- John Hansen
- January 6, 2023
‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ (1973) didn’t start as a slasher
“I Know What You Did Last Summer” was a hit horror movie in 1997, and it’s still a viable franchise today, with a TV series
‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ (1973) didn’t start as a slasher
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- John Hansen
- October 30, 2022
‘Endless Night’ (1967) shows the ‘happily ever after’ … not so happily
“Endless Night” (1967) is often ranked as the Agatha Christie novel that most fits the horror label. Although I give a slight edge to proto-slasher
- John Hansen
- September 13, 2022
Even Hank Searls can’t save ‘Jaws: The Revenge’ (1987)
Hank Searls’ “Jaws 2” (1978) is a prime example of the riches to be found in the novelization form, as it adapts an early draft
- John Hansen
- August 9, 2022
‘Jaws 2’ novelization (1978) reveals film’s early draft
As I noted in my review of Peter Benchley’s “Jaws” novel (1974), Steven Spielberg’s film streamlined the plot and eliminated all the subplots. In the
- John Hansen
- July 5, 2022
Peter Benchley’s ‘Jaws’ (1974) goes beyond the shark stuff
Peter Benchley wrote “Jaws” (1974) before the boom of shark literature and films — indeed, his book and the subsequent Steven Spielberg movie (1975) launched
- John Hansen
- March 25, 2022
King poetically chronicles dying small town in ‘’Salem’s Lot’ (1975)
“Carrie” (1974) was a remarkable debut novel, but Stephen King’s sophomore effort “’Salem’s Lot” (1975) is even better. Here we see a confident, almost fully
- John Hansen
- January 28, 2022
King’s career starts with bloody bang in ‘Carrie’ (1974)
Stephen King makes a remarkable debut with “Carrie” (1974), a rough-and-tumble but intensely readable short novel that’s perhaps more notable for its influence than for
- John Hansen
- January 7, 2022
‘Shining’ (1977) makes bid as great American horror novel
Stephen King famously disliked the film version of “The Shining” (1980) because director/co-writer Stanley Kubrick made Jack Torrance unhinged from the start, and thus he
- John Hansen
- October 2, 2021
‘Bloodless’ an amusing dive into Savannah, weird science
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s “Bloodless” (August, hardcover) explores their love and fascination with Savannah, a town architecturally trapped in time. But too many words
- John Hansen
- January 29, 2021
‘Hannibal Rising’ (2006) makes Lecter sympathetic
To mark the 40th anniversary of author Thomas Harris’ invention of Hannibal Lecter and the 30th anniversary of “The Silence of the Lambs” – the