The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 22

by Stephen Jones

  Japanese anime scriptwriter and novelist Takeshi Shudo died of a subarachnoid haemorrhage the same day, aged 61. A winner of the first Anime Grand Prix screenwriting award in 1983, he is credited with turning the Pokémon video game into a worldwide phenomenon through TV and movies.

  Glen [Howard] GoodKnight [II], an American Tolkein enthusiast who founded the Mythopoeic Society in 1967 and the annual Mythcon convention in 1970, died on November 3, aged 69. He also edited the society’s scholarly journal Mythlore (1970–98) and created a monthly news bulletin entitled Mythprint. A retired elementary school teacher, GoodKnight (his real name) had been in poor health for several years.

  American fan and art collector Bob (Robert) Doyle, who chaired the 1989 World Fantasy Convention in Seattle, Washington, died of pancreatic problems in November.

  British fan and bookseller Paul “Gamma” Gamble died of kidney failure after a long illness on November 15, aged 61. He worked at London’s Forbidden Planet for many years.

  American author John [William] Steakley [Jr] died after a long illness on November 27, aged 59. Best known for his 1990 book Vampire$, which was made into a movie by John Carpenter, he sold his first short fiction to Amazing Stories in the early 1980s and his first novel, Armor, was published in 1984. Steakley was Toastmaster at the 1998 World Horror Convention in Phoenix, Arizona.

  Italian-born American comics artist John P. D’Agostino, Sr (aka “Jon D’Agostino”) died of bone cancer on November 28, aged 81. Best known for his work for Archie Comics, Charlton and Gold Key, he began his career as a colourist at Timely Comics in the 1940s and subsequently worked as an artist on such titles as Romantic Hearts, Dark Mysteries and Space Adventures (“Rocky Jones, Space Ranger”). Under the pseudonym “Johnny Dee” he lettered the first three issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, and his later credits at Marvel include issues of G.I. Joe, Marvel Two-in-One and A Real American Hero.

  American SF and mystery fan and author Len J. Moffatt who, with his wife June, helped found Bouchercon, died on November 30, aged 87. Following World War II, he wrote some stories for the pulp magazines, including “Father’s Vampire” (with Alvin Taylor), which appeared in the May 1952 issue of Weird Tales. A member of First Fandom, Moffatt also published such fanzines as JDM Bibliophile (devoted to the work of John D. MacDonald) and the FAPAzine Moonshine.

  American TV scriptwriter Herman Groves died on December 5, 83. His credits include Disney’s The Whiz Kid and the Mystery at Riverton, The Whiz Kid and the Carnival Caper and The Strongest Man in the World, along with episodes of Lost in Space, Bewitched, The Bionic Woman, Battlestar Galactica (1978) and Fantasy Island.

  DC Comics freelance colourist Adrienne Roy died after a year-long battle against ovarian cancer on December 14, aged 57. She is best remembered for her sixteen-year run on Detective Comics (202 issues, including the 50th anniversary issue featuring Sherlock Holmes), fifteen years on Batman (189 issues) and fourteen years with New Teen Titans. Her many other credits include Flash Gordon, The Phantom, Doc Savage, The Shadow Strikes, Brave and the Bold, Gotham Knights, Shadow of the Bat and Crisis on Infinite Earths. During her more than two-decade career at DC she coloured more than 50,000 pages of art and her name appeared on more Batman comics than anybody other than creator Bob Kane. She was also the centrefold in the first issue of Tattoo magazine.

  New Zealand-born Australian author Ruth Park, whose children’s books include the time-travel fantasy Playing Beatie Bow (1980) died on December 16, aged 93.

  American scriptwriter Norm Liebmann, who co-wrote and developed the CBS-TV series The Munsters (1964–66), died on December 20. In 1968 he scripted the half-hour pilot Mad Mad Scientist (aka Guess What I Did Today?) for NBC, which also starred Fred Gwynne.

  French-born British children’s author Elisabeth Beresford MBE, who is best known for creating “The Wombles”, died in the Channel Islands on December 24, aged 84. The eco-friendly furry characters appeared in numerous books, two TV series and even a movie, Wombling Free (1977). Beresford also wrote the “Magic” series, beginning with Awkward Magic in 1964, and she created the 1990 ITV series Bertie the Bat.

  PERFORMERS/PERSONALITIES

  Japanese actor Tetsuo Narikawa, who starred as the alter-ego of the cybernetic super-hero in the 1970s TV series Spectreman, died on January 1, aged 65.

