American Silent Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Feature Films, 1913–1929

During the Silent Era, when most films dealt with dramatic or comedic takes on the “boy meets girl, boy loses girl” theme, other motion pictures dared to tackle such topics as rejuvenation, revivication, mesmerism, the supernatural and the grotesque. A Daughter of the Gods (1916), The Phantom of the Opera (1925), The Magician (1926) and Seven Footprints to Satan (1929) were among the unusual and startling films containing story elements that went far beyond the realm of “highly unlikely.” Using surviving documentation and their combined expertise, the authors catalog and discuss these departures from the norm in this encyclopedic guide to American horror, science fiction and fantasy in the years from 1913 through 1929.

John T. Soister is a teacher of modern and classical languages, and lives in Denver, Colorado.

Henry Nicolella, of Syracuse, New York, retired from a ministry of working for the homeless.

Software developer Steve Joyce lives in Marietta, Georgia.

Harry H Long lives in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He reviews DVDs for the Lebanon Daily News and is editor of two magazines: Scarlet: The Film Magazine and Van Helsing’s Journal.

Bill Chase is a library assistant at the Cleveland Public Library and lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

John T. Soister, and Henry Nicolella with Steve Joyce and Harry H Long

Researcher/Archivist Bill Chase

Format: softcover (8.5 x 11 in 2 vols.)
Pages: 830
Bibliographic Info: 153 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3581-4
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8790-5
Imprint: McFarland

Volume 1
Acknowledgments      v
Authors’ Notes      x
Preface      1
The Films      5

Volume 2
The Films (continued) 425
Appendix of Tangential Films      685
Bibliography      779
Index      785

• Honorable Mention, Rondo Hatton Award
• “A winner…an exhaustive, humorously written resource”—Library Journal
• “McFarland has published another one of its highly focused labors of love…painstaking research…thorough knowledge”—Against the Grain
• “I’d like to note the fine photo reproduction in this book. McFarland scores high marks here…worth every penny”—Little Shoppe of Horrors
• “A brilliant and amazing accomplishment…impressively illustrated and annotated…an incredible achievement in film scholarship…the definitive reference guide”—Scarlet
• “What an achievement…an unbelievable definitive study of American silent fantastic films…an absolute pleasure to read. One of the finest studies of horror film I’ve ever read”—Psychobabble
• “WOW…magnificent…impressive…excellent…top-notch research, talented writing, a treasure-trove of engaging and little-known information. Recommended”—silentsaregolden.com
•  “Awesome”—samueltaylorcoleridge.me