A Universe of Horrors

The Secret History Of Hollywood

by Adam Roche

The Audible version. 10 episodes, 6h 30min.

Delving deep into the darkest corners of horror movies this series explores the highs and lows of the blood and gore genre following, in particular, the changing fortunes of Universal Horror. From Dracula and Frankenstein to The Black Cat, a movie that even Universal executives deemed "too vile for public consumption", and beyond to the influences of science fiction and the new breed of horror films.

Genres: Nonfiction, Horror, Audiobook, History, Film, Biography, Media Tie In

Audiobook

Published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Rachel England-Brassy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish these films were available to stream on Netflix, but hey ho! An interesting investigation of the horror film genre and its beginnings.
Recommended.

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing podcast. It took me a little while to get used to Adam Roche's narration but loneliness in I was hooked. It starts of with the creation of Universal Pictures but focus mainly on their horror output from Dracula (1931) to House of Dracula (1945) it not only focuses on the three main monsters actors (Lugosi, Karloff, Chaney Jr.) but also gives info and insight to other actors and production crew such as make-up pioneer Jack Pierce. I loved this series and look forward to other secret history big Hollywood podcasts. Highly recommended for movie lovers and fans of horror genre.

[Rachel England-Brassy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting stories that had me flicking to IMDB to follow up on people.
Recommended for those with a love of horror and or film.

[Rob Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Universal Classic Monsters is a name given to the horror, fantasy, thriller and science fiction films made by Universal Pictures during the decades of the 1920s through the 1950s. They were the first shared universe in the entire movie industry in Hollywood and around the world.

Here we get info on the founding of the studio along with details of the actors and movies. Then a deep dive into the writers, producers and directors too. Of course, being audio only if you've never seen the movie then some details are difficult to visualise. So, I'd recommended watching the movies, then listening to this. Not the other ways round [as I did].

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love movies. That includes the old classics. And I love hearing the stories from behind the scenes. It's one of the reasons I still buy movies on DVD and Blu-Ray rather than just stream them - I watch all the special features.

So I'm a huge fan of the Secret History of Hollywood podcast. They're long. The shortest is 2 hours 18 minutes. The longest is 9 hours 17. And that's the final episode of a 3 part series! But they're entertaining, well researched and written, funny and with Adam's beautiful delivery a delight to listen to.

This first ebook is based on the fourth episode of the podcast, first made available almost exactly a year ago. The book itself is really a transcript of the podcast. Reading it, I could hear Adam's voice. I missed the clips and extracts from the films that are only available in an audio format, but it was made up for by the inclusion of wonderful pictures. You certainly lose nothing of Adam's wonderful sense of humour or joy in these films. And having it broken down into chapters made it easier to drop to see a client or take the dogs out and pick up again than listening to the whole 7 hours and 10 minutes of the original podcast.

There were two things that brought this down to four stars for me.

First, were the few typos. But as the ex-wife of an of a career book editor I think I'm overly trained in spotting these. I've certainly seen worse in professionally made and marketed ebooks (I'm looking at you, Rosetta Books!) and given that this was the work of a guy who still has a full time day job and a wife and kids and doesn't have the backing of professional editors and publishers its impressivly done.

The second thing was that I, personally, would have liked to see was a list at the end of his source materials. Just so I could check them out myself, though I get the feeling that A Universe of Horrors is so comprehensive I wouldn't get much extra from them.

Now I can't wait to read his Hitchcock series as one wonderful long book...

[Scott H. Colfer · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a young fan since the early 1960's of the Universal studios movie monsters I found this book very enjoyable. There were one or two items in the descriptions of the movies that weren't quite right and the proofreading seemed to decline as the chapters went on, akin to the quality of the movies themselves, but I thoroughly liked and recommend the book.

[j Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on a great subject!

Although there are a few typos and mistakes (for which I would normally knock off a star), I so thoroughly enjoyed reading it that I awarded it the full five stars. Great for any fan of 1930s horror. Full of interesting asides and written in obvious affection for the genre.

