#roger elwood

[vintagerpg]

This is Horror Tales: Spirits, Spells, & the Unknown (1974), edited by Roger Elwood and gorgeously illustrated by Robert Baumgartner. It is, I thiiink, the last in an unofficial 6-volume series of similarly bound and dressed books from Rand McNally (the others are Tales of Terror, Monster Tales, Baleful Beasts and Eerie Creatures, and two volumes of Science Fiction Tales. Most of them are edited by Elwood. I know them from when I was a kid — my local library had a few of them on the shelves. They don’t seem common on the second-hand market, which makes me think they were primarily marketed to libraries, similar to Helen Hoke’s excellent anthologies.

I confess, I have never read this. Honestly, I don’t recognize a single author. Well, one, maybe, I think might be a shitheel who got booted from the Horror Writers Association a couple years back. The rest ring no bells — if you told me they were all Elwood writing under different pseudonyms, I’d believe you.

I’m hear for the art, really. Baumgatner’s stuff is somehow both wholesome and nightmarish. There is a folksy vibe to his style and it mostly feels warm and inviting, but everything also looks like it might melt into horrible goo at any moment, the way the G.I. Joes do in the mindfucking horror cartoon classic, "There's No Place Like Springfield." I particularly like the one of the kid in bed, scared of the shadows and the tree outside, because it reminds me of staring at my wallpaper as a kid in bed and being convinced it was moving and that the toys in the pattern were going to come down off the wall and get me. God. Where was I? Halloween? Horror? Never turn the lights off ever again?

[humanoidhistory]

Future City by Roger Elwood, 1974 edition, cover art by Michael Gross.

(via)

[smbhax]

Illustration by John Schoenherr

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Roger Elwood (editor) - Flame Tree Planet - Concordia - 1973 (cover photo: The Brass Shutter)

[science70]

Continuum 1, edited by Roger Elwood (Berkley Medallion edition. 1975).

Cover art: Vincent DiFate

[buzzdixonwriter]

The Man Who Ruined Science Fiction (part 1)

That title is a gross exaggeration.  Roger Elwood in and of himself did not ruin science fiction, at least not all of it and certainly not permanently, but he did screw up a major hunk of it during the 1970s.

Let his tale be a warning to others.

Born in Atlantic City, NJ in 1943, Elwood seems to have been a primarily East Coast / NYC based writer / editor, conducting most of his business via mail though he did attend out of state conventions.

He began writing professionally soon after graduating high school.  I’ve found no record of him attending college (which I don’t hold against him; neither did I) or of any closely related family.  His earliest appearance in the world of science fiction is an interview with Joseph Stephano regard the then current Outer Limits TV show in Famous Monsters Of Filmland no26 (Oct. 1963).

It speaks volumes about my level of geekdom that I knew exactly which issue it appeared in without checking.

For FM it was an unusual article, one of the very few credited to an outside writer who wasn’t an already established pro giving an opinion of some classic horror film.  Elwood possessed a fair amount of skill as an interviewer, and for a couple of years in the early 1970s edited two wrestling magazines for an out of state publisher (The Big Book of Wrestling and Official Wrestling Guide), until he quit in a pay dispute according to some sources or according to others in dismay at learning wrestling was faked.

I can’t attest to the latter, but I will say it sounds in character for all I’ve learned about him.  Despite his interest in sci-fi and his professional publishing contacts, Elwood displayed a remarkable naivete throughout his career.

I don’t mean that in a positive way.

In the early 1960s he began packaging a series of reprint anthologies for various publishers, sometimes co-editing with Sam Moskowitz, a longtime sci-fi fan turned writer and genre historian, and Vic Ghidalia, an NYC based TV publicist (possibly the connection who arranged the Outer Limits interview?). 

His earliest anthologies appear pretty standard for the genre, collecting some of the better stories from the pulp and early digest era and reprinting them for new readers.

All that changed abruptly in 1967 when Harlan Ellison edited his groundbreaking original anthology, Dangerous Visions.

