I Talked with a Zombie

“I talked with a zombie”—it DOES seem like an odd thing to say! But for more than 25 years, Tom Weaver has been chatting up zombies and many other vintage movie monsters, along with the screenwriters, producers, directors and actors responsible for bringing them to life. In this compilation of interviews, 23 more veterans share their stories—strange, frightening and even a little funny—this time with an increased emphasis on genre television series courtesy of the stars of The Time Tunnel; Rocky Jones, Space Ranger; Tom Corbett, Space Cadet; Planet of the Apes; and The Wild Wild West. The many other interviewees include Tandra Quinn (Mesa of Lost Women), Eric Braeden (Colossus: The Forbin Project), Ann Carter (The Curse of the Cat People), Laurie Mitchell (Queen of Outer Space) and monster music maestro Hans J. Salter.

Tom Weaver lives in Sleepy Hollow, New York, and has been interviewing moviemakers since the early 1980s. The New York Times called him one of the leading scholars in the horror field and USA Today has described him as the king of the monster hunters. Classic Images called him “the best interviewer we have today.” He is a frequent contributor to numerous film magazines and has been featured in the prestigious Best American Movie Writing. A frequent DVD audio commentator, he is the author of numerous reference and other nonfiction books about American popular culture.

Tom Weaver
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 360
Bibliographic Info: 164 photos, index
Copyright Date: 2014 [2009]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9571-9
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5268-2
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii

Richard Alden      1

Eric Braeden      10

Ann Carter      26

Robert Colbert      49

Robert Conrad on The Wild Wild West      69

James Darren on The Time Tunnel      78

Maury Dexter      90

Pat Fielder      121

Richard Gordon on Svengali      (1954)      139

Ron Harper on Planet of the Apes      146

Charles Herbert      159

Jimmy Lydon on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger      171

Lee Meriwether on 4D Man      and Batman      181

Laurie Mitchell      198

Tandra Quinn      212

William Reynolds      232

Betta St. John      250

Hans J. Salter (Interview by Preston Neal Jones)      269

Jay Sayer      285

Olive Sturgess      304

Frankie Thomas, Al Markim and Jan Merlin on Tom Corbett, Space Cadet      317

Index      343

Winner, Rondo Hatton Award
“a lot of great stories and quotes in this one. There is simply no movie author today with Tom’s grasp of film history, let alone his skill as an interviewer…a must-have”—Classic Images; “highly recommended”—Literra; “Tom Weaver is the king of film historians…exhaustive”—Starlog; “Tom Weaver has enjoyed a lengthy career writing about the horror genre through his reference guides and countless magazine contributions. His interviews are thorough and informative but presented conversationally, as though he is simply visiting with an old friend. Weaver expertly guides the talk in a way that allows him to ask his questions in an informal manner, and likely he received a more detailed answer than if he had approached the subject as a journalist would”—horrortalk.com; “Tom does his homework”—Little Shoppe of Horrors; “Weaver strikes again with another gala collection of interviews…fascinating…highly addictive”—VideoScope; “Weaver’s books are sheer delight”—Cult Movies.