"Blood on Christmas" - A Short Crime Tale by Francesco Francavilla

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Hello Pulp Friends,

hope you all are having a joyful time with your families and friends during these holidays :)
As promised early this week, here's a full complete story, a silent tale in the tradition of LULLUBY and my recent FURY and JONAH HEX short tales.
Some of you will remember this story: originally aired here on Pulp Sunday in December 2007, in a strip format, I am re-airing today in re-mastered first-time-in-color version, and in a comic format.
Hope you all enjoy what I consider a "Margot Year Zero" tale: yep, the girl in the story is what will become the future assistant of Lamont Creston/The SHADOW! :)

Click on the pages for a bigger and better viewing/reading experience.

Have a Pulp Sunday everyone! :)

Francesco

"BLOOD ON CHRISTMAS" Story & Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla





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Sherlock Holmes Year One #3 Cover

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Hello Pulp Friends,

As part of this Pulpy Xmas Week - and partially inspired by my working on another Sherlock Holmes cover today and having the heater out of service at the same time - here's my cover for Dynamite's SHERLOCK HOLMES YEAR ONE #3, solicited in January Previews.
Hope you guys enjoy it and make sure to tune in tomorrow for a full Xmas tale illustrated :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

"House of Ice" - A 3D Xmas Tale (2010)

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Hello Pulp Friends,

A little late but I finally got around doing my Xmas card for this year.
As some of you know, in the last 3-4 years my cards have been about classic movies and snowmen (remember CAPTAIN COLD from last year?), so in that FF tradition, I give you "HOUSE OF ICE" starring the famous horror movie icon Vincent Ice :)
To make it a little more special, I added some 3D nuances, so if you have a pair of 3D glasses handy, you can enjoy it in 3D! :)

Come back tomorrow for more pulp goodies - meanwhile Happy Holidays to y'all :)

Cheers,
Francesco

"House of Ice" created by and © 2010 Francesco Francavilla
Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

KATO: Origins #11 Cover

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Hello Pulp Friends,

Pulpy Xmas Week continues with the cover for KATO ORIGINS #11 (coming in January Previews).
Hope you guys dig the Ballo in Maschera here :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

HellBoy - The Fury #1 Variant Cover

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Hello Pulp Friends,

I can finally spill the beans on another cool cover gig I have been working on recently: a set of four variant covers for Mike Mignola and Dark Horse on Hellboy related book that will be out in 2011.
I can't even start to describe how excited and honored I am to be working on Mike's own creations: I have been fan of Mike and the Big Red since ever so this is a little dream coming true :)
The first cover has been recently revealed so it's safe now to post it in here too, since the look and feel I have been given these is pulp/vintage paperback.
So here's the variant cover for THE FURY #1: hope you guys dig it :)

Tune in all week for a Pulp Xmas: I will be posting something new every day and will have a full story on the 24th, just in time to celebrate the holidays in a pulpy spirit :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

LA PANTERA NERA!

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Hello guys,

I am very happy to see Black Panther (#513) finally out because I know all of you pulp fans will enjoy it. One of the reasons I was chosen to draw this is actually Black Beetle, and I was asked to keep the visuals in that vein (as you can see from the attached images).


-Initial Concept Art for Black Panther-

Not only the pages will look very pulp, but writer (and award winning) David Liss has been cooking a very noirish gritty tale for this.


-Concept for a recurring location in the story-

Click on the image below for an overall look at the interior pages and I hope you like what you see here (and if you do I hope you pick up #513 this coming Wed :)

Have a wonderful Pulp Sunday everyone and tune in next Sunday for a verr Pulp Xmas story :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla.
All Characters ™ and © 2010 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.


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Sherlock Holmes Year One #2 Cover

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Hello Pulp Friends,

Here's my cover for Dynamite's SHERLOCK HOLMES YEAR ONE #2, currently in December Previews.
Hope you guys enjoy it :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

Green Hornet Year One #11 & Kato Origins #10 covers

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Hello Pulp Friends,

On December 5, 1933, the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment signed the end fo the Prohibition.

Today, December 5, 2010, to celebrate, I am posting two covers I did for the fine comics that are set during the Prohibition: I am referring to Green Hornet Year One #11 and Kato Origins #10 (currently soliciited in December Previews)

Hope you guys dig it, and -of course- celebrate this Pulp Sunday with a shot of your favorite drink* :)

Cheers,
Francesco

*Drink responsibly

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla


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Black Panther Book of the Month!