Dangerous Visions and its 1972 follow-up Again, Dangerous Visions provided a pair of sledgehammer blows that shattered the pulp era-sensibilities of science fiction that still hampered the genre in the 1960s.

They lit the fuse for a decade long controversy in sci-fi fandom called the Old Thing vs. New Wave feud. 

While today many of the stories in both anthologies seemed tainted with sophomoric iconoclasm, at the time they demolished long held publishing taboos in the field, in particular stories that questioned the existence or value of God.

This seems like middle school edgelording today, but at the time appeared absolutely unthinkable.  While the controversy around the two anthologies involved far more than that, in retrospect this couldn’t escape Elwood’s notice.

Just as the anthologies’ phenomenal success not escape it, either.

© Buzz Dixon

[midnightrain-and-cleandays]

Do yall see the vision?

[cassiopeia-grimm]

Pick your favorite character❤️‍🔥

[mrs-jake-blues]

[chipou-art]

October sketchbook dump i forgot to post! 🎃👻

I think a lot about my ocs and their stories lately, I wish I could draw and talk about them more often :) also I have only 2 pages left in my sketchbook and I can’t wait to start a new one!

[midnightrain-and-cleandays]

this^^^

then Ultron and CW happened and everything went to shit

specially Tony fans

The Avengers 2012 era was the best time ever in the fandom

Thor loves pop tarts, Clint lived in the vents, Bruce and Tony did science together, Steve was the mom friend of the team and did art in his free time, Natasha was cool aunt of the team, Loki was there too and a bunch of other characters like Peter, Sam, Bucky, Vision and Wanda all lived in the Avengers tower together

It was a much simpler time where everyone in the fandom was chill and having fun together

[docrotten]

THE GHOST IN THE INVISIBLE BIKINI (1966) – Episode 187 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

“I’m steaming. I’m steaming. I’m… I’m so exaggerated! I’m mad at that princess. The only girl I ever loved and now she and them street slobs are going to steal a million clams from them folks and they didn’t even invite me. ” Eric von Zipper has a way with words, doesn’t he? Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Jeff Mohr, and guest Dirk Rogers – as they check out one of the last of AIP’s beach party movies, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966).

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 187 – The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

ANNOUNCEMENT Decades of Horror The Classic Era is partnering with THE CLASSIC SCI-FI MOVIE CHANNEL, THE CLASSIC HORROR MOVIE CHANNEL, and WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL Which all now include video episodes of The Classic Era! Available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, Online Website. Across All OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop. https://classicscifichannel.com/; https://classichorrorchannel.com/; https://wickedhorrortv.com/

A corpse has 24 hours to mastermind a good deed without leaving his crypt, to go “up there” and have his youth restored.

Directed by: Don Weis

Writing Credits: Louis M. Heyward and Elwood Ullman

Selected Cast:

Tommy Kirk as Chuck Phillips

Deborah Walley as Lili Morton

Aron Kincaid as Bobby

Quinn O’Hara as Sinistra

Jesse White as J. Sinister Hulk

Harvey Lembeck as Eric Von Zipper

The Rat Pack

Andy Romano as J.D.

Alberta Nelson as Puss

Myrna Ross as Boots

Jerry Brutsche as Jerome

Bob Harvey as Bobby

Sam Page as Chauncey

John Macchia as Joey

Allen Fife as Beard

Basil Rathbone as Reginald Ripper

Patsy Kelly as Myrtle Forbush

Boris Karloff as The Corpse

Susan Hart as The Ghost

Nancy Sinatra as Vicki

Claudia Martin as Lulu

Francis X. Bushman as Malcolm

Benny Rubin as Chicken Feather

Bobbie Shaw Chance as Princess Yolanda (as Bobbi Shaw)

George Barrows as Monstro the Gorilla

Piccola Pupa as Piccola

Luree Holmes as Luree

Ed Garner as Ed

Frank Alesia as Frank

Mary Hughes as Mary

Salli Sachse as Salli

Patti Chandler as Patti

Sue Hamilton as Sue

The Bobby Fuller Four as Themselves (Bobby Fuller, Randy Fuller, DeWayne Quirico, Jim Reese)

