Recommended reading - Phiction: Tales from the World of Phantasm

Phiction: Tales from the World of Phantasm

by Don Coscarelli.

Illustrated by Aaron Lea.
Foreward by Joe R. Lansdale.
 
Paperback.
Published by Molotov Press.
Published 2024.

ASIN: B0D2QZ3MQK
ISBN-13: 979-8988243038
 
Description:
 
“Electrifyingly tense and gruesome… Horror fans and cult devotees of the classic horror series will find Coscarelli’s ingenuity a rare treat.” - Kirkus Reviews.
 
“It’s magnificent. An impressive collection of remarkable short-story horror fiction that I can proudly display on my bookshelf next to Poe, King, Dahl, Barker, Bradbury, and Lovecraft.” - Nick DiGilio, WGN Chicago.
 

In 1979, filmmaker Don Coscarelli (Bubba Ho-tep, The Beastmaster) wrote and directed what became one of the seminal sci-fi/horror films of that era, Phantasm. The film was a worldwide theatrical success and spawned four acclaimed sequels.

 

For the first time in the history of horror cinema, a celebrated filmmaker of a cult-classic horror film series has continued the adventure by swapping mediums and personally authoring a series of fictional works exploring in detail the characters he originally created. Coscarelli has now returned to the world of Phantasm to tell more tales of these inspiring phantasmic heroes.

 

Phiction comprises six stories set in the expansive Phantasm world that have never been told before:
 

In Life and Death in the 'Nam we explore the origin story of our favorite ice cream vendor/hero Reggie and his first encounter with the supernatural forces of evil in the jungles of the Vietnam war. It's a two-fisted tale of a young man enduring the horrors of war and at the same time facing down the horrors of the unknown.

 

In Behind the Mortuary Door we learn the secrets of the embalming trade from one of the most memorable characters from the original film.
 

In He Was Home Alone we revisit the young boy Tim, prior to the events from Phantasm Ill, and how, using only his wits and guile, he survives against unspeakable horrors.

 

In Tobe we follow the trail of one of Phantasm's forgotten characters as he witnesses the key events of that film from an entirely different perspective.

 

In The Rocky Road we track the events of one of the Phantasm saga's fan-favorite characters, the nunchuck-wielding Rocky as she's mustered out of the armed services and travels the backroads of the rural South in the early 90's. In a desperate search to find her family she encounters love, vengeance and horror, frequently reacting in the only way she knows how, with her fists and her feet.

 

And finally in Escape From New York we join another Phantasm fan-favorite character, the diminutive Chunk from Phantasm Ravager as he attempts to flee his home in the big city from the horror of an oncoming apocalypse. Along the way he bonds with some unexpected allies on a thrilling quest for survival.

 

In association with illustrator Aaron Lea (GHOST, Rob Zombie), Molotov Press now presents Phiction: Tales from the World of Phantasm.
 
Tales from the world of Phantasm.
 

Phiction conjures six stunning new tales from the world of the classic Phantasm film franchise. Acclaimed filmmaker, series creator and Master of Horror, Don Coscarelli, returns the reader to Morningside Mortuary with revelatory origin stories for some of the Phantasm saga’s most compelling characters including ice cream vendor/action hero Reggie, fan-favorite Rocky from Phantasm III and Chunk from Phantasm: Ravager.

 

Six Stories from the master of horror.
 

“You are in for a treat. As with the [Phantasm] films, these stories will give you what people call chicken skin, and others call Goosebumps. What [Phiction] will do above all else, is entertain. Dive in. The dark waters are fines.” – Joe R. Lansdale (best-selling author of Hap & Leonard, Cold in July and Bubba Ho-tep).

Holly Black, on books:

 

It is my belief that books are living things.

- Holly Black.

Born on this day – Charles Stevenson:

Charles Stevenson

Actor

October 13, 1887 – July 4, 1943

Credits:

