The April episode of Scholars from the Edge of Time is online.
In this vidcast Michele and I take a small break from talking about the films of Bella Cortez and talk about the 1985 Spanish sci-fi/fantasy film, Star Knight. The episode can be watched on YouTube.
Miscellaneous Tidbits
New Sword and Sandal Book Acquisitions
Two new tomes have been added to the sword and sandal/pop culture library.
The first is Helen of Troy in Hollywood by Ruby Blondell. This book cites The New Peplum, which is wicked cool (I always gush when my work gets cited). I don’t know too much about Helen of Troy mythology and I have not seen too many films based on her, so this book will definitely fill that knowledge gap. A few years ago Michele and I watched/did a Scholars from the Edge of Time episode on the film The Lion of Thebes (1964) [listen to it here]. Looking at the index of this book, The Lion of Thebes doesn’t appear to be mentioned. So, perhaps a future essay idea to apply Blondell’s work to that film?
Second up is the Cult Epics book The Films of Tinto Brass. I’ve been a huge Tinto Brass fan for years, probably due to his emphasis on stockings – he’s like an Elmer Batters, but for Italian erotica. Aside from all the hosiery-focused films, Brass did the most infamous porno peplum ever, Caligula (1979), which there is an entire chapter dedicated to in this book.
This book was funded from a crowdfunding campaign, so I have my name listed in the back, which is always fun. Cult Epics also published the Sylvia Kristel book a few years back, which you can read my review here. As soon as I can clear my review plate off I’ll try and do a write up of this book.
Though The Films of Tinto Brass was a crowdfunded endeavor, the book is readily purchasable from Cult Epics which comes with some exclusives such as a disc of trailers, a poster, and an autograph from Nico B.
New Sword and Sandal DVDs Acquisitions
An opportunity to pluck of Princess Warrior (1989) presented itself, so I had to go for it.
I had never heard of this film until I saw a RedLetterMedia review on it, and it looked bad (and by bad I mean awesome). It’s an 80s sword and sorcery film, with maybe a little sword and planet element thrown in. It mostly has the heroine traveling to Earth where the plot is akin to The Terminator combined with an extended a wet t-shirt contest.
Autograph Treasures
Karen McDougal, 1998 Playboy Playmate of the year, is in the news related to the trial of Trump falsifying business records in violation of campaign finance law (among other things). So, I’ll take advantage of the news to show off my autographed copy of The Arena (2001) in which she starred in.
The Arena is remake of the Pam Grier 1974 version of the same name. The 2001 version is directed by Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, who did the amazing film Night Watch (2004). Bekmambetov would revisit the neo-pelum genre in 2016 with another remake, this time of Ben-Hur.
I had the honour to meet McDougal at Glamourcon in Long Beach, November of 2011, where she signed my DVD of The Arena. It’s been over a decade since I last watched the film, but I remember enjoying it, so time to revisit it!
CFPs
Simon Bacon has a new CFP on Folk Horror and UFO/Alien Narratives:
I’m putting something together on a prospective project on the intersection of Folk Horror and UFO/Alien narratives. This could include, but not limited to:
The intersection of Folk Horror and Cosmic Horror
Lovecraft, Hope Hodgeson, and Folk Horror
Texts (films/games/lit/comics/etc) that use historical alien visitations as the basis of folklore/cults
Summonings that turn out to be alien entities
Alien encounters/visitation texts that use Folk Horror tropes
Examples of alien planets that feature their own versions of Folk Horror
Human/Alien futures that see past versions of humanity as sources of Folk Horror
Folk Horror and series such as Star Trek, Dr. Who, Star Wars, Dune, etc.
At this stage it’s just ideas/abstracts I’m needing (final essays wouldn’t be before end 2025). If interested contact me at: baconetti@gmail.com
I Am a Barbarian
Stock of Thomas Simmons and Mike Dubisch’s graphic novel, I Am a Barbarian is getting low, so if you want a copy – especially a limited edition one with an autographed book plate, scoot over to the Edgar Rice Burroughs website.
I had the honor to interview Simmons and Dubisch about their work, so check that out here, and then consider checking out their work proper.
There’s been an uptick in work being cited lately and I am here for it!
Firstly, my essay “Lost Nights and Dangerous Days: Unraveling the Relationship Between Stranger Things and Synthwave” from Uncovering Stranger Things has been cited in the essay “‘Dad, every serial killer is somebody’s neighbor!’ The Problem of White Supremacy in Summer of ’84” by Erika Tiburcio Moreno and published in the edited collection The ’80s Resurrected: Essays on the Decade in Popular Culture Then and Now.
The book was published by McFarland in March earlier this year. More info can be found on the book’s product page at the McFarland website.
Next, Hannah Mueller’s essay “Male Nudity, Violence and the Disruption of Voyeuristic Pleasure in Starz’s Spartacus” from The New Peplum has been cited by James K. Beggan in his essay “Why is he there? Male presence in a sexually explicit magazine geared towards heterosexual men” that was published in the Porn Studies journal.
Cover art for The New Peplum
If you have access the essay can be read at the journal’s page at Taylor and Francis.
New Episode of HP Lovecast
A new episode of our monthly Transmission program is now online.
For July we interviewed Chelsea Pumpkins, editor of the horror anthology AHH! That’s What I Call Horror: An Anthology of ’90s Horror. The episode can be streamed via our Buzzsprout page, the embedded player below, or through your podcast app of preference.
The schedule for CoKoCon 2023 is starting to take shape! You can find Michele and I on the following panels:
Saturday Sept 2 9pm – Fiesta Ballroom 2: From EC Comics to Shudder: Horror Comics That Excite and Scare Us
Sunday Sept 3 6pm – Coronado: Creepy, Crawly, Otherworldly Bumps in the Night, or Cosmic Horror Films
Monday Sept 4 1pm – Coronado: 1pm: Weird West in Popular Culture
I’ll be on premises the entire con, so feel free to hunt me down to say hi! Michele and I will also have a table we were sill be selling and signing books.
Publishing Recap
Below is a recap of my publishing endeavors so far in 2023.
Published in February, this collection contains my essay “Dance or Dēcēdere: Gladiator and Industrial Music Sampling.”
Published in late March, the first issue of the zine Footage Fiends, contains my essay “Analisi Della Cosa: Found Footage in Caltiki and Italian Theater Going Practices.”
Kino Lorber just had a summer sale on their Blu-rays so I took the opportunity to pluck up some Italian films for the library.
The Last Hunter I already had on DVD, from Dark Sky Films. In fact, here is my copy autographed by Antonio Margheriti’s son, Edoardo Margheriti:
I did a presentation on The Last Hunter at the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association conference waaaaaaay back in 2010. Not my best presentation and still very green at being an academic, but the text of it can be read at my Academia.edu account.
Ironmaster I have not seen. It sounds like an Italian sword and sorcery flick, but in a prehistoric age. I am a fan of Umberto Lenzi’s work so this should be a fun watch.
Lastly is Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, which I also have not seen. I’ve seen the iconic image of Sophia Loren slipping off her stockings that I feel like I’ve seen the film. I always think of Mastroianni from Divorce, Italian Style.
Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew Commentary
Matt Page, author of 100 Bible Films, has recorded a commentary for Paolini’s 1964 Biblical peplum, The Gospel According to St. Matthew. The commentary and be streamed from YouTube. Criterion Collection recently released a Pasolini boxset that contains this film.
Call for Papers
Michael Torregrossa has a few CFPs out there. I’m sharing them here to help get the word out. Check them out and consider submitting!
Beowulfs Beyond Beowulf: Transformations of Beowulf in Popular Culture (Panel)
Sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture and the Monsters & the Monstrous Area of the Northeast Popular Culture Association
Organized by Michael A. Torregrossa, Richard Fahey, Carl Sell, and Benjamin Hoover
Call for Papers – Please Submit Proposals by 30 September 2023
55th Annual Convention of Northeast Modern Language Association
Sheraton Boston Hotel (Boston, MA)
On-site event: 7-10 March 2024
The Old English epic Beowulf remains an important touchstone for connecting us to the medieval past, yet it also has continued relevance today through its various transformations in cultural texts (especially works of popular culture). Our hope with this session is to expand our knowledge of these works and assess their potential for research and teaching.
Please visit our website Beowulf Transformed: Adaptations and Appropriations of the Beowulf Story (available at https://beowulf-transformed.blogspot.com/) for resources and ideas.
