Tag: Antonio Margheriti

News

News Roundup: May 2026

Post author By Nicholas Diak
Post date June 1, 2026

Personal / Website News

Cavewoman: “Snow” Issue One

It is May going on to June, so it only seems fitting that the next review I am doing of Budd Root’s Cavewoman series is the four issue “Snow” miniseries.

Cover is all white, with blobs of snow falling. Meriem the cavewoman stands in the center, looking up. She has flowing hair. She has a white fur hood on (but not covering her head), a leopard print bikini top and bottom. — Personal copy of Cavewoman, Snow #1.

An early winter sets in Marshville, and Meriem, the titular Cavewoman, has to deal with brownouts, egotistical townsfolk, the bitter cold, an expedition to a tar pit, and so much more. My review for issue one of “Snow” can be read here.

Antonio Margheriti Jungle Films Boxset

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge fan of Italian director Antonio Margheriti. I’ve been collecting his work for years, did my masters thesis on his film, Castle of Blood, and continue to write about his movies every so often.

Boxset with three black-cased Blu-ray/4Ks. — The Antonio Margheriti & The Jungles of Doom boxset.

Imagine my excitement when Severin Film put out a boxset of Margheriti’s Raiders of the Lost Ark knockoffs! Just for fun I dug out my old VHS and DVD copies of these films and put them side by side with the new Severin release. Check that out here.

Exotica Moderne #31 Released

Physical copies of Exotica Moderne #31 are officially out! This issue contains my interview with Alex Lamb and Max Well, the filmmakers behind the documentary, The Donn of Tiki.

Cover shows a blonde pinup girl, earring a tiki top and skit. She is holding a cocktail glass in her right hand. She is leaning against a palm tree. She is on the beach, with a wave crashing behind her and a mountain in the distance. The sky is blue-green with a few clouds. There is a parrot flying toward her. At her feet are some shells. — Exotica Moderne #31

Issues, as well as bundles with this issue, can be purchased at the House of Tabu website. Here is the product link.

Troy UHD/Blu-ray Release from Arrow Video

I always get excited when a neo-peplum film gets a new release. Arrow Video officially announced on Friday the 29th that they are putting out a limited edition of the Wolfgang Petersen epic film, Troy, in both UHD and Blu-ray formats this August.

A Blu-ray slip case. It has a black border with a gold trim of waves. The center is red and shows a wooden horse head (Trojan Horse) on fire. Behind that is a Blu-ray case proper that shows the top half of the release, it shows Brad Pitt and Eric Bana clashing swords. To the right of that is a booklet with brad pit on the cover. Below that is a stack of three discs of the movie. — Product photo of Limited Edition of Troy from Arrow Video.

I am double exited about this release because I got to contribute to it in a small way! I was able to provide some Troy ephemera that is being reprinted in the booklet and I get to be credited as a release contributor in the notes. In other words I get to be part of a bonafide sword and sandal release! I am beyond stoked!

That, of course, means I got to spread the word. Definitely pre-order this edition of Troy. It has the theatrical cut, director’s cut, and loads and loads of extras. It can be pre-ordered at the Arrow Video web store.

Panthans Journal #347

The April issue of the National Capital Panthans Journal has been published. This issue contains a reprint of my review of issue nine of Vanya: The Lost Warrior. The original can be read here.

A future issue of Panthans will see a reprint of my interview with Tom Simmons and Mike Dubisch about their comic book adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ I am a Barbarian.

Cover is deep in the jungle. Tarzan knees on a large tree branch with Jane behind him. They look like they are scouting. — National Capital Panthans Journal #348. Cover by Mark Wheatley.

Paraphrased from the zine: The National Capital Panthans Journal is a monthly publication issued as a .PDF file on the Saturday before the first Sunday of each month. Contribution of articles, artwork, photos, and letters are welcome. Send submissions to the editor: Laurence G. Dunn at laurencegdunn AT gmail.com in a Word document for consideration.

Sincere appreciation to Laurence for the opportunity to have my work published in the journal.

The New Peplum Reviewed

A new review of The New Peplum pops up!

The New Peplum book. The cover is a scene from the Rock version of Hercules - it shows Hercules and his companions and small army behind him. — Cover art for The New Peplum

The Midwest Book Review has published a positive review of The New Peplum at their website, which can be read here. Check it out, and if the review moves you, consider plucking up a copy at McFarland.

