Monster Mash: The Creepy, Kooky Monster Craze In America 1957-1972

Mark Voger is certainly not the best writer or researcher; then again, MONSTER MASH never claims to be a "comprehensive" volume on ANY aspect of the "Monster Craze" lasting roughly from 1957 to 1972...(and I would argue, beyond.) With that said, any true "monster kid" of the era will not be disappointed; not in Mark's writing, not in the beautiful production from Two Morrows publishing, certainly not in the 'mini-interviews' throughout the book with artists, writers and actors of that time, including conversations with Forrest Ackerman and James Warren. This is a love letter to our childhood -- for every adult who carried their love of monsters from then until now. Mark's style is breezy and conversational. Giving the reader a look into his own VERY personal childhood memories -- sometimes light-hearted, perhaps a bit corny, with some editorializing in between -- it's easy to roll your eyes and dismiss many of Mark's obviously personal comments...unless one has their OWN stories regarding that time as it relates to all things "monster". Then, it is simply like a conversation with an old friend. Us Monster Kids have our own tales to tell. Mark Voger has given us a book containing not only his tales, but a wealth of common nostalgia to which we all can relate, complete with some fantastic pictures, insider information and an overwhelming sense of respect and deep love for all things MONSTER. Highly recommended!

This book offers details of the monster craze we lived through and loved. It may not be as thorough as some other texts, but it provides enough detail to add a little bit to nearly any fan's knowledge in a fun, easily read form. I was tempted to set up a card table fort with a big planet on top, crawl inside and read it illuminated with a flashlight. This a great gift for your friends who were fellow monster club members who exchanged and read copies of Famous Monsters of Filmland in the tree house on summer afternoons.

This gets five stars for everything: Clear writing, great visual design, good sense of history, fine images and solid overall production. I can keep this review short and sweet, because this nice-looking, fun-reading book is an absolute joy for any serious monster fan. Mark Voger details the history of the Monster Craze--its inception, the influences that affected it, the artists and products who fed it and kept it going, the public's response to it (and the public's creation of it--everything popular is created by audience demand), various popular shows, toys and people who were the virtual figureheads for it, and subsequent cultural transformations of it into other similar but perhaps less-inspired things. If you like monster movies, books, toys, games, shows or anything else they make with spooky, scary monsters as the main ingredient, well, there's a darn good chance you'll get a kick out of this book. A lot of people these days merely market; they pick an audience and create a "sausage" (to use a polite term) they can quickly sell to that audience--they make their buck, and then proceed to spend it and laugh. Mark Voger has done the opposite here: With a clear focus on quality, and on satisfying and respecting the audience (as well as giving it some credit for being quasi-intelligent), Voger has created a brilliant chronology and obsessively researched it, checking his facts all the way. This here is the book that DESERVES to be on your shelf, in my opinion. So take a look at all those green colors on the cover, interpret that as meaning "GO," and grab yourself one of these. Chances are good you'll revisit this book a lot, I think.

If this book looks interesting to you, I guarantee you'll love it. As you can see the survey is restricted to a decade and a half, which means it's tightly focused. The layout is an engaging magazine format with tons of gorgeous photos, most seemingly drawn from the author's own collection of memorabilia. For me, gawking at the masks, lunchboxes, board games, and comics evoked one of three responses: "I had that," "I wanted that," and "Oooh! I've never seen THAT!" The page layout (also by Voger!) is tasteful and clever, and the photos and printing are crisp, bright, and rich. The text is informative, well-researched, and extremely witty. As a fan, the author has conducted multiple interviews over the years with many of the monster-era artists and performers, many of them now deceased, offering valuable and unique insights into their curious lives. I expected to enjoy this book but found myself almost obsessed with it. I can't imagine a better job being done on this topic—save for the brief and cursory overview of horror-rock records of the era, eg the titular Monster Mash itself. (Scant mention of the freaky and collectible Frankie Stein and the Ghouls, for instance.) But maybe that's a book I need to write myself! Well played, Voger.

Este libro es excelente, la edición es de alta calidad al igual que la información y las fotografías que se presentan en el mismo. Una gran lección de historia de cuando los monstruos gobernaban la cultura popular, similar a lo que sucede ahora con los superhéroes.

Great book. Nice cover but unfortunately the quality of paper is pretty low....a real shame, because the book is so rich in images and info. A wonderful work printed on second hand paper.....

Very good book, written by someone with an obvious passion for the subject.

This book was a delight from start to finish. extremely informative and interesting lovely pictures and covers just about anything and everything you could possibly want to know. Do yourself a favor and check out this authors Christmas book. It is my absolute favorite

I can't say enough about this book! Mark Voger hit a home run out of the park with this one! If you grew up during the monster era from the late '50s into the '70s than this book covers all the bases and more. I learned so much about the history of icons from the ear from Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine to the Munsters, Addams Family, and so much more. Even Batman made an appearance as well as rock stars like Rob Zombie. When you have a book that contains much loved horror host Zacherley, the Flintstones' Weirdly Gruesome, Bela Lugosi, Basil Gogos, Barnabas Collins, and Gene Simmons. than there's no way you can go wrong as a classic horror fan.