Halloween - Vintage Holiday Graphics by Taschen

For those who don't know, the ideology behind Halloween (or Hallowe'en, if you want to be particular about it) is about the one night of the year when the souls of the dead can wander among us, and by dressing up as something ghoulish it would keep them from bothering you, as they believed you were one of them. Ok, I'm not sure if the last part was added in later, but it's an old pagan tradition that is still well loved and cherished in places like Ireland, bonfires and all (even if the old beliefs are no longer followed), and has largely become a fun festival around the world that most people enjoy these days.

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Bargain-Bin books #3: King Kong the complete script by Lorenzo Semple, Jr.

This was one of a handful of oddities that popped up in work-related book sales, and I think I grabbed it for about 50 cents. I'm not sure why, as I was never all that crazy on the remake at the time, but it probably had a lot to do with the Frank Frazetta cover art. Since then though, I've swung around a little on the film, and I've decided to devote the rest of this week to Dino De Laurentiis and his mad attempts at bringing the big hairy fella back to the big screen.

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The JAWS Log by Carl Gottlieb

The summer has definitely arrived, and it's time for me to take a break from the kindle and enjoy catching up on the ever-increasing stack of paperbacks I have here. There's just no better feeling than catching a cool breeze in the shade while dipping in and out of a book. Wes M over at Plutonium Shores  is diving head first into film documentaries currently, and inspired me with his break downs to get back into this book that I started a few weeks back.Besides, if there ever was a film or novel that truly feels like 'summer', then surely it's Jaws?

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Space Monsters magazine (Cyberschzoid)

When I was in London recently, myself and my brother-in-law took a few hours off from working to pop into The Cinema Store - always a great way to spend an hour wandering around, browsing the goods that you wish you had the cash to buy. I always spend a great deal of time going through back issues of the likes of Famous Monsters of Filmland, and any other great looking cult or horror mags they have, mainly because I feel I missed out on a huge chunk of possible childhood memories by not being exposed to these at a younger age. Dublin in the late 80's and early 90's was not the best place to be into niche movies, especially if you were young and without disposable cash. Such a hardship I suffered!

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Bargain -Bin Books #2 - H.P. Lovecraft's 'Re-Animator'

(Published by Adventure Comics 1991)

"Of Herbert West, who was my friend in college and in after life, I can speak only with extreme terror."

So begins Herbert West- Reanimator, the serialised gruesome tale by H.P. Lovecraft. First published between February and July in 1922, it has gone on to be among the most well-known Lovecraft stories, but definitely not the most loved. 

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Bargain-Bin Books #1: Slob, by Rex Miller

Something I truly love to do is go trawling through second-hand book stores and car boot sales, scouring for odd cover art or editions of favorites that I've never seen before. Sometimes the books aren't necessarily great; but the art is what drew you to it in the first place, so I find it hard to pass on stuff like this, even if the story didn't exactly set the world on fire. At this point I have a pretty good collection of such bargain-bin finds, so I figured where better a place to share them?

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