  Pioneering French-born female comedienne Jean Carroll (Celine Zeigman), who played one of the mermaids in John Lamb’s Mermaids of Tiburon (1962), died in a New York hospital the same day, aged 98. She also appeared in The Legend of Lylah Clare and an early episode of Boris Karloff’s Thriller.

  English-born Irish actor Donal Donnelly died of cancer in Chicago, Illinois, on January 4, aged 78. Best known for co-starring in the 1965 comedy The Knack . . . and How to Get It, he also appeared in episodes of TV’s The New Adventures of Charlie Chan, The Avengers, Out of the Unknown and Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries.

  86-year-old Mexican actress Beatriz [Eugenia] Baz, who co-starred with Boris Karloff in House of Evil (1968), died in El Paso, Texas, on January 5.

  Beverly [Elaine] Aadland, who earned notoriety as Errol Flynn’s last girlfriend, died of complications of diabetes and congestive heart failure the same day, aged 67. Starting when she was fifteen years old, the 34-28-34 dancer had a torrid two-year affair with the actor that ended with his death at the age of 50.

  American adult film star Juliet Anderson (Juliet Carr), who appeared on screen as “Aunt Peg”, died on January 11, aged 71. She had suffered from Crohn’s disease for most of her life. Her numerous credits include The Beast That Killed Women, Fantasex Island and Tattoo Vampire. Anderson later became one of the first female producers of X-rated movies.

  New Zealand actress Elizabeth Moody, best remembered as the flesh-eating mother in Peter Jackson’s 1992 zombie comedy Braindead (aka Dead Alive), died on January 12, aged 70. She also appeared in The Scarecrow (featuring John Carradine), Turn of the Blade and Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures, along with the extended version of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

  Hollywood stuntman and actor Fred “Crunch” Krone (Fredrick A. Krone) died of cancer the same day, aged 79. Although he worked predominantly in the Western genre, his credits also include Hand of Death, Disney’s The Love Bug, and Megaforce, along with episodes of such TV shows as Captain Midnight, The Green Hornet, I Dream of Jeannie, Lost in Space (playing various monsters) and Search Control.

  R&B singer Teddy Pendergrass (Theodore DeReese Pendergrass) died of complications from colon cancer on January 13, aged 59. A car accident in 1982 left him paralysed from the chest down, but he continued to perform from a wheelchair. In the early 1970s he was the lead singer with Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, who had hits with “If You Don’t Know Me by Now”, “The Love I Lost” and “Don’t Leave Me This Way”. After going solo in 1977, Pendergrass released a number of successful albums and, despite announcing his retirement in 2006, continued to perform up to November 2008.

  British actor Mark Jones, who played an Imperial Officer in the Star Wars sequel The Empire Strikes Back, died on January 14, aged 70. His other credits include Peter Brooks’ Marat/Sade, The Sexplorer (aka Girl from Starship Venus), The Medusa Touch, Don’t Open Till Christmas and episodes of TV’s A.D.A.M., Doctor Who (“The Seeds of Doom”), The New Avengers, Tales of the Unexpected and Red Dwarf.

  63-year-old Canadian folk singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle, best known for her work with sister Anna, died of clear-cell sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, on January 18. At one time she was married to American musician Loudon Wainwright III.

  British film star Jean [Merilyn] Simmons OBE died of lung cancer on January 22, just over a week before her 81st birthday. Her many movies include Meet Sexton Blake, Great Expectations (both 1946 and 1991 versions), Black Narcissus, Uncle Silas (based on the novel by Sheridan Le Fanu), Hamlet (1948, as the doomed “Ophelia”), So Long at the Fair, Footsteps in the Fog, Mr Sycamore, Dominique (aka Dominique is Dead) and the mini-series The Dain Curse
. In recent years she contributed voice work to Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Howl’s Moving Castle (based on the novel by Diana Wynne Jones) and Thru the Moebius Strip. On TV Simmons appeared in an episode of the 1980s Alfred Hitchcock Presents, the 1990s revival of Dark Shadows (as “Elizabeth Collins Stoddard”) and Star Trek: The Next Generation. She became a US citizen in 1956, and was married to actor Stewart Granger (1950–60) and writer/director Richard Brooks (1960–77).

  American character actor and director Johnny Seven (John Anthony Fetto II, aka “John Seven”) died of lung cancer the same day, a month before his 84th birthday. He appeared in such TV shows as Inner Sanctum, One Step Beyond, Batman, Get Smart and The Wild Wild West. Seven also appeared in the 1968 sci-spy film The Destructors.

