Customer Reviews

Trashfiend: Disposable Horror Culture of the 1960s & 1970s

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a child of '70s monster-ANYTHING, I had high expectations for this book but I was quickly disappointed by the reality. Cobbled together from 'zine articles and blog postings, the writing is stilted and lacks charm, often dwelling on dull minutia and missing opportunities to expand beyond a single product/film/point of interest. It's not a "terrible" book but it's certainly a disappointment for those hoping for a more comprehensive cross-section of the "monster craze" of that era. Mine went up for sale immediately after being (mostly) read, which is a bit of condemnation that I chose not to keep it as part of the collection.

I recently ordered Scott Stine's kick butt book Trashfiend and read it in two days. I could not put it down. In fact, the only time that I put it down was to pee, grab a brew, pee more, eat pizza, and sleep...and maybe drink more. In fact, as soon as I finished the first chapter I found myself craving pizza and beer. There are only a few things that influence me like that. They are the Sloppy Seconds album Destroyed, Slumber Party Massacre part 2, commercials about pizza and beer, and now Trashfiend. I have tons of books about B-movies, old school collectibles, horror hosts,classic horror comics, etc but there are some that I place above all others. Cinema Sewer Voumes 1 and 2, Nightmare USA, and Slimetime. Now Trashfiend has earned a vomit soaked spot right next to those God-like tomes on my bookshelf. This book is packed with delightful info on all of the topics that bottom of the barrel trash-hounds like myself crave-terrible movies (terrible meaning amazing and worthy of worship),forgotten toys and trinkets of days gone by(why does everything for kids SUCK now?)classic horror comics and literature,and way more stuff that I'm not mentioning because it is more fun to get a book and be surprised, so I won't give away all of the details, but there is MUCH more than just what I wrote about included within these scummy pages, but you gotta just see for yourself. One of the highlights of the book would be the final chapter about Scott trying to find info about his favorite horror host that he watched as a kid. I grew up watching Dr. Paul Bearer's Creature Features in St. Petersburg, FL and before the internet took over the world and my soul, I too felt the pain of trying to find out as much as I could about my beloved witty spook show friend. I didn't have as much trouble as Scott had, but I can share a decent amount of his pain. Is it sick that my eyes started watering a little bit at certain points of this chapter? Anyways, I am really bad at writing reviews, so, to make a long review even longer, this book is a great read. Scott has a wonderful style of writing that makes me feel as if I am hanging out with one of my good friends talking horror, etc. He is witty, full of priceless info, and he also seems to be a very humble man. He doesn't have a know it all hipster attitude that seems to run rampant in books of this sort these days, like I said, when you are done reading the book, you kind of feel like you know him! This book hits on everything to satisfy your sickness, it even has a killer chapter about collecting 8mm horror films. It was such a groovy chapter that I went and bought some 8mm titles online right after I read it. Darn you Scott! You are making me spend all of my cash! I have always been a VHS guy, but this chapter opened my eyes to a whole new area of collecting, and after all, isn't that what trashfiends are on the prowl for anyways, new areas of collecting to blow our cash on? I say all of this in a positive way, so don't think it's a bad thing! My wife got jealous because I couldn't stop reading this book.
Dang it, buy the book ladies and gents. I have been drinking so I apologize for my rambling. I'm gonna go re-read Trashfiend.
It rules. Buy it. Oh, and to the reviewer with the negative Nancy attitude...umm...a little uptight are we? Do you even enjoy the kind of stuff written about in the book? The book is called Trashfiend. You seem like you were expecting Paradise Lost or something.

I'll make this simple for you: if you're a horror/b-movie fan at all, you NEED this book in your life. Scott Stine covers some of his favorite b-movies, writes up reviews for blaxploitation horror films (not exactly a crowded subgenre!), gives us the scoop on John Stanley and Pat Boyette's horror films (if you know those names, you should be ordering this book at this very moment), and even writes a compelling chapter about how he wasn't able to write a chapter of the book on his favorite horror host from his childhood! This description just barely scratches the surface of the book, and Stine's conversational writing style is perfect for the subject matter. Tremendous fun.

Scott Stein has written a highly entertaining book on movies, magazines, comics and other ephemera related to the horror genre, and done it with insight and a unique and fun point of view. The book is a page turner and is highly recommended for those who grew up and enjoyed pop culture of the 1960s and 1970s.

Nick C.