By RUE MORGUE Staff
The only things more shocking and outrageous than the horror films of the 1980s were the ads promoting them in the newspapers of the time. Now, a book compiling over 450 of those rare, eye-teasing images is coming under the RUE MORGUE banner!
1984 Publishing, which previously put out GHOULISH: THE ART OF GARY PULLIN, will unleash AD NAUSEAM: NEWSPRINT NIGHTMARES FROM THE 1980s on October 9. Within its pages, our own Michael Gingold, who collected these ads all through his youth in the 1980s, presents over 450 of them, for fright films of every kind—from major-studio releases to the tiniest independents, from art-house fare to 42nd Street sleaze, and everything in between. Gingold annotates them with reminiscences and commentary on the ads and the movies they were hawking, and includes excerpts of reviews from the time of over 60 films, revealing what critics back then actually thought of them. He also provides an interview with the people behind legendary exploitation distributor Aquarius Releasing, who came up with some of the decade’s most outrageous campaigns. The striking cover is an original illustration by RM art director Andrew Wright.
“I’ve wanted to assemble this collection of movie-advertising madness in book form for many years,” Gingold says, “so 1984 and RUE MORGUE’s publication of AD NAUSEAM is a long-time dream come true. These are the horror films I grew up with, and this volume is a celebration of that classic era of the genre.”
Says 1984 founder Matthew Chojnacki, “Just like Michael, as a kid I also cut out movie ads from the weekend papers and kept my own private scrapbook—horror ads, plus comedies like NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION and POLICE ACADEMY. But only Michael was smart enough to meticulously store these ads for so many decades. My jaw hit the floor when I saw his pristine collection, and this book was an absolute thrill ride to produce. It’s pure eye candy.”
RUE MORGUE’s Dave Alexander, who edited the book, says, “AD NAUSEAM is one of the most fun projects I’ve ever worked on. The rare artwork, the often unexpected quotes from reviews of the time and Mike’s personal reflections on a decade’s worth of these ads he so dutifully compiled gave me a new perspective on what was truly a golden era for genre movies. The best meditations on horror culture don’t just show and tell, they make you think about why you love this stuff and get you excited about sharing that love with others. To me, AD NAUSEAM is an invaluable conversation starter for both horror geeks and anyone interested in cinema history. But hey, if you wanna just see some cool art, read crazy stories and laugh at some outrageous reviews, we got ya covered there, too.”
AD NAUSEAM is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com. Gingold will preview AD NAUSEAM with a presentation and book-launch event at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival on Sunday, July 22. Visit 1984 Publishing’s official website, Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram. EW.com posted some exclusive first-look pages from the book, and you can see those here.
