Horror Show [Paperback]

Greg Kihn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1997

Now a finalist for the Bram Stoker Awards for Best First Novel. It is Hollywood, 1996. When Monster Magazine reporter Clint Stockbern sets out to interview the legendary '50s horror movie director Landis Woodley, he uncovers a bizarre story of real-life horror.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Rock musician Greg Kihn obviously has tremendous affection for the kind of grade-B black and white horror films of the 50s that were turned out in record time by directors like Ed Wood and the early Roger Corman. In this first novel, he whips up a confection reminiscent of the Tim Burton movie Ed Wood--in which a Wood/Corman hybrid hangs out with a drug-addicted Béla Lugosi clone, a transvestite screenwriter, a Vampira clone, and various other oddballs in a lovingly detailed (wildroot oil on the hairdo, flash sport shirts, unfiltered Chesterfields) 50s Hollywood. The plot is thin, and is incidental to the characters and the mise en scene. Suffice it to say they get up to some hijinks involving desecration of corpses and a Satanist who can conjure up a Peruvian snake-god. Superficial, but highly amusing if you're in the right frame of mind. Horror Show is a nominee for a 1997 Bram Stoker Award. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Like the horror B-movies of the 1950s to which it pays heartfelt homage, this first novel from erstwhile rock star Kihn is a wild and wacky romp on the far fringe of tastefulness. Kihn fondly caricatures Hollywood schlockmeisters such as Roger Corman, William Castle and, especially, Ed Wood in a flashback account of the shooting of a Z-grade film, Cadaver, and the curse that has befallen those associated with the movie since its release in 1957. Landis Woodley, a second-rate director who "makes Ed Wood look like Kurosawa," is filming on location at the L.A. County Morgue when special-effects man Buzzy Haller gets the outlandish money-saving idea to use a real corpse as the monster. How can the filmmakers know that the remains they dig up are those of Albert Beaumond, a dead satanist possessed by a demon still very much alive? The ensuing mayhem exudes a ghoulish glee sure to appeal to devotees of midnight movies and drive-in double bills. Kihn has a knack for establishing characters, no matter how zany, in a few sure strokes. His interest in portraying these cinematic misfits as auteurs bucking the standards of a conservative industry are, thankfully, superseded by his sheer delight in imagining the tacky side of filmmaking on a shoestring. A fun-filled homage to monster movies in the day before huge budgets, this novel recalls the refrain of Kihn's hit "The Breakup Song": "They don't write 'em like that anymore."
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 274 pages
• Publisher: Tom Doherty Assoc Llc (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812551087
• ISBN-13: 978-0812551082
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,912,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This guy kihn write!, November 15, 2001

By 

Thomas "Reader, Writer, Music Fan" (Bay Area, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Horror Show (Paperback)

This one's got it all. For starters: far from the rock star vanity project I was suspecting this might've turned out, Greg Kihn actually knows how to write.

The back drop, 50s horror cheapies, is fun and fascinating. The characters are colorful and interesting. The plot moves along briskly, and avoids the self-indulgence of many larger books--no time wasted here. Beginning with a cliff hanger and leading to a deliciously twisted finale, I enjoyed every bit of this one, and am on to the next Kihn novel as I am writing this.

Oh, and did I mention: great sense of humor!

Good job!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Kihn is a real writer!, December 28, 2004

By 

Captdoherty "Captdoherty" (LOS ANGELES, CA, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Horror Show (Hardcover)

Just read this book and loved it. Greg Kihn, unlike so many other celebrities, is a real writer. This book is an entertaining homage to those cheesy but awesome "b" grade horror films you watched as a kid on rainy saturdays (at least my brother and I did...)

I also liked Mr. Kihn's depictions of 50's era Hollywood and the way he crafts a scene visually. The screenplay to this one should write itself.

For the record, I disagree with the reviewers who say he is ripping off "Ed Wood". Ed Wood was never as interesting as Landis Woodley...unless of course, Ed Wood secretly had a hideous monster living underneath his house while he was making all of those bad movies....

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cheers to B-Rated Horror flicks!, February 10, 2001

By 

Deborah A. Woehr (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Horror Show (Paperback)

Kihn starts out his story in 1996, where an eager reporter named Clint Stockbern manages to bribe his way into an interview with legendary B-Horror director, Landis Woodley. Woodley and his house are creepy, but that's just the sort of thing Stockbern loves. Woodley catapults you back to 1957, when horror movies were gaining popularity and Hollywood was in its early stages of rot and corruption. Landis and his band of misfits get together and a throw a Halloween bash, hoping the elite of the filmmaking business will show. They do manage to get "the horror queen" of television (Devila) and renowned Satanist (Albert Beaumond) to come. Albert takes Devila to his house, where he shows her a set of tuning forks he had stolen from an Indian tribe in Peru. These forks contain an ancient, terrible power, which he demonstrates with horrifying results. Devila flees the house when his body becomes possessed by a demon. She returns the next day and finds Albert delirious with fever. She steals the forks and takes them to Landis, hoping to make a fortune. She forgets to prepare for the ritual. The demon possesses her and drives her insane. She kills herself two days later. Then it goes after Albert, who has climbed an electrical tower in the mountains. Albert succeeds in killing himself, trapping the demon inside his body. This ends Albert's troubles, but his body winds up in the LA County Morgue, where Landis and his crew are filming a shock-movie they call Cadaver. Albert's badly decomposed body is a godsend to them. They make the film, and Landis Woodley is given a taste of success, which doesn't last for very long. He and his crew are cursed by the demon, who has claimed all but Landis. His turn is comes in 1996, unbeknownst to Clint Stockbern, who is unaware of the thing hiding under the basement crawlspace. Horror Show is a fast-paced chiller with plenty of blood-curdling screams, ghosts, demonic posssessions, etc. A great yarn to pass the time.