Customer Reviews

Creepy Crawls: A Horror Fiend's Travel Guide

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm a huge horror fan, and the thought of someone going to visit locations that are a part of horror history sounds very interesting to me. Unfortunately the authors choice of writing style pretty much ruined the experience. I would always chuckle at Forry Ackerman`s silly choice of words describing pictures or in brief articles in the old Famous Monsters magazine. Who didn't get a kick out of the Crypt Keeper introducing the latest episode of Tales From the Crypt or enjoy the Cain and Abel in the old DC House comics?

This writing style was amusing as it was brief, I can stomach someone refering to "Boys and Girls" as "Boils and Ghouls" or using a slew of adjectives beginning with the same letter for a bit, but let's face it, it gets in the way after awhile. It takes the focus off the subject you find yourself counting the number of times the author uses the word "verily" I was interested in the locations and what they look like now, not reading a bunch of horror puns and extremely redundant plays on words.

Bottom line, reading an entire book written like this is just plain annoying. Had the author chosen to just write like this for one chapter, or at the beginning of chapters, it might have worked. Of course without all those goofy adjectives, the text would be considerably shorter. All the better, then the pictures could have been bigger.

I swear if I never read the words "your cruelly" or "creepy reader" again it'll be too soon.

Creepy Crawls is an inspirational book for both aspiring writers and horror movie fanboys. Originally published as a series of articles in various top notch horror magazines, collecting all of the travel log entries and locales into one place spares everyone the trouble of searching through back issues. Most importantly, Mr. Marcelo did something that a lot of fans never do: he actually did something with his fandom and wrote a book about his interests and experiences. The detail of his book indeed does come from a lifetime of traveling and indulging in his dark delights, to copy Mr. Marcelo's Crypt Keeper style of writing. I'm hoping that others follow in his footsteps and learn to take their passion and indulgences and turn them into something we all can enjoy and learn from.

Well I have to say the writer's cheeky style of writing reminded me of a wanna be elvira.. except the writer had abused a thesuraus to make this tome. I purchased this book hoping to see good photography of these sites. If you are seeking alot of decent photographs, i suggest looking them up on the internet, you will not find them here save but a few. I am an artist, and as such really purchased this to get some reference material. In that department it was lacking. The writer gave much information about the sites, and the visiting and i can not fault him there, i just wish he didnt try to come off as a mister and mrs of the dark in every sentence in this travel log.

hmm what am i listening to right now? Misfits - Skulls

yours crue.. oh god the writer has me typing it now. ;)

buy this is you want a travel log of these horror sites written in a very cheesy horror esque manner ( its like plan 9 from outer space meets the typerwriter!), if you want reference on these sites , seek other sources.

Creepy Crawls is one of the most unique and fun travel books I've had the pleasure to read! Not just for horror fans, anyone who has ever wondered about the dark, secret places in the world, just beyond the shiny veneer of well-travelled places, will love this informative book. There is much more to the textbook history and tourist approved places of any given city, country or culture-- read Creepy Crawls and see what some of them are. I highly disagree with a couple previous reviewers who did not like Leon Marcelo's word choice. The language of the book makes an interesting topic even more entertaining to read. It reflects the tone and feel of the places and the spirit in which the book was written. This book is a personal, hair-raising guide to curious, unforgettable places for any traveller who is wearied by shallow tourism. A great gift that can please a wide range of people: history buffs, horror fans, travel lovers (experienced or not), supernatural seekers, collectors of the wonderfully weird and many more. Creepy Crawls will take you beyond the pale!

Mr. Marcelo's careful research is instantly apparent here. He has obviously traveled to all of the locations he describes. Marcelo seamlessly combines his thoughtful, detailed first-hand observation of an interesting (and innovative) array of sites with his love of literature. He clearly has fun here, and so did I. Kryptalicious kudos!

