The Stanley Wiater Modern Horror Archive
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The Stanley Wiater Modern Horror Archive Overview The Stanley Wiater archive of Modern Horror literature is likely the most comprehensive collection of materials documenting the field in existence. Mr. Wiater has been a writer, editor, anthologist, journalist, and collector in the field for over 40 years. He is a three-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, given by the Horror Writers Association, and has become, over the years, a friend to virtually all of the writers and many of the filmmakers in the field. The Wiater archive is unique in that it has been assembled by an individual who is himself a contributor to the field and has spent decades making its writers and writings accessible to others, both within the field and outside of it. Mr. Wiater is widely considered the leading authority in the world on major horror writers and filmmakers. Modern Horror emerged as a field unto itself in the late 1960s-early 1970s, after previously being subsumed under the "fantasy and science fiction" umbrella. The leading writers in the field at that time — Ray Bradbury, Fritz Leiber, and others — were already well-known as fantasy or science fiction writers. In the 1970s, after the success of such mainstream movies as Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist, and with the sudden and unprecedented success of the horror novels of Stephen King — reportedly the bestselling novelist in the world — the field came into its own. Mr. Wiater began his book collection in the 1960s, and his first job as a journalist was interviewing Ray Bradbury. Bradbury's first book was originally published by Arkham House, the horror specialty publisher named after HP. Lovecraft's fictional New England town, and his stories and novels, such as Something Wicked This Way Comes, helped lay the foundation for future generations of writers. Mr. Wiater's interview with Bradbury took place at his home in 1974, and thus his archive documents the field essentially from its inception. The archive is multifaceted, consisting of a large number of manuscripts — both Mr. Wiater's own and those of the writers he anthologized or edited; a substantial amount of correspondence from virtually all of the major writers in the field; an extensive collection of multimedia material — audio and video tapes of Mr. Wiater's interviews of the leading figures in the field; and a large number of photographs of the authors and filmmakers and artists. Among the manuscripts are the working files for Mr. Wiater's three Stoker Award-winning books: Dark Dreamers: Conversations with the Masters of Horror, Dark Thoughts: On Writing, and the collection Dark Dreamers: Facing the Masters of Fear. These books include interviews with, profiles of, and commentaries by such writers as Stephen King, Clive Barker, Dean Koontz, Anne Rice, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Peter Straub, and many others. There are also manuscript files for the other books Mr. Wiater has edited, including two anthologies of original fiction by nearly two dozen writers, and books on Stephen King, Brian Lumley, and Richard Matheson's classic Twilight Zone scripts, which established that show as the gold standard of serious, thought-provoking television in the early years of the medium. In addition, the manuscripts of Mr. Wiater's own fiction are included, both published and unpublished. His first published story, “The Toucher,” won a contest that was judged by Stephen King. The