PULP PICTURE OF THE MONTH: Werewolf of London (1935)

For the first 'talkie' about the werewolf legend, Werewolf of London is surprisingly modern ... in places.

This is pure Pulp fodder that should be devoured by Call of Cthulhu and Back of Beyond gamers, with a large side order of cheese and corn.

The adventure starts in Tibet with a botanical expedition for a rare plant in a mysterious valley, then quickly moves to London where the picture's anti-hero, the grumpy Dr. Wilfred Glendon (Henry Hull), struggles to cultivate the Tibetan plant in his laboratory ... using a gadget that generates artificial moonlight!

Not only that but - and remember that this is 1935 - he has a CCTV monitor to see who is approaching the lab. How Doc Savage is that?

Things go wrong (naturally) and, thanks to a bite he sustained on his travels, Glendon transforms into a wolf-man and starts eating ladies of the night.

Warner Oland turns up as the sinister werewolf expert Dr Yogami, who tells the bumbling police that the killer they are seeking is suffering from "werewolfery" or "lycanthrophobia", but he has his own secret and an eye on the Tibetan plant (the only known cure for "werewolfery").

There are no truly sympathetic characters in this wonderful little film; ultimately only the wolf-man comes out as redeemable because, while a killer, he is driven by forces beyond his control and is constantly wracked with guilt and remorse. In some ways it is more Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde that the werewolf films we are more used to these days.

The 1930's script and acting veers from the sublime to the arch, the subtle to the ham-fisted, but Werewolf of London is only 72 minutes long and I've seen far, far worse acting, dialogue and effects in films made many years later.

Reading Goals 2025

I'm reading Westerns again... for the first time in decades

For the last 18 months or so I'd hoped that I could convince myself to do do more 'constructive' things with my free time. 

Ultimately, though, I found myself spending a lot of time watching television. And I mean a LOT.

I've always enjoyed TV and movies at home, but really this got out of hand. 

I certainly wasn't helped by the constantly expanding library of channels available to us, through Sky and various streaming platforms.

So, it wasn't as though I was consuming mental garbage, but still the number of shows I became addicted to ended up eating into my time more than I could really justify.

I also watched a lot of movies (although possibly not as many as usual... for reasons), and was particularly impressed by the second part of the epic Dune adaptation.

This convinced to take another crack (my third or fourth?) at trying to read the book. So I acquired the gorgeous new edition from Gollancz, then got Dune Messiah from Rachel as a Christmas present (see below).

The third of the original trilogy, by Frank Herbert, comes out later this year, so I have set myself the possibly overambitious goal (given how slow I actually read these days) of reading the three books in 2025.

My new editions of the first two Dune novels

However, in recent months I've also discovered a pair of "booktubers" who have inspired me to focus more on reading, beyond my usual "I have to read stuff that informs whatever gaming project I'm thinking about at the time".

Both McNulty's Book Corral and and Michael K Vaughan (who is not the same person as comic book writer Brian K Vaughan, despite what my addled brain kept trying to tell me) love pulp books, horror, old sci-fi, westerns, and vintage comics, which corresponds to my own preferences.

The Book Corral even piqued my interest in reading Westerns again (something I haven't done seriously for decades).

So, following the show's recommendation, I picked up Peter Brandvold's Nordic & Finn, the first book in a new series, as it tells the tale of a rugged mountain man who adopts a stray dog, and the scrapes they get into.

Rather chaotically, as is my wont when I'm suddenly "inspired" in this manner, I've also started listening to an audiobook of another of Brandvold's books, Bloody Joe.

I know it's kind of 'cheating' but I still consume a majority of books via the audio format, which allows me to "hear" a story in the bath or last thing at night, before I grab a few hours of sleep.

This also allows me to revel in the many, many Doctor Who (and Whoniverse-adjacent) audio dramas being produced by Big Finish. Currently this is the best source for new Who material, the present run of televised episodes being very underwhelming.

Comics-wise, my pull-list continues to get whittled down, but, unexpectedly, DC is making a strong comeback these days, which - along with indies such as Mad Cave's excellent Flash Gordon range - are now dominating Marvel.