Into the Forest : Folktales At DEFA

 

Into the Forest : Folktales At DEFA (Limited Edition Box Set) (Blu-ray)

https://downthetubes.net/the-singing-ringing-tree-returns-restored-to-haunt-a-new-generation/

https://eurekavideo.co.uk/movie/into-the-forest-folktales-at-defa-limited-edition-box-set/

https://www.mondo-digital.com/ringing.html

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Limited Collector’s Edition Box Set [2000 copies]
Limited edition hardbound slipcase featuring new artwork by Carly A-F [2000 copies]
• Limited edition 60-page collector’s book featuring a new essay on DEFA’s approach to folktales by East German film historian Sebastian Heiduschke, new notes on each film in this set by DEFA Märchenfilm experts Sonja Fritzsche, Qinna Shen and Elizabeth Ward, plus the Brothers Grimm stories that inspired The Singing Ringing Tree, Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood and The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs [2000 copies]
• Reversible inner sleeves featuring new artwork for each film by Carly A-F
• 1080p HD presentations of all five films from restorations by the DEFA Foundation
• Original German soundtracks
• Optional English soundtracks for The Singing Ringing Tree and The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs
• Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
• New audio commentary on The Devil from Mill Mountain by film historian Michael Brooke
• New audio commentary on Rumpelstiltskin by Sam Goff, editorial director for Klassiki and host of The Klassiki Kino Club podcast
• Fairytales and Nightmares – new interview with writer, broadcaster and Fortean Times columnist Bob Fischer on the history of The Singing Ringing Tree
• DEFA and the Devil – new video essay on the depiction of the Devil in folktales from the Brothers Grimm to DEFA by film and literature scholar Mary Going
• The Magic Scissors (Bruno J. Böttge, 1956) – short silhouette animation inspired by traditional folktales and produced by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
• Sleeping Beauty Was a Beautiful Child (Katja Georgi, 1987) – short puppet animation adapted from Sleeping Beauty by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film

• The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats (Otto Sacher, 1990) – short cut-out animation adapted from the Brothers Grimm story by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film

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Beneath The Trees : Folktales At DEFA 2 (Blu-ray)

https://eurekavideo.co.uk/movie/beneath-the-trees-folktales-at-defa-2/

SYNOPSIS

Possessing an eternally uncanny, weird and phantasmagorical quality, Märchenfilme – or adaptations of popular folk and fairytales by the likes of Wilhelm Hauff, Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm – remain the productions that most distinctly characterise the cinema of East Germany and its state-operated film studio, DEFA. Collected here are some of the greatest – and strangest – folktale films made in the German Democratic Republic: The Tinderbox, Snow White, Snow White and Rose Red, The Frog King and The Robe.

In The Tinderbox, a young soldier agrees to help a conniving witch in her quest to retrieve a magical tinderbox protected by a guard dog of monstrous proportions. Snow White sees an evil queen task a hunter with murdering her stepdaughter when a magic mirror deems her the most beautiful woman in the land. Then, in Snow White and Rose Red, two young sisters encounter a pair of princes who have been transformed into animals by an evil mountain spirit. The Frog King follows a princess who must endure a series of trials to reach the castle of the Frog King, where she hopes to reunite with the handsome prince she once mistreated. Finally, in The Robe, two weavers arrive in a town surrounded by an impenetrable wall and are tasked with making garments befitting of a tyrannical ruler in an adaptation of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”

