This trade paper original novel is a tour through early horror cinema in Europe and Hollywood in the company of a young woman who happens to be one of the undead. She ends up as the muse of early cinema greats like Tod Browning and Boris Karloff. As Kirkus notes, “There’s a great idea at the heart of this: that an emissary from the undead is best suited to call forth the eternal poetry of movies, the stories and images that will outlast those who made them.”
“In actor Tatum’s unusual, captivating debut, set in Germany and the U.S. in the early 20th century, a woman cursed with immortality eventually finds comfort in filmmaking….Film proves to be her outlet, and horror her specialty. When one of her silent films is picked up by Universal Pictures, she heads from Bavaria to Hollywood and is soon working on some of the most famous movies of the age…Spanning the course of about 20 years leading up to the rise of Hitler, this bitingly witty and darkly vibrant concoction features an irresistible heroine, and the gorgeous, lush writing easily conjures the grit and glamour of golden age Hollywood. Maddy’s story is crass, lyrical, and even tragic. Cameos by Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff will undoubtedly delight film buffs, as will the meticulously researched depiction of the dawn of filmmaking.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Only the Dead Know Burbank (9780062428752) by . $15.99 trade paper original. 10/18/16 on sale.
Advance Readers Edition 