Are you interested in expanding your knowledge of horror films and their sequels? The new book, They Made How Many?! (Mostly) American Horror Franchises of the 20th Century (Rotten Rainbow Press) by Jason Paul Collum guides readers and horror film lovers through 654 pages of information about every sequel-filled franchise from 1900 to 1999.
It even delves into all (presently) 41 films with Amityville in their title. It organizes chronological orders that have confused timelines for fans of series like Puppet Master and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
To educate readers, Collum includes “Fun Facts” and whether a sequel is a true continuation, from landmark classics to direct-to-video, in-name-only money grabs by producers. He also includes interviews with 30 actors and directors discussing their experiences with their specific chapters.
Collum confesses a life-long obsession with sequels, saying, “I’ll often watch Part 1 because there’s a Part 2. In recent years I started to realize fans my age often aren’t aware of how many sequels there are to film from our teen years in the 1980s, like The Howling VIII or Children of the Corn X. More striking to me was that much of the next generation don’t even know that many of these series exist at all. Through my 2 1⁄2 of research and organizing this book, there were easily over 20 franchises I didn’t even know about, like the Golem trilogy begun in 1915. There are so many in all I’ll have to save franchises from 2000 and beyond for the sequel.”
Collum also authored the books Basements and Assault of the Killer B’s: Interviews with
20 Cult Film Actresses (McFarland) and directed 17 feature films and documentaries, such as
October Moon (2005), Screaming in High Heels: The Rise & Fall of the Scream Queen Era (2011), Safe Inside (2017), and Mark of the Devil 777: The Moralist, Part 2 (2022). He has published over 60 articles in magazines like Fangoria, Delirium, and Instinct. He was a co-editor of Femme Fatales and Cinefantastique and named by The Advocate “an artist to watch.”
Learn more about the franchises and sequels of the genre you love by checking out They Made How Many?!, now available ($34.99) on Amazon.com. It will also arrive on MakeFlix.com later this month.
