Pop-up books are always fun, and whoever came up with the idea for doing Alfred Hitchcock: The Master of Suspense, A Pop-up Book is a wicked genius. The pop-ups for Frenzy and Psycho are my favorites. The book is a guaranteed "Wow, what a great idea; how thoughtful of you!" Now, if only they would do pop-up books for horror and terror films more often. I drool at the thought of a Roger Corman pop-up book, or maybe even a Hammer Films' one.
Speaking of Hammer Films, A Vault of Horror: A Book of 80 Great British Horror Movies from 1950 - 1974 by Keith Topping, is a surefire horrorhead pleaser, and Netflix-empowering stocking stuffer. Each film is covered with meticulous, often humorous commentary, arranged into categories which include Outrageous Methods of Dispatch, Logic, Let Me Introduce You To This Window, and The Story Behind the Movie.
While any one (or all!) of these books would give your significant horrorhead-other many hours of gruesome delight, if you give only one gift, make it Famous Monster Movie Art of Basil Gogos. Every monsterkid growing up in the reign of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine remembers the stark, other-worldly and vividly saturated colors of Basil Gogos's covers. From Bela to Karloff, and Chaney to Price, his portraits of the classic monsters of our willing nightmares are forever etched into our memories. While this retrospective is a trip down memory lane for older horror fans, even the more gore-centric fan will enjoy the inspiringly eerie, impressionistic artwork.
Happy Horrordays!
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