Collected here are some of DEFA’s best-known Märchenfilme – including The Tinderbox, which was shown in a dubbed version on the BBC as part of the Tales from Europe series – and some true rarities, including The Frog King and The Robe, which was put into production in 1961 but not completed and released until after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present these five Märchenfilme for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Limited Collector's Edition Box Set [2000 copies]
• Limited edition hardbound slipcase featuring new artwork by Carly A-F [2000 copies]
• Limited edition 60-page book featuring a new essay on the production design of DEFA’s folktales by Märchenfilme expert Corinna Alexandra Rader, new notes on each film in this set by DEFA historians Sebastian Heiduschke and Qinna Shen, plus the original Hans Christian Andersen and Brothers Grimm stories that inspired The Tinderbox, Snow White, Snow White and Rose Red, The Frog King and The Robe [2000 copies]
• 1080p HD presentations of all five films from restorations by the DEFA Foundation
• Original German soundtracks
• Optional English soundtrack for The Tinderbox
• Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
• New audio commentary on The Tinderbox by socialist cinema expert Ally Pitts, host of A Russian and Soviet Movie Podcast 
• New audio commentary on The Robe by film historian Michael Brooke
• Two Kingdoms – new interview with German cinema expert Rachel Palfreyman on the history of folktales in German culture and their adaptations in West and East Germany
• Mirror, Mirror – new video essay on DEFA’s adaptations of Snow White and Snow White and Rose Red by film and animation scholar Sam Summers
• The Emperor’s New Clothes (Herbert K. Schulz, 1956) – short stop-motion animation adapted from the Hans Christian Andersen tale by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
• Hans Christian Andersen tale by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film The Fisherman and his Wife (Werner Krauße, 1975) – short stop-motion animation adapted from the Brothers Grimm tale by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
• Beauty and the Beast (Katja Georgi, 1976) – short stop-motion animation adapted from the Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve tale by the DEFA Studio for Animation Film
• **The Robe started production in 1961 but was not completed and released until 1991**
• **Only The Robe is 2.35:1**

Edgar Wallace Mysteries

 

The Edgar Wallace Mysteries is a British second-feature film series mainly produced at Merton Park Studios for Anglo-Amalgamated.There were 48 films in the series, which were released between 1960 and 1965.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/dvd_reviews_61/edgar_wallace_mysteries_vol_1.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Wallace_Mysteries

http://www.british60scinema.net/edgar-wallace-mysteries/

https://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/edgar-wallace-mysteries-1960-1965/

1960

The Clue of the Twisted Candle (writer: Philip Mackie, director: Allan Davis)

Marriage of Convenience (w. Robert Banks Stewart, d. Clive Donner)

The Malpas Mystery (w. Paul Tabori, d. Sidney Hayers)

The Man Who Was Nobody (w. James Eastwood, d. Montgomery Tully)

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1961

Clue of New Pin (w. Philip Mackie, d. Allan Davis)

Partners in Crime (w. Robert Banks Stewart, d. Peter Duffel)

The Fourth Square (w. James Eastwood, d. Allan Davis)

Man at the Carlton Tower (w. Philip Mackie, d. Robert Tronson)

Clue of Silver Key (w. Philip Mackie, d. Gerard Glaister)

Attempt to Kill (w. Richard Harris, d. Royston Morley)

Man Detained (w. Richard Harris, d. Robert Tronson)

Never Back Losers (w. Lukas Heller, d. Robert Tronson)

The Sinister Man (w. Robert Banks Stewart [& Philip Mackie], d. Clive Donner)

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1962

Candidate for Murder (w. Lukas Heller, d. David Villers)

Backfire (w. Robert Banks Stewart, d. Paul Almond)

The Share Out (w. Philip Mackie, d. Gerard Glaister)

Flat Two (w. Lindsay Galloway, d. Alan Cooke)

Number Six (w. Philip Mackie, d. Robert Tronson)

Time to Remember (w. Arthur La Bern, d. Charles Jarrott)

Locker 69 (w. Richard Harris, d. Norman Harrison)

Playback (w. Robert Banks Stewart, d. Quentin Lawrence)

Solo for Sparrow (w. Roger Marshall, d. Gordon Flemyng)

Death Trap (w. John Roddick, d. John Llewellyn Moxey)

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1963

The Set Up (w. Roger Marshall, d. Gerard Glaister)

The 20,000 Pound Kiss (w. Philip Mackie, d. John Llewellyn Moxey)

Incident at Midnight (w. Arthur La Bern, d. Norman Harrison)

On the Run (w. Richard Harris, d. Robert Tronson)

Return to Sender (w. John Roddick, d. Gordon Hales)

Ricochet (w. Roger Marshall, d. John Llewellyn Moxey)

The Double (w. John Roddick & Lindsay Galloway, d. Lionel Harris)

The Rivals (w. John Roddick, d. Max Varnel)

To Have and to Hold (w. Jimmy Sangster [as ‘John Sansom’] d. Herbert Wise)

The Partner (w. John Roddick, d. Gerard Glaister)

Accidental Death (w. Arthur La Bern, d. Geoffrey Nethercott)

Five to One (w. Roger Marshall, d. Gordon Flemyng)

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1964

Downfall (w. Robert Banks Stewart, d. John Llewellyn Moxey)

