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Bela Lugosi's Dead
It’s the late 1980s, and Michael Fenton, editor of Ramboona (a magazine dedicated to forgotten films), is attempting to track down the lost test footage from the 1931 Frankenstein produced by Universal Studios. It’s the holy grail of horror film the twenty-minute reel in which Bela Lugosi portrays Frankenstein’s Monster instead of Boris Karloff, who would go on to make cinematic history with his portrayal of Mary Shelley’s creation. In his attempt to locate this fifty-year-old film canister, Mike is led down a labyrinth of blind alleys amidst the topsy-turvy wonderland of Los Angeles and environs. When we first encounter Mike, he’s making a pilgrimage to Lugosi’s final resting place at Holy Cross Cemetery. This is where he meets Lucy Szilagyi, a struggling young actress who happens to be visiting Sharon Tate’s grave (located only a few tombstones away from Lugosi’s). Lucy, a film buff herself, joins Mike in his quixotic search, helping him track down such curious, real-life characters as Maila Nurmi (an out-of-work actress known more famously as “Vampira”), Bela Lugosi, Jr., science fiction novelist Curt Siodmak, and Manly P. Hall (master hypnotist, mystic, Lugosi confidant, and author of a strange occult encyclopedia entitled The Secret Teachings of All Ages). All of these individuals have valuable pieces of information that could lead Mike to the hidden location of the lost test reel. Lugosi’s grave is also where Mike encounters a mysterious old man who promises him the footage he so desperately desires. But the man offers the item only at a most unusual price…. Bela Lugosi’s Dead is one-third detective story, one-third Hollywood ghost story, and one-third pulp adventure tale…. ***** “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 “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
- GenresHorror
239 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 6, 2021
4 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Robert Guffey
38 books33 followersRobert Guffey is the author of Chameleo a lecturer in the Department of English at California State University – Long Beach. A graduate of the famed Clarion Writers Workshop in Seattle, he is the author of a collection of novellas entitled Spies & Saucers (PS Publishing, 2014). His first book of nonfiction, Cryptoscatology: Conspiracy Theory as Art Form, was published in 2012. He’s written stories and articles for numerous magazines and anthologies, among them Fortean Times, Mysteries, Nameless Magazine, New Dawn, The New York Review of Science Fiction, Paranoia, The Third Alternative, and Video Watchdog Magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 5, 2021
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November 21, 2021
Full Review Coming to Cemetery Dance
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. And disbelief equates death - now a core trope of the genre.
The universal monsters components in the novel are stellar. However, the characters came together much too quickly, and their relationships felt underdeveloped and, at times, unbelievable. Without that dynamic or sense of empathy and relatability of characters, the rest of the story falls short. This reminds me of what Kubrick missed in his film adaptation of The Shining.
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. And disbelief equates death - now a core trope of the genre.
The universal monsters components in the novel are stellar. However, the characters came together much too quickly, and their relationships felt underdeveloped and, at times, unbelievable. Without that dynamic or sense of empathy and relatability of characters, the rest of the story falls short. This reminds me of what Kubrick missed in his film adaptation of The Shining.
January 15, 2021
I was hoping for some snarks and satire. Just because I wasn't into it doesn't mean that it isn't a good read. See for yourself!
I requested and received a free very temporary ebook copy from Crossroad Press/Macabre Ink via NetGalley.
I requested and received a free very temporary ebook copy from Crossroad Press/Macabre Ink via NetGalley.
February 28, 2021
**This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.**
I picked up this book because I’m a big fan of classic horror films, and the blurb made it seem like it would be filled with interesting tidbits for film geeks along with an intriguing semi-mystery plot.
Well, the interesting film tidbits were there.
I get that the main character is intentionally unlikable and unreliable. I understand the reasons for it. That said, the plot and side characters did not pay off enough for me to feel like putting up with the main character was worth it. There are unlikable main characters in a lot of great literature, and you come out of the read feeling you’ve gained something from the experience.
I don’t think I’ve gained anything at all by spending a few hours with this character. Perhaps because I’ve seen so many of his kind before, and now I’m tired and bored of it: the narcissistic wannabe writer who mistreats his manic pixie dream girl and then has a downward spiral. There’s nothing new about this. The only real innovation is that the actual plot is spliced together with our wannabe writer protagonist’s bad movie crossover fanfiction, which at first I thought might lead us somewhere interesting, but frankly, the payoff just did not pay off.