Scholars from the Edge of Time – Hercules (1983)

For the May episode of Scholars from the Edge of Time, Nicholas and Michele go back to the Italo-Disco 80s and watch the Lou Ferrigno Hercules!

Standard Blu-ray case. Cover art shows Lou Ferrigno Hercules, holding a sword and a shield. With the shield he is repelling a laser blast from a robot dragon. Cassiopeia has an arm around his left though. Behind them is Sybil Danning holding a sword. — Personal copy of Hercules ’83 on Blu-ray.

I liked it! Michele… not so much. Want to hear what we have to say? Give it a watch on YouTube.

Publishing Recap

Below is a recap of my external publishing endeavors so far in 2026.

“Tellers of Tales: Interview with Alex Lamb and Max Well on The Donn of Tiki” in Exotica Moderne #31, May 2026.

Product page at House of Tabu.

Cover is by Mark Wheatley and called "The Beasts". It is red hued. It shows Tarzan riding atop of an elephant. Below the elephant are two gorillas and a lion. Behind them is a tree and a setting sun. — National Capital Panthans Journal #344.

“All E.T.’s Aren’t Nice: Vanya 06” reprinted in National Capital Panthans Journal #344, January 2026.

Original can be read here.

Cover by David Michael Beck. It's a drawing of Tarzan atop an elephant, with 2 axes in front. — National Capital Panthans Journal #345.

“The Prehistoric Purge: Vanya 07″ reprinted in National Capital Panthans Journal #345, February 2026.

Original can be read here.

Cover is called "The Land that Time Forgot" by Mark Whetley. It shows a man, crouched on one knee, holding a rifle, with safari attire, but shirt open. Next to him he has a barking dog that kinda look like Benji. Behind there is a roaring T-rex, a triceratops, and pterodactyls flying. — National Capital Panthans Journal #346.

“Journey to Agharti” reprinted in National Capital Panthans Journal #346, March 2026.

A black and white cover. It shows a four armed alien holding swords and a bow. Next to it is an alien gorilla. — National Capital Panthans Journal #347.

“Warpath and Rampage: Vanya 08” reprinted in National Capital Panthans Journal #347, April 2026.

Original can be read here.

“The Chaos Continues: Vanya 09″ reprinted in National Capital Panthans Journal #348, May 2026.

Original can be read here.

Calls for Papers/Proposals

Here are some new pop culture CFPs that have crossed my path or I am sharing on behalf of my colleagues. Links to these will also be in the CFP page on the navigation bar.

NEPCA Monsters & the Montrous Area 2026

The Monsters & the Monstrous Area of the Northeast Popular Culture Association (a.k.a. NEPCA) seeks proposals for inclusion in NEPCA’s 2026 annual conference.

The event will run as a virtual conference from Thursday, October 15th, through Saturday, October 17th. Virtual sessions will take place via Zoom throughout the day on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Registration will open up in mid-July. The registration fee is expected to be around 50 USD.

The Monsters & the Monstrous Area welcomes proposals that investigate any of the things, whether mundane or marvelous, that scare us. Through our sessions, we hope to pioneer fresh explorations into the darker sides of the intermedia traditions of the fantastic (including, but not restricted to, aspects of fairy tale, fantasy, gothic, horror, legend, mythology, and science fiction) by illuminating how creative artists have both formed and transformed our notions of monsters within these sub-traditions in texts from various countries, time periods, and media and for audiences at all levels. Our primary goal is to foster a better understanding of monsters in general and to examine their impact on those who receive their stories as well as on the world at large.

In addition, as a component of the Northeast Popular Culture Association, the Monsters and the Monstrous Area is also especially interested in fostering discussion and debate on the monsters and the monstrous of the Northeastern United States (here defined as New England and New York). Topics might include the Borden Family Murders, the Bridgewater Triangle, the Legends of Sleepy Hollow, the New England Gothic tradition, the New England Vampire Panic, the New England Witchcraft Hysteria, and the life, works, and legacies of local Gothic/horror authors such as Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Joe Hill, Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, and H. P. Lovecraft.

NEPCA prides itself on holding conferences that emphasize sharing ideas in a non-competitive and supportive environment. We welcome proposals from graduate students, independent scholars, disciplinary professionals, junior faculty, and senior scholars. NEPCA conferences offer intimate and nurturing sessions in which new ideas and works-in-progress can be aired, as well as completed projects.

The call will be open until Monday, June 15, by 5 pm EDT. Submissions should be made directly at https://www.northeastpca.org/call-for-papers. This site offers full information on the submission process and a link to send your proposal to us. If you have any questions about the conference, please reach out to the Executive Secretary, Lance Eaton (northeastpopculture@gmail.com).

