Monsters: Behind the Mask of the Horror Actor Horror Book Review

Actor Doug Bradley, who portrayed the terrifying character, Pinhead in Clive Carker’s “Hellraiser” series of films, gives his own personla guide to cinema monsters and the men who portayed them. Bradley traces the emergence of the first screen monsters, including the Hunchback of Notre Dame and the Phantom of the Opera, through to European horror and the work of Christopher Lee in the Hammer films from the 1950s and 1960s. He then focuses on modern day monsters such as Leatherface from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, Freddie Krueger from “Nightmare on Elm Street”, Jason from “Friday the 13th” and the creation of Pinhead. In addition, Bradley also examines the cultural, historical and dramatic role the mask has played, from cave art to the tradition of trick or treat. The book includes extensive interviews with the actors behind some of the most terrifying creations in modern horror cinema, including Gunter Hansen and Robert Englund, as well as Bradley’s own personal account of exactly how it feels to be the man behind the mask.