The story doesn’t even try very hard to do anything with the character. Sure, at least the author clearly recognizes that he’s an asshole; the narration makes it clear that no one else is impressed when he pushes his girlfriend and blames his career failures on the women in his life (mom and girlfriends) being ‘unsupportive’ while they finance his deadbeat ass. But weirdly, everyone we meet who this guy shows his writing to agrees it’s strong work and has potential. Comparing his hastily written Bela Lugosi biopic to ‘Citizen Kane’ just because the storyline he comes up with on the fly is nonlinear was, I thought, meant to be played as a joke on the character’s ridiculous delusions of grandeur—but then other people read the screenplay and think it’s brilliant.
If you are a HUGE early Hollywood horror fan, you may be able to glean enough from the campy qualities of this book to amuse you. There’s a great side character who owns a bookshop just to house his collection of geeky film memorabilia, and that setting is a lot of fun to spend time in. But the main character and main plot were, in my opinion, uninteresting and vaguely distasteful.
I picked up this book because I’m a big fan of classic horror films, and the blurb made it seem like it would be filled with interesting tidbits for film geeks along with an intriguing semi-mystery plot.
Well, the interesting film tidbits were there.
I get that the main character is intentionally unlikable and unreliable. I understand the reasons for it. That said, the plot and side characters did not pay off enough for me to feel like putting up with the main character was worth it. There are unlikable main characters in a lot of great literature, and you come out of the read feeling you’ve gained something from the experience.
I don’t think I’ve gained anything at all by spending a few hours with this character. Perhaps because I’ve seen so many of his kind before, and now I’m tired and bored of it: the narcissistic wannabe writer who mistreats his manic pixie dream girl and then has a downward spiral. There’s nothing new about this. The only real innovation is that the actual plot is spliced together with our wannabe writer protagonist’s bad movie crossover fanfiction, which at first I thought might lead us somewhere interesting, but frankly, the payoff just did not pay off.
The story doesn’t even try very hard to do anything with the character. Sure, at least the author clearly recognizes that he’s an asshole; the narration makes it clear that no one else is impressed when he pushes his girlfriend and blames his career failures on the women in his life (mom and girlfriends) being ‘unsupportive’ while they finance his deadbeat ass. But weirdly, everyone we meet who this guy shows his writing to agrees it’s strong work and has potential. Comparing his hastily written Bela Lugosi biopic to ‘Citizen Kane’ just because the storyline he comes up with on the fly is nonlinear was, I thought, meant to be played as a joke on the character’s ridiculous delusions of grandeur—but then other people read the screenplay and think it’s brilliant.
If you are a HUGE early Hollywood horror fan, you may be able to glean enough from the campy qualities of this book to amuse you. There’s a great side character who owns a bookshop just to house his collection of geeky film memorabilia, and that setting is a lot of fun to spend time in. But the main character and main plot were, in my opinion, uninteresting and vaguely distasteful.
June 21, 2021
Since I love the old B&W horror movies with stars like Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, I was excited to find this book. Add in the fact that I was a huge goth/punk fan in the 1980's and this book is named after a classic song by Bauhaus, I knew I had to read it.
Mike is a diehard Lugosi fan and aspiring writer when he meets a beautiful woman named Lucy. Soon, the pair find themselves publishing a fanzine of old-time horror along with another fan named Eric. The story progresses from there with tidbits of history about Lugosi and a search for lost footage of Lugosi's failed screen test as Frankenstein.
This book was actually quite different than I expected. For one thing, there were two story lines in the book. As the book progressed, there was a major twist to the whole thing that totally caught me off guard. I would say that it was a true romp throughout and entertaining, especially if the reader is knowledgeable about this era of film.
The narrator did a great job and added a lot to the book. His voice kept my interest throughout and his pacing was good. My main complaint with the book, especially as an audiobook, was the rapid switch between the two story lines. There was no noticeable break between these stories and I was often confused about what was going on. In some cases, there were numerous switches in one chapter and it would take a few sentences to figure out what was happening. I have listened to other audiobooks that used a sound effect or longer than normal pause to indicate this type of switch and I think that would have been helpful here.