The Verdict (w. Arthur La Bern, d. David Eady)

We Shall See (w. Donal Giltinan, d. Quentin Lawrence)

Who was Maddox? (w. Roger Marshall, d. Geoffrey Nethercott)

Act of Murder (w. Lewis Davidson, d. Alan Bridges)

Face of a Stranger (w. Jimmy Sangster [as ‘John Sansom’], d. John Llewellyn Moxey)

Never Mention Murder (w. Robert Banks Stewart, d. John Nelson-Burton)

The Main Chance (w. Richard Harris, d. John Knight)

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1965

Game for Three Losers (w. Roger Marshall, d. Gerry O’Hara)

Change Partners (w. Donal Giltinan, d. Robert Lynn)

Strangler’s Web (w. George Baxt, d. John Llewellyn Moxey)

Dead Man’s Chest (w. Donal Giltinan, d. Patrick Dromgoole)

German Genre Cinema

 

https://letterboxd.com/threepenny/list/kommissar-x-jerry-cotton-and-german-bondsploitation/

https://letterboxd.com/threepenny/list/from-beirut-with-love-espionage-films-shot/

Lebanon flourished for a very brief moment in time as a movie (and movie-star) mecca. Egypt was the center of gravity for cinema in the region starting in the 30's, but in an unforced error, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser decided to Nationalize the Cinemas in 1963, resulting in a large amount of talented filmmakers decamping to Lebanon. At the same time, Lebanon started offering itself as a Tax Haven for moviemaking. The boom was on, but suffered a huge hit at the end of 1966 with the complete collapse of the Intra Bank, the largest bank in Lebanon. This financial disaster kneecapped the entire enterprise, but it limped along as fallout from the collapse created the conditions that inexorably drove Lebanon into Civil War, by 1975. 

What remains is about twenty movies, many of them international co-productions, usually concerning secret agents and beautiful women with Beirut providing both a luxurious background in the Phoenician Hotel, Casino Du Liban, and other jet set destinations, paired with the dangerous and mysterious "orient" just outside the door, of ancient ruins and souks and seedy nightclubs. Perfectly timed to take advantage of the spy boom in the wake of James Bond, but over all too soon.

https://letterboxd.com/threepenny/list/no-time-to-mumbai-bond-archetypes-of-indian/

The various Indian film industries only rarely fully adopted the Bond movie template but were strongly influenced, nonetheless. Their agents were usually not "secret agents" but instead, supercops from the Criminal Investigation Division, or C.I.D. As opposed to the lone spy with nothing to lose, they were often enmeshed in a family network, and pursuing serious romance not just casual flings. The villains, though, are easily recognizable, with their quirky character traits, army of henchmen, secret lairs, and elaborate killing devices.

A provisional list that will be added to or subtracted from as I watch or re-watch more of the films that may fit the topic. From 1967 and the first Bollywood spy film "Farz", with a somewhat arbitrary cutoff point of Mr. Bond, from 1992.

https://letterboxd.com/threepenny/list/welcome-to-japan-mr-bond-japanese-secret/

Japanese cinema had its own, much more serious strains of spy films running at the time Bond became popular. On the one hand there were the "Nakano Spy School" films depicting the misery of being a secret agent during wartime. And on the other, Corporate, not National, espionage was the order of the day with the "Black" series and it's best known entry, "Black Test Car." And in any case, Japan already had its own traditional flavor of spy shenanigans with special gadgets: ninja movies! With all of these competing threads the Bond archetypes barely got a look in, but they did, starting with 1963's International Secret Police series. Actresses Mie Hama and Akiko Watanabe, who both featured in You Only Live Twice, would become the cornerstones of the Japanese Bond film.

https://letterboxd.com/threepenny/list/on-hong-kongs-secret-service-lady-bonds-shaw/

Hong Kong had both primarily Cantonese and Mandarin language film production companies, and both, whether big budget or small, drew inspiration from James Bond films and the various subgenres that grew up around it in the sixties (heist pictures, superheroes, debonair thieves, etc). On the Cantonese language side of things, the low budget black-and-white films featured female protagonists, whether "Lady Bond" or "The Black Rose." Meanwhile, Shaw Brothers tried to imitate the more masculine form with a series of the most masculine actors they could find. 

