Horror Books in Hollywood

October brings cooler weather, warmer drinks, and spooky reads. Stories often circulate about strange coincidences and tragedies surrounding the Hollywood production of films like The Exorcist and Poltergeist. These new horror books pose similar questions about what really happens behind the scenes. 

Silvia Moreno's Silver Nitrate is set in ‘90s Mexico City and revolves around a film reel cursed by a Nazi Occultist. The protagonist, Montserrat, is having trouble finding work as a sound editor. When her best friend and former soap opera star, Tristen, befriends the cult horror director who created the film, they're challenged to shoot the missing scene to break the curse. Strange things occur as they unravel the mystery of the film and the occultist. 

In Josh Winning's Burn the Negative, journalist Laura Warren has spent her adult life running away from her past as a former child star acting in a cult classic. Her character in The Needle Man warned people about their upcoming deaths, and the film rose to fame due to the deaths of cast and crew mirroring the events of the movie. A remake in production prompts her return to L.A., and soon the body count begins to rise. With the help of her actress sister and a psychic, they attempt to end the curse once and for all.

Kiersten White’s Mister Magic is about a children's program, Mister Magic, that was full of joy, happiness, and life lessons that are now nostalgic memories to five main cast members known as the Circle of Friends. Thirty years ago, tragedy struck production, shutting down the project, and it fell into obscurity with no footage or details of those who were involved in the show. The Circle of Friends reunite at a desert filming compound. At first they're happy for the fateful opportunity. Then they start to wonder: are they there by choice, or is it a trap?

Craig Russell’s The Devil’s Playground is also about a film long buried deep in the past. In 1927 Mary Rourke, a Hollywood studio fixer, is sent to the home of silent film actress and star of the Devil’s Playground, Norma Carlton, only to discover her cold and lifeless body. Mary begins to wonder if rumors of a curse could be true. Forty years later, Paul Conway, a journalist and film aficionado, hunts for the only known copy of the film, the Holy Grail for film buffs. The story, told in dual timelines, unravels the secrets, lies, and deceptions of the Golden Age of Hollywood. 

Fans of reality TV shows will love Craig DiLouie’s Episode Thirteen. Matt and Claire Kirklin are a husband and wife team of the paranormal reality show Fade To Black. They have an opportunity to explore the famous Paranormal Research Foundation, a crumbling mansion with a history of bizarre experiments in the 1970s. Using their high tech gear and scientific techniques, they capture more than just some spooky noises and floating orbs. Captured in tapes, journals, correspondence, and research files, the story details how everything went horribly wrong. 

Jessica Giles

Information Specialist.