[G M · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable distraction and well put together. I found some chapters/episodes more enjoyable than others, and so have given an average of 3 stars. I felt sorry for Bela Lugosi and the troubles he had. Listening about this Hollywood is listening to another world - very evocative.

[Aaron Posey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. My only complaint is I wish they would’ve went into a little more behind the scenes details and expanded on the Creature series a little more. All in all, fantastic read and informative.

[Phil Bouncer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

An encapsulating read into the world of Universal Studios horror films and it's stars with lots of interesting insight and facts, highly enjoyable.

[Emma Dargue · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting look at universal's horror films starring such people as bela lugosi and Boris karloff. this audio book takes you from the beginning to the end of universals horror movie genre.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the history of Universal's horror movies. I love all of Adam Roche's work and this is no exception. If anything, I'd love even more depth on the subject.

[Kath · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another Audible Original that I either got free or on offer, just because I thought I'd give it a go. Given that the subject matter was horror films, which I love, I figured I had nothing to lose.

And I am so delighted I did, as I loved this series. It was insightful - telling stories of how Universal Studios came to be, it was entertaining - giving little behind the scenes snippets on those classics that we all know and love, from Bela Lugosi's Dracula films to Boris Karloff's Frankenstein movies and everything in between. And honestly, I'd say it was magical too. It harked back to the classic era of Hollywood and it was just a joy to listen to from start to finish.

Someone else said below that they wished this was a Netflix series, and I have to say I feel that way about several of these Audible Original's that I have listened to so far. They're so well produced and narrated that I genuinely feel bad for people I know who don't have Audible, who would love these, because they're very much missing out.

If you have any interest in the golden age of Hollywood, old movies, particularly old horror movies, I highly recommend this. It had me laughing, aghast at some of the anecdotes and even in tears at points - when I heard that Bela Lugosi was buried in his cape that definitely brought a tear to this old sentimental eye. Honestly, give this a listen, you won't regret it.

[Myk Pilgrim · Rating 5 out of 5]

4th read
May 2021:
I revisit this series every so often and it's never a chore. Adam's voice is soothing and his word choice compelling. It's joy for your horror ear holes :)

9 Oct 2020 3rd read:
At the point of this writing, I have listened to this entire series three times since discovering it back in 2018. Adam Roche has done something wonderful with the entire series of his Secret Holywood books. They aren't just interesting for the history, but they're also packed with emotional gut-punches that catch you off guard at the most inconvenient times.
If you are into horror, this is definitely for you.

Also, I'd recommend checking out his other title "The Adventures of Alfred HitchcockThe Adventures of Alfred Hitchcock" it's heartbreaking and beautiful.

[Myk Pilgrim · Rating 5 out of 5]

9 Oct 2020 3rd read:
At the point of this writing, I have listened to this entire series three times since discovering it back in 2018. Adam Roche has done something wonderful with the entire series of his Secret Holywood books. They aren't just interesting for the history, but they're also packed with emotional gut-punches that catch you off guard at the most inconvenient times.
If you are into horror, this is definitely for you.

Also, I'd recommend checking out his other title "The Adventures of Alfred Hitchcock" The Adventures of Alfred Hitchcock

[Rolls Eyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're in any way interested in the history of the Universal age of horror, then this book is for you. It's actually an accompaniment to the superb attaboyclarence podcast spinoff series; The Secret History of Hollywood. This book is basically the transcript of the Universe of Horrors episode, and it's a very interesting slice from the golden age of horror. He takes you from the beginnings of Universal studios, through the owners, actors, directors, and writers that made up one of the most interesting ages of cinema.

Adam Roche's passion and interest shows all the way through the series. I highly recommend not only reading the book but definitely checking out the audio version, too.

[A.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are so fun to listen to and are always so professionally produced. I’ve said it before but Roche sis an excellent story teller.
Makes me want to go and watch all the old classic horror movies that were mentioned.
4 stars