Step Right Up!: I'm Gonna Scare the Pants off America [Paperback]

William Castle (Author), John Waters (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1992

From the heyday of the '50s B-movies through the disaster genre of the '70s, William Castle was an extraordinary movie mogul who produced such classic thrillers as Straight Jacket, Homicidal and Rosemary's Baby. Here are the outrageous memoirs of an American original whose life was every bit as outlandish as his movies. Photographs. Filmography.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

America's "Master of the Macabre" is at it again. Remember the Lloyds of London life insurance policy that protected moviegoers if they were frightened to death by "Macabre"? Or the theatre seats that buzzed when "The Tingler" came on screen...and the refund for cowards who could not face the last terrifying minutes of "Homicidal"? Bill Castle loved scaring the pants off America...especially with his most famous hit, "Rosemary's Baby." Castle has always sought and found the thrill of thrilling--a mark of successful showmanship. And he's at it again, with his greatest gimmick of all time soon to come. Follow him daily at www.williamcastle.com and join his fan club at www.williamcastlefanclub.com. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: World Almanac (February 15, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0886876575
• ISBN-13: 978-0886876579
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,286,585 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

America's "Master of the Macabre" is at it again. Remember the Lloyds of London life insurance policy that protected moviegoers if they were frightened to death by "Macabre"? Or the theatre seats that buzzed when "The Tingler" came on screen...and the refund for cowards who could not face the last terrifying minutes of "Homicidal"? Bill Castle loved scaring the pants off America...especially with his most famous hit, "Rosemary's Baby." Castle has always sought and found the thrill of thrilling--a mark of successful showmanship. And he's at it again, with his greatest gimmick of all time soon to come. Follow him daily at www.williamcastle.com and join his fan club at www.williamcastlefanclub.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Horror and Sci-Fi , They don't make them like that anymore., September 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Step Right Up!: I'm Gonna Scare the Pants off America (Paperback)

I found this book to be one of the best autobiographies I have ever read. William Castle made every bit of his life a thorough joy to read.. It was a book that I could not put down. I took it everywhere, just to see what crazy gimmick he would come up with next. A must read. I don't want to give you any details because it would just spoil the book. This book and the two below give a true sense of what it was like to make "quality" B-movies in the 50's and 60's

Check out - Roger Corman's: How I Made A Hundred Movies In Hollywood and Never Lost A Dime. and Samuel Z. Arkoff's: Flying Through Hollywood By The Seat of My Pants.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent auto-biography of the last great Ballyhoo artist!, October 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Step Right Up!: I'm Gonna Scare the Pants off America (Paperback)

For any 1950s - 1960s horror fan, this cult classic filmmaker writes about his experiences within the crazy & zany Hollywood system of the past in the most entertaining fashion of storytelling. Wonderful tales about how Castle created some of his horror film gimmicks & publicity stunts, to his producing experiences with Roman Polanski on 'Rosemary's Baby.' It is an honest auto-biography in which boths side of Castle are revealed (from the Hollywood filmmaker to the family man he was). If you find this book, get it! It is a collector's item!!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quick and fun but lacking, October 5, 2009

By 

Wayne M. Malin "Preppy" (Malden MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Step Right Up!: I'm Gonna Scare the Pants off America (Paperback)

Autobiography of William Castle originally published in 1976. In it he gives a quick overview of his childhood, his experience in stage and his pictures--in particular the gimmicks he used. It is fun finding out how he came up with the gimmicks like "Emergo" or "Percepto" and sold them--but that's about all he talks about. There' s plenty of info on how he dealt with the tyrannical head of Columbia studios Harry Cohn but next to nothing on how he cast the movies, how the actors were, how he liked directing. He only gets into detail about working with Roman Polanski on "Rosemary's Bbay", Joan Crawford doing "Straight-Jacket" and Marcel Marceau doing "Shanks" but nothing about Vincent Price, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Taylor and any of the other actors he directed. So while I did enjoy the book (it's quick and fun to read) I wanted more info on the actors he worked with and the stories. This book has precious little of both. Still it comes from him and this is probably all we'll ever know about Castle. So it's VERY good but just a little lacking.