Elena Andreas as Statue (uncredited)

Herb Andress as Statue (uncredited)

Philip Bent as Beach Boy (uncredited)

Gary Daily as Boy in Blue and White Trunks (uncredited)

Bobbi McCall as Girl in Blue Bikini (uncredited)

Christopher Riordan as Beach Boy (uncredited)

The Grue-Crew and guest host Dirk Rogers take a trip to the beach with one of the last of the Beach Party movies. Wait, what? There’s no beach? No ocean? No surfing? And AIP disliked the product so much that they added Boris Karloff and the whole ghost-in-the-invisible-bikini schtick after the fact?

Well, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966) makes for a nice title. Let’s face it. It’s a bad movie. It’s even a dumb movie. But it can be a fun movie, especially if you love the lame, teen music numbers inserted throughout the film as much as the Grue-Crew do. And even if you despise the music (yeah, the Grue-Crew didn’t like it either – except Doc, of course), you can have fun with this flick.

With Deborah Walley and Tommy Kirk (subbing for Annette and Frankie), Basil Rathbone, Patsy Kelly, Harvey Lembeck (Eric von Zipper!), Jesse White, and Nancy Sinatra, there’s always something to watch. Think “the Three Stooges in an old dark house.”

At the time of this writing, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966) is available to stream from MGM+, Amazon Prime, and several PPV options.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. Next in their very flexible schedule – this one chosen by Jeff – is The Shadow of the Cat (1961), a Hammer Film directed by John Gillin, featuring Barbara Shelley and André Morell, recently released as part of Scream Factory’s Universal Horror Collection Vol. 6! 

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave them a message or leave a comment on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel, the site, or email the Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com

To each of you from each of them, “Thank you so much for watching and listening!” 

Check out this episode!

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Roger Elwood and Vic Ghidalia (editors) - Young Demons - Avon - 1972

[science70]

Arthur Tofte, "Alone in Space" from Science Fiction Tales, edited by Roger Elwood (Rand McNally & Company, 1973).

Illustration: Rod Ruth

[too-antigonish]

Roger looks like an aspiring Blues Brother 🎷

Luckily @librawritesstuff pointed out its Thursday because I still have no idea what day it is.

I love this photo for all of their expressions but especially Roger stood there in his shades looking like the cool ass guy he is...

[buzzdixonwriter]

The Man Who Ruined Science Fiction (part 4)

Roger Elwood’s reach far exceeded his grasp.  His lofty ambitions outraced his modest talent.

He betrayed his craft, his calling, his faith, indeed himself by not striving to expand and broaden his skills and talents, feeling more comfortable with what felt reassuringly familiar to him.

His entire career reflects a certain naivete that I mentioned before.  I can’t vouch for the authenticity of the story about him becoming disillusioned with professional wrestling, but it sure sounds in character when compared to the rest of his career.

I once stood in his shoes.

As I posted elsewhere, if today I received the first script I ever sold to Filmation Studios as a writing sample, I would not hire myself.

In 1978 I, too, harbored lofty ambitions but a woeful lack of skill.

I learned better.

Thanks to patient mentors (and impatient producers), I learned to improve my craft.  I can point to specific milestones in my career when I realized I’d taken a major step forward in my writing ability.

Am I where I want to be?

No, not yet, of course not.

And I never will.

Where I want to be is one step ahead of where I am right now.

And when I get there, one step ahead of that.

Poor Roger Elwood seems frozen at his high school graduation level.

He never really challenged himself in a way that expanded his abilities.

He never really gave himself the freedom to follow ideas to their logical conclusions instead of the preordained endings he preferred.

He wreaked an enormous amount of havoc in the field of science fiction between 1972 and 1978, havoc that took the better part of a decade to course correct for.

But I would never say he did it maliciously or intentionally.

Clearly, he wanted so much, but he never appeared willing to do the necessary growth to achieve it.

Thank God AI came along after he died.

   © Buzz Dixon