Description

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The definitive biography of the visionary publisher of Famous Monsters of Filmland, the magazine that inspired filmmakers Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Joe Dante, and many more.

This heavily illustrated biography features eye-opening — often outrageous —anecdotes about Warren, a larger-than-life figure whose ability as a publisher, promoter, and provocateur make him a fascinating figure. In addition to Forrest J. Ackerman’s Famous Monsters of Filmland, he published Help!, a magazine created by MAD’s Harvey Kurtzman, which featured early work by John Cleese, Gloria Steinem, Terry Gilliam, Robert Crumb, and Diane Arbus; Creepy and Eerie magazines, with covers by painter Frank Frazetta and comics art by Steve Ditko, Wallace Wood, Bernie Wrightson, Al Williamson, and many others. His most famous co-creation, the character Vampirella, debuted in her own magazine in 1969, and continues to be published today.  

About the Author

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Bill Schelly (1951-2019) was an Eisner Award-winning biographer and chronicler of comics fandom, who wrote books about comics luminaries Harvey Kurtzman, Joe Kubert, John Stanley, Otto Binder, and comedic silent film star Harry Langdon. His final book was the expanded edition of his autobiography, Sense of Wonder, in 2018.

Praise For…

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A horror nerd's dream.
— Cinepunx

I devoured Bill Schelly’s James Warren: Empire of Monsters... A breeze of a read.

— Bookgasm

Bill Schelly has an obsessive yet intelligent passion for things many might consider marginal if not bizarre—always the mark of an interesting mind.
— Tom Robbins

Ask anyone who has been associated with the fantasy-horror-science fiction genres in the last thirty years about [Famous Monsters of Filmland], and you’ll get a laugh, a flash of the eyes, and a stream of bright memories — I practically guarantee it.

— Stephen King