Questions on the Monsters & the Monstrous Area can be directed to the area chair, Michael A. Torregrossa (popular.preternaturaliana@gmail.com). The area maintains a series of blogs that offer resources and potential topics. Please access them at Popular Preternaturaliana: Studying the Monstrous in Popular Culture (https://popularpreternaturaliana.blogspot.com/).

Rest in Peplum: George Eastman

On May 19th legendary Italian cult film actor George Eastman (Luigi Montefiori) passed away. A true end of an era of Italian genre and exploitation cinema. He didn’t really do much peplum (Fellini Satyricon [1969]) as he arrived on the scene after that filone has passed. He started in the spaghetti westerns.

However in the 80s, Eastman was in many pasta-pocalypse films and sword and sorcery flicks, all featuring strong men, gladiators, barbarians, etc. etc. Basically, 80s pepla.

Ironmaster (1983)
The New Barbarians (1983)
2020 Texas Gladiators (1983)
The Barbarians (1987)

Blu-ray of Ironmaster. — Personal copy of Ironmaster.

Blu-ray of The Barbarians. — Personal copy of The Barbarians.

I’ve watched numerous films Eastman has been a part of (Emanuelle Around the World [1977] probably being my favourite). Michele and I have talked about a few of his films on Scholars from the Edge of Time:

2023-09-28 – Scholars from the Edge of Time: Ironmaster (1983)
2022-10-27 – Scholars from the Edge of Time: The Barbarians (1987)
**note – I know we talked about Endgame, I just can’t find it? It may have been a Blog Talk Radio episode.

A true #RestInPeplum for this icon!

News from Friends

Cool kids I know have been busy lately! Here are some signal boosts I’d like to give out.

New Ride the Stream Episodes

New episodes of Michele Brittany and Travis Lakata’s vidcast, Ride the Stream, are online. The duo continue their episode by episode commentary of the series Dark Winds.

First is their discussion of episode two from season two:

Here is episode three from season two:

And episode four from season two:

Episode five:

And finally episode six:

Make sure to subscribe the Ride the Stream YouTube channel to see when new episodes drop. There is also a BlueSky social media as well.

New Fan2Fan Episodes

Brand new episodes of the Fan2Fan podcast are now online. Pete and Bernie continue their Monster Mania with these episodes:

Monster Mania: Cryptids Trivia:

And Monster Mania: 1980s Movie Monsters:

Followed by Monster Mania: Stranger Things Tales of ’85:

And concluding the month with Monster Mania: Top 3 Classic Fiends and Giant Freaks:

Older episodes of Fan2Fan can be found at its Libsyn page or via your podcast app of preference. There is also the Fan2Fan Facebook page.

Boston Metaphysical Society Vol 3 Kickstarter

Madeleine Holly-Rosing has a new Kickstarter campaign going for her long running Boston Metaphysical Society comic series.

Cover is purple-ish. in the center is a wooden building with 2 antenna coming from the top and lightning bolts radiating from it. There is a border of gears around the cover. Four circular portraits of the main characters, one in each corner. — Mock up of cover of Boston Metaphysical Society vol 3 by Claudia Ianniciello.

The Kickstarter campaign can be found here.

Quo Vadis at Bible Films Blog

Matt Page at the Bible Films Blog has a new article at his website, this one on the 1925 version of Quo Vadis.

Poster shows a naked dude, grabbing a bull by its horns, while a blonde naked lady lays atop the bull. — Quo Vadis (1924) movie poster (from IMDB).

His write up can be read here.

New Michele Brittany Crafting Video

Michele has a new video up at her YouTube channel, this one recapping all her loot from going to the Brass Armadillo over in Goodyear, AZ. Check it out here or in the player below.

Abandoned Asylum Kickstarter

James Chambers and Raw Dog Screaming (aroooo) Press are launching a Kickstarter on June 2nd to fund an anthology called Abandoned Asylum.

Chambers has edited some great anthologies (Even in the Grave and Under Twin Suns), and Raw Dog Screaming Press has published some awesome books (Bestial Mouths by Brenda S. Tolian, Attack from the 80s, Beyond the Bounds of Infinity, many more). You’ll definitely want to check Abandoned Asylum. The campaign can be followed here.