I was given the chance to listen to this audiobook by the author/narrator/publisher and chose to review it.
Mike is a diehard Lugosi fan and aspiring writer when he meets a beautiful woman named Lucy. Soon, the pair find themselves publishing a fanzine of old-time horror along with another fan named Eric. The story progresses from there with tidbits of history about Lugosi and a search for lost footage of Lugosi's failed screen test as Frankenstein.
This book was actually quite different than I expected. For one thing, there were two story lines in the book. As the book progressed, there was a major twist to the whole thing that totally caught me off guard. I would say that it was a true romp throughout and entertaining, especially if the reader is knowledgeable about this era of film.
The narrator did a great job and added a lot to the book. His voice kept my interest throughout and his pacing was good. My main complaint with the book, especially as an audiobook, was the rapid switch between the two story lines. There was no noticeable break between these stories and I was often confused about what was going on. In some cases, there were numerous switches in one chapter and it would take a few sentences to figure out what was happening. I have listened to other audiobooks that used a sound effect or longer than normal pause to indicate this type of switch and I think that would have been helpful here.
I was given the chance to listen to this audiobook by the author/narrator/publisher and chose to review it.
July 5, 2021
I actually really enjoyed this. Not exactly my usual- I like a nice, straightforward hard-boiled murderfest- but I found the non-linear structure refreshing, and for once, the "unreliable narrator" trope actually works, and works very well.
You've got the whole old Hollywood horror scene, then the folks who are really into said scene and wish to document and preserve what they can, folks who want to break into Hollywood, and then folks who may or may not be more or less than they seem? And everything revolves around Bela Lugosi. I'm not really sure how to explain it, just that it was an interesting concept, a psychological thriller/horror story/speculative historic fiction/look into a specific subculture/tragedy. And it worked. The characters were a little bit Bradburian, but.. meaner? Coarser? They felt quite realistic, though, even if they weren't exactly fully fleshed out, three-dimensional people. They didn't really have to be, though. It wasn't that kind of story. I think it was a conscious choice to keep things a bit vague and loose. It added to the sense of uncertainty.
I liked it.
You've got the whole old Hollywood horror scene, then the folks who are really into said scene and wish to document and preserve what they can, folks who want to break into Hollywood, and then folks who may or may not be more or less than they seem? And everything revolves around Bela Lugosi. I'm not really sure how to explain it, just that it was an interesting concept, a psychological thriller/horror story/speculative historic fiction/look into a specific subculture/tragedy. And it worked. The characters were a little bit Bradburian, but.. meaner? Coarser? They felt quite realistic, though, even if they weren't exactly fully fleshed out, three-dimensional people. They didn't really have to be, though. It wasn't that kind of story. I think it was a conscious choice to keep things a bit vague and loose. It added to the sense of uncertainty.
I liked it.
September 30, 2023
Robert Guffey’s fantastic Bela Lugosi’s Dead follows a secret, twenty-minute film reel showing Bela Lugosi instead of Boris Karloff acting in the character of Frankenstein. A mysterious old man at Bela Lugosi’s grave offers Mike the footage of the 1931 film … for a price. (Why am I picturing Peter Murphy from Bauhaus whispering in Mike’s ear?)
Supernatural and occult elements weave through this highly fictionalized version of Hollywood’s past. Bela Lugosi’s Dead features outlandish characters in a detective story that runs up and down the Hollywood Hills. Mike meets this mysterious old coot again, and you won’t believe who he is… (No, it’s not Peter Murphy). The writing in this book is quite experimental, playing with time and location shifts. I’ve read several of Guffey’s books, and I think this one is his best! It’s great reading for Halloween.
Supernatural and occult elements weave through this highly fictionalized version of Hollywood’s past. Bela Lugosi’s Dead features outlandish characters in a detective story that runs up and down the Hollywood Hills. Mike meets this mysterious old coot again, and you won’t believe who he is… (No, it’s not Peter Murphy). The writing in this book is quite experimental, playing with time and location shifts. I’ve read several of Guffey’s books, and I think this one is his best! It’s great reading for Halloween.
