Do you have the guts for some good ghastly and gruesome olde ... CREEPY CRAWLS?!?
Creepy Crawls: A Horror Fiend's Travel Guide is a hair-raisingly informative and skin-crawlingly entertaining travel guide to horror locations from film, literature, and culture & society. It will feature travel information to locations such as London, Paris, Poe's Baltimore, Lovecraft's New England, Halloween's "Haddonfield," The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's Austin, Friday the 13th's "Camp Blood," and much, much more!
Featuring a foreword by "The Godfather of Gore" himself ... Herschell Gordon Lewis!
Creepy Crawls was published on September 1st through Santa Monica Press and can be ordered now at Amazon.com or you can also ask for it at your local Borders, Barnes & Nobles, or similar bookseller.
Buy it or BEWARE!
CREEPY CRAWLS: A HORROR FIENDS TRAVEL GUIDE
Paperback: 384 pages; black & white photographs
Publisher: Santa Monica Press
Release Date: September 1, 2006
Price: $16.95
ISBN: 1595800131
Click HERE for Table of Contents ...
Some reviews ... !
The Phoenix - June '06
Los Angeles Times Feature - Oct. 12. '06
Road Trip America Review - Oct. 15, '06
New York Newsday Review - Oct. 16, '06
USA Today '10 Great' Feature - Oct. 27, '06
Gunnar Hansen, "Leatherface" in THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974):
"I'm almost sorry I read this book. Now I get scared every time I travel. This is a great guide to spooky places. And he does it all with wit and humor. Thanks a lot, Leon."
Chas Balun, Dead-itor of DEEP RED & Author of THE DEEP RED HORROR HANDBOOK, THE GORE SCORE, HORROR HOLOCAUST, and more:
"You did a terrific job and your unbridled enthusiasm shows through on every page. Take a bow, amigo -- You oughtta be proud."
Kevin Clement, Founder/Producer of the CHILLER THEATRE Toy, Model, & Film Expo:
"A very enjoyable read! I would give it a 4 Skulls rating! EXCELLENT!"
NEWSDAY - October 16, 2006:
"Imagine a truly twisted tour narrated by a most vile version of Vincent Price spouting synonyms nonstop (and over the top), and you'll have a glimmer of the peculiar charms of this offbeat book."
RUE MORGUE #63 (Review by Liisa Ladouceur):
"If like me, you are filled with wanderlust and also an insatiable love for the dead, planning vacations around horrific haunts is a pleasure. Yet even with the internet, it can be time consuming: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre gas station isn't exactly listed in Lonesome Planet after all. Genuine gorehound and sometimes Rue Morgue "Travelogue of Terror" contributor Leon Marcelo makes it easier for us with this very comprehensive guide to places with a very dark side. While there are many books about haunted inns and kitschy roadside attractions, this may be the first one devoted to real must-see horror sites.
Creepy Crawls covers a wide variety of terrible travel destinations - mostly in the USA - made famous by horror books and movies. Several, like Dario Argento's Italian Profondo Rosso Shoppe or the Edgar Allan Poe sites in Baltimore, have been featured in RM, but there are many more here as well. Marcelo and his wife travel in search of the graves of cinema greats in Hollywood, New Jersey locations from Friday the 13th, and more. To be clear, this isn't travel literature; Marcelo doesn't talk to the locals or have exotic adventures; instead he delights in the gory historical details of the places he visits, sharing them gleefully. He's also not afraid to point out disappointments or tourist traps.
Two lengthy chapters on Paris and London are definitive guides to the underbelly of those cities, with historical anecdotes and in-depth coverage of such sites as the London Dungeon and the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, plus many other lesser-known yet equally sinister spots.
[. . .] Creepy Crawls is a must-have handbook for horror-themed travels from someone who really loves the macabre. It even gets two severed thumbs up from Herschell Gordon Lewis. Guaranteed to make you want to jump into your meatwagon and hit the road."
DREADCENTRAL.COM (Review by Johnny Butane):
"The kind of travelogue book every horror fan has probably wished they had at some point. [. . .] [A] fun read and full of cool information not just about what you’ll find at the haunted locations, but the best way to get there and how long it will take to do so from a given location, information that’s crucial to making the most out of your very own creepy crawl.”
FANGORIA (www.fangoria.com):
"The world of horror is a vast one, and the genre has, over time, been spawned from a variety of delightfully freaky locales: The Baltimore of Edgar Allan Poe’s days, H.P. Lovecraft’s New England, London and Paris’ macabre haunts, the burial sites of legends such as Bela Lugosi, and settings throughout the U.S. made famous by modern classics like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dawn of the Dead, Halloween, Friday the 13th, etc. Of course, it would be nearly impossible for the average Joe—even a devoted fright fan—to visit all of these macabre destinations in his spare time, but don’t worry—author Leon Marcelo has done it for us! In Creepy Crawls: A Horror Fiend’s Travel Guide, Marcelo 'lurks with you amongst the foulest of frightfully fiendish horror sites,' offering names and addresses of each place along with trivia and curiosities, photographs, travel tips and a narrative style that channels such genre personalities as Elvira and the Crypt Keeper."
SCARY MONSTERS' "Monster Memories" 2007 Annual (Review by SCARY MONSTERS' Editor, Dennis Druktenis):
"The 384 page book takes you to those scary places mentioned above and a lot more a you travel through London Fog, to Sleepy Hollow, to Stephen King's Maine, to Hollywood gravesites, to Dead Pennsylvania, and more. The $16.95 price tage is well worth it as you get to Creepy Crawl around Scary World. CREEPY CRAWLS: A HORROR FIEND'S TRAVEL GUIDE by Leon Marcelo also contains 300 black and white photos. What are you waiting for?"
FROM THE TOMB #20 (Review by Peter Normanton) :
"Both myself and a friend of mine believe firmly in the view 'have CAMRA REAL ALE GUIDE will travel." Now we might have to make a further addition to our travel guides. For the more macabre travellers amongst you, this might be just what you have been looking for. It journeys across the globe in search of those places you may have thought of tracking down, but then reconsidered, after all you might not want to get lost on a backroad in Texas with a guy with a chainsaw on the prowl.
H. P. Lovecraft's domain in New England of course had to be in there somewhere and Leon doesn't let us down. Stephen King country of course is mapped out as well as Edgar Allan Poe's Baltimore. Then he goes further to discover the locations for THE EXORCIST, FRIDAY THE 13TH, THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, the CHAINSAW state and leaves North America to visit the atmospheric streets of London and then on to Paris to uncover a side the romantics would prefer to forget.
While it is a fun read, it is also highly informative and well researched, providing the kind of history lesson I know I would have enjoyed. Leon has done his homework and visted these places. There's nothing hit or miss here. The detail is interesting to say the least and I found myself learning things about London I know nothing of. It is also very well illustrated which adds to the sence of place and pleasure of this darkly entertaining read."
SCARS #2 (Review by Scott Lefebvre):
"In summary, once you grow comfortable with the author's stylistic indulgences, this is an excellent guidebook for fans of all things horror in history, literature, and film. Although not all-encompassing, it is unfair to expect any one book to be all-inclusive, and the author presents a very attractive selection of destinations for voyeuristic vacationers. A welcome addition would have been an exploration of the stalking grounds and murder scenes of America's most notorious serial killers, but perhaps another author will come forth to address that section of the meat market.
Everyone I know has a friend of a friend or knows a person that can tell you everything about their local horror movie attractions. One guy really knows the Stephen King stomping grounds in Bangor, Maine. One guy really knows his Lovecraft locations. One guy knows how to find all of the spots where scenes from everyone's favorite horror movies were filmed. This book successfully synthesizes the knowledge from all of these previously diverse sources into one compact, portable, and infinitely useful sourcebook, especially if you're planning on taking off on a Creepy Crawl of your own."
HORRORHOUND #4:
“Leon Marcelo presents an extensive guide to the horror haunts of legend. [. . .] It’s an exhaustive guide for the true haunt-seekers and its now available!”
THE HORROR CHANNEL:
"Creepy Crawls: A Horror Fiend’s Travel Guide covers all sorts of fantastic horror-themed locations like the real-life haunts of Edgar Allen Poe, Bela Lugosi’s resting place, and even locations used in classic films like The Exorcist. It’s the perfect book for any horror fan with a serious case of wanderlust or just a desire to know where all this great horror stuff from around the world is really located."