Obviously the author pounded the pavement and researched everything on location. Valuable reference guide and resource for finding actual locations. Some of the histrionics detailed within are well done. Pictorals are EXCELLENT and done with EFFECT.

However what spoiled it for me is the book bogs down with overdone sophomoric expression -
words like vile, macabre and "MORBID" ?? Please ! it distracts from an otherwise well researched and prepared tour of places people have long been curious about. I found the author a bit annoying at times trying to impresss with this pseudo crypt keeper persona....overdone and tried to hard....takes away from the book. One tends to lose interest after a chapter or two....but then a month later you spot the cover on the book and pick it up again....Kinda like going through "GROUNDHOG DAY"..you'll pick it up and put it down a 1/2 dozen times.

But locations, historical bibliography and photos are AA +

Just lose the crypt keeper idiosyncracies will ya ?

It is a fair assumption that anyone interested in such a title will be familiar with the puppet Cryptkeeper from "Tales from the Crypt." Remember the way he constructed his sentences? Remember the "Boils and Ghouls"? The "scarallel parkings"? The "Cryptmass decorations"? Yes, all those horrible, atrocious puns that opened and closed every episode. Some actually were funny for a minute or so, weren't they?

Well, now imagine someone speaking to you and using nothing but those. For four hours, non-stop. Then imagine that in those rare moments when he's not using aggressively awful puns, he forms everything he says in the classic Vincent Price "Verily, I shall overdo this line, for the hour of the macabre shall be upon thee, dear listener!" way, and using similar vocabulary. And that he's saying everything in the voice of Boris Pickett from "The Monster Mash." And that he believes all of that is witty, enchanting and impressive.

Not very fun anymore, is it? Not tolerable, either. But that is the way in which the author of "Creepy Crawls" attempts to communicate with his readers. For three hundred and seventy-three pages.

Perhaps there is some useful and interesting information hidden somewhere between all the "Grue Jerseys", "Creepy Readers" and "Yours cruellies" - but trying to find it is like attempting to discover the taste of a soup into which someone poured a jar of habanero sauce. The horror is all that you can taste, the horror is all that you can see.

(Incidentally, I would wager a guess that removing all the painful puns would decrease the book's size by at least a few dozen pages - which would perhaps make enough space in it to include some photographs that are not stamp-sized, pixelated, and possessing all the quality of a dot-matrix printout.)

It is a rare case that I put aside a book and deem it unreadable. This was one.

If you have a strong fascination for the dark, macabre and mysterious aspects of literature, film, music and history and possess a tongue-ripped-from-cheek, err, I mean tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, "Creepy Crawls" comes highly recommended. Marcelo delivers an entertaining and informative travel guide that is truly like no other!! Forget the Eiffel Tower and the Beverly Hills mansions of the Hollywood Stars, this book takes you to the dark underbelly of London & Paris, the haunts of Poe and Lovecraft, the settings for "The Exorcist" and "Friday the 13th" and more obscure and grim locales than you can swing a bloody axe at.... Once again, if you are a fan of slasher flicks, horror novels, serial killers, Death / Black Metal and all the sick things this twisted worlds has to offer: CHECK THIS OUT!!! If stuff like that scares you: stay the Hell away!!!!!

A must read for horror fans and fans of the macabre in general. Part history lesson and part travelogue, covering everything from legends and real life murderers to literary giants and classic horror films! If you want to know more about where they really happened this is the perfect source. Works as a guide book if you plan to make some trips yourself or you can just experience it all through the writing and photographs in the book itself. Great writing style that is fun and entertaining while at the same time really informative and knowledgeable. Of special interest to me is the visit to Dario Argento's legendary PROFONDO ROSSO shop in Rome. I'll probably never make it there in person, but somehow I feel I have been there after reading that chapter! Do yourself a favor and read this book

You have a good book here, Leon. One thing I can say is, and I am not trying to play devils advocate here, but don't just state for a matter of fact, but explain why. This will give your work a lot more "weight" All in all, good work.

Mike