The Bite #69

Remembering Lon Chaney Jr., a look at the Upcoming Book MONSTER, SHE WROTE, and More!

July 30, 2019

In this Issue:

Horror History: The Man Behind the Fur: Remembering Lon Chaney Jr.
Image of the Week: The Skin Juan Gatti Lives In
Tiny Bites – This Week’s Best Horror Headlines
Things We Love: She Did the Monster Mash
Hey, That’s Us! – Shudder in the News

HORROR HISTORY: THE MAN BEHIND THE FUR: REMEMBERING LON CHANEY JR

Forty-six years ago, on July 12th, we lost one of the classic monster kings.

Lon Chaney Jr. was singular among great horror actors in that he was the only one to have played all four of the iconic Universal monsters. He portrayed Frankenstein’s Monster in The Ghost of Frankenstein(1942), Dracula in Son of Dracula (1943), and the Mummy in three films starting with The Mummy’s Tomb (1942). But the role that he would forever be remembered by was the Wolfman.

His portrayal of Larry Talbot is iconic, and no other actor has ever stepped into those furry feet quite like Chaney Jr. did. He brought something personal to Talbot that made him protective of the role that shot him to instant horror fame, leading to his reluctance to let anyone else take on the mantle of the Wolfman.

The role of Larry Talbot – as with any werewolf – is an emotionally fraught one, as they battle to hide a destructive part of themselves while trying to keep their loved ones safe. This was something that Chaney Jr. was all too familiar with, as it was a poorly kept secret in Hollywood that he was an alcoholic.

Chaney Jr. brought a characteristic charm to each of his performances, but he infused his famous lycanthrope with a frantic intensity and deep grief that no one has ever been able to replicate.

This week, on the anniversary of his death, we’re paying homage to Lon Chaney Jr. and the mark he made on the world of horror. He showed us that monsters aren’t just there to entertain us. They explore the parts of life we don’t want to confront head-on and tell us so much about ourselves.

*Mallory O’Meara is the best-selling author of The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick. She is also a screenwriter and film producer for Dark Dunes Productions, and the co-host of literary podcast Reading Glasses alongside filmmaker and actress Brea Grant.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

The Skin Juan Gatti Lives In

A former creative director for Vogue Italia and long-time collaborator with Pedro Almodovar, Argentinian artist Juan Gatti’s Ciencias Naturales collection leaves a bold impression. The work combines his love of gardening with anatomy drawings and the taxonomy of plants and wildlife. We think Hannibal Lecter would be a fan.

TINY BITES

CLIMATE CHANGE HORROR, THE FANATIC AND MORE

Zombie fans rejoiced last week with the first trailer for the bombastic Zombieland 2: Double Tap – now with more Oscar credentials

Crawl may be ushering in a new subgenre we desperately need – Climate Change horror.

While Joker is about to hit the film festival circuit, John Carpenter’s getting ready to leave his mark onthe iconic Batman villain with DC Comics.

The Simpsons’ Treehouse Of Horror XXX marks the 666th episode of the series and plans to tackle bothStranger Things and The Shape Of Water.

The Fanatic has a trailer, and it’s as absurdly intense as you’d expect a Fred Durst-directed film starring John Travolta as a psychotic fan would be.

Universal Studio’s Halloween Horror Nights sends in the klowns with a Killer Klowns From Outer Spacehaunted house sure to scare the cotton candy out of you.

Looking for some excellent horror to add to your summer reading list? Check out these great titles from Latinx authors.

Andy Muscietti’s gearing up for the release of IT: Chapter 2 – as are we all. But the director’s been fantasizing about another horror remake, The Howling. (We’re 100% in favor of this.)

The Grimm-Life Collective went on a private tour of Tom Savini’s make-up effects school and home with the SFX maestro himself. Prepare to yearn for all of the things.

Margot Robbie’s working on a family-friendly horror anthology series, Ameri-Scares, that’ll tell some of America’s scariest folktales and legends from every state.

If you’ve got $21 million to spare, you can buy Vincent Price’s old home. Comes complete with an in-house movie theater, of course.

With an undeniable presence, Rutger Hauer created characters in every genre that left an indelible imprint on cinema. Last week we lost the horror and sci-fi legend, who passed away at the age of 75.

THINGS WE LOVE: SHE DID THE MONSTER MASH

Co-authors Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson are gifting the world with their upcoming book Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror & Speculative Fiction. The biography/readers guide will take you through the stories of familiar horror lit legends like Mary Shelley and Shirley Jackson while introducing you to lesser-known icons like Margaret “Mad Madge” Cavendish whose sci-fi epic predates Frankenstein by 150 years. The book hits shelves September 17th.