Book Review: Queens of Scream – New Blood – Author David Byron

QUEENS OF SCREAM: THE NEW BLOOD
Written by David Byron
Published by BearManor Media
Publication Date: 2009
Format: B&W – 200 pages
Price: $19.95

It was only a matter of time before someone came along and recognized the growing trend within the industry.Author David Byron is one such person who has devoted an entire book to the special individuals known as the scream queens. While it explains in the book that the actual term has evolved from whence it came from, the modern day scream queen is a combination of beauty, talent, intelligence, drive, with and charisma. In fact the term itself has become a staple for women in horror specifically. This book honors a portion of those women who range the gamut in looks, experience, backgrounds and personalities. While some (in fact many) have gone the route of low budget films till they get a big break route, there are others who multi task as web site owners, business owners, film makers, reporters and related.

If one thing that’s clear…its that women play an important part in our horror genre movement. So much in fact fact that many would argue that they are stealing the lead in drive on making these films a reality. ……to the point of new production companies being started, screen writing, directing and producing.

The book itself is not a complete overview. In fact anyone in the business could easily tell you that it represents only a portion of the mass of scream queen talent being outpoured today. My guess is if the book deems successful there will be many additional additions in the future to cover the 2nd round of talent. In fact I could bank on the fact that the publishers start receiving …..”can I be on your next edition” emails shortly after its release.

David Byron has made every attempt to ask questions that aren’t always a mirror copy of the last interview. The answers usually follow similar suite as expected, though it’s nice to see that he made conscientious attempts to keep the interviews interesting. As you go through each of the profiles, you’ll notice a mix of attitudes and work ethics. Most as you’ll find are very accommodating, thankful and excited about the industry and being able to work in it. Now one could ague that the book serves as a promotional vehicle for many of these starlets….well of course it does. but i think that intention presents itself in some of their answers rather than from a publisher point of view.

What would I have liked to have seen? Probably more pictures in the next edition if applicable to show us more of the ladies. One thing though, I have to plug our Horrornews.net Vamps section which many of these girls have galleries in. So if you read the book, stop by our section and check out the photos. You wont be disappointed.

So all this talk about ladies….who are we talking about. Well for starters the book profiles talents such as Brenna Lee Roth, Bianca Barnett , Monique Dupree, Rachel Grubb, Sarah Virginia Brock, Scarlet Salem and many more! If you don’t recognize some of the names then I’m sure you will eventually. These ladies largely work on the independent film circuits, some of which churning out role after role on low budget productions in anticipation of a big budget film break. Which of course I believe is only a matter of time on the circuit. One thing that producers like to see is a nice list of breaking grounds on the film circuits prepping them to take on the bigger roles with the confidence and experience that they call for. The competition is large, however so is the determination.

In summary, I think this is a book that was overdue to come out. The interest is high, the industry is evolving and with shows popping up on TV, internet and magazine features..our ladies are paving the way for great things.

One unfortunate reality is that many of the hard working or bigger name talents couldn’t make time available to contribute to this first edition. We don’t have name all the names as we know who they are. Perhaps wirth conflicting time schedules and a attitude of “lets see how his first one goes” they will find there place among future volumes. In any case, it’s a great way to get to know the ladies of horror in today’s market. They are from a different mold, they are hungry , driven and will seduce you and swallow your souls. Rock on ladies of the night!

Available from Bear Manor Media
Available from Amazon