Hi guys,

while I am still happy for all the praise that my run on Detective (with those talented Snyder and Jock fellas) is getting, I found out today that in the new Wizard Magazine (now on the shelves) my other BIG-TWO debut book with writer David Liss, Black Panther Man Without Fear #513, has been picked as "BOOK OF THE MONTH" in the PULL LIST section of the magazine by the Wizard staff.
The book will be in stores on December 15th - mark your calendars!
If you have been enjoying my noirish art on Commissioner Gordon, well you are gonna get 23 pages of down to the street noir/pulp action in here too :)
Will share some preview when we get closer to the release.

Cheers,
Francesco

All images © 2010 Francesco Francavilla.
Black Panther ™ and © 2010 Marvel Entertainment

Everyone Loves Detective

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Hi guys,

Detective Comics #871 (with the brand new team of Scott Snyder on the story, and Jock, David Baron, and me on art chores, all under the great supervision of editors Mike Marts and Janelle Siegel) come out last week and since then reviews are poring in and the verdict seems to be the same: Detective is the Bat book you must buy :D
Check these reviews out :) (click on links to read the reviews)

iFanboy: 5 out of 5!

TECHLAND: I like the new look of Detective a lot--two schools of European cartooning in just one book!

CBR

Crave OnLine: t’s hard to read Detective Comics #871 and not feel like a new era is upon us. With only one issue, Snyder and the team of artists have established a very new take on Dick Grayson, Jim Gordon, and their relationship with Gotham City. If you don’t love absolutely everything the new Detective Comics, there’s something fundamentally wrong with the way you view art.

Newsarama Best Shots Extra

Multiversity Comics: I can't say enough about this book. From top to bottom, from the writing to the art to the editing to everything else, this book is simply one of the best big two superhero books of the year. 9.8

The Outhousers

Read/Rant: A-

Comics And... : Overall Grade A + - If you aren’t reading this book you are missing what could become a classic.

Paradox Comics Group: the Vertigo sophistication and sensibility being applied to the DC Universe [..] 8/10

Comic Attack!: I highly recommend it!

The Weekly Crisis: Must Read. You are going to want to be in on the ground floor for what’s going to be a great year for Batman. this reads like Dashiell Hammett’s take on the character and the city.

Weekly Comic Book Review: Snyder “get’s it” and is writing a uniquely Dick Grayson detective story. Jock and Francavilla are delivering awesome art. Must read! A-

Gotham Knights Online: Jock and Francesco’s artwork matches Snyders writing perfectly and [..] puts Detective Comics at the top of the pile for Batman titles currently out there. 5/5

Heroes Online: Atmospheric and intelligent, an excellent start for this title’s new direction.

There is plenty more reviews posted in the last days and more coming out this week, but you get the idea... :)
Thanks everyone for the support: I, Scott, Jock, David, Mike, Janelle, and all the DC COmics gang really appreciate all the bat-love you guys are throwing our way :)

Cheers,
Francesco

All images © 2010 Francesco Francavilla.
Detective Comics ™ and © 2010 DC Comics

Nightmare Town - Pt. 6

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Hello Pulp friends :)

As promised, here's a new installment of Dashiell Hammett's NIGHTMARE TOWN :)

Hope you enjoy it and please consider take advantage of my November free-shipping sales on the Halloween archival prints (13"x19", signed, boarded and bagged) and Schermoscuro Vol.1 books (below a photo of my latest shipment, so to give the idea of how big and nice the prints are).
If you wanna something for your studio/office wall or shelf and support Pulp Sunday at the same time, then please use the side Paypal button to order :)



Thank you and wish you all a fantastic Pulp Sunday :)

Cheers,
Francesco

All images © 2010 Francesco Francavilla.
PULP ILLUSTRATED ™ and © 2006-2010 Francesco Francavilla

Nightmare Town - Pt. 5

(click on the above image for a bigger reading experience ;))

Hello Pulp friends :)

You all will be happy to know that - starting today and for the next few months' Sundays - I am back to 2 "CLASSICS" installments here at Pulp Sunday: the hard boiled illustrated "NIGHTMARE TOWN" (written by Dashiell Hammett) and the exotic adventure of The Black Beetle in "KARA BOCEK" (written and illustrated by me).

Let's start today with part 5 of Dashiell Hammett's NIGTHMARE TOWN (if you need to refresh the emeory or start from part 1, click here) and please remember I am still running the HALLOWEEN SPECIAL on SCHERMOSCURO Vol.1 and/or print, so feel free to use the sidebar PAYPAL button to order the book and get an original sketch inside (see below). It's a great way to have something nice on your shelf and support Pulp Sunday at the same time :)



Hope you guys dig it and hope you all had a fantastic Pulp Sunday :)

Cheers,
Francesco

All images © 2010 Francesco Francavilla.
PULP ILLUSTRATED ™ and © 2006-2010 Francesco Francavilla

The Making of Detective Comics #874 Cover

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Hello Pulp Friends,

As promised, here is the "making of DC #874 Cover" with a little commentary to go with I prepared for the official DC Universe blog (thanks to Alex Segura for always doing such a great job in updating all the DC fans about current and upcoming books :))

"This is the cover of the first full feature dedicated to Commissioner Gordon you will see during 2011 on Detective Comics. That’s right, the back-up features will disappear after #873 to become full feature every 3-4 issue of Jock’s Batman feature. In Scott’s master plan, the Commissioner Gordon story is strictly correlated to what happens in the Batman story, so we thought this was the best way to get the two storylines run to parallel while still adapting to the new 20 pages format.

As always I try to do, I wanted this cover to reflect a bit the story inside issue 874, so I asked Scott for a brief synopsis and for what he would like to see on the cover. Once acquired that info, I produced the 2 layouts you see here. Everyone at DC loved the first concept (which was my favorite too) but we wanted to make sure there was some of the elements of the second concept too (the search in the woods). So I added some foliage to the insert image with the doll and voila’, you got the cover you saw yesterday.

Little trivia: the eye missing from the doll and ending up as something the kid is toying with was something I came up while working on the final inks (concept and pencils had the doll with both eyes - as you can see from the image below - and the kid just playing with a stick)

Hope you guys enjoy it and don’t forget to pick up Detective #871 at the end of November"


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Hope you all had a wonderful Pulp Sunday and pls don't forget to pickup Detective #871 on the 24th of this month :)

CHeers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

Detective Comics #874 Cover

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Hello Pulp Friends,

Cover Week continues with DETECTIVE COMICS #874 cover.
Tune in tomorrow for a "making of DC #874 Cover" look and some extra content about my work on Detective :)
Meanwhile here's the solicits for 874 (as they will appear in December Previews for Feb release) and don't miss the first issue of the new Detective arc (#871) by Scott Snyder, Jock & David Baron on the feature, and me on the Commissioner Gordon co-feature, on sale on Nov 24th, only 2 weeks from now :)

DETECTIVE COMICS #874
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Art and cover by FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA

“There are some cases that come screaming back at you…like phone calls in the night…”
For years, Jim Gordon has been haunted by the unsolved case of Gotham’s notorious
“Peter Pan Killer.” Now, armed with new evidence, Gordon is determined to put the case to rest.
But as he digs deeper, he’ll unearth a shocking discovery about his own past – a revelation that will shake him to the core. Skeletons will be exposed and secrets revealed in this special issue featuring art by Francesco Francavilla!

On sale FEBRUARY 23 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

LOVECRAFT: Black & White

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Hello Pulp Friends,

Cover Week continues with LOVECRAFT Black & White cover.
As you all know, I am a huge fan of HPL so I was very happy to be asked to provide a wraparound cover for this book that showcases tons of B/W illustrations by famous comic artists and illustrators.

The book is edited by Umberto Sisia, an Italian expert of all Lovecraft things, and published by Dagon Press. I have been told that the book printing is limited to a very few hundreds copies.

