Horror Show

A Bram Stoker Award finalist for Best First Novel, Horror Show is a thriller that draws inspiration from 1950s Hollywood horror films with supernatural elements. Landis Woodley, a schlock horror director, lives in a decaying mansion in the Hollywood Hills after leaving the film industry following a career decline into skin flicks and peep shows. He has accumulated numerous enemies, including the IRS. When Clint Stockbern, an avid fan, approaches him for an article in Monster magazine, Woodley agrees to an interview in exchange for $600 in cash. During their conversation, Stockbern learns about Woodley's filmography, including Attack of the Haunted Saucer and Blood Ghouls of Malibu. Woodley's most significant work is Cadaver, shot in the Los Angeles County morgue and rumored to have used real corpses. Since its 1957 release, everyone involved in the production has died under mysterious circumstances. As Stockbern investigates further, he discovers the truth is far more disturbing than he anticipated, involving either a dead Satanist possessed by the devil or a deadly scheme orchestrated by the living. The novel parodies mid-century Hollywood horror and filmmakers Roger Corman, William Castle, and Ed Wood.