​THE BOOK THAT MADE ME - ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S MONSTER MUSEUM BY JEFF C. CARTER

I am looking at my original copy, right now, of Alfred Hitchcock’s Monster Museum (Random House, 1965). I do not know where or how I came upon this thin volume of shivery delights, only that I am grateful I did.
 
This anthology was my first introduction to Ray Bradbury, with a beautiful melancholy tale called Homecoming. A young boy, Timothy, eagerly awaits the epic family reunion of his vampire clan that occurs each Halloween. Unfortunately, he is not like the others. Timothy was born a mere mortal. He will never soar through the night or transform into a beast. He is destined to wither and die while the party goes on without him.
 
There are all kinds of strange vampires in this story from different cultures with unusual gifts. It opened my mind to the wider world of vampires while at the same time rooting the story in the unrequited dreams of an all-too-normal boy. Not only that, it may have secretly altered my brain into that of a writer.
 
I recently re-read the story and was shocked to discover that it never had a happy ending. That sour down note must have lodged in my subconscious so deeply that I ultimately created a false memory of a gentler conclusion, one where Timothy learns to accept those little ways in which he is unique, and that maybe, that was enough.
 
But that’s just one exhibit. There’s a whole museum here, folks. Slime, by Joseph Payne Brennan, rocked my world with a story told from the monster’s point-of-view. It starts in the otherworldly sunless depths of the ocean floor, rises to the surface for creeping backwoods horror and then ends in a full blown battle with the army involving machine guns and flame-throwers.
 
There are so many unusual monsters in the book, from shapeshifting shadow creatures and gnoles to the indescribable Fearsome Critters invented by Manly Wade Wellman. Perhaps the worst creature in the monster museum was one I thought I knew, the humble ant.
 
Doomsday Deferred, by Will F. Jenkins, remains one of the greatest short stories I’ve ever read. It starts with the concept of army ants in the Amazon jungle and end with the terrifying prospect of an omniscient hive intelligence with billions of ravenous mouths. I won’t give away the ending, but it left me with a lifelong fascination for insects, biology, jungles and the little nudges that can send a bit of science-fiction spiraling into horror.
 
I highly recommend this book, of course, for adults and older children. As Hitchcock himself says in the introduction, “…onward, young friends. The monsters are coming!”         
 

BIO

Jeff C. Carter is the author of We Bleed Orange & Black: 31 Fun-sized Tales for Halloween. He lives in Los Angeles with a cat, a dog, and a human. His love of science, adventure and Halloween continually inspires his science fiction, action and horror writing.
His most recent stories have been featured in magazines (Nightland), anthologies (The Arcanist: Year Two), contests (First place, Reedsy Story Prompt) and adapted for podcasts (Tales to Terrify). 

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WEBSITE LINKS

Main website: JeffCCarter.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffc.carter/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Carterwroteit
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Jeff-C-Carter/e/B007MS50MG
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6430702.Jeff_C_Carter
Podcast: https://sixdemonbagpodcast.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carterwroteit/

We Bleed Orange & Black

My most recent book, We Bleed Orange & Black – 31 Fun-sized Tales for Halloween, is a spooktacular goody bag that harvests all the joys and terrors of the best night of the year. These stories explore Halloween from Appalachia to the Arctic Circle and take the reader on a journey from the Old West to Mars.

We Bleed Orange & Black presents 31 fun-sized tales of Halloween from author Jeff C. Carter.

A twisted faerie finds a lost child, a teenage werewolf sneaks out during a full moon, and a legion of monsters begin the downfall of man. Explore Halloween from Appalachia to the Arctic Circle and journey from the Old West to Mars.

This spooktacular goody bag harvests all the joys and terrors of the best night of the year. If you love air crisp as cider and scented with burning leaves, if you greet the darkness with a jack o’lantern grin, and if you yearn for the veil between worlds to grow thin, then you bleed orange & black. Get it now!​

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