Over a millennium old, the story of Beowulf is disseminated primarily through its editions and translations and its transformations. These three types of Beowulfiana represent a massive corpus of over 1000 works according to the Beowulf’s Afterlives Bibliographic Database; though, as medievalists, we tend to focus on the first two categories rather than the last concentrating on scholastic pursuits rather than entertainments. Consequently, many are often surprised by the variety and vitality of this corpus and its vast potential for research and teaching.
New versions of the Beowulf story feature in all forms of modern mediævalisms, yet (as is true with most medieval texts) research continues to focus primarily on depictions of Beowulf on screen (about 100 examples according to the Internet Movie Database). We hope in this session to expand our view of Beowulf’s reception by creators and look more deeply at the text’s wider use.
We are particularly interested in explorations of the adaptation and/or appropriation of the text, its characters, and its themes in works of fiction (at least 250 examples according to the Internet Speculative Fiction Database and much more recorded by the Beowulf’s Afterlives Bibliographic Database) and comics (at least 380 examples according to the Grand Comics Database), as well as their representations in new and neglected works on screen (including film, television, entertainment consoles, and the Internet). Additional versions of Beowulf can be found in works of creative, performative, and visual arts that also need more attention.
We hope to make our conversation productive. Therefore, we request that submissions highlight the ways the new text transforms the old (for example as interpretations or appropriations of the poem or as an intertext for another work) as well as its value in furthering the Beowulf tradition rather than focusing solely on any perceived defects.
Please see our website Beowulf Transformed: Adaptations and Appropriations of the Beowulf Story (at https://beowulf-transformed.blogspot.com/) for a growing list of ideas, resources, and support.
All proposals will also be considered for a themed issue of the open-access journal The Heroic Age: A Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe.
All proposals must be submitted into the CFPList system at https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/20596 by 30 September 2023. You will be prompted to create an account with NeMLA (if you do not already have one) and, then, to complete sections on Title, Abstract, and Media Needs.
Notification on the fate of your submission will be made prior to 16 October 2023. If favorable, please confirm your participation with chairs by accepting their invitations and by registering for the event. The deadline for Registration/Membership is 9 December 2023.
Be advised of the following policies of the Convention: All participants must be members of NeMLA for the year of the conference. Participants may present on up to two sessions of different types (panels/seminars are considered of the same type). Submitters to the CFP site cannot upload the same abstract twice.(See the NeMLA Presenter Policies page, at https://www.buffalo.edu/nemla/convention/policies.html, for further details,)
For more information on the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture, please visit our website at https://MedievalinPopularCulture.blogspot.com/.
Apologies in advance that original writing here at my website has been sparse. Michele and I recently bought a house and we are in the process of moving in. The vast majority of my library is in boxes at the new place. We will be moved in by the end of the month with January being spent unpacking and getting settled. After that, I’ll be up and running again, writing content here but for other venues and projects as well.
Despite this, LOTS of cool stuff is still going on. Read below!
Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP
The Call for Papers for the Emmanuelle, Black Emanuelle, and Emmanuelle derivative films is open.
The CFP can found on this page. If you know other scholars who would be interested in this project, please share! I’d be super appreciative to get the word out.
New H. P. Lovecast Podcast Episode
A brand new episode of H. P. Lovecast Podcast is online.
This is our monthly Transmissions episode, however we did a longer form interview instead of a handful of smaller ones. Our interview is with P. L. McMillan and her new novella, Sisters of the Crimson Vine. The episode can be streamed at the H. P. Lovecast Buzzsprout page, via the embedded player below, or via your podcast app of preference.
For December we are going to do a recap episode where Michele and I talk about projects completed this year, upcoming news, podcast news, and so on.
A Hero Will Endure Update
A few years in the making, but the collection, A Hero Will Endure: Essays at the Twentieth Anniversary of Gladiator, is set to be published this February by Vernon Press. This book contains my essay, “Dance or Dēcēdere: Gladiator and Industrial Music Sampling.” There is no cover art yet, but there is a product/pre-order page at the publisher’s website.
Footage Fiends Issue 1
Pre-orders are open for the first issue of the Footage Fiends zine. I have a short essay in this debut issue (tentatively) titled “Analisi Della Cosa: Found Footage in Caltiki and Italian Theater Going Practices.”
Issues are tied to tiers at the Footage Fiends Patreon: $5 digital and $10 for physical with issues being published quarterly.
A promotional clip for the Zine can be found on the Footage Fields Twitter:
Horror/speculative award season is upon us. This year I really only have one piece of writing eligible for the various awards out there: my essay “Strange Realities: Twilight Zone-sploitation in Encounter with the Unknown” in The Many Lives of the Twilight Zone: Essays on the Television and Film Franchise. Thank you for your interest/consideration!
New Scholars from the Edge of Time
Michele and I appeared on Hercules Invictus’ Sword and Sandal cinema the last Thursday of November. I talked about the “City of Evil” episode of Thundarr the Barbarian while Michele talked about Ouja Mummy and Luxor. The episode can be heard via BlogTalkRadio.
Tribel Social Media
With all the brouhaha happening at Twitter, I’ve decided to start checking out alternative social medias. Unfortunately my iPhone is at capacity so I cannot install the app-only Hive social media. I’m on a waitlist for Post. However, I did setup an account at Tribel, which can be found here. Tribel is pretty much a ghost town right now, but I’ll wait and see what happens. Come give me a follow if you’re on the platform.
Miscellaneous Tidbits
Mimic Soundtrack (And Plans)
Record Store Day had a Black Friday event this year. There was one vinyl I was really, really gunning for, and that was the new LP of the Mimic soundtrack, composed by Marco Beltrami. When I got to Zia Records, there was only one copy on the shelf and I snagged that bad boy.
Michele and I talked about Mimic and Mimic 2 on our H. P. Lovecast Podcast (check them out – links on the titles) and plan on doing Mimic 3 next year.
I have other plans for the Mimic soundtrack. The first Front Line Assembly album I ever bought was Implode which contains much sampling of dialogue and music cues from both Mimic and Event Horizon. It’s been on the idea board to write *something* about this. We shall see what I come up with.
Elmer Batters Polaroid
I am a huge fan of the stockings photography of Elmer Batters. Back in 2015 Michele and I were able to visit an Elmer Batters and Eric Stanton exhibit that Taschen Books was curating in LA. Lots of great art and photography, and polaroids too!
There was an option to buy the polaroids, but at that point I didn’t have the funds to do so.
Fast forward to autumn 2022 and I was able to work with Taschen to procure a an original Batters Polaroid:
Elmer Batters, unknown model.
The polaroid was taken in the 1970s and it is awesome. The model is unfortunately unknown. It’s a fairly conservative Batters piece and I adore it.
The back of the frame the polaroid came in was autographed by Dian Hanson, known for many of the pinup books and Big Book Ofs that Taschen published (I cited her Big Butt Book for my masters thesis). Sincere thanks to Bernard at Taschen for coordinating all of this.
Rest in Peplum
French actress Mylène Demongeot passed away on December 1st (Deadline Article).
Promotional image from IMDB.
She starred in peplum and peplum-adjacent films such as:
Our monthly Transmissions program went up last Tuesday.
Thumbnail by Michele Brittany.
This episode concluded our May Music Month. We interviewed Thomas Blakeley and Matt Toronto of the musical A Dream at the End of Time, and Dorian Williamson and Jim Field of the dark ambient band Northumbria.
HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 12 – A Dream at the End of Time and Northumbria –
H. P. Lovecast Podcast
The episode can be streamed via our Buzzsprout website, via the embedded player above, or via our podcast app of preference.
For June, we will be talking about the film Cthulhu Mansion on our primary episode, and interviewing Robert Ottone and Lora Senf on our Transmissions episode. Stay tuned!
The New Peplum Citation
Kevin Wetmore’s essay, “In the Green Zone with the Ninth Legion: The Post-Iraq Roman Film” has been cited in Óscar Lapeña Marchena’s essay “Defendiendo el limes desde Britannia hasta Irak: nuevos enfoques bélicos en el cine de romanos del siglo XXI” in the book Pantallas en guerra.
Cover taken from Google Search
Marchena previously cited Wetmore’s essay in “La recepción de la guerra en la antigua Roma a través del cine: un estado de la cuestión.”
Unofficial Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP
Sometime in the latter half of 2022 (after I am finished with AnnRadCon 2022) I plan on publishing an official CFP calling for essays on Emmanuelle and its sequels and spinoffs, Black Emanuelle and its sequels, and all other Emmanuelle knockoffs. I already have an interested publisher, but I want to present to them a fully laid out TOC for an ambitious collection as this.
Though my CFP will not go live until later 2022, if you have any interest in being a part of this collection, let me know! Send me an email or social media message (see my about me page for contact info) to let me know your interest. If you have an abstract already, even better.
General Neo-Peplum News
Recent Acquisitions
During a trip to Bookman’s last week I happened upon this EC Comics collection:
I already have the EC Comics collection of Valor comics and wasn’t thinking of Two-Fisted Tales since it seemed centered on war narratives. But there were quite a few pre-1900s battles in the comic and there just happened to be a peplum one:
It’s called “Pigs of the Roman Empire” and I am glad I happened upon it. I’ll now have to keep an eye out for other EC collections that just might have more sword and sandal stories in them.
Of course, obligatory seamed stockings panel.
On Sunday Michele and I went off to Zia’s Records looking for treasure. The metal section is always a treasure trove of pepla-music. I happened upon Visions of Atlantis’ Pirates album.
Believe I’ve said on a prior news post, to some pirates are pepla to others they are not. I like to toss in news about pirate-pepla when I can. I’d never heard of Visions of Atlantis (Greek mythology name there!) and the cover of their Pirates album seemed to promise pirate metal in the vein of Alestorm. But I was wrong! It’s symphonic power metal and it’s damn good! So good I plucked up the vinyl and the CD.
For dirt cheap I also happened upon this Blu-ray boxset of Ben-Hur. I actually do not have a copy of Ben-Hur in the sword and sandal collection, so that’s been rectified. The boxset is big, but unlike the Troy boxset I did an article on, there isn’t much in here. I think I’ll still do a quick unboxing article later this week. Content is content, ya know.
My essay, “Cullzathro Fhtagn! Magnifying the Carnivalesque in Lovecraft Through the Comic Book Series Vinegar Teeth,” has made the preliminary Bram Stoker Award ballot in the short non-fiction category. Note: this does not denote I am nominated or a finalist. It simply means I am on the preliminary ballot and have a 50% chance to advance to the final ballot.
Active and Lifetime members of the Horror Writers Association who would like to read my essay for final ballot consideration (which closes February 15th) you can find it online at Academia.edu. Note: if there is a big ad in the way taking up the screen, just hit the X at the top right. Academia.edu is silly that way.
New Issue of Exotica Moderne
Issue fourteen of Exotica Moderne is now out!
Celebrating my newest publication with a Death & Co. inspired Mai Tai
This issue contains my interview with New Zealand stockings/pinup model Miss Corsair Debonair and it can be purchased at the House of Tabu website.
Things in the Well Closing Shop
Small press publisher Things in the Well looks to be closing shop in a few weeks. This means two of their anthologies that I have short stories published in will be going OOP:
Amazon links to buy both books are in the links above. Thank you all who have been curious about my fiction work and who have bought these books. I’ll find a home for these short stories in the future.
Highlander Call for Papers
Michele has an active CFP on the Highlander franchise. She is looking for essays on the Highlander movies, the television show, comics, everything.
If you’re interested, check out the CFP at her website and please share with others. With a possible reboot on the horizon, this is definitely a book you want to be a part of.
Unofficial Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP
Sometime in the latter half of 2022 (after I am finished with AnnRadCon 2022) I plan on publishing an official CFP calling for essays on Emmanuelle and its sequels and spinoffs, Black Emanuelle and its sequels, and all other Emmanuelle knockoffs. I already have an interested publisher, but I want to present to them a fully laid out TOC for an ambitious collection as this.
Though my CFP will not go live until later 2022, if you have any interest in being a part of this collection, let me know! Send me an email or social media message (see my about me page for contact info) to let me know your interest. If you have an abstract already, even better.
General Neo-Peplum News
Rest in Peplum
Monica Vitti, who stared in many, many Italian auteur films, passed away at the age of 90 (article at CNN.com).
She starred in the Medieval peplum/comedy film On My Way to the Crusades,I Met a Girl Who… which is also known as The Chastity Belt.
The Sword and the Sorcerer Release
Shout Factory announced they are doing a 4K/Blu-ray release of the Albert Pyun sword and sorcery film, The Sword and the Sorcerer, which is slated for a March 15th release.
***OFFICIAL EXTRAS ANNOUNCEMENT***
THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER UHD, coming March 15th, has extras worthy of a princess. (🧵)
I actually have not seen this film since most older releases are way OOP so you better believe I pre-ordered this. Side note: I dig Albert Pyun films, with Cyborg and Nemesis being my favorites.
Zeus Super Bowl Commerical
I’m always down for some neo-peplum commercials (anyone remember the Gladiator/Jif one from last year?)
Per Cinema Blend, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Salma Hayek will star as Zeus and Hera respectively in a series of Super Bowl ads for BMW.
Recent Acquisitions
I love buying art prints and getting commissions done when at comic books cons. I’ve made lots of friends over the years going to cons and I’ve accumulated quite a bit of art!
I was only passingly familiar with Les Edwards, due to him doing the cover art of Hero Quest, but I am certain I’ve seen his sword and sorcery artwork in other places. Recently, I am not sure where, but I saw his art piece, TheInvocation, and I was just mesmerized by it. Simply a beautiful piece. Yes, there is a naked lady featured prominently, but the sky in the background – I am always in awe in powerful skies. When I see a cloud filled sky, be it ominous with storm clouds or full of huge, puffy white ones, I get that feeling of “something big is coming.” TheInvocation does that.
Anywho, turns out Edwards has a website and sells prints of his work. So, I ordered a print of TheInvocation.
Even autographed to me. I love it.
On Sunday Michele and I went to Half Price Books (we had not been in a while) to scour material for some of our respective projects.
I may double dipped on that Historic Epics boxset, but if I did, it’s in an inaccessible box. For sure though I didn’t have that Hail, Caesar! soundtrack. Coen Brothers films usually have fantastic soundtracks, and since Hail, Caesar! is a fantastic neo-peplum and one of the source films that launched The New Peplum, I had to pluck it up.
Our first episode of January on New Maps of Dream will go up later today (instead of yesterday). We got two stories we will be examining. Our Transmissions episode will go up as usual at the end of the month and we are interviewing three folks from the anthology. Tune in to that episode when it drops for even more news.
Things in the Well Closing Shop
Small press publisher Things in the Well looks to be closing shop in a few weeks. This means two of their anthologies that I have short stories published in will be going OOP:
Amazon links to buy both books are in the links above. Thank you all who have been curious about my fiction work and who have bought these books. I’ll find a home for these short stories in the future.
Highlander Call for Papers
Michele has an active CFP on the Highlander franchise. She is looking for essays on the Highlander movies, the television show, comics, everything.
If you’re interested, check out the CFP at her website and please share with others. With a possible reboot on the horizon, this is definitely a book you want to be a part of.
Unofficial Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP
Sometime in the latter half of 2022 (after I am finished with AnnRadCon 2022) I plan on publishing an official CFP calling for essays on Emmanuelle and its sequels and spinoffs, Black Emanuelle and its sequels, and all other Emmanuelle knockoffs. I already have an interested publisher, but I want to present to them a fully laid out TOC for an ambitious collection as this.
Though my CFP will not go live until later 2022, if you have any interest in being a part of this collection, let me know! Send me an email or social media message (see my about me page for contact info) to let me know your interest. If you have an abstract already, even better.
General Neo-Peplum News
Rest in Peplum Mark Forest
Stalwart sword and sandal veteran Mark Forest passed away at the age of 89 (article at Ansa). Along with the likes of Steve Reeves, Alan Steel, Reg Park, and Ed Fury, Forest literally and figuratively carried classic Italian pepla on his back.
He appeared in numerous historic epics:
The Egyptian (1954)
Goliath and the Dragon (1960)
Son of Samson (1960)
Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules (1961)
Colossus of the Arena (1962)
Goliath and the Sins of Babylon (1963)
Hercules Against the Mongols (1963)
Hercules Against the Barbarians (1964)
The Lion of Thebes (1964)
Hercules Against the Sons of the Sun (1964)
The Magnificent Gladiator (1964)
Kindar the Invulnerable (1965)
The Terror of Rome Against the Son of Hercules (1964)
Rest in Peplum Matt Jacobs
I received news that artist and comic book illustrator Matt Jacobs passed away back in December.
Matt holding a drawing he did of Jason Voorhees in Michele’s sketchbook.
I’ve had the honour to know Matt since the early 2010s. He was a staple to the various Los Angeles and surrounding area comic book conventions, typically present at the Fanbase Press booth. He did the illustrations to one of their early comics, The Arcs, which is also his contribution to the neo-peplum genre. He was fun to talk with, especially about gory horror films.
He was a versatile dude, doing projects for Faith No More and Howard Stern. His art can still be seen on his Instagram account. He did this incredible sketch on an Army of Darkness blank cover as a gift to me back in 2014.
Can you spot all the cameos?
I have not seen Matt for a couple years, he kinda feel off the radar and stopped showing up to conventions. I only just found out via Fanbase Press that he passed away. He will be missed.
Here it is, the cover of the next issue of Exotica Moderne:
This issue contains my interview with the wonderful stockings pinup, Miss Corsair Debonair, who was gracious to provide exclusive photos. If you’d like a sneak peek of one of them, here you go:
Photo by Miss Corsair Debonair
Keep an eye on The House of Tabu website when the magazine becomes available for ordering. I’ve had the honour to write for all 14 issues of Exotica Moderne so far, but alas, I will have to skip issue 15 since that will be focused on the huge Tiki Caliente event. But no worries, I got lots more articles in the pipeline for the magazine. I appreciate all the folks who’ve read my interviews, reviews, and essays that have appeared in the magazine so far.
“Magnificent Maleficarum”
I recently did a write up on unboxing The Witches’ Bundle version of Severin Films’ new folk horror boxset, All Haunts Be Ours.I also did a mini interview with Howard David Ingham who contributed to the set (tarot cards and documentary).
Small press publisher Things in the Well looks to be closing shop in a few weeks. This means two of their anthologies that I have short stories published in will be going OOP:
Amazon links to buy both books are in the links above. Thank you all who have been curious about my fiction work and who have bought these books. I’ll find a home for these short stories in the future.
Highlander Call for Papers
Michele has an active CFP on the Highlander franchise. She is looking for essays on the Highlander movies, the television show, comics, everything.
If you’re interested, check out the CFP at her website and please share with others. With a possible reboot on the horizon, this is definitely a book you want to be a part of.
Unofficial Emmanuelle / Black Emanuelle CFP
Sometime in the latter half of 2022 (after I am finished with AnnRadCon 2022) I plan on publishing an official CFP calling for essays on Emmanuelle and its sequels and spinoffs, Black Emanuelle and its sequels, and all other Emmanuelle knockoffs. I already have an interested publisher, but I want to present to them a fully laid out TOC for an ambitious collection as this.
Though my CFP will not go live until later 2022, if you have any interest in being a part of this collection, let me know! Send me an email or social media message (see my about me page for contact info) to let me know your interest. If you have an abstract already, even better.
General Neo-Peplum News
La Nativité Write Up
Matt Page has a new write up/review at his Bible Films Blog.
It’s on the Biblical silent proto-peplum film La Nativité from 1910. The review can be read here. Check it out!
Recorded our interview with Robert P. Ottone over the weekend for H. P. Lovecast Fragements. Episode is now in post-product and will be uploaded on the 15th.
Call for Papers
The Call for Presentations for Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference is live. The CFP can be read at the StokerCon 2021 website.
The Call for Abstracts for my collection of essays on neo-medievalism is live. The CFP can be found here.
General Neo-Peplum News
Sword and Sandal Media Releases
Kino will be releasing a blu-ray of Ulysses (1954, Mario Camerini) on November 17. DVD Beaver has the details on the specs, supplements, and screen captures.
Ubisoft will be releasing Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla on November the 10th across all major platforms. More details can be found at the publisher’s product page.
Peplum Photography
Photographer Ana Martinez has a beautiful photo set called “Olympus” at their website. Thanks to Dannie DeLisle for the heads up!
The photo set reminds me of the “Celestial Goddesses” post over at Lingerie Addict. Check that one out too for a melding of peplum and lingerie.
Rest in Peplum
Scottish actor John Fraser passed away on November 7th. He was in El Cid (1961, Anthony Mann) and the sorta sword and sandal (I’ll allow it for its historic epic sequences) Loves of Three Queens aka The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships (1954, Marc Allégret and Edgar G. Ulmer)
