If I had to choose one writer who I consider to be the most neglected, under-read, under-appreciated in the entire field of horror fiction, it would certainly be Ray Russell.
I would compare Russell with giants of the genre like Richard Matheson or Robert Bloch. He was not as prolific as those and other writers, but his influence on horror fiction is undeniable.
Russell wrote numerous short stories, the most famous of which is Sardonicus. It was filmed by William Castle as Mr. Sardonicus. Castle's meager skills at directing motion pictures prevented the movie from being the classic it could have been, but I do applaud him for attempting it.
Roger Corman, who is often unjustly referred to as a Schlockmeister, also used Russell's talent. X-The Man With X-Ray Eyes was written by Ray Russell. It's one of the few genuinely thoughtful and frightening SF pictures of its day. He also co-wrote (with Charles Beaumont) The Premature Burial for Corman.
Ray Russell's exorcism novel, The Case Against Satan, predated William Peter Blatty's much more famous and successful novel by nearly a decade. It also dealt with a possessed young woman. Is it possible that Blatty read Russell's novel and was directly or indirectly influenced by it? One cannot be sure, but it seems like a possibility.
Even if Blatty was influenced by Russell, nothing can take away from the cultural significance of both the novel and the film of The Exorcist.
My favorite Ray Russell novel is Incubus. Incubus may seem tame by the standards of hardcore and transgressive fiction that has come out since 1976, but it was a bold book in its day. It, like The Exorcist, had graphic sexual content, but was also brilliantly written. Incubus was rather ineptly filmed in 1982.
I consider him to be one of the finest and most important writers in the history of the horror field, but his work as an editor possibly had more effect on the field than his writing did.
Russell was an executive editor at Playboy Magazine in the 1950's. He continued to work with the magazine until the 70's. He helped horror, science fiction, and fantasy achieve respectability by getting it published in its pages. Ray Bradbury, Fredric Brown, Charles Beaumont, Frederik Pohl, Richard Matheson, Kurt Vonnegut, and many others had stories in Playboy, and their work was exposed to a much wider audience.
Russell also edited anthologies of horror fiction, anonymously, for Playboy Press.
The movies were fun; even the bad ones. It is wonderful how he got genre fiction in Playboy. Ray Russell's novels are magnificent. But his heart always seemed to be in the short prose form. He had several collections published, the best of which is Haunted Castles. It was put out by the specialty press, Maclay & Associates, in 1985.
Time has passed and many great writers are forgotten. New trends, new generations of readers. I have been saddened at the number of horror readers I've known who had no idea who Ray Russell is. Well, it's not like his books are in stores, and used copies are getting harder and more expensive to obtain.
Thankfully, that is changing. Penguin Books is putting out a group of classic horror titles in time for Halloween this year. They are being edited by Guillermo del Toro. There will be some titles that are familiar to anyone with even slight knowledge of the field. Mary Shelley, Lovecraft, Poe. Included in the set of titles will be Ray Russell's Haunted Castles.
Folks, most of you are here because you love horror fiction. Some of you have Haunted Castles, I'm sure. Others, I'm just as sure, do not have it, nor have you read it. I am urging you to buy the book when it is published in a month or so. Don't do it for me, or for Penguin. Do it for yourself. You will not find horror fiction better than Ray Russell's.
It is my hope that del Toro's name will help with sales. Pacific Rim may not have been a huge blockbuster, but it has been embraced by a lot of people. I own the Maclay hardcover, but I intend to buy the upcoming hardback from Penguin. That may sound crazy to some, but it is my small way of saying thanks for bringing Ray Russell back to readers.
I would compare Russell with giants of the genre like Richard Matheson or Robert Bloch. He was not as prolific as those and other writers, but his influence on horror fiction is undeniable.
Russell wrote numerous short stories, the most famous of which is Sardonicus. It was filmed by William Castle as Mr. Sardonicus. Castle's meager skills at directing motion pictures prevented the movie from being the classic it could have been, but I do applaud him for attempting it.Roger Corman, who is often unjustly referred to as a Schlockmeister, also used Russell's talent. X-The Man With X-Ray Eyes was written by Ray Russell. It's one of the few genuinely thoughtful and frightening SF pictures of its day. He also co-wrote (with Charles Beaumont) The Premature Burial for Corman.
Ray Russell's exorcism novel, The Case Against Satan, predated William Peter Blatty's much more famous and successful novel by nearly a decade. It also dealt with a possessed young woman. Is it possible that Blatty read Russell's novel and was directly or indirectly influenced by it? One cannot be sure, but it seems like a possibility.
Even if Blatty was influenced by Russell, nothing can take away from the cultural significance of both the novel and the film of The Exorcist.
My favorite Ray Russell novel is Incubus. Incubus may seem tame by the standards of hardcore and transgressive fiction that has come out since 1976, but it was a bold book in its day. It, like The Exorcist, had graphic sexual content, but was also brilliantly written. Incubus was rather ineptly filmed in 1982.
I consider him to be one of the finest and most important writers in the history of the horror field, but his work as an editor possibly had more effect on the field than his writing did.
Russell was an executive editor at Playboy Magazine in the 1950's. He continued to work with the magazine until the 70's. He helped horror, science fiction, and fantasy achieve respectability by getting it published in its pages. Ray Bradbury, Fredric Brown, Charles Beaumont, Frederik Pohl, Richard Matheson, Kurt Vonnegut, and many others had stories in Playboy, and their work was exposed to a much wider audience.
Russell also edited anthologies of horror fiction, anonymously, for Playboy Press.
The movies were fun; even the bad ones. It is wonderful how he got genre fiction in Playboy. Ray Russell's novels are magnificent. But his heart always seemed to be in the short prose form. He had several collections published, the best of which is Haunted Castles. It was put out by the specialty press, Maclay & Associates, in 1985.
Time has passed and many great writers are forgotten. New trends, new generations of readers. I have been saddened at the number of horror readers I've known who had no idea who Ray Russell is. Well, it's not like his books are in stores, and used copies are getting harder and more expensive to obtain.
Thankfully, that is changing. Penguin Books is putting out a group of classic horror titles in time for Halloween this year. They are being edited by Guillermo del Toro. There will be some titles that are familiar to anyone with even slight knowledge of the field. Mary Shelley, Lovecraft, Poe. Included in the set of titles will be Ray Russell's Haunted Castles.Folks, most of you are here because you love horror fiction. Some of you have Haunted Castles, I'm sure. Others, I'm just as sure, do not have it, nor have you read it. I am urging you to buy the book when it is published in a month or so. Don't do it for me, or for Penguin. Do it for yourself. You will not find horror fiction better than Ray Russell's.
It is my hope that del Toro's name will help with sales. Pacific Rim may not have been a huge blockbuster, but it has been embraced by a lot of people. I own the Maclay hardcover, but I intend to buy the upcoming hardback from Penguin. That may sound crazy to some, but it is my small way of saying thanks for bringing Ray Russell back to readers.
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