A Man About Town (1923); A Pleasant Journey (1923); A Quiet Street (1922); A Regular Pal (1920); A Sailor-Made Man (1921); A Straight Crook (1921); All Aboard (1917); American Masters (1989); An Eastern Westerner (1920); An Ozark Romance (1918); Any Old Port (1920); Are Crooks Dishonest? (1918); Are Parents Pickles? (1925); Ask Father (1919); Bashful (1917); Be My Wife (1919); Bees in His Bonnet (1918); Before the Public (1923); Birds of a Feather (1917); Boys to Board (1923); Bride and Gloom (1918); Bumping Into Broadway (1919); Call a Taxi (1920); Captain Kidd's Kids (1919); Clubs Are Trump (1917); Count the Votes (1919); Dig Up (1923); Do You Love Your Wife? (1919); Dogs of War! (1923); Doing Time (1920); Dr. Jack (1922); Fare, Please (1918); Fire Fighters (1922); Follow the Crowd (1918); From Hand to Mouth (1919); From Laramie to London (1917); Gas and Air (1923); Get Out and Get Under (1920); Girl Shy (1924); Good Morning, Judge (1922); Grandma's Boy (1922); Haunted Spooks (1920); He Leads, Others Follow (1919); Hey There (1918); High and Dizzy (1920); His Busy Day (1918); His Only Father (1919); His Royal Slyness (1920); Hot Water (1924); Hurry West (1921); Isn't Life Terrible? (1925); It's a Wild Life (1918); Join the Circus (1923); June Madness (1920); Just Neighbors (1919); Kicking the Germ Out of Germany (1918); Kill or Cure (1923); Late Hours (1921); Little Miss Jazz (1920); Lodge Night (1923); Lonesome Luke Loses Patients (1917); Lonesome Luke on Tin Can Alley (1917); Lonesome Luke, Lawyer (1917); Lonesome Luke, Messenger (1917); Lonesome Luke's Honeymoon (1917); Lonesome Luke's Lively Life (1917); Lonesome Luke's Wild Women (1917); Loose Change (1922); Love, Laughs and Lather (1917); Luke and the Bang-Tails (1916); Luke and the Bomb Throwers (1916); Luke and the Mermaids (1916); Luke Does the Midway (1916); Luke Joins the Navy (1916); Luke Laughs Last (1916); Luke Locates the Loot (1916); Luke Pipes the Pippins (1916); Luke Rides Roughshod (1916); Luke Wins Ye Ladye Faire (1917); Luke, Crystal Gazer (1916); Luke, Patient Provider (1916); Luke, Rank Impersonator (1916); Luke, the Candy Cut-Up (1916); Luke, the Chauffeur (1916); Luke, the Gladiator (1916); Luke's Double (1916); Luke's Fatal Flivver (1916); Luke's Fireworks Fizzle (1916); Luke's Late Lunchers (1916); Luke's Lost Lamb (1916); Luke's Lost Liberty (1917); Luke's Movie Muddle (1916); Luke's Newsie Knockout (1916); Luke's Preparedness Preparations (1916); Luke's Shattered Sleep (1916); Luke's Society Mixup (1916); Luke's Speedy Club Life (1916); Mischief Makers (1960–1961); Money to Burn (1920); Move On (1917); Never Weaken (1921); No Noise (1923); Now or Never (1921); Number, Please? (1920); On the Jump (1918); One Terrible Day (1922); Pay the Cashier (1926); Pay Your Dues (1919); Pinched (1917); Pinning It On (1921); Ring Up the Curtain (1919); Run 'Em Ragged (1920); Running Wild (1921); Safety Last! (1923); Scorching Sands (1923); Short Orders (1923); Sic 'Em, Towser (1918); Soft Money (1919); Sold at Auction! (1923); Somewhere in Turkey (1918); Spring Fever (1919); Stage Fright (1923); Step Lively (1917); Stop Kidding (1921); Stop! Luke! Listen! (1917); That's Him (1918); The Big Idea (1917); The Champeen (1923); The Chink (1921); The City Slicker (1918); The Dippy Dentist (1920); The Dumb-Bell (1922); The Freshman (1925); The Golf Bug (1922); The Great Water Peril (1918); The Lucky Number (1921); The Non-Stop Kid (1918); The Rajah (1919); The Sandman (1920); The Shriek of Araby (1923); The Sleuth (1922); The Tip (1918); The Whole Truth (1923); Them Was the Happy Days! (1916); Two Scrambled (1918); Two-Gun Gussie (1918); Under Two Jags (1923); Watch Your Wife (1923); We Never Sleep (1917); Whom God Hath Joined (1914); Why Worry? (1923); Young Sherlocks (1922).

Born on this day – Irene Rich:

Irene Rich

Actress

October 13, 1891 – April 22, 1988

Credits:

The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre (1949); Joan of Arc (1948); Fort Apache (1948); New Orleans (1947); Angel and the Badman (1947); Calendar Girl (1947); This Time for Keeps (1942); Three Sons o' Guns (1941); Keeping Company (1940); Queen of the Yukon (1940); The Lady in Question (1940); The Mortal Storm (1940); Everybody's Hobby (1939); The Right Way (1939); That Certain Age (1938); Hollywood Handicap (1938); Spitfire (1934); Manhattan Tower (1932); Her Mad Night (1932); Down to Earth (1932); The Champ (1931); Wicked (1931); The Mad Parade (1931); Five and Ten (1931); Strangers May Kiss (1931); Father's Son (1931); Beau Ideal (1931); Double Check (1930); On Your Back (1930); So This Is London (1930); Shanghai Rose (1929); They Had to See Paris (1929); The Exalted Flapper (1929); Daughters of Desire (1929); Ned McCobb's Daughter (1928); Women They Talk About (1928); The Perfect Crime (1928); Craig's Wife (1928); Powder My Back (1928); Beware of Married Men (1927); The Silver Slave (1927); The Desired Woman (1927); Dearie (1927); The Climbers (1927); Don't Tell the Wife (1927); My Official Wife (1926); The Honeymoon Express (1926); Silken Shackles (1926); Lady Windermere's Fan (1925); The Pleasure Buyers (1925); Compromise (1925); The Wife Who Wasn't Wanted (1925); Eve's Lover (1925); The Man Without a Conscience (1925); My Wife and I (1925); A Lost Lady (1924); What the Butler Saw (1924); This Woman (1924); Behold This Woman (1924); A Woman Who Sinned (1924); Captain January (1924); Being Respectable (1924); Cytherea (1924); Beau Brummel (1924); Pal o' Mine (1924); Boy of Mine (1923); Lucretia Lombard (1923); Defying Destiny (1923); Rosita (1923); Yesterday's Wife (1923); Dangerous Trails (1923); Michael O'Halloran (1923); Snowdrift (1923); Brass (1923); Fruits of Faith (1922); The Marriage Chance (1922); While Justice Waits (1922); Brawn of the North (1922); The Ropin' Fool (1922); The Yosemite Trail (1922); A Fool There Was (1922); One Clear Call (1922); The Trap (1922); Strength of the Pines (1922); The Call of Home (1922); The Poverty of Riches (1921); The Invisible Power (1921); Desperate Trails (1921); A Voice in the Dark (1921); A Tale of Two Worlds (1921); Boys Will Be Boys (1921); One Man in a Million (1921); Sunset Jones (1921); Godless Men (1920); Just Out of College (1920); Stop Thief (1920); Jes' Call Me Jim (1920); The Strange Boarder (1920); The Street Called Straight (1920); Water, Water, Everywhere (1920); The Spite Bride (1919); Her Purchase Price (1919); Wolves of the Night (1919); The Blue Bonnet (1919); The Sneak (1919); The Lone Star Ranger (1919); Castles in the Air (1919); The Silver Girl (1919); Diane of the Green Van (1919); A Man in the Open (1919); Todd of the Times (1919); A Law Unto Herself (1918); The Girl in His House (1918); A Desert Wooing (1918).

Born on this day – Georgia Backus:

Georgia Backus

Actress

October 13, 1900 – September 7, 1983

Credits:

Schlitz Playhouse (1952); Mark of the Renegade (1951); Apache Drums (1951); Cause for Alarm! (1951); Mother Didn't Tell Me (1950); No Man of Her Own (1950); Copper Canyon (1950); Song of Surrender (1949); Too Late for Tears (1949); Force of Evil (1948); Dream Girl (1948); Suddenly It's Spring (1947); Lady in the Dark (1944); Standing Room Only (1944); The Moon Is Down (1943); Lucky Jordan (1942); My Heart Belongs to Daddy (1942); I Married a Witch (1942); The Talk of the Town (1942); Blondie for Victory (1942); The Magnificent Ambersons (1942); Not a Ladies' Man (1942); Take a Letter, Darling (1942); Shut My Big Mouth (1942); The Lady Is Willing (1942); Bedtime Story (1941); Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case (1941); You Belong to Me (1941); Blondie in Society (1941); They Dare Not Love (1941); Citizen Kane (1941); Repent at Leisure (1941); Footlight Fever (1941); So Ends Our Night (1941); Nobody's Children (1940).

Born on this day – Yves Allégret:

Yves Allégret

Director

Writer

October 13, 1905 – January 31, 1987

Credits:

A Day in the Country (1946); Au cinéma ce soir (1971–1974); Autour du film Une si jolie petite plage (1973); Aventure à Paris (1936); Box of Dreams (1945); Chien de pique (1960); Ciboulette (1933); Cinépanorama (1958); Confessions of a Newlywed (1937); Dedee (1948); Don't Bite, We Love You (1976); Fanny (1932); Fantômas (1932); Forfaiture (1937); Germinal (1963); Graine d'ortie (1973); Happy Days (1935); Histoire du cinéma français par ceux qui l'ont fait (1975); Jeunes filles de France (1939); Johnny Banco (1967); Konga Yo (1962); La meilleure part (1955); Ladies Lake (1934); Le collier (1931); Le dompteur (1938); Le gagnant (1937); L'émigrante (1940); Les amours de minuit (1931); Les démons de l'aube (1946); Les deux timides (1943); Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret (1979–1981); Les miracles n'ont lieu qu'une fois (1951); L'invasion (1970); L'invité de FR3 (1981); Mam'zelle Nitouche (1931); Max le débonnaire (1967); Miss Nitouche (1954); Nez de cuir (1952); Oasis (1955); Orzowei, il figlio della savana (1976–1977); Port of Desire (1958); Prix et profits, la pomme de terre (1932); Quand la femme s'en mêle (1957); Revenge at Daybreak (1952); Simone Signoret, figure libre (2020); Such a Pretty Little Beach (1949); Ténérife (1932); The Bitch (1931); The cheat (1949); The Proud and the Beautiful (1953); The Restless and the Damned (1959); The Seven Deadly Sins (1952); Tobie est un ange (1940); Under Western Eyes (1936); Young Girls Beware (1957).

Born on this day – Cornel Wilde:

Cornel Wilde

Actor

Director

October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989