  American actor and dancer James Mitchell, best known for his role as scheming tycoon “Palmer Cortlandt, Sr.” in more than 400 episodes of the ABC-TV daytime soap opera All My Children, died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on January 22. He was 89. Mitchell also appeared in White Savage (aka White Captive) and the 1943 Phantom of the Opera (uncredited).

  American TV actor and singer Pernell Roberts (Pernell Elvin Roberts, Jr), who starred in both Bonanza and the M*A*S*H spin-off Trapper John, M.D., died of pancreatic cancer on January 24, aged 81. He also appeared in episodes of Shirley Temple Theatre, One Step Beyond, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., The Wild Wild West, Night Gallery, The Sixth Sense, The Six Million Dollar Man, Man from Atlantis and the 1989 mini-series Around the World in 80 Days.

  Diminutive character actress Zelda Rubinstein, who played eccentric psychic “Tangina” in Poltergeist (1982) and its two sequels, Poltergeist II: The Other Side and Poltergeist III, died of complications from a heart attack on January 27, aged 76. Rubinstein was also in Anguish, Teen Witch, Timemaster, Little Witches, Sinbad: The Battle of the Dark Knights, Wishcraft, Angels with Angles and Southland Tales, along with episodes of TV’s Whiz Kids, Faerie Tale Theatre, Tales from the Crypt, Poltergeist: The Legacy and The Pretender. She voiced “Atrocia Frankenstone” in an episode of The Flintstone Comedy Show, narrated the Fox Family Channel series The Scariest Places on Earth, and appeared as herself in the video footage preceding Universal Studios’ disappointing Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride.

  Irish-born stuntman Martin Grace died of an aneurysm in a hospital in Spain the same day. He was 67, and had been injured in a cycling accident a couple of months earlier. After playing one of the Thals in Dr. Who and the Daleks (starring Peter Cushing), Grace became a stuntman on the James Bond series, starting with You Only Live Twice and continuing through Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun. With The Spy Who Loved Me, he became Roger Moore’s stunt double, a role he repeated in Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy and A View to a Kill. His many other films include Hammer’s Moon Zero Two, Horror Hospital, Superman (1978), Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Brazil, Enemy Mine, Willow, High Spirits, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Erik the Viking, The NeverEnding Story II and Afraid of the Dark. He also worked on the TV series Space: 1999.

  American actress Helen Talbot (Helen Darling) died on January 29, aged 85. She had a small role in The Lady and the Monster (aka The Lady and the Doctor) and starred in the Republic serials Operator 99 and King of the Forest Rangers. Talbot retired from the screen in 1945.

  British actress and singer Paddie O’Neil OBE (Adalena Lillian Nail), who was married to actor Alfred Marks from 1952 until his death in 1996, died on January 31, aged 83. She appeared in episodes of TV’s Rentaghost, Woof! and Virtual Murder.

  Justin Mentell, who appeared in G-Force (2009), was killed on February 1 when his jeep veered off a highway in rural Wisconsin and hit two trees. The 27-year-old actor was not wearing a seatbelt at the time.

  American character actor Bernard Kates died of sepsis and pneumonia on February 2, aged 87. His film credits include Seedpeople, The Phantom (1996) and Robo Warriors. On TV he was in episodes of Suspense, Captain Video and His Video Rangers, One Step Beyond, Shirley Temple’s Storybook, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Outer Limits, Star Trek: The Next Generation (as “Dr Sigmund Freud”) and 3rd Rock from the Sun.

  Australian actor, screenwriter, producer and director John [Neil] McCallum CBE, who was married to actress Googie Withers since 1948, died on February 3, aged 91. He starred with his wife in the British mermaid comedy Miranda.

  American actress Frances Reid, who starred as matriarch “Alice Horton” in NBC’s daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives for forty-four years, died the same day, aged 95. She also appeared in Seconds, The Andromeda Strain (1971), and episodes of TV’s Lights Out, Hallmark Hall of Fame (“Berkeley Square”), Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Matt Helm and Project U.F.O.

  British character actor Ian [Gillett] Carmichael OBE, best remembered for playing upper-class Englishmen (including “Bertie Wooster” and “Lord Peter Wimsey” on TV), died after a short illness on February 4, aged 89. He appeared in the films Ghost Ship (1952), Meet Mr Lucifer, The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins, From Beyond the Grave (based on stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes) and Hammer Films’ 1979 remake of The Lady Vanishes. Carmichael was also the narrator of the 1980s Cosgrove Hall series The Wind in the Willows and Oh! Mr Toad.

