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About DonHerron.com
In 1977 Don Herron began leading The Dashiell Hammett Tour, now the longest-running literary tour in the nation. On this site you’ll find information on current walks — dates, where to meet, arranging tours by appointment — plus a hard-boiled blog with news, reviews of books and film, and a dash of noir.
The latest and greatest edition to self-guide you up and down the mean streets.
Willeford: The Book
Includes the first “Mr. Hunt” story, “Knives in the Dark.”
Tag Archives: Halloween
Sinister Cinema: A Fistful of Fisher
Pulps in the Movies. On Sale Every Wednesday. And does our resident pulp/film buff John Locke have a title for you today: I Wake Up Screaming. Yeah, we all get that feeling, right? — now maybe more so than ever. … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Lit
Tagged Black Mask, Clues, Detective Fiction Weekly, Halloween, I Wake Up Screaming, John Locke, Laird Cregar, Liberty, Pulps in the Movies, Steve Fisher, The Shadow
Sinister Cinema: Cyclopean
For Halloween proper Brian Leno trots out an apt image recently pulled from his holdings: I bought this years ago, and I think, if I remember rightly, purchased it directly from William Stout. Of course it’s an original drawing of … Continue reading
Sinister Cinema: Carnival of Souls
To further prep his fellow Autograph Hounds for the arrival of Halloween, that most eldritch of holidays, Brian Leno jumps back into action with another triple-threat spread of Heroines of Horror. Today he kicks off Autograph Hound Saturday with a … Continue reading
Sinister Cinema: Karloff
Autograph Hound Super-Sunday — what signature could Brian Leno possibly offer on the altar of Movie Titans Past for the John Hancock Ritual? Especially after his tour de force rollout yesterday. I think he’s got it covered. Here’s Brian: Nobody will … Continue reading
Sinister Cinema: Dracula’s Daughter
And Brian Leno rings the knell on today’s Autograph Hound Saturday: We can’t have Halloween without some mention of Dracula and that brings us to an often overlooked horror movie. Gloria Holden, best known for Dracula’s Daughter (1936), is a … Continue reading
Sinister Cinema: Beverly Garland, The Alligator People
In preparation for Halloween, Brian Leno needs to get in the mood by showcasing some signatures from his vault: The signed card of Beverly Garland being mishandled in The Alligator People (1959) is a real keeper for me. I remember watching … Continue reading
Posted in Film
Tagged Autographs, Beverly Garland, Brian Leno, Bruce Bennett, Halloween, Lon Chaney Jr., The Alligator People
Rediscovered: On a Postcard, Halloween 1944
Brian Leno reports in bright and early from behind the lines, after another raid on his autograph collection: “Was going to send you this image sometime back, but never got around to doing it. “Sorry about the blurry picture — … Continue reading
Posted in Film
Tagged Autographs, Brian Leno, Francis X. Bushman, Halloween, Jay Kirby, Marsha Hunt, Ramon Novarro, Ricardo Cortez, Yakima Canutt
Frisco Beat: On the Mean Streets with Fritz and Sam
Don’t think that during my deep hibernation of Xmas/The Onset of Winter I did nothing at all, even if doing nothing was the prevailing theme. I remembered that I never polished off the Sherlock Holmes stories decades ago, stopping after the … Continue reading
Posted in Dash, Frisco, Tour
Tagged Fritz Leiber, Fritz Leiber Tour, Halloween, Jim Nelson, M.R. James, Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Tenderloin, Xmas
Sinister Cinema: Conjure Wife
On the Fritz Leiber Tour the other day I was asked if any movies have been made from his books. Sure. A few, at least — topped by no less than three versions of his excellent supernatural horror novel Conjure … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Lit
Tagged A. Merritt, Conjure Wife, Fritz Leiber, Fritz Leiber Tour, Halloween, John D. Haefele, Lon Chaney Jr., Lovecraft, The Walking Dead, Weird Woman