Vampira And Her Daughters

From Vampira to Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, female horror movie hosts have long been a staple of late-night television. Broadcast on local stations and cable access channels, characters such as Moona Lisa, Stella, Crematia Mortem and Tarantula Ghoul brought an entertaining blend of macabre camp and after-prime-time sexuality to American living rooms in the 1950s through 1990s. Despite a near total lack of local programming today, the tradition continues on the Internet and Roku and other modern media. Featuring exclusive interviews and rare photographs, this book covers dozens of “dream ghouls” with alphabetical entries, from Aunt Gertie to Veronique Von Venom.

This whip-smart piece of pop culture details the life of the cult horror figure, as well as the much wider story of 1950s America, its treatment of women and sex, and a fascinating swath of Hollywood history. In Vampira, Poole gives us the eclectic life of the dancer, stripper, actress, and artist Maila Nurmi, who would reinvent herself as Vampira during the backdrop of 1950s America, an era of both chilling conformity and the nascent rumblings of the countercultural response that led from the Beats and free jazz to the stirring of the LGBT movement and the hardcore punk scene in the bohemian enclave along Melrose Avenue. A veteran of the New York stage and late nights at Hollywood's hipster hangouts, Nurmi would eventually be linked to Elvis, Orson Welles, and James Dean, as well as stylist and photographer Rudi Gernreich, founder of the Mattachine Society and designer of the thong. Thanks to rumors of a romance between Vampira and James Dean, his tragic death inspired the circulation of stories that she had cursed him and, better yet, had access to his dead body for use in her dark arts. In Poole's expert hands, Vampira is more than the story of a highly creative artist continually reinventing herself, but a parable of the runaway housewife bursting the bounds of our straight-laced conventions with an exuberant display of camp, sex, and creative individuality that owed something to the morbid New Yorker cartoons of Charles Addams, the evil queen from Disney's Snow White, and the popular, underground bondage magazine Bizarre, and forward to the staged excesses of Madonna and Lady Gaga. Vampira is a wildly compelling tour through a forgotten piece of pop cultural history, one with both cultish and literary merit, sure to capture the imagination of Vampira fans new and old.

Maila Nurmi, the beautiful and sheltered daughter of Finnish immigrants, stepped off the bus in 1941 Los Angeles intent on finding fame and fortune. She found men eager to take advantage of her innocence and beauty but was determined to find success and love. Her inspired design and portrayal of a vampire won a costume contest that lead to a small role on the Red Skelton show which grew into a persona that brought her the notoriety she desired yet trapped her in a character she could never truly escape. This is Malia’s story. Her diaries, notes, and ephemera and family stories bring new insights to her relationships with Orson Welles, James Dean, and Marlon Brando. Sandra Niemi—Malia’s niece—fills in the nuances of her life prior to fame and her struggles after the limelight faded and she found a new community within the burgeoning Los Angeles punk scene who embraced her as their own. , Includes rare photographs.

A pioneering "horror-punk" band, the Misfits are legends in their own time. This discography tells the story of the band in all of its incarnations through all of their recorded output--both official and unauthorized releases. Discographies are provided for both present and former members' solo projects and bands, along with a wealth of rare record sleeves, photos and vintage posters documenting the evolution of the band and the brand.

What if your father was Death? As in the Death? What if he went missing? After three weeks her father’s absence is having serious consequences. Without a Death to cut mortal tethers, sightings of shades and ghosts are starting to crop up. The Black Council is no help and Alex is left to find her father on her own. Dodging child protective services, Alex travels to another world, accidentally dragging along her arch nemeses from school. To complicate matters she discovers she has powers of her own, one of fire and one of death. To survive in a world of vampires and sorcery she must learn to use her powers - but one causes unbearable pain and the other is slowly turning her into a an undead.

Vampira is an icon but her creator's life was even more dramatic.

From December 1957 through October 1959, Chicago TV viewers were held in thrall by "Marvin," the ghoulishly hilarious host of WBKB-TV's late-night horror film series Shock Theatre. Marvin and his lady friend "Dear" (her face ever hidden from the camera) introduced thousands of Chicagoland youngsters to such classic Universal chillers as Frankenstein, Dracula and The Wolf Man. This history of Shock Theatre focuses on the series and its creator, Marvin himself--in real life, the multi-talented Terry Bennett, whose wife Joy played "Dear." Terry's son Kerry Bennett provides an affectionate foreword, while celebrated horror host Count Gore De Vol (Dick Dyszel) supplies the afterword. Included are dozens of photos and vintage advertisement reproductions, as well as two appendices featuring a resume of Terry Bennett's career and a list of films telecast during his two-year Shock Theatre run.

Peek behind Minsky’s marquees into the personal and effervescent lives of the stars of Burlesque. Glimpse up close the intimate stories of strippers and comics, and their friendships, confidences, heartbreaks,laughter, and strange quirks. Burlesque grew out of London’s music halls and early American minstrel shows to become an integral part of show business. Burlesque launched many talented, well-known comedians, such as Fanny Brice, Eddie Cantor, Bert Lahr, Milton Berle, Lou Costello, Jack Haley, Sid Caesar, Danny Kaye, Ted Healy, Morey Amsterdam, Red Buttons, Jackie Gleason, Bob Hope, and Phil Silvers. Star strippers included Sally Rand, Gypsy Rose Lee, Tempest Storm, Lili St. Cyr, Blaze Starr, Ann Corio, and Margie Hart. Discover how a tasteful tease, a wink, and a wiggle made audiences howl at the zany antics of baggy-pants comics. Illustrated.