By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The men and women who have made cinema’s greatest creatures and bloodiest sights are being celebrated in print.
The Dark Ink publishing company has announced that the first in the four-volume MONSTERS, MAKEUP & EFFECTS: CONVERSATIONS WITH CINEMA’S GREATEST ARTISTS is coming in early summer 2021. Written by genre journalist Heather Wixson (pictured), the series features interviews with 80 horrific artisans, with plenty of behind-the-scenes photos. Volume 1 showcases the creators of screen fiends such as Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Pennywise, Beetlejuice, the ALIEN franchise’s xenomorphs and many others: Howard Berger, Ve Neill, Screaming Mad George, Thomas Burman, Joel Harlow, Matt Rose, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., David LeRoy Anderson, Bari Dreiband-Burman, Doug Drexler, Wayne Toth, Lance Anderson, Tony Gardner, Patrick Tatopoulos, Jim McPherson, Bart Mixon, Gabe Bartalos, Paul Jones and Everett Burrell.
“We are absolutely amazed that Heather was able to get so many brilliant and legendary artists to contribute their stories for this series,” says Dark Ink owner Michael Aloisi. “Their experiences are profound, interesting, entertaining and important parts of film history. We are honored that we get to publish these books and look forward to working with Heather over the next few years.”
“These interviews have been a labor of love of mine over the course of the last five years,” Wixson says, “and I’m delighted that they have found a home at Dark Ink. One of the most important things that I’ve learned throughout my career is that everyone has a story to tell, and I am beyond humbled and grateful to be able to share and celebrate the lives and careers of these artists who helped fuel my own love of horror and science fiction for so many years.”
MONSTERS, MAKEUP & EFFECTS Volume 1 is priced at $25.99 in hardcover, $19.99 in paperback and $9.99 for the eBook; it’s available for pre-order at the Dark Ink website.