Essays

Call of the Jungle: Severin Films’ Antonio Margheriti Adventure Film Boxset

Post author By Nicholas Diak
Post date May 13, 2026

Just like the title of the Fat Boy Slim album says: “You’ve come along way, baby!”

Back in the late 2000s/early 2010s, a younger Nicholas Diak was enrolled in the liberal arts program at the Tacoma campus of the University of Washington. I was neck deep in my master’s thesis which was about Italian genre filmmaker Antonio Margheriti and his masterpiece, Castle of Blood (1964).

Aside from demonstrating the virtues of Castle of Blood and why it was an important movie in Italian film canon (it was transgressive, showed nudity, depicted lesbianism in a chaste, Italian society, etc.), I had also made a call for the reconsideration of Margheriti as an Italian director of note. I felt at the time (and still do) that he was extremely overshadowed by the likes of Bava, Argento, Fulci, and Leone, and his contributions to the various genres he operated in were not as acknowledged or appreciated as they should have been.

This was extremely apparent at the time in that Margheriti films were next to impossible to procure. While the four directors I mentioned above all had accessible filmographies, made even more available with the rise of DVDs and the emergence of boutique film labels, Margheriti films remained hard to find and obtain, much like the treasures featured in his Indiana Jones knock offs of the 80s. In order to find Margerhiti’s films, I often had to go to Scarecrow Video in Seattle, check the (albeit small) Margheriti section, note the titles and formats, and hope for the best on eBay or websites like the now defunct xploitedCinema. In time I accrued a handsome amount of other region DVDs and VHS tapes of Margheriti’s films. Many hours were spent at the UWT A/V lab transferring those VHS tapes to a DVDr. In the end, these all become my treasures.

It is now 15 to 20 years later. My writing career has been all over the map, but I have never stopped writing about and championing Margheriti. The list at the end of this write up is a consolidated list of my writings and podcast/vidcast appearances talking about the director and his films (if you’re interested). Concurrently, Margheriti’s films did find themselves being released in accessible, restored editions that they deserve.

Castle of Blood has a red spiral with Barbara Steele and other zombies behind her. Alien from the Abyss shows a robot-alien with lots of tubes running from its helmet. It has a huge crab claw that it is using to break a glass window. — Personal copies of the Severin release of Castle of Blood and Alien from the Abyss.

Severin Films, the masters of releasing European genre and sexploitation cinema stateside, has been kind to Margheriti. Prior they had released Castle of Blood (in a couple different editions) and Alien from the Abyss (1989), an underrated knock off of Alien(s) and Predator (1987), and technically, kinda/sorta Blood for Dracula (1974).

The 80s were a prolific decade for Margheriti, where his filmography looked split between two different genres: the post-Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) adventure film, and the post-Vietnam men-on-a-mission film (both overlapping with jungle settings). Severin’s newest Margheriti masterpiece release, Antonio Margheriti & the Jungles of Doom: His 80s Adventure Films, is an excellent representation of the former. It is a stately boxset with new editions of Ark of the Sun God (1984), Jungle Raiders (1985), and Hunters of the Golden Cobra (1982), though each film is available individually. For fun, I’d like to show off a side by side of these new Severin releases next to what I had to work with back in the day.

The 4K/Blu-ray depicts a man in a blue shirt, white cap, and holding a revolver, behind chased by indigenous folk. There are trees and a waterfall behind him. In the sky is a white suited/white hat Lee Van Cleef and a woman in a safari hat. There is an orante cobra statue between them. — Personal copies of Jungle Raiders on 4K and VHS.

Looking at DVDCompare.net, it appears that Jungle Raiders‘ only physical release after the 80s was a German DVD in 2000, the early days of the format. The long abandoned Antonio Margheriti website lists no DVDs of this film. This makes the Severin release the first truly accessible incarnation of the film, unless one happened to hold on to their VHS copy distributed by the Cannon Group (like me!). To be fair, Jungle Raiders does make a great addition to the Cannon library, along side other Indiana Jones-ish fare like Firewalker (1986), King Solomon’s Mines (1985), and its sequel, Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986).

The Severin edition contains a UHD and Blu-ray format of the film, a trailer, and an interview with Edoardo Margheriti, the son of Margheriti who assisted his father in many of his films. The VHS edition does not support any special features, obviously, but I have to give it a point for having fantastic artwork. The Severin Films cover art is nice, and evokes a 1950s style, think Secret of the Incas (1954), but the Cannon VHS screams 80s ‘splosions.