The Bond movie cycle ended with the sixties, but that didn't stop Golden Harvest from contracting an actual Bond - George Lazenby - to star in a series of films. He turned down continuing in the Bond franchise thinking his next movie was going to be with Bruce Lee, who suddenly died, and Lazenby's career along with him. By the eighties, nothing was left but to parody the spy movies, with the Hui Brothers (with Richard Kiel!) and Stephen Chow. 

https://letterboxd.com/threepenny/list/the-five-top-secret-agents-of-italian-bondsploitation/

If there was a center to the Bondsploitation maelstrom, Italy was it, cranking out more Eurospy movies faster than anyone else. This collection is an attempt to carve out a chunk of the movies to make them more easily approachable and consumable by focusing in on five of the top stars, each of whom appeared in at least six films, all from 1965-1967. They all begin as Bond knock-offs, then the heist genre blends in, and finally they get rougher, less suave spies and more desperate men. In alphabetical order: 

1 - 6: Ardisson, George. An Italian actor who started in sword & sandal movies before being cast as "Agent 3S3" on account of his "American" looks. Like most of the actors in this list, afterwards he moved on to whatever genre was popular, westerns first, then the sex comedies and Euro Crime movies of the seventies. I'll always remember him as the bongo crazed sex maniac of Challenge of the Devil, though.

7 - 13: Browne, Roger. An American Physical Therapist who came to Rome for a client and ended up getting into movies, primarily in the peplum genre before moving on to his spy movies. Afterwards, he did a few jungle movies then faded out. Best known as Argoman, here are seven of his more strait laced Eurospy films.

14 - 19: Clark, Ken. An American actor whose career included movies and television got cast to fill in as the titular agent in one of the long-running French Coplan series, which led to an Italian trilogy of his own, which would end up being his career peak.

20 - 25: Danton, Ray. An American star. Danton was more like Lex Barker or Stewart Granger, a successful actor in Hollywood heading to Europe for new opportunities when the well started to run a little dry. Italian movies, hungry for handsome American stars, couldn't get enough. In the seventies he turned to directing his own batshit insane movies.

26 - 31: Harrison, Richard. An American actor with a long, prolific, and successful career that nobody remembers because Godfrey Ho made him a fucking Ninja Legend. But that was the eighties. Before that, he was a super spy, and a master thief in these six Italian co-productions.

BBC2 Sci-Fi Film Festival

 

Malayan Emergency

Civilians in the Crossfire: The Malayan Emergency Crossfire

https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/vol-15-issue-3-oct-dec-2019-civilians-in-crossfire/

https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=5896ad6b-03ab-4d31-80a7-dbebb2bb17d7

https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=78909a3d-b4c3-4ee8-a1f3-9d3b56c00213

Fernando Carcupino

 

Sex and Horror: The Art of Fernando Carcupino

https://halcyonrealms.com/books/sex-and-horror-the-art-of-fernando-carcupino-book-review/

Gothic Fiction

 

https://hauntedhearts.wordpress.com/

https://unquietthings.com/nightgowns-and-nocturnes-the-delicious-dread-of-vic-prezios-gothic-book-covers/

Tom Hodge - The Dude Designs

 

Tom Hodge illustrator

https://www.instagram.com/thedudedesigns/?hl=en

https://thedudedesigns.com/

Dan Curtis  Blu-rays

https://www.nerdly.co.uk/2025/10/09/dan-curtis-late-night-mysteries-blu-ray-review/

https://www.nerdly.co.uk/2025/11/05/dan-curtis-dead-of-night-blu-ray-review/

Satanik

Satanik was a seminal Italian fumetti neri (black comic) series created by writer Max Bunker and artist Magnus, running for 231 issues from December 1964 to November 1974. It is known for its horror-themed stories and adult-oriented content. 

Publication Format

• Format: Black and white digest-sized, "pocketbook" format.
• Dimensions: Approximately 11.7 cm x 17 cm (approx. 4.7 x 6.5 inches).
• Binding: Paperback/Digest (brossura).
• Page Count: Generally around 128–132 pages.
• Covers: Full-color, often featuring lurid, provocative, or "cheesecake" art (often by Luigi Corteggi). 