March 29, 2021
A tragic love letter to the monsters, Bella Lugosi in particular, and late coming-of-age story with a twist. What starts as two separate narratives (a compelling story about a down on his luck would-be screen writer, and an epic "unmade" sequel to "House of Dracula" & "House of Frankenstein" that would swell the black heart of any monster kid) merges into one exhilarating and poignant tale about the borders between loves and obsessions. Clearly a lot of research went into this book, and classic film history and accurate tone and style adds incredible depth to the excellent characterization and plotting. Fascinating must-read for classic horror fans.
January 29, 2021
I wish this book was a little bit better written—it’s reaching very far and isn’t quite sticking the landing. That said, I still loved it. BONKERS stuff, hits my old-horror-movies love and it also features a chat with Manly P. Hall and it runs completely off the rails in the best way possible. Netgalley copy.
July 27, 2021
The story arcs work well but sometimes the jumps between characters were a bit messy and didn't always flow well. But the story and narration overall were pretty good. Just concentrate hard when you listen.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review
January 29, 2022
Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of Bela Lugosi's Dead by Robert Guffey in exchange for an honest review. It all starts with a hunt to find lost footage of Bela Lugosi for Mike. He meets Lucy and they end up on some strange adventures that leave the reader in a detective noir meets obscure scavenger hunt. This book was dark and interesting and left me wanting more.
April 20, 2021
A fascinating read if you love old horror movies.
It's well researched and engrossing, I liked the plot and the character development.
I hope to read other book by this author, this one is recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
It's well researched and engrossing, I liked the plot and the character development.
I hope to read other book by this author, this one is recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
October 20, 2021
"Bela Lugosi’s Dead is one-third detective story, one-third Hollywood ghost story, and one-third pulp adventure tale…."
I loved this description and am glad to say that this book delivers on this promise. The characters were great and I enjoyed going through this pulp adventure.
I loved this description and am glad to say that this book delivers on this promise. The characters were great and I enjoyed going through this pulp adventure.
December 11, 2021
audible:I liked it,but found it confusing at times. Samuel E. Hoke was a fine narrator.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
February 15, 2021
Netgalley Review #1.
- Bela Lugosi's Dead.
"Release Date: April 6th 2021"
Okay, this has taken me a bit longer to read then I was hoping but I'm finished and here are my thoughts.
To start with I quite enjoyed the story of this book and let's be honest any movie lover of horror or Dracula & Frankenstein knows the name Bela Lugosi so the title alone had me wanting to read the book.
The main two characters are well written and I always loved seeing their story unfold as we went chapter to chapter plus the little easter eggs though out the book (London After Midnight) was a lovely inclusion of cause you would have to be a die hard PD horror fan to get them but I'm sure most people reading this book are.
My only con to what is a well written and love letter to classic movies is I didn't like the flashback bits It would have been okay if they had owned own chapter but that's not the case here and sometimes we get flashbacks 2-3 times in a chapter and it can confuse the reader of cause you need this to make sense of the full story. I'm not saying don't have them just wish they were laid out better.
Overall this was a very enjoyable read and I always loved coming back to it after a long day.
Anyone who loves classic horror movies will get a kick out of this book
"I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest review"
- Bela Lugosi's Dead.
"Release Date: April 6th 2021"
Okay, this has taken me a bit longer to read then I was hoping but I'm finished and here are my thoughts.
To start with I quite enjoyed the story of this book and let's be honest any movie lover of horror or Dracula & Frankenstein knows the name Bela Lugosi so the title alone had me wanting to read the book.
The main two characters are well written and I always loved seeing their story unfold as we went chapter to chapter plus the little easter eggs though out the book (London After Midnight) was a lovely inclusion of cause you would have to be a die hard PD horror fan to get them but I'm sure most people reading this book are.
My only con to what is a well written and love letter to classic movies is I didn't like the flashback bits It would have been okay if they had owned own chapter but that's not the case here and sometimes we get flashbacks 2-3 times in a chapter and it can confuse the reader of cause you need this to make sense of the full story. I'm not saying don't have them just wish they were laid out better.
Overall this was a very enjoyable read and I always loved coming back to it after a long day.
Anyone who loves classic horror movies will get a kick out of this book
"I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest review"
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews