McFarland and Monsters

New and recent from McFarland:

Phantom Variations: The Adaptations of Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera, 1925 to the Present 

Ann C. Hall

Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-4265-2
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-5377-1
notes, bibliography, index
199pp. softcover 2009
Price: $35.00

About the Book
This book examines the themes and variations of Phantom of the Opera, exploring the story’s appeal to multiple generations through numerous incarnations. After discussing Gaston Leroux’s original 1910 novel, the work turns first to Phantom on film from Lon Chaney’s 1925 Phantom through Dario Argento’s 1998 film. Stage versions of Phantom are then covered in detail, including Webber’s spectacular 1986 production and its lesser-known predecessors and competitors, and those that followed. A final section looks at novels and miscellaneous adaptations ranging from erotic fiction to a Donald Barthelme short story.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vi
Introduction: The Skull Beneath the Skin 1

1. MASKING AND UNMASKING: GASTON LEROUX’S ORIGINAL PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1910) 13
2. DARKNESS MADE VISIBLE: THE PHANTOM ON FILM 33
Defining the Phantom: Lon Chaney’s Phantom of the Opera (1925) 35
The Feminist Phantom: Claude Rains’s Phantom of the Opera (1943) 48
Taming of the Phantom: Hammer Films’ Wholesome Phantom of the Opera (1962) 56
Phabulous Phantom: Brian De Palma’s Glam Rock Parody The Phantom of the Paradise (1974) 63
Decoys in the Danube: The TV Miniseries of Phantom of the Opera (1983) 72
Nightmare at the Opera: Freddy Krueger Meets The Phantom of the Opera (1989) 78
Red Phantom: Ronny Yu’s Chinese The Phantom Lover (1995) 83
“When You Hear My Thoughts, You’ll Know Where to Go”: Dario Argento’s Handsome Phantom (1998) 89
3. SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND EXPERIENCE: STAGE VERSIONS OF THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA 95
The Precursor Phantom: Ken Hill’s Phantom of the Opera (1984) 96
Phantom Rivalries: Arthur Kopit’s Forgotten Phantom on Stage (1991) and Screen (1990) 101
Kopit’s Phantom: The Television Version 111
Spectacular Phantom: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom on Stage (1986) and Screen (2004) 116
The 2004 Film Version of the Lloyd Webber Musical 125
That Phantom in Vegas 129
Phantom of the Midwest: John Kenley and Robert Thomas Noll’s Phantom of the Opera (1988) 130
A Phunny Phantom: The Pinchpenny Phantom of the Opera (1988) 133
Flexible Phantom: Bruce Falstein’s Phantom of the Opera (1990) 135
The Invisible Phantom: Joseph Robinette and Robert Chauls’s Phantom of the Opera (1992) 139

4. VARIATIONS ON THE THEME: NOVELS AND MISCELLANEOUS VERSIONS OF THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA 143
The Romantic Phantom: Susan Kay’s Phantom (1991) 146
Taking a Bite Out of the Big Apple: Frederick Forsyth’s The Phantom of Manhattan (1999) 153
A Chapter Book Phantom: R.L. Stine’s Phantom of the Auditorium (1994) 159
A Steamy Phantom: Colette Gale’s Unmasqued: An Erotic Novel of “The Phantom of the Opera” (2007) 161
Phantom of the Short Story: Donald Barthelme’s “The Phantom of the Opera’s Friend” (1981) 168

Conclusion: The Phantom’s Future 171
Notes 179
Bibliography 183
Index 189

About the Author
Ann C. Hall is a professor in the English department at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio. She also serves as president of the Harold Pinter Society.


Back from the Dead: Remakes of the Romero Zombie Films as Markers of Their Times

Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr.

Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-4642-1
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8721-9
bibliography, filmography, index
252pp. softcover 2011
Price: $40.00

About the Book
Since 1968, the name of motion picture director George Romero has been synonymous with the living dead. His landmark film Night of the Living Dead formed the paradigm of modern zombie cinema; often cited as a metaphor for America during the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement, the film used the tenets of the drive-in horror movie genre to engage the sociophobics of late-1960s culture. Subsequently Romero has created five more zombie films, and other directors, including Tom Savini and Zack Snyder, have remade Romero’s movies. This survey of those remakes examines ways in which the sociocultural contexts of different time periods are reflected by changes to the narrative (and the zombies) of Romero’s original versions.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vi
Introduction: The Dead Are Rising 1

I. Night
1. “We may not enjoy living together, but dying together isn’t going to solve anything”:
Night of the Living Dead (1968) 29
2. “I’m fighting; I’m not panicking”:
Night of the Living Dead (1990) 47
3. “This has got to be the strangest load you’ve ever hauled!”:
30th Anniversary Special Edition (1998) and Children of the Living Dead (2001) 64
4. “Hey, are you, like, freaked out about zombie movies?”:
Night of the Living Dead 3-D (2006) 78
5. “Now you better watch this and try to understand what’s going on”:
Night of the Living Dead: Survivor’s Cut (2005)
Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated (2009)
Night of the Living Dead: Origins (2011) 94
INTERLUDE: LIVING DEAD, LIVE!
Night of the Living Dead on Stage and in Other Media 103

II. Dawn
6. “We’re blowing it ourselves”:
Dawn of the Dead (1978) 121
7. “Number One: Trust”:
Dawn of the Dead (2004) 136

INTERLUDE: “DID YOU KNOW THAT MOVIE WAS BASED ON A TRUE CASE?”
Return of the Living Dead (1985) 154

III. Day
8. “From now on, everyone is under martial law!”:
Day of the Dead (1985) 171
9. “Somebody will come. They have to”:
Day of the Dead (2008) 187

IV. Back for the Dead
10. “Isn’t that what we’re doing? Pretending to be alive?”:
Land, Diary, Surviving and the World of the Dead 201

Conclusion 226
Filmography 231
Bibliography 235
Index 241

About the Author
Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr., is an actor, director, editor and author, whose previous books have covered topics ranging from Star Wars to Renaissance faires. He is associate professor of theater at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.