Interior Artistic Style

• Layout: Often featured a rigid 2-panel-per-page format, designed to be compact.
• Artwork: Primarily drawn by Magnus (Roberto Raviola) until issue #160, featuring distinctive ink-heavy, sometimes psychedelic or horror-filled scenes.
• Visual Tone: Known for its dark, erotic, and supernatural themes, featuring a female anti-hero

https://dangerousminds.net/comments/lurid_covers_from_killing_the_transcendentally_trashy_european_murder_comic/

https://paulgravett.com/articles/article/diabolik_the_fumetti_neri_tradition

https://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/satanik.htm

Comic Book Resources

John Killink

BEST Comic TEMPLATES for PROCREATE! - ArtyStack (Photoshop too!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dvK38Jar5o

https://www.instagram.com/johnkillink/

Ronald P Tucker

How To Create Comic Books With Procreate | Panels

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgQD6BBqPUk

https://www.ronaldptucker.com/

https://coolcoyotebooks.bigcartel.com/

D.J. Coffman / Digital Tools for Comic Artists

https://www.djcoffman.com/djcsamples/

https://comics.gumroad.com/

Salgood Sam

https://salgoodsam.com/mc/

https://salgoodsam.com/mc/pgtemplates/

https://www.youtube.com/@Salgood/videos

Chris Dreier Making Comics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dWcPVRHeuc

Misc links

https://artystack.com/b/comic-book-templates-for-procreate

https://georgvw.gumroad.com/

https://bennycrew.com/mift/2019/01/22/11x17-comic-book-art-board-templates/

https://makingcomics.com/

Willy Lohmann

https://www.lambiek.net/artists/l/lohmann.htm

Strange New Worlds : Science Fiction at DEFA

https://eurekavideo.co.uk/movie/strange-new-worlds-science-fiction-at-defa/

Titles include: The Silent Star • Signals: A Space Adventure • Eolomea • In the Dust of the Stars

Following the division of Germany in the aftermath of World War II, DEFA was established as the state-owned film studio of East Germany or the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Active from 1946 until its dissolution in 1992, the studio made hundreds of feature films in a diverse range of genres, from hard-hitting dramas to crime thrillers, fairytale adaptations and Westerns. During the 1960s and 1970s, it also produced a series of colourful and wildly imaginative science fiction films in which courageous cosmonauts attempt to unravel the secrets of the universe: The Silent Star, Signals: A Space Adventure, Eolomea and In the Dust of the Stars.

Based on Stanisław Lem’s The Astronauts, The Silent Star begins as an extraterrestrial object is unearthed in the Gobi desert. When it is found to have originated on Venus, the crew of the spacecraft Kosmoskrator is dispatched to the yellow planet to solve its mysteries. In Signals: A Space Adventure, the Laika and its crew are sent to find a lost research vessel, the Ikaros. But as they draw nearer to the missing craft, they begin to intercept a series of strange radio transmissions. Then, Eolomea sees eight ships dispatched from the space station Margot disappear without trace – and it’s down to science officer Maria Scholl (Cox Habbema) to find out what happened to them. Finally, In the Dust of the Stars follows the crew of the Cyrano as they land on the planet TEM 4 to investigate a distress signal – and find themselves under the psychedelic influence of its bizarre inhabitants.

Pitched somewhere between Forbidden Planet, Star Trek, Solaris and 2001: A Space Odyssey, DEFA’s science fiction films are marvels of production design and practical effects work – as well as poignant commentaries on the central issues of the atomic age, including nuclear warfare, rapid technological advancement and capitalist expansion. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present all four of DEFA’s space-faring films together for the first time on any format from astonishing restorations by the DEFA Foundation, accompanied by a wealth of new and archival extras.

Dan Morton

https://www.comicartfans.com/comic-artists/Dan_Morton.asp?m=NewArt&PM=4&PI=18

German Pulp

http://www.gruselromane.de

https://www.romantruhe.de

https://vaultofevil.proboards.com/thread/4689/luther-horror-collections

https://vaultofevil.proboards.com/thread/2576/random-german-weekly-pulps

Here are some covers of german weekly horrorpulps. With the exception of two they are all cancelled for years. All were sold only at the newsstand. As it was supposed that german readers wouldn´t see storys taking place in Germany as exciting or interesting, 99% of these novels written by german writers are taking place either in England or America.  This is a random selection of the good, the bad and the ugly ;D

Let’s begin with another Vampir Horror. VHR was published weekly and cancelled with No. 451. Here is No. 284 from 1978, written by a german writer who wrote everything from western to crime. At the time the series was tame and inoffensive. Not to mention really boring.