HACKER'S SOURCE Magazine (Review by Josh Haney):
"It’s hard enough for us horror nerds to plan a vacation that doesn’t revolve around Halloween. And while there are a few packaged holidays out there that take you to some notoriously spooky venues at times other than Samhain, there’s a lot more to the world of horror than Dracula’s castle! So, it is with much enthusiasm that I announce the release of Leon Marcelo’s exhaustive collection of terrifying destinations entitled Creepy Crawls- A Horror Fiend’s Travel Guide. This bible for adventuring fear fans is a cadaverous cornucopia covering sites not just here in the good old US of A, but all over this wicked world of ours. The writing is witty and humorous, making you feel like an old fiend is along for the voyage, and believe me, some of the haunts this tome leads you to will make you quite glad to have that sage advice. There are also tons of gorgeous black and white pictures of each location, adding immensely to the atmosphere created within the pages.
We start the book with an introduction from the Godfather Of Gore himself, Mr. Herschel Gordon Lewis! What greater stamp of approval could someone as obviously dedicated to horror culture as Mr. Marcelo have on his work? Over the next three hundred and fifty plus pages we are taken on a whirlwind ride that can only be described as magical.
First stop London, where we are escorted through cemeteries, a restaurant in a crypt, insane asylums, operating theaters, the infamous Tower of London, and so much more by Marcelo and his wife Alycia. Just this first section could be a book of its own, but what fun would that be? And before we’ve even had time to digest all that we’ve seen and heard, it’s off to France.
Ah, gay Paris! But what the tourists see is only a fraction of what lurks behind every corner in the city of lights. Our ghoulish guides lead us from Notre Dame’s gargoyle covered exterior to Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, a literal necropolis, and everything in between. The pictures from Les Catacombes are quite profound, and give you the feeling of actually being along for the ride, and the trip to the Grand Guignol makes yours truly long for a trip to Paris. Back in the States, we head off to the East Coast, and the actual stomping grounds of the Headless Horseman, the Hudson Valley of New York. We are treated to visits to the actual locales that bewitched Irving’s brain and allowed him to create one of the most memorable of all horror stories. The next destination was to my hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, to track down the father of the modern horror story, Edgar Allan Poe. Having spent my youth virtually in the shadow of Poe’s grave and home, I was ecstatic to see what an excellent job Marcelo did in capturing the ambiance of places so near and dear to my heart. Never stopping on their journey, it’s up to New England where Howard Phillips Lovecraft and Salem, Massachusetts awaited. But who could head to New England without stopping in Maine to seek out Stephen King’s legendary settings.
Tired yet? Well, this trip is nowhere near over! The final section of the book deals with horror films, their stars, and locations. Ever wondered where Bela Lugosi rests? Or how about where Night of the Living Dead was filmed? What about the flight of stairs from The Exorcist? It’s all in here as well, and just like the rest of the chapters, it’s chock full of pictures and descriptions that will have you filling up the gas tank and heading off on your own tour.
And believe it or not, there is still a ton MORE to this book. A trip to Argento’s Italy, Texas’ land of the chainsaw, Haddonfield, and the list just keeps on going!
What can I say? This is a comprehensive collection of every Mecca a horror fanatic could ever possibly want to make a pilgrimage to. Whether you’re planning your next outing, want to know more about these horrific locations, or just want to see what’s hiding in your neck of the woods, Creepy Crawls is without equal. No horror collection is complete without a copy of this book!"
WANT A COPY JUST FOLLOW THE LINK TO GET INFO ON GETTING IT
http://exdementia.net/creepycrawls/home.html
more info on this:
Should you seek to contact yours cruelly, send an eek-mail to: charnellord'AT'yahoo.com
For all other inquiries about Creepy Crawls (review copies, wholesale purchases, and so on) please contact Santa Monica Press:
Santa Monica Press
P.O. Box 1076
Santa Monica, CA 90406-1076
Telephone: (310) 230-7759
Fax: (310) 230-7761
books@santamonicapress.com