Artwork on both release shows David warbeck, showing off his chest, as he reaches for a Cobra. The Blu-ray has the cobra surrounded by lightning bolts while the VHS has it surrounded by flames. — Personal copies of The Hunters of the Golden Cobra on 4K/Blu-ray and VHS.

Hunters of the Golden Cobra is one of the many, many films Margheriti made with cult film star David Warbeck (read his biography put out by FAB Press many years ago, he talks fondly working with the Italian director). Like Jungle Raiders, it appears Hunters of the Golden Cobra only got one release (well, a DVD and a Blu-ray), put out X-Cess Entertainment in Germany (also lacking an entry at the Margheriti website). There’s no date for this release at DVDCompare.net, but one of the special features is a video with Dr. Marcus Stiglegger, who had contributed to Severin’s own release of Horrors of Spider Island (1960), so that makes this German release fairly recent. That means in the 40-ish years since its release in theaters/VHS, Hunters of the Golden Cobra has not been available at all.

The Severin Films release holds even more treasures than the Jungle Raiders release: two interviews, a Q&A with star Warbeck, a video essay, and trailers. The Vestron Video VHS is a neat artifact of the era, but its cover art does not quite capture the energy in the Indiana Jones-like films. The Severin release definitely takes the VHS artwork and improves upon it.

Two rows of movies. Top one is 2 Blu-rays bottom is three DVDs. All are of Ark of the Sun God, but with different art. — Personal copies of Ark of the Sun God on DVD and Blu-ray.

And finally, there is Ark of the Sun God. As you can probably surmise from the picture above, there are a) a lot of editions of Ark of the Sun God and b) I REALLY like Ark of the Sun God. It is, unironically, one of my top five favourite films of all time. Right up there with von Trier’s Europa (1991) and Kieślowski’s Three Colours: Red (1994). Ark of the Sun God is at that level!

The first academic presentation I ever gave, at the 2009 Popular/American Culture Association Conference, was on Ark of the Sun God. If you look closely at the bottom center DVD, you’ll see, in silver marker, an autograph by Edoardo Margheriti to Michele and I. Back in the late 2000s I posted this film (and a few others) to Edoardo for him to autograph, and it has been one of the jewels in my collection. Thus, for the reasons above (and more) I have a strong affinity to this film.

The bottom row of three DVDs are, well, pretty bad in regards to image quality. They are definitely rips from VHS tapes. The AIP Studios release (bottom left) looks borderline like a Ghanaian film poster, with the cartoonish flames on the tanker and Susie Sudlow looking rather ghoulish.

The Tales of Voodoo Vol 4 DVD (bottom right) has two movies on it: Temple of Hell (which is Ark of the Sun God) and Cannibal Curse (1988). Cannibal Curse is ripped from a subtitled VHS tape, and if the subtitle is too long, it cuts off due to the cropping of the frame. The cover of this DVD looks akin to a cover a horror comic from EC Comics back in its day, though not too fitting for Ark of th – I mean – Temple of Hell, which has no voodoo or even really any gore (the character of Mohammed gets shot and bleeds, but he recovers).

The center middle DVD from Pulp Video, the one that is autographed, is my favourite DVD of the trio and the one that I have watched the most. The art on this one is great and really captures the last scene of the film when Warbeck and company find the Scepter of Gilgamesh (there is no Ark in this film) and battle with Turkish Star Wars and his minions.

Shockingly, I have no VHS copies of Ark of the Sun God, and that is because I was able to find the film on DVD(s). What I do have is the 88 Films release of Ark of the Sun God that came out in 2023. This is an import release (88 Films is in the UK), but it is stacked with extras: poster, booklet, a commentary, two interviews, and more. At the time, this looked to be the best treatment Ark of the Sun God would ever receive.

Of course, Severin Film stepped up to the plate to deliver their own release of Ark of the Sun God in early 2026. The Severin Films does not contain the same supplemental material as the 88 Films edition, instead bringing an interview with Edoardo, and interview with the film’s writer Giovanni Paolucci, and Margheriti reminiscing about David Warbeck. The cover art is a much, much better version of the AIP DVD release.

What Severin Film brings that is truly unique is a CD soundtrack that has songs from both Hunters of the Golden Cobra and Ark of the Sun God. For decades the Ark of the Sun God theme song done by Josette Martial has been unavailable, which is unfortunate because the track is an Italio-Disco banger. In 2025 the album got a digital-only release on Amazon via Cam Sugar, but here it is, in physical format for the first time, in Severin’s release. A Holy Grail, er, Holy Scepter of Gilgamesh, album release for sure.

