This Is a Thriller

The late 1950s and early 1960s were the golden years of horror television. Anthology series such as Way Out and Great Ghost Tales, along with certain episodes of Twilight Zone and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, were among the shows that consistently frightened a generation of television viewers. And perhaps the best of them all was Thriller, hosted by Boris Karloff.
In Thriller the horror was gothic, with a darker, bleaker vision of life than its contemporaries. The show’s origins and troubled history is first discussed here, followed by biographies of such key figures as producer William Frye, executive producer Hubbell Robinson, writers Robert Bloch and Donald S. Sanford, and Karloff. The episode guide covers all 67 installments, providing airdate, production credits, cast, plot synopses and critical evaluations.

Alan Warren has published essays, short stories and articles in publications as varied as Film Comment, Publishers Weekly, Issac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Castle of Frankenstein, and Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine. His other books include the critical study Roald Dahl (Starmont House, 1994). He lives in Alameda, California.

Alan Warren
Foreword by Donald S. Sanford
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 215
Bibliographic Info: photos, appendix, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2004 [1996]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-1969-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0478-7
Imprint: McFarland

“Alan Warren is a good writer and he has filled a void with this book…commentary is good”—Classic Images; “well researched and well documented…fills a hole in the category of the genre…an informative and responsible piece of work”—ARBA; “a marvelous testament”—Midnight Marquee; “meticulously researched…fascinating”—VideoScope; “exclusive materials…. Of the recent books that have covered old television series, this may be the best”—Little Shoppe of Horrors; “serves as a history, analysis, and episode guide to the bets Gothic horror series ever put on the airwaves”—Monsters from the Vault; “more than thorough with lengthy plot descriptions…well-researched”—The TV Collector; “a valuable addition to existing reference material”—Television Chronicles.