1)So Elliot, congratulations on the book.Judging by just the introduction alone it seems like it was an incredible journey to make this book a reality.Can you expand some more on how the book came about?
The summer of 2012 had me really struggling as a filmmaker,actor,writer and director after ending 3 years at the Cheesecake Factory as a server.Though I was able to work as actor,P.A. And even filmmaker during those years,2012 had me really waking up to the reality of being 35 and not being the success I wanted to be.In the darkest days of that summer,I started to think about what my other options were as a filmmaker who knew his film history back and forth.That's when I decided I would start to lecture on horror films, always envisioning a book based on all the lecture's research as a companion piece.
2)Your lecture and the foundation for the book,unlike other lectures or books,seemed to originate with using the films in this book as a very crucial part of the lecture.Can you explain that and what if any influences there were behind that?
Yeah I knew straight off that if I was going to lecture on horror films I had to have a visual guide and in that the films I selected at first to talk about had to be not only familiar classics but cult classics I knew would grab audience's attention.Once I had those first few films to lecture on and copies of them I could edit into my lecture,I began crossing every T and dotting every I, reading everything I could on them.All of that research over 5 years slowly became the basis for the book you now see before you.
3)You recently lost one of your close friends,the great jazz musician and actor Danny Bacher.Is it true that he and his brother's off comedy show were partly influential in the lecture and this book becoming a reality?
Very true.Danny and his brother Josh have been best friends of mine since age 14 and the first collaborators I had in making movies.Come 2006,Danny and Josh launched the "THE FUNNIEST SHOW IN THE WORLD ABOUT THE HISTORY OF COMEDY PERFORMED BY TWO BROTHERS IN LESS THAN TWO HOURS FOR UNDER 20 BUCKS" at the Theatre for the New City in NYC with a short film I shot and edited becoming apart of the show's finale.It was getting to see the show and how they showcased hundreds of years of comedy in a visual way that first sparked the idea of doing something similar with horror films.Once the first version of my book was finished in 2023,Danny is the one who put me in contact with Ben at Bear Manor and the rest sadly is another more personal but vastly important part of horror film history.
4)Per the book,lots of the years of lecturing and writing the book were very challenging.What parts of the process of lecturing and writing the book were the hardest and the most inspiring while often broke,living out of your car and pursuing your filmmaking dreams?
The hardest parts were often keeping my small bin of constantly updated index cards on the lecture from being lost lol Being that so much of the lecture was making dvds and files to show whenever I got the chance for whatever pay a library or museum had,I was always keeping the essential lecture materials with me driving cross country or couch surfing around L.A.The most inspiring parts of these years was always having the lecture remind me to hunt down historical horror film landmarks ranging from Lon Chaney's house in Beverly Hills to the Colorado school for the deaf and mute in Colorado to biking up to the House on Haunted Hill in Los Feliz.
5)You biked up to the House on the Haunted Hill?
Yes and regretted every minute lol. Come September 2009 I was living in Los Feliz waitering and getting run over by playing psycho#2 in the Malibu Haunted Hayride while realizing the neighborhood had lots of horror film history.That's when I found out that the Wright house that is the House on Haunted Hill and Angel's lair in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was around the corner.Or so GPS on bike mislead me to believe lol Before I knew it I was biking up the mountains of Los Feliz barely making it to the top before nearly collapsing near the entrance.Of course I took some pics and video that I've since lost but moments like that kept me going as a lecturer and of course as filmmaker.
6)The book's first chapter begins with you jumping bus to bus to find the Villa Diodati where Mary Shelley wrote "Frankenstein".Can you tell me more about that trip and how you first became interested in Mary Shelley?
Mary Shelley was always mentioned in most of the general horror film history books I started reading since age 6.I knew enough about her to be interested in her but it wasn't until 2017,while working at Dominos,that my friend Josh Bacher gave me a literally,dog-eared copy of "Frankenstein". His adopted dog had eaten part of the cover off thus Josh gave it to me and I quickly read it at work in between delivering and making thin crust pizza lol.That's when I decided to write my own adaptation of the book and became obsessed with Mary Shelley and Byron.Come that fall their subjects were new additions to my lecture at the Colonie library in New York State.All that lead me at last to visit Geneva last fall near where my friend Ursula lives.She then got me on the right train and the rest is in the book lol
7)From the films to the biographies of those who made them to your global travels visting landmarks,the book really explores horror film history in ways most don't,especially when it comes to the art showcased.Can you tell us about the art in the book and the stories behind some of the pictures?
All the art in the book is all mine,created from 2010 to 2024 with some of it done on small notebooks while biking around everywhere from Brooklyn to L.A. Often with only enough money in my pocket to buy a coffee somewhere.While some of the art came right from my brain lots of it was inspired by reading 'Rue Morgue" "Fangoria" and other horror magazines in Borders and Barnes and Noble with all of the art always helping me through some very difficult times.It became so that if I was having a bad day in my late 30s I'd make sure to at least draw something which is where the practice of drawing horror film homages started.After visiting Lon Chaney's house in the summer of 2015 I started taking more time in drawing these pictures and even making them bigger.When Christopher Lee died that same summer,that got me into drawing more portraits.Come the pandemic much of 2020 was me drawing and painting more horror film homages often bigger than ever,with most of them in the book.
8)Do you have a favorite period of horror film history?
I love so much of the 1800s and the roots of horror in all the gothic classics that
Mary Shelley was reading and especially love the times of Bram Stoker working with Henry Irving and how it inspired him to write "Dracula".From there I just love the 1920s in general with all the silent classics and films of Lon Chaney being a huge part of my artistic and filmmaking DNA.
9)Of all the late horror film authors,actors,actresses or directors you talk about in the book,who would you have wanted to know or work with?
Great question.Lon Chaney would've been great to see in action but I 'm sure he was an intense guy.Karloff and Lugosi,to see if they really did get along or were the rivals lots of bios suggest,would be interesting.Of the women I talk about in my book,I think I would've been smitten with Mary Shelley,trying to date Zita Johann, and gotten along pretty good with Elsa Lanchester.As for directors,Whale and Browning would've been great to see at work and I think Vincent Price and I would've gotten along great given our love of art and cuisine.Of course I also think William Castle would've been a hoot to hang with too,especially in prepping the promos of his films on their opening weekends
10)Finally,what do you think it is about horror films that so many people love? And can you sum up why they mean so much to you?
I think per what Lily Rose Depp and Kelly Clarkson were just discussing in relations to the new Robert Eggers' version of "Nosferatu" that horror lets us explore things we wouldn't usually explore in real life. The way they talked about how much they love vampires but don't get why I think is part of the primal collective subconscious binding us all. We all love monsters as they are guilty reflections of our deepest darkest desires or even sins and more than ever help us to understand how evil a person can become.
For me horror film is all about magic and survival,especially the first 100 years of it.
As I've had an epic magical but often trauma-filled life,horror films give me something to relate to literally and metaphorically and like they do for millions give me catharsis while keeping me going and dreaming my own artist's dreams.