And with that, my little retrospective of comparing old VHS tapes and DVDs of Margheriti’s Indiana Jones movies to their new Severin counterpart concludes. I hope that this boxset is extremely successful because there is a plethora of other adventure/action/jungle movies Margheriti directed in the 80s that would greatly benefit from a re-release. A double Blu-ray of the Indio movies perhaps? A triple boxset of his men-on-a-mission films with Lewis Collins maybe? These are all great, fun, films that capture that 80s action/mercenary film spirit that was prevalent at the time.

If you’ve enjoyed this fun retrospective and want to check out some of my writings on Margheriti, see the links below.

My best piece on Margheriti is no doubt my essay “Welcome to the Jungle: Fun and Games in Antonio Margheriti’s 1980s Mercenary Films” that was published at We Are the Mutants. One of the best things I’ve ever written:

“Welcome to the Jungle: Fun and…”

There is, of course, my master’s thesis that started it all for me. However, it is really old and I’ve become a much better writer since then:

UWT Library – Masters Thesis

And lots more:

I’ve also looked at other Severin Films releases at my website here:

Traveling First Class: The Sensual World of Black Emanuelle Boxset
Magnificent Maleficarum: Severin’s All the Haunts Be Ours and Howard David Ingham Interview
Review of Horrors of Spider Island in an issue of Exotica Moderne (physical release only)

Tags Alien from the Deep, Aliens, Antonio Margheriti, Ark of the Sun God, Autograph, Blood for Dracula, Castle of Blood, David Warbeck, Edoardo Margheriti, Indiana Jones, Italio Disco, Jungle Raiders, Lewis collins, The Hunters of the Golden Cobra, Yor

News

News Roundup 2025-04-20

Post author By Nicholas Diak
Post date April 21, 2025

Personal / Website News

Comic Book Review: Vanya #01

New comic book review is up at my website!

I’ve got a backlog of indie comics from Kickstarter I want to get caught up on, including the erotic jungle girl comic Vanya.

The standard cover for the first issue of Vanya. Vanya is armed with a bow while a triceratops charges at her. There is a full moon in the sky. — Standard cover of Vanya issue 01.

Vanya is already on issue seven of a twelve issue run, so I’ve got a wee bit of catching up to do. You can read my review of issue one right here. These Vanya reviews will also be published in forthcoming issues of the National Capital Panthans Journal.

As I go through the comic book backlog/tbr pile, expect to see reviews for Vanya, Death Nell, Yor, Sectaurs, Born of Blood, SPQR, and Alicia Carter.

Citation News

It’s been a while, but here is some new citation news!

Book cover. It's tinted blue. It's a still from a film (not sure which), but it shows two ladies, with one shaking the hand of a gentleman in a suit. — Cover of Un Oceano Di Stile: Produzione E Consumo Di Made in Italy Negli Stati Uniti Del Dopoguerra.

My masters thesis, “Danza Macabra: The Reevaluation of Antonio Margheriti Through His Film Castle of Blood” is cited by an essay in the collection Un oceano di stile: Produzione e consumo di Made in Italy negli Stati Uniti del dopoguerra. I’m not sure which one, but if you know, let me know.

ECOF 2025

In September of 2025 there will be an Edgar Rice Burroughs Chain of Friendship (ECOF) event down in Willcox, AZ. This event is to celebrate the 150th birthday of Burroughs while also honoring him with a plaque in the town due to his stationing with there the 7th U.S. Calvary in the 1890s. (Note: another ERB convention was held in Willcox back in 2019 and an event recap of that can be read at ERBZine #7059).

Here is a flyer for the 2025 event:

The flyer shows desert mountains with three insert images: one of a young Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1896, one of the author Jeffrey J. Mariotte (who is the guest of honour), and one of the Willcox train depot in the 1880s. The flyer reads was follows: Edgar Rice Burroughs ERB Inc.'s Commemoration of ERB's 150th Birthday! 7th Cavalry Historical Monument Celebration Willcox, AZ, September 25-28, 2025. Formal Dedication on September 27th, 2025. Sponsored by the Suplher Springs Valley Historical Society and the Arizona Apache Deveils Chapter of the Burroughs Bibliophiles. — Flyer for the Edgar Rice Burroughs Circle of Friendship (ECOF) Gathering in Willcox, AZ 2025.

I’ll share more information about the event as I find out more on my website updates. Michele and I will be in attendance for this convention, so I’ve added it to the appearances section of my website as well.