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Karloff: The Life of Boris Karloff
extremely rare,very good condition
238 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1972
17 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Peter Underwood
89 books16 followers(1923/2014): Author, broadcaster, historian of the occult; investigator of the paranormal.
Born in Letchworth in Hertfordshire, Underwood wrote prolifically on ghosts and haunted places within the United Kingdom, and was a leading expert on ‘the most haunted house in England’, Borley Rectory.
An early formative experience came at the age of nine, on the day he learnt of his father’s death; that night, he awoke to see an apparition of his father at the foot of the bed.
Around the same time, he was fascinated to learn of a ghost story associated the old house at Rosehall - where his maternal grandparents lived for a time; it contained a bedroom where guests claimed to see the figure of a headless man..
It was at this young age that Underwood's interest in hauntings and psychic matters began to take root.
On January 1942, Underwood was called up for active service with the Suffolk Regiment. After collapsing at a rifle range at Bury St Edmunds, a serious chest ailment was diagnosed. He was discharged, and returned to his employment at the publishing firm J.M. Dent & Sons.
One of his early investigations was the Borley Rectory haunting, where, over a period of years, Underwood traced and personally interviewed almost every living person who had been connected with the mysterious events surrounding the place.
Underwood built upon the legacy of the work of Harry Price, who had investigated Borley before him. Together with Paul Tabori (literary executor of the Price Estate), Underwood was able to publish all his findings in The Ghosts of Borley (1973).
In his autobiography No Common Task (1983), Underwood remarked that ”98% of reported hauntings have a natural and mundane explanation, but it is the other 2% that have interested me for more than forty years”.
Having joined The Ghost Club back in 1947 - at the personal invitation of Harry Price, Underwood was to become its President for over thirty years: from 1960 to 1993.
Underwood was a long-standing member of the Society for Psychical Research and the Savage Club. In 1976, a bust of him was sculpted by Patricia Finch - winner of the Gold Medal for Sculpture in Venice.
In recognition of his more than seventy years of paranormal investigations, Underwood became the Patron of The Ghost Research Foundation (founded in Oxford), which termed him the King of Ghost Hunters.
Born in Letchworth in Hertfordshire, Underwood wrote prolifically on ghosts and haunted places within the United Kingdom, and was a leading expert on ‘the most haunted house in England’, Borley Rectory.
An early formative experience came at the age of nine, on the day he learnt of his father’s death; that night, he awoke to see an apparition of his father at the foot of the bed.
Around the same time, he was fascinated to learn of a ghost story associated the old house at Rosehall - where his maternal grandparents lived for a time; it contained a bedroom where guests claimed to see the figure of a headless man..
It was at this young age that Underwood's interest in hauntings and psychic matters began to take root.
On January 1942, Underwood was called up for active service with the Suffolk Regiment. After collapsing at a rifle range at Bury St Edmunds, a serious chest ailment was diagnosed. He was discharged, and returned to his employment at the publishing firm J.M. Dent & Sons.
One of his early investigations was the Borley Rectory haunting, where, over a period of years, Underwood traced and personally interviewed almost every living person who had been connected with the mysterious events surrounding the place.
Underwood built upon the legacy of the work of Harry Price, who had investigated Borley before him. Together with Paul Tabori (literary executor of the Price Estate), Underwood was able to publish all his findings in The Ghosts of Borley (1973).
In his autobiography No Common Task (1983), Underwood remarked that ”98% of reported hauntings have a natural and mundane explanation, but it is the other 2% that have interested me for more than forty years”.
Having joined The Ghost Club back in 1947 - at the personal invitation of Harry Price, Underwood was to become its President for over thirty years: from 1960 to 1993.
Underwood was a long-standing member of the Society for Psychical Research and the Savage Club. In 1976, a bust of him was sculpted by Patricia Finch - winner of the Gold Medal for Sculpture in Venice.
In recognition of his more than seventy years of paranormal investigations, Underwood became the Patron of The Ghost Research Foundation (founded in Oxford), which termed him the King of Ghost Hunters.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 10, 2020
A well researched biography on my favorite horror genre actor. It was nice to read of the author's reminiscences with Boris and to hear in his own words the memories of his beginnings as an actor before Frankenstein made him a star. I enjoyed reading this and I hope you'll also enjoy this book.
