The Great Fright North

It's official! I'm well underway researching and writing my second nonfiction book, titled The Great Fright North. It's a survey of Canadian horror entertainment, in film, television, radio, theatre and comics--and will be published next year.

preliminary cover design

Canada has a diverse (and interesting) history when it comes to horror storytelling. Although our most famous face in the film world is writer/director/actor David Cronenberg, he's only one of a number of creative Canadian minds behind some of the most iconic horror films of the past forty years. (Let's face it, there were a number of stinkers, as well, during the "tax shelter" years--which I'll also highlight in the book.)

It's my goal to feature other realms of horror entertainment, including television, theatre, radio and comic books--all of which, up till now, have been sorely underrepresented. Did you know that "Dracula" was first introduced to Torontonians in 1929, when the touring stage play ran at the Princess theatre for a week? It featured the same cast from the production in New York City, with Raymond Huntley as Dracula (who originated the role--not Bela Lugosi, the actor who replace him). Twenty years later, Lorne Greene (another famous Canuck) starred as The Count in the 1949 CBC radio adaptation.

The official website for the book is http://www.greatfrightnorth.ca/; stay tuned to this blog, which I'll update as I'm writing and finalizing the manuscript. Feel free to contact me with any comments or suggestions.