HAPPY 142nd BIRTHDAY, BELA LUGOSI!

On what would have been the 142nd birthday of Bela Lugosi, I urge you to check out my Rondo Award-nominated novel BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD (Crossroad Press, 2021), the ideal read for Spooky Season! One Amazon reviewer has described BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD as "perfect reading for October." Who am I to disagree? 

While the Lugosi fever is upon you, this would be a good time to watch an uncovered gem from Hollywood's Golden Age. My friend and colleague, Gary D. Rhodes (with whom I wrote the nonfiction book BELA LUGOSI AND THE MONOGRAM NINE), recently drew my attention to an obscure short subject entitled VOICE OF HOLLYWOOD that features Bela Lugosi, Jean Harlow, Walter Huston, and other Tinsel Town luminaries. This film, which was released the same year as Tod Browning's DRACULA, has now been restored by UCLA thanks to David Stenn, David Nemeth, and Gary D. Rhodes. You can watch the short in its entirety on YouTube...

The Voice of Hollywood (1931)

By the way, you can hear me discussing BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD on the June 22nd, 2021 episode of Adam Sayne's CONSPIRINORMAL podcast. Here's Adam Sayne's description of the show: 

"Robert Guffey joins us to discuss his new fiction book BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD. We speak to Robert about some of the themes in the book and his fascination with the character and life of Bela Lugosi, especially dealing with Lugosi's relationship with Manly P. Hall and his interest in esotericism. We also speak to Robert about his continuing series in THE EVERGREEN REVIEW dealing with Qanon and the run up to the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol and how it was influenced by these ideas."

Conspirinormal 372- Robert Guffey 4 (Bela Lugosi's Dead)

PRAISE FOR BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD:

“Blending intertextual rampage through the horror-movie canon with engrossing noir mystery and a backdrop of Hollywood esoterica, Robert Guffey serves up an intoxicating pulp cocktail that will leave you wanting more. A crepuscular treasure from a fascinating author.”

--ALAN MOORE, author of V FOR VENDETTA and WATCHMEN

“In Robert Guffey's latest and greatest novel, dreams of old movies and nightmares of classic horror rack into sharp focus through the lens of a brave film historian, one determined to squint clearly at fleeting grains of film through the shifting sands of time. Never has the truth of Hollywood been so well revealed through fiction. As a result, BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD delightfully and definitively proves that Bela Lugosi isn't dead.” 

--GARY D. RHODES, author of LUGOSI and TOD BROWNING'S DRACULA

"[H]orror fans will delight in how Guffey cleverly immerses movie monsters in the real world. Film buffs and monster enthusiasts will relish the supernatural characters brought to life in this atmospheric celebration of monster mayhem." 

--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"The sensation [of reading BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD] is like being led deep underground while your flashlight grows dimmer and dimmer, until you’re left in total darkness. That’s when the lights of a subterranean crypt flash on to reveal that you’re not where you expected to be, and where you are is far worse than you could have imagined. The result is an ending that left me chilled and took me a few days to fully process. As shocking as it was, everything was set up from the beginning. I know, I went back and checked, and have to give Guffey credit for pulling off a literary sleight of hand that caught me by surprise. I won’t spoil it with more, except to say that like the frog in water that’s warmed so slowly it doesn’t realize it’s coming to a lethal boil, Guffey’s readers face an equally stunning conclusion." 

--TERENCE TAYLOR, NIGHTMARE MAGAZINE

"BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD is a remarkably authentic, hypnotizing interpretation of all the glitz and pure talent behind Lugosi’s fame, as well as the hubris that steered his downfall. Guffey depicts how Lugosi’s Dracula transformed horror from a genre of make-believe to one that spreads the notion that monsters lurk among us."

--HALEY NEWLIN, CEMETERY DANCE