October 13, 2021
Peter Underwood was mainly known for his incredibly prolific career writing about ghost-hunting, but he also found time to write a few biographies and film books along the way. This one came out in 1972 and offers a career retrospective of the famous horror star, long before the likes of the IMDb allows us to review his life in film at the click of a mouse. The biographical details are quite scanty with the exception being Karloff's early life and attempts to find work in Canada and America, the most interesting section. Later it's mostly film-by-film descriptions. Not exactly a thorough or comprehensive work, but it's still enjoyable and a very easy read.
March 2, 2020
A decent biography. As a first book I've read on Karloff, it was a very 10,000 feet view of his life. The author mentions that he interviewed Karloff, and I really wish we could've had more insight into those interviews.
At times, unfortunately, it reads a bit like someone reading off an IMDb page and there was a bit when talking about Mary Shelley that was astonishingly dismissive, but I couldn't tell if the author was quoting a source or opining. If the former, I think there should've been an effort to undercut the dismissive view; if opining...he's wildly underselling Mary Shelley's brilliance.
Anyway, if you're interested in Karloff, this may be a decent place to start, but I don't know that there's much here you couldn't get from finding the old Biography special. Still, glad I read it and respect it for being the first book on Karloff.
At times, unfortunately, it reads a bit like someone reading off an IMDb page and there was a bit when talking about Mary Shelley that was astonishingly dismissive, but I couldn't tell if the author was quoting a source or opining. If the former, I think there should've been an effort to undercut the dismissive view; if opining...he's wildly underselling Mary Shelley's brilliance.
Anyway, if you're interested in Karloff, this may be a decent place to start, but I don't know that there's much here you couldn't get from finding the old Biography special. Still, glad I read it and respect it for being the first book on Karloff.
dnf
April 7, 2024DNF
According to the author he interviewed Karloff himself for this book. I think that these supposed interviews if they exist should have been used more to tell Karloff's story. Instead the author gives us a jumbled mess of facts, parts of interviews and articles, opinions, and a little creative details to add to the story. The story itself was vague and skipped many details which made the chapter on his early life really confusing. It's not a good book on Karloff but it probably would work for younger readers interested in his life.
According to the author he interviewed Karloff himself for this book. I think that these supposed interviews if they exist should have been used more to tell Karloff's story. Instead the author gives us a jumbled mess of facts, parts of interviews and articles, opinions, and a little creative details to add to the story. The story itself was vague and skipped many details which made the chapter on his early life really confusing. It's not a good book on Karloff but it probably would work for younger readers interested in his life.
October 17, 2025
Karloff deserves better
This is not much of a biography. If you're going into this hoping that it's an in depth and insightful look into the life of this legendary actor you're going to be very disappointed. The biographical content is meagre and it becomes more of a career retrospective, and even that is not very satisfying. It jumps from one film to the next and only a few anecdotes are shared. There is very little about Karloff during this period or his relationships with other actors, home life, personal experiences. It's very superficial and forgettable. Great biographies bring their subject to life, whereas bad ones read like an overlong Wikipedia page. This, I'm afraid to say, falls in the latter category. Hopefully, there is a better biography out there. He's deserves more than this. The last quarter of the book lists all of his films, with a brief synopsis of each. It's very tedious to read. I was hoping this book would give me a deeper appreciation and understanding about Karloff. I think a two star rating is more than generous.
This is not much of a biography. If you're going into this hoping that it's an in depth and insightful look into the life of this legendary actor you're going to be very disappointed. The biographical content is meagre and it becomes more of a career retrospective, and even that is not very satisfying. It jumps from one film to the next and only a few anecdotes are shared. There is very little about Karloff during this period or his relationships with other actors, home life, personal experiences. It's very superficial and forgettable. Great biographies bring their subject to life, whereas bad ones read like an overlong Wikipedia page. This, I'm afraid to say, falls in the latter category. Hopefully, there is a better biography out there. He's deserves more than this. The last quarter of the book lists all of his films, with a brief synopsis of each. It's very tedious to read. I was hoping this book would give me a deeper appreciation and understanding about Karloff. I think a two star rating is more than generous.
April 7, 2022
A really wonderful bio of one of the silver screens favorite actors. He played many a monster but underneath, in real life, he was calm, quiet, extremely shy, loved gardening and was a big cricket enthursiast his whole life. He was also very much the gentleman when greeting fans too. I've seen just about all his movies and enjoyed them all very much. By todays standards he would be dull, corny but if it weren't for the likes of him...where would horror really be today?
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews