenous horror fans a source for the most coveted details about the monsters and the movie magic. “It’s a celebration of the people who bring our nightmares to life,” says FANGORIA’s Vanguard of The Vault Natasha Pascetta. Stuart Gordon will be the first to be featured by LIFECAST. “I’m honored to kick off this series. The book is filled with never-before-told stories and anecdotes,” Gordon promises.
In 1985, Stuart Gordon surprised audiences with his first feature film RE-ANIMATOR, the story of two medical students who create a serum that can revive the dead. The film won a Critics’ Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and became an instant cult classic. He went on to direct countless more cult favorites, including FROM BEYOND (1986) and CASTLE FREAK (1996), which FANGORIA just reimagined for the 2020 horror audience.
From his controversial play in 1968 (a psychedelic spin on PETER PAN) to the creation of the Organic Theater Company and all the way through each of his two dozen plus films, the memoir, titled Naked Theater and Uncensored Horror, will give readers a view of Gordon’s remarkable career, and will further illuminate his unique ways of thinking, writing, and shooting.
The sophomore book in the LIFECAST series will be a deep dive on the FX Masters from Special FX Industry Historian Heather Wixson. Wixson’s book will be rich with interviews, stories, and never-before-told anecdotes from nearly 100 of the industry’s most revered artists. In addition to the LIFECAST books, Vanguard Natasha Pascetta will host a companion podcast series that will present stories from special effects legends, crew members, the actors who play the movie monsters, & more!
The 2020 publishing date of Gordon’s memoir will be announced by FANGORIA in the coming months. Fans should look to the FANGORIA social media channels in anticipation of this very special and intimate look into the life of the King of Lovecraftian Horror.
As someone with a deep interest in all things filmmaking (as I’m sure most of you are, too) I couldn’t be more excited about this series. While there are a multitude of books on film and its history, I feel like relatively few have focused solely on the horror genre and those which have have opted for less of a direct and informational approach and tread more towards academic dissection of individual films and tropes. It looks like Fangoria is pushing to compile a lot of information about the genre which would otherwise be difficult to find if not lost completely, and the 12-year-old kid in me that collected those colorful magazines in the early 2000s would like nothing more than to create a library of genre knowledge.
