'Hammer Films set the benchmark for horror cinema, creating some of horror's most enduring icons. Back in print after decades, discover these seminal novelisations from the studio's classic era of macabre storytelling, with a new foreword by TV showrunner Stephen Gallagher and a new afterword by horror legend Ramsey Campbell.
'The Gorgon - Directed by Terence Fisher, the master of Gothic cinema. what is the terrible secret of the village of Vandorf, where a murderer's victims turn to stone? The Curse of Frankenstein - The film that first united Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, and Hammer's first colour horror film, that launched the studio's golden age. Baron Frankenstein creates a grotesque monster - and is himself condemned to death for the creature's killings.
'The Revenge of Frankenstein - The sequel to The Curse of Frankenstein, dubbed a 'high-grade horror film' by Variety. Escaping the guillotine Baron Frankenstein repays the dwarf who aids him - giving him a new body. But his creation is a killer, worse - a cannibal! The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb - The sequel to the smash-hit The Mummy. From the Egypt of 3000BC to the London of 1900 comes the monster that would not die!'
Hammer is a British icon, one that has become so ingrained in the country that even if you've never seen one of the films you can't help but know about them, even if that's something as simple as the iconic image of Christopher Lee as Dracula. It's not hard to see how the studio became the juggernaut that it was, however, when you consider the sheer volume of films that they produced. As well as movies, Hammer commissioned novelisations of their films. As the foreword of the book laments, the practice of creating book versions of popular movies has become something of a lost art over the last couple of decades as films go from cinema to home release so incredibly quickly; and those that are made tend to be for more hardcore fans and unique collectors than the much wider audience that used to invest in the cheap, mass produced paperbacks of movies people had to wait years to see again. This new omnibus printing from Titan Books brings together four classic adaptations, offering a whole new audience the chance to experience them decades later.
The four films collected together in this omnibus are a bit of a strange mix, having originally been created to coincide with the release of 1964's the Gorgon, the four stories do not really have any thematic linking, and other than featuring the first two entries in Hammer's ever expanding Frankenstein series, there's no obvious reason why any of these were picked out. That being said, the collection does give us a decent bit of variety, not just in story but in artistic style too.
The first story in the collection, The Gorgon is perhaps the most important as it was the reason for the omnibus having originally been created, and it does show how sometimes these film to book adaptations can lead to the reader getting an alternative version of their movie thanks to creative changes that take place on set after the script is sent to the book adaptor. For example, in the film version of The Gorgon has the titular monster be Megaera whilst the book uses the original version Medusa. This difference highlights how something tiny can alter how you'd view the final product, as in the film the gorgon being a character from myth who wasn't one of the three gorgon sisters feels out of place, like the writer knew enough about Greek myth to know a name from it, but didn't realise they'd used it wrong. In contrast, whilst the central plot still feels somewhat silly in the book version, it does at least feature the correct character.
Sadly, I found the adaptation of The Gorgon to be somewhat lacking at times, and despite it's very short length I often found myself becoming a bit bored with events. Characters were so flat as to have barely any dimension at all, and the story was at times a bit meandering and dull, and despite being a horror story there was almost no tension or horror to be found.
In contrast to this opening story, the next two included in the collection are so much better done. The two Frankenstein tales make the bold move of not being written in the third person, as you would come to expect from a film novelisation, but are told from the perspective of Victor Frankenstein himself, recounting his story. This not only evokes the feeling of the original story, and other horror fiction of the era, but it means that whilst the book is able to be vague on details, and can jump from scene to scene as the film does, it still feels like it's giving the reader a lot more to sink their teeth into as John Burke is able to put so much more personality into the narration.
This shift to the perspective of the villain also puts the reader into an interesting position as you can come away from the adaptation with a very different outlook to having just watched the film. Victor Frankenstein is the one taking us on this journey, and whilst you can still judge him harshly for his poor choices and evil acts you cannot help but want to go along with him to see what happens next.
The final story in the collection, The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, goes back to third person narration, and manages to avoid some of the dullness of The Gorgon likely due to the fact that whilst the film it's based on isn't that great, it's at least not dull. It also helps that the lack of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in the second Mummy film isn't felt here, as you can just imagine the two of them in any of the roles that you want.
Somewhat schlocky in nature, this second The Mummy story is perhaps more enjoyable in it's book form, as the silliness of it's ancient cult, living dead mummy, and con-men out to make money, make the story feel like a pulp tale, one not designed to be taken too seriously, and I was largely able to switch off my brain and just go along with all of the silliness and schlock.
The Hammer Horror Omnibus is a rather delightful collection, one that is very much a throwback to a different time of films. Whilst there are definitely some highs and lows throughout the book, with the opening story being the weakest and the one that you really need to push through to get to the good bits, overall it was a very enjoyable experience to be able to go back and read these stories without having to hunt through charity shops or internet sites. For fans of Hammer Horror, and people who may remember reading these stories when they were kids who want to experience them all over again, this new printing is a fantastic way to add these stories to your collection.
The Hammer Horror Omnibus is out now from Titan Books for £10.99.
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