Book cover: "The Second Hammer Horror Film Omnibus" (1967)

• Title: The Second Hammer Horror Film Omnibus
• 
  Author: John Burke (1922-2011). Burke was a British World War II veteran and prolific author who specialized in the novelization of movies (including many horror films) and stage plays. He also wrote original novels and short stories and created the Victorian-era occult detective Alex Caspian. Especially popular was his novelization of the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night. According to Wikipedia: "The book was priced at two shillings and sixpence and contained an 8-page section of photographs from the film. It is the first book in the English language to have the word 'grotty' in print."
• Front and back cover artist: Unknown, sadly.
• Publisher: Pan Books Ltd. (M223)
• Publication date: 1967
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 349
• Original price: 5 shillings, which I think was very reasonable for the time. If my calculations are correct, 5 shillings in the UK in 1967 would be equivalent to about 70 cents in the USA in 1967.
• Contents: The novelizations for four different Hammer horror films: The Reptile, Dracula: Prince of Darkness, Rasputin the Mad Monk, and The Plague of the Zombies. I've seen three of those four and they're all excellent. I still need to see The Reptile (pictured on the back cover).
• Excerpt from The Reptile: "Franklyn was the bigger man, but the Malay was possessed by a spirit of destruction. A great hierarchy of vengeful gods stood behind him and gave him strength."
• Excerpt from Dracula: Prince of Darkness: "She screamed. It was music such as had not been heard in the corridors and cellars of the castle in a long, long time."
• Excerpt from Rasputin the Mad Monk: "The flames of hell were damp yet searing. There was a shock of ice and then of devouring fire."
• Excerpt from The Plague of the Zombies: "The creature's mouth opened. It seemed to be laughing, but no sound came. There was only the twitching of the lips in a macabre, vacuous grimace."
• Rating on Goodreads: 3.76 stars (out of 5)
• Goodreads review excerpt: Just days ago, David A. Sutton wrote: "John Burke has once again made a good effort in fictionalizing these films, and adding more background to the characters. I noticed one or two inconsistencies from the films, but these were very minor, and not worth arguing over."
• Message board excerpts: On "Vault of Evil: Brit Horror Pulp Plus!" one poster wrote this in 2007: "Burke's novelisations were a godsend back in those pre-video three channel days when you had to wait years for your most wanted's to turn up (and hope you could stay awake)." ... Other comments from that 2007-2009 thread: "Burkey's books are like revisiting old friends." And: "There's a good case to be made for Burke as a relatively unsung Brit pulp hero. And I'll gladly make it, if pissed enough at the nearest party." Also on Vault of Evil, there are two pages of forums devoted to Burke and his writings. Happy reading!

We're saying farewell tomorrow to Pengin (left), who is moving back to Washington state.