This is a Geister-Krimi from Kelter Publishing. Geister-Krimi ran for 405 weekly issues from 1974 to 1981. According to anecdotes Kelter was the worst paying outfit and it isn´t held in high regards. They had the same cover concept for the whole run.

The Silber Grusel-Krimi from Zauberkreis Publishing is the granddaddy of all the german horror pulps. At first a serial with the adventures of secret agent Larry Brent against the forces of darkness it later became another of those stand alone novels series and ran from 1968 to 1986 for 494 issues. At first bi-weekly it later went weekly, near the end it went back to bi-weekly. Most of this time they had the same cover concept.


This is Der Magier (The Magician) 1982 to 1983, also from Zauberkreis Publishing, one of the short-lived serials. It was a showcase of german pulp cliches, even for weekly pulps the stories were bland and tame. No wonder it got the axe after one year due to low sales. The cover art was uniformly this ugly.


This is Geisterjäger John Sinclair (Ghosthunter John Sinclair) from Bastei Publishing. This serial was started under its own imprint in 1978 (after 50 novels as a sub-series in another anthology-series) and is still published today. All 1600 weekly novels (+312 monthly paperbacks which are cancelled) were and are written by Helmut Rellergard aka Jason Dark, back then an editor at Bastei. (Except a handful of novels at the beginning when the publisher wasn´t sure if the writer could deliver 4 novels a month.) 

It is one policeman with magical weapons against the forces of darkness, and it has its fans. The covers were mostly done by spanish artists, often tailored to the content, sometimes the story is written around a picture. This is one of the recent better covers from issue 1307, called "Dead women of Berlin", one of novels were the british Chiefinspector is working on the continent as Evil is international  

Professor Zamorra, the Master of the Supernatural, is also from Bastei Publishing and the second survivor. Started in 1974 it was also a bi-weekly serial. French parapsychologist Zamorra, the man with no first name, inherits a castle on the Loire and a magical talisman, which was created by Merlin. With his beautiful secretary/lover Nicole Duval he fights the forces of darkness. 


At first it was a typical monster-of-the-week series with a dozen writers under one house-name and no continuity whatsoever. In 1978 a young writer named Werner Kurt Giesa came on board and became the only writer. He invented a solid background and brought in elements of fantasy and science fiction. Bastei´s series never were very gory or violent, but Zamorra is horror light. Giesa injected a lot of humour into the stories and did complex story-lines which went on forever. He was an original and loved by fandom. A couple of years ago his declining health forced him to take other writers on board. He died last year. This is No. 887 from 2008, called "Bloody Fog", the cover is one of the computerdrawn pictures which are now all the rage.

And last the most infamous of all german horror pulps. Dr. Morton was published by Erber Publishing from 1974 to 1975 for 54 weekly issues. Erber was primarily a publisher of nurse novels and love novels who tried on the horror market.

Conceptwise the serial was way ahead of its time. It had no supernatural like all the competition and was a straight crime and thriller series. Basically it was the evil scientist as the hero. Brilliant Harley Street surgeon Dr. Glenn Morton does medical experiments on humans in his secret laboratory, always one step ahead of Scotland Yard who wonders who this madman is doing these terrible crimes. His specimen are either crooks, who "deserved it" or unlucky bystanders. His sidekick is his chaufeur William Grimsby, who is a serial killer; he only gets off when he kills woman, so sometimes he goes on the hunt.

The series was incredible gory and violent.

The issue shown here "The singing killer" is one of the more memorable stories. Popstar Roy Barnabas is borerline mentally ill with sadistic tendencies. He likes to bite girls. Morton thinks he is an interesting case to study and kidnaps him. He treats him with drugs and hypnosis until Barnabas goes over the edge, digging up corpses for a bit of necrophila or biting young girls to death. When the police is closing in, Morton brings him to his laboratory and kills him for an autopsy. all in the name of science. End of story 



Needless to say that the authorities charged with keeping an eye of the newsstand periodicals so there was no explicit sex or too gory violence in books sold to basically a young readership weren´t amused. The series was banned so often that the publisher had to take it from the market. The novels were fast written hackwork, with a basic characterisation at best - like all the weeklys - still they are a truly guilty pleasure. I love it, even if I would also say today that this is truly no reading material for minors.