  Italian actor Peter Martell (Pietro Martellanza) died the same day, aged 72. His many credits include War Between the Planets, Night of the Blood Monster (with Christopher Lee) and Momo. After a career slump that was highlighted by the 1999 documentary Starring Peter Martell, the actor returned to the screen as “Dracula” in Jess Franco’s Killer Barbys vs. Dracula in 2002, and he also appeared in the German horror movies Tears of Kali and The Angels’ Melancholia.

  British jazz saxophonist Sir John(ny) [Phillip William] Dankworth died after a long illness on February 6, aged 82. He composed the music for Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (aka Morgan!), Modesty Blaise (1966), The Magus and 10 Rillington Place, as well as the now-forgotten ATV series The Voodoo Factor and the original theme for The Avengers. Dankworth was married to jazz singer Cleo Laine since 1958.

  American stuntman and actor Robert F. (Frances) Hoy (aka “Bob Hoy”) died of pneumonia on February 8, aged 82. Best known for his recurring role as “Joe Butler” in TV’s The High Chaparral, he also appeared (often uncredited) in Revenge of the Creature, The Mole People, Man of a Thousand Faces, Disney’s The Love Bug, Earth II, Scream Blacula Scream, The Astral Factor (aka Invisible Strangler), Helter Skelter (1976), The Legend of the Lone Ranger and The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, along with episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Green Hornet, Star Trek, Night Gallery, Search, Matt Helm, Future Cop, The Six Million Dollar Man, Fantasy Island, The New Adventures of Wonder Woman, Salvage 1, B.J. and the Bear (“A Coffin with a View” featuring John Carradine) and Beauty and the Beast. Hoy co-founded the Stuntmen’s Association of Motion Pictures in 1961 and was a lifetime member of the organisation.

  American actress Caroline [Margaret] McWilliams, who starred in the short-lived supernatural sit-com Nearly Departed (1989) with Eric Idle, died of complications of multiple myeloma on February 11, aged 64. Her credits include episodes of The Incredible Hulk, Project U.F.O., Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and the TV movie The Aliens Are Coming.

  British Guiana-born actor and calypso singer Cy Grant died on February 13, aged 90. Best remembered as the voice of “Lieutenant Green” in TV’s Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Grant appeared in the films Doppelgänger (aka Journey to the Far Side of the Sun), Shaft in Africa and At the Earth’s Core (with Peter Cushing), along with episodes of Blakes 7 and Metal Mickey.

  British stuntman and character actor Max Faulkner died the same day, aged 78. He appeared (often uncredited) in Behemoth the Sea Monster (aka The Giant Behemoth), Dr Crippen, The Ipcress File, Bedazzled (1967), Blind Terror (aka See No Evil), Trial by Combat (aka A Dirty Knight’s Work), Krull, Clive Barker’s Nightbreed and the James Bond film GoldenEye, along with episodes of TV’s T
he Prisoner, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Doctor Who, The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, Space: 1999, Survivors (1977), Blakes 7, The Day of the Triffids (1981), The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Robin of Sherwood.

  Doug Fieger (Douglas Lars Fieger), lead singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist with Los Angeles power pop band The Knack, died of metastatic lung cancer on February 14, aged 57. The group’s 1979 hit “My Sharona” topped the US charts for six weeks.

  British TV character actor George [Edward] Waring, who appeared in five different roles in Coronation Street, died of cancer on February 15. He was 84. Waring also appeared in episodes of the now-forgotten BBC SF series The Big Pull (1962), Doctor Who (“The Ice Warriors”), Doomwatch, Survivors and the 1970s children’s horror anthology series Shadows.

  Delightful British character actor and director Lionel [Charles] Jeffries died on February 19, aged 83. After making an uncredited appearance in Alfred Hitchcock’s Stage Fright, he appeared in The Black Rider, Hammer’s The Quatermass Xperiment (aka The Creeping Unknown), The Revenge of Frankenstein, The Scarlet Blade, Tarzan the Magnificent (with John Carradine), First Men in the Moon (opposite Ray Harryhausen’s Lunar inhabitants), Oh Dad Poor Dad Mama’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feeling So Sad, Rocket to the Moon (aka Those Fantastic Flying Fools), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? and the 1990 TV movie Jekyll & Hyde. He was also a regular on the children’s fantasy series Woof! and turned up in a vampire episode of Lexx. As a writer-director, Jeffries’ credits include The Railway Children, The Amazing Mr Blunden, Wombling Free and The Water Babies.