Unsung Heroes Book by Eric McNaughton

Unsung Horrors edited by Eric McNaughton and Darrell Buxton, with a foreward by Joe Dante. (2016)

Mike Hauss, Monster/ TOG film critic extraordinaire hooked me up again with a reviewer copy for this follow up by Eric McNaughton to his excellent 70’s Monster Memories, which was tackled a year ago. If you dig the Paxton/ Fenton zine Monster and who doesn't, it's almost as popular as vaping, maybe more and doesn't cause sterility or popcorn lung! Then you'll definitely chip a tooth over We Belong Dead (http://webelongdeadofficial.blogspot.co.uk/) a UK based magazine that offers a PDF that's compatible for various formats like Kindle.

Fellow "Monster Historian or Monstorian" Mike Hauss is a swell guy and I like to think of him as the most reliable dude in terms of delivering a hilarious diatribe on a trash flick and we kind of share the same brain at times because our opinions are very in tune. When most of my writers are dealing with brain block, kids and families eating up their time it’s nice to count on someone that can deliver the goods!

At first glance of the cover for this book, I was hooked on that cover art by Paul Garner, it’s a total knockout, I love seeing Orca, Blackula and Winslow Leach hanging out together! Hauss kicks off this phantasmagoric ocular feast with a Giallo called SEVEN DEAD IN THE CAT’S EYE, a genre that I normally can’t stay awake during, but I may just fire up some high octane java and give it a whirl after this endorsement!

Joe Dante gives an informative and amusing forward, he knows his shit of course and is a huge influence on practically everyone in the horror genre, we're obviously big fans or Trailers from Hell, so much that we parodied the name for Skunkape's Youtube page (click the skunkape icon on the side for the link). We get rave reviews for some tepid stuff like THE ASPYX, featuring Jesus of Nazareth himself Brit actor Robert Powell and William Castle’s feline frying insect swan song BUG, which I just saw a few weeks ago.
These critics do a fine job of expressing how enthusiastic they are, without condemning each movie's weaknesses, to entice the reader to check them out on their own and I think that's fair. Psychotronic’s Mike Weldon used that method and you knew what he didn’t want to give the time of day or what he raved about.

SSSSSSS had a traumatic effect on my childhood, I saw it on channel 5 in NY during their legendary Creature Feature weeks along with another reptile on the loose classic ALLIGATOR.

Shit! I've fallen and I can't get up do I call pest control or the hospital? 

I like the hodgepodge of Euro choices, French, Japanese, Italian and the UK are represented and had I picked this book up as a youngster, I would’ve been influenced to seek out these hard to find movies. There’s some really great poster art and the design of the book is almost intoxicating with its vivid colors. One of my favorite witch burning flicks INQUISITION is reviewed by Keiran Fisher, it’s one of the best in the Spaniard Wolfman’s collection and one of his early works that I'm very fond of.

David Dent even surprised me with a rare unheard of flick called CHOSEN SURVIVORS, which I plan on checking out very soon. Clocking in at almost 500 pages, this is an essential reference guide that is league with most beloved dog eared texts out there and has many films that even the most jaded viewer could learn something from. Highly recommended and a lot of fun to read!

Special thanks to Eric Naughton and Steve Kirkham for providing me with this PDF.