For more info, check here.
Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

KATO: Origins #9 Cover

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Hello Pulp Friends,

Cover Week continues with KATO ORIGINS #9 cover.
And while we are at it, please go tot he store and pick-up KATO Origins #5, which came out today :) As I said, it's a really good read :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

Green Hornet Year One #10 Cover

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Hello Pulp Friends,

Cover week continues with my cover for issue 10 of Green Hornet Year One
Hope you guys dig it :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

KATO: Origins #8 Cover

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Hello Pulp Friends,

Cover Week continues with the cover I did for KATO ORIGINS #8 - Hellfire Club!
Hope you guys dig it and hope you are reading the book becuase it's a really good read :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

Sherlock Holmes Year One #1 Cover

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Hello Pulp Friends,

2011 will have some new sweet covers from yours truly :)

One of the title I was lucky to be asked to provide main covers for is Dynamite's SHERLOCK HOLMES YEAR ONE. I have read the first 2 scripts and - trust me - it's a book you wanna put on your pull list.
For this title I decided to try a different approach, more like a tribute to the classic Holmes dime novel covers.
Here's the first one: please let me know if you dig the direction here :)

About the other covers I am doing... well, we will talk about them when I am allowed ;)
Meanwhile come back all week since this is gonna be COVER WEEK! :)

Have a wonderful Pulp Sunday everyone :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

31 Days of Halloween ~ 31: The Grand Finale!

Hello Pulp Friends

As mentioned on Day 1 of this Classic Horror Marathon, I did this little project a few years ago: each evening of October, all month long, I sat down for an hour and drew a tribute to a classic horror movie. At the end of the month I revealed the Grand Finale to this little project, the same way I am revealing it now to you all.

So please go ahead: you are only 2 clicks away from your ultimate Halloween experience :)

~~ Click on the image for the Grand Finale ~~

Click on the image above to view the grand finale.

CONTEST
Hope you enjoy it and if you do, please leave a note: I will randomly pick a winner between all entries posted until midnight ET of Nov 1st: Day of the Dead.
The winner will receive a little Francavilla horror package :)

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN BOOK and PRINT SALE!!!

I am also running a Halloween Special on my book - collecting this Classic Horror Movies illos (and more artwork that you haven't seen here) - SCHERMOSCURO Vol.1 and prints of the Grand Finale. Check out the side bar on the left for ordering via PayPal (books and prints are discounted and rates listed include shipping). This special sale goes all November long and amount of books are limited (
Book is limited edition, signed and numbered, and includes a little original horror sketch of my choice in the back.
Prints are 13x19" printed on archival paper with archival inks.

Cheers,
Francesco

EDIT: WE HAVE A WINNER!!! :)
Thank you everyone for entering the contest, I really appreciate it :)
I resorted to a very scientific (Napoletan) method, the Tombola, to pick a random winner. The method consists in putting all the numbers in this basket:

and then give it a swirl and then flip it over: the number 11 came out, which means PAUL is our winner.
Paul, please send me your address and I will send you the goodies: a copy of SCHERMOSCURO Vol.1, a copy of SORROW GN, an archival print of the GRAND FINALE :)

Everyone else: please feel free to grab the book or the print (or both) during this month long sale event: all shipping and handling expenses are on me so you can save from 7 to 15 $. :)
Just click on the side paypal bar for easy ordering :)
And stay tuned, as I plan to do another little contest toward the end of the month.



Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

31 Days if Halloween ~ 30: The Cat and the Canary

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Hello Pulp Friends

THE CAT AND THE CANARY is the feature of this 30th day of Halloween.
Make sure to tune in tomorrow at 2 pm ET for the GRAND FINALE (below a little teaser): you really don't wanna miss it if you have been checking out this blog all October :)

The Cat and the Canary
USA, 1927
directed by Paul Leni
starring: Laura La Plante, Creighton Hale, Forrest Stanley, Tully Marshall

Twenty years after the death of an eccentric millionaire, the relatives are invited to his castle to witness the reading of his will. It will be a long and scary night. Among the three remakes that will follow in the years is the more comedic “Midnight Ghost” with Bob Hope.

Cheers,
Francesco

~!~ BONUS CHILLS! ~!~


~~ Coming tomorrow: THE GRAND FINALE!!! ~~

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

31 Days of Halloween ~ 29: I Walked With A Zombie

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Hello Pulp Friends

one more movie tomorrow and then the Grand Finale on Sunday - make sure to tune in! :)
Meanwhile enjoy one of the very firt zombie movie, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, where zombies are far away of what they are in the upcoming Walking Dead ;)

I Walked With A Zombie
USA, 1943
directed by Jacques Tourneur
starring: James Ellison, Frances Dee, Tom Conway

A nurse goes to one of the West India islands to assist a woman apparently affected by some form of mind paralysis. In reality, the mother-in-law has changed this woman into a zombie to prevent her from leaving her son.

Cheers,
Francesco

~!~ BONUS CHILLS! ~!~


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Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

31 Days of Halloween ~ 28: La Maschera del Demonio

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Hello Pulp Friends

two more classic movies and then the Grand Finale on Sunday - make sure to tune in! :)
Meanwhile enjoy one of the scariest movies of this horror marathon: the Italian LA MASCHERA DEL DEMONIO! :)

La Maschera del Demonio
Italy, 1960
directed by Mario Bava
starring: Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Ivo Garrani

In the 16th Century, in Moldavia, a princess is killed for practicing witchcraft and buried in the family tomb. After two centuries, two Russian doctors who are travelling by bring her casually back to life. The witch tries immediately to possess the body of her descendant.
This is Bava’s first movie as director.

Cheers,
Francesco

~!~ BONUS CHILLS! ~!~


~~ Click on the MASK! ~~

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

31 Days of Halloween ~ 27: House on Haunted Hill

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Hello Pulp Friends

day 27 features another little classic with the excellent Vincent Price: HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL!!!
Only few days away from the Grand Finale (and a little contest). Make sure to follow every day here and to tune in SUnday :)

House on Haunted Hill
USA, 1959
directed by William Castle
starring: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long, Elisha Cook Jr.

A millionaire rents a sinister mansion and hires some not-so-honest people to organize a ghost party requested by his wife. What he doesn’t know is that his wife is planning to use the party to kill him.

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

31 Days of Halloween ~ 26: Das Kabinett des dr. Caligari

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Hello Pulp Friends

for Day 26 of our Classic Horror Marathon I give you "THE CABINET OR DR CALIGARI"!
Hope you guys enjoy it and enjoy the two extra chills below (some of you may remember the Mad Doctor series from last year :))

Das Kabinett des dr. Caligari
Germany, 1919
directed by Robert Wiene
starring: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Lil Dagover

An asylum director discovers an old manuscript of the ‘700s about a certain Caligari who, using hypnosis, pushes a medium to kill several people. Undercover, the asylum director tries to emulate the experiment and pushes a sleepwalker, who is one of his patients, to murder several people. When his experiment is discovered, the director joins his patients in the asylum.

Cheers,
Francesco

~!~ BONUS CHILLS! ~!~


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Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

31 Days of Halloween ~ 25: Cat People

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Hello Pulp Friends

I hope you guys are not getting tired - we are too close to the Grand Finale and you need to be there for it: who has seen it already can confirm you that is like "the Horror Fireworks" :)
Meanwhile here's Day 25 with CAT PEOPLE!

Cat People
USA, 1942
directed by Jacques Tourneur
starring: Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway, Jack Holt

A beautiful woman, an immigrant from the East to New York, believes she is a panther-woman and that she can reveal her feline side only when sexually excited. Husband and psychiatrist are skeptical: too bad for them.

Cheers,
Francesco

~!~ BONUS CHILLS! ~!~


~~ Click on the Cat for a BIGGER CAT! :) ~~

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

31 Days of Halloween ~ 24: The Raven

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Hello Pulp Friends

Only ONE week away to the Grand Finale (make sure to tune in next SUNDAY for it).
Meanwhile hope you enjoy this other classic of HORROR, Poe-inspired: THE RAVEN! :)

The Raven
USA, 1935
directed by Lew Landers
starring: Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lester Matthews

An escaped criminal goes to a doctor to have his face changed. The doctor asks to be paid for his help by killing a woman who refused him, her father and her fiancee. The criminal rebels against the evil plan and it will be the doctor, obsessed by E.A.Poe’s tales, who will die at the end.

Cheers,
Francesco

~!~ BONUS CHILLS! ~!~


~~ Click on the RAVEN! ~~

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

31 Days of Halloween ~ 23: The Village of the Damned

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Hello Pulp Friends

Day 23 of this Classic Horror Marathon features a British Classic: THE VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED! Only one week remaining of movies until the GRAND FINAL of next SUnday. Be there - you don't wanna miss it, trust me (as a few of you can confirm ;))

The Village of the Damned
GB, 1960
directed by Wolf Rilla
starring: George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Michael C. Gwynne

In a little town life stops for an hour, after which all the women are pregnant. 12 super-intelligent, emotionless, blonde children with telepathic powers are all born at the same time. They turn out to be deadly beings from another planet. Naturally, the parents are distraught until one of them, whose son is the children’s leader, tries to stop their plan for domination.

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla