Mark Dawidziak's first attempt at a history and critique of the Kolchak mythos was Night Stalking: A 20th Anniversary Kolchak Companion (Image Publishing, 1991), sparsely distributed and now a collectible. Aided by Kolchak creator Jeff Rice, he then wrote Grave Secrets (Image, 1994), the first Kolchak novel since Rice's novelization of Matheson's Night Strangler teleplay. Rice was pleased with Grave Secrets, but not with Image's dismal distribution. He withdrew literary rights to the character.
Details are in Dawidziak's Night Stalker Companion, a heavily revised and updated version of Night Stalking, and a well-structured chronicle of the rise and fall and afterlife of Carl Kolchak, a hard-boiled reporter who investigates supernatural and extraterrestrial crimes. Dawidziak interviewed all key players, and while he accentuates the positive, he does not eliminate unpleasantries. Kolchak would expect no less from his biographer.
Kolchak first appeared in The Kolchak Papers, an unpublished 1970 horror novel written by newspaper reporter (and actor) Jeff Rice. Rice submitted it to Richard Matheson's agent, who sold TV movie rights to ABC without first signing Rice. Rice had hoped to adapt it himself, but the agent had already secured the teleplay assignment for Matheson. Dawidziak adds, "It's important to note that Rice does not in any way blame Matheson for what he views as shady Hollywood dealings."
Dawidziak's Dan Curtis comes off as a bit of a bully, or at least possessed with a Hollywood ego. When ABC bought the rights to Rice's book, Curtis was executive producing the last season of that network's Dark Shadows. "'I wanted to say good-bye to it so bad I couldn't see straight,' Curtis reflects. 'We got around to the last year and I was completely tapped out idea-wise. And we ended up with some dreadful stories during that last year. It was like being in jail.' " Dark Shadows did afford Curtis the opportunity to direct a feature. Dawidziak cites House of Dark Shadows (1970) as Curtis's directorial debut, followed by Night of Dark Shadows (1971).
When Barry Diller asked Curtis to produce The Kolchak Tapes as the TV movie, The Night Stalker, Curtis requested the director's chair. It had already been given to John Llewellyn Moxey (Horror Hotel 1960, aka The City Of The Dead). Curtis didn't interfere with Moxey's authority on set (and it was a happy set), but he'd grumble to McGavin, "Will you look at the setup Moxey has here. What's he doing?" [Curtis contradicts this version of events in his interview on Night Stalker/Night Strangler DVD, claiming that he was offered the director's chair but turned it down, and that he himself sought out Moxey.]
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