Sunday, January 13, 2013

Arkham House - First Edition Dust Jacket Design

Arkham House press put out some of the best authors writing in the genre of weird fiction, legends such as Clark Ashton Smith, Frank Belknap Long and of course H.P. Lovecraft himself, but it is often overlooked that they employed some of the best 'weird' artists to create the dust jackets for their releases. Below is a selection of Arkham House first edition covers created by the inimitable Hannes Bok, Lee Brown Coye, Frank Utpatel, Richard Taylor, Virgil Finlay and others.

Hannes Bok
Lee Brown Coye
Richard Taylor
Lee Brown Coye
Lee Brown Coye
Richard Taylor
Lee Brown Coye
Virgil Finlay
Richard Taylor
Lettering by Frank Utpatel, photograph by Smith-Wollin Studios
Lee Brown Coye
Frank Utpatel
Hannes Bok
Ronald Clyne
Frank Utpatel
Frank Utpatel
Sculptures by Clark Ashton Smith, photograph by E. Burt Trimpey
Richard Taylor
Lee Brown Coye
Sculptures by Clark Ashton Smith, photograph by E. Burt Trimpey
Lee Brown Coye
Richard Taylor
Lee Brown Coye
Lee Brown Coye
Frank Utpatel
Frank Utpatel
Lee Brown Coye
Gahan WIlson

Ivan Bilibin - Illustration

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin (1876-1942) was a 20th-century illustrator deeply inspired by Russian folklore and myth. 






Saturday, January 12, 2013

The Face of Another (1966)

A staggering work of existential science fiction, The Face of Another dissects identity with the sure hand of a surgeon. Okuyama (Yojimbo's Tatsuya Nakadai), after being burned and disfigured in an industrial accident and estranged from his family and friends, agrees to his psychiatrist’s radical new experiment: a face transplant, created from the mold of a stranger. As Okuyama is thus further alienated from the strange world around him, he finds himself giving in to his darker temptations. With unforgettable imagery, Teshigahara’s film explores both the limits and freedom in acquiring a new persona, and questions the notion of individuality itself. The Face of Another, released in 1966 by director Hiroshi Teshigahara is based on the novel of the same name written by Kobo Abe, also highly recommended.