"White Zombie" (1932)

A girl travels to Haiti to marry his fiancee, but with the help of a poisoned rose, she becomes victim of a local sugar factory owner, who uses zombies as slave labor. The necromancer takes the girl to his castle, but he will be killed by one of his zombies. A very low budget horror movie, but extraordinarily evocative, with a superb Bela Lugosi.

The term "zombie" became of common use in 1929 thanks to a book about Haiti by William B. Seabrook titled "The Magic Island". White Zombie (1932) by Victor Halperin can be considered the first authentic zombie-movie. In Haiti, between voodoo dolls and powerful black magic, Bela Lugosi is Murder Legendre, a satanic individual who enslaves zombies in his mill. When a worried John Harron asks who are these weird, cadaveric people without sign of life and personality, Lugosi answers "For you, my friend, they are simply the angels of Death!".

Excerpt from the upcoming "Schermoscuro" Vol.II
Click here for "SCHERMOSCURO" Vol. I by Francesco Francavilla

Cheers,
Francesco

"The Walking Corpse" (Mar 24, 1946)

Hello pulp-friends,

Today we continue Pulp Sunday Presents: Voodoo Month with this radio episode of the Shadow titled: "THE WALKING CORPSE"!!!

A woman asks Lamont and Margot to find her missing brother who is apparently involved in a voodoo cult. The first person on Lamont's list of people to ask for information, Lopez, is found dead, strangled by someone who was electrecuted a month earlier. A little black hand found close tot he body seems to validate the voodoo aspect of this mystery. Next on the list is Mama Segreto, who also is member of the cult. She doesn't give much information on finding the missing person but later she is strangled by the same "killer zombie" who took care of Lopez.

Has this executed strangler really returned from the grave thanks to the voodoo magic? And why he is targeting members of the voodoo cult? I will leave you to find the answers in the radio episode (see link below). I will just point out that our zombie doesn't just stop with the victims, but he takes care of their pets too (Lopez' cat and Mama Segreto's parrot): not that this has anything to do with the case, but I guess it helps to build the suspense and drama ;)

Listen this episode from the Internet Archive and look forward for more in this "VOODOO MONTH"!!!

Cheers,
Francesco

"I Walked With A Zombie" (1943)

Like other films directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton, especially “Cat People,” this one excels in great black-and-white visuals and cinematography. Tourneur uses very atmospheric techniques to give the film a dark, brooding, moody feel that enhances the story he is telling. He uses light and shadow to create an unsettling mood and sense of dread. It's amazing how something as simple as a shadow cast across a wall is used to so effectively create an atmosphere of dread. Sound and music are also used to enhance the tension—the native drums and singing really bring the world of Caribbean voodoo to life.

When most people think about zombie movies, they think of films typical of George Romero or Wes Craven. This film instead focuses more on the voodoo aspect of zombie lore. Probably the most memorable character is the native zombie Carrefour, played by Darby Jones. With his skeletal figure and protruding eyes, he is easily the creepiest looking zombie ever filmed.

Excerpt from "Schermoscuro" Vol.I
"SCHERMOSCURO" Vol. I by Francesco Francavilla

Cheers,
Francesco

"Voodoo" (Mar 30, 1941)

Hello pulp-friends,

Welcome to first edition of Pulp Sunday Presents: Voodoo Month ! I am going to feature several episodes of the Shadow dealing with one of the most ancient magic, the one that is so powerful that can bring people back from the dead! And it will be not just about the Sunday Shadow radio-shows: I am going to add here and there (based on my schedule of course ;)) movies and other voodoo stuff.
Ok, enough of this mubo-jumbo, let's get down to business ;)

A trip down to an island not too far from the Georgia Coast; an island where the natives practice a voodoo cult which consists in worshipping the reptiles; a powerful amulet called the "snake stone" to be weared around the neck; a murder case (of course); and a guy called Sebastian who will turn out to be a key figure in this whole story.
That's the first episode I featured on this blog that starts with some sort of camp-fire, spooky/ghost story tales, with Margot and Lamont telling the adventure that saw them dealing with a massive crowd of vooddo followers and surviving to it.

Listen this episode from the Internet Archive and look forward for more in this "VOODOO MONTH"!!!

Cheers,
Francesco

Pulp Spotlight: Mandrake the Magician

Hello pulp-friends,

This month spotlight is dedicated to a less famous creation of Lee Falk (yep, the same Lee Falk who created the Phantom) but not less cool in my book: Mandrake the Magician.
An illusionist who I can safely say can beat the Shadow in the hypnotic tecnique, Mandrake travels the world fighting crime and injustice, accompanied by his faithful Lothar (the stronger main in the world). The travel aspect of their adventures gives a nice and cool exotic touch to the stories and adds popularity to this creation.
Such popularity has resulted in a cross media expansion of Mandrake: he went from the comic strips for newspapers, to comics, cartoons, serial, and radio shows. Possibly a movie will be added to this list pretty soon.

Sorry for keep this short, but I have some Zorro pages waiting for me. I promise I will be a little more "eloquent" when we get to the Phantom :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Pulp Spotlight is the monthly feature where I cover other famous characters that have helped to build the Pulp genre not just on the radio but also in the other media.

"House Of Horror" (Nov 17, 1940)

This is definitely one of the best and more enjoyable episodes I have been presenting on Pulp Sunday. We got all the needed ingredients plus some extra spices to make this a classic.

A mad scientist, to start, with an accent and a passion for talking in rhymes (scientist and ...poet! :D). A crazy plan to turn women in super-soldiers by mixing their brains with the gorillas'. Crooks who kill ruthlessly with two bullets in the front. Crazy angry gorilla. An evil fortune teller (Madame Santo) who tricks her female costumers to provide bodies to the mad scientist. Margo and Lamont investigating the case of a disappeared woman. And, of course, The Shadow who saves the day once again and he even gets to shoot this time (it's becoming an habit now ;))

I know, it sounds like a crazy recipe but everything works so delightfully. Listen to it and then tell me :)

Buon Appetito!

Francesco

Download from the Internet Archive

Pulp Sci-Fi Week: Amazing and Wonder Stories

I can't let this first Pulp Sci-Fi event go without mentioning the magazines that have been around since the '20s, that have been the cradle for so many famous Sci-Fi writers and many legendary fictional characters (including the freshly spotlighted Buck Rogers), and that have defined the Science Fiction as we know it today. The magazines I am talking about are Amazing Stories and Science Wonder Stories.

Amazing Stories was first published in New York back in April 1926. The antholgy format, collecting many short stories and novels, has been proven successful for years, even if the magazine has seen the end of his days just recently, in 2006, after 80 years of great stories that made all of us dream.

Science Wonder Stories (or simply Wonder Stories) was edited and published in 1930 by Hugo Gernsback, who was also the founder of Amazing Stories (but he lost control of it pushing him to create the new magazine). The ones showcased here are my humble tribute to recreate that kind of sense of fantastic and wonder you feel when looking at those covers of these pulp sci-fi magazines. They lack of the colors from those covers but I hope they don't lack of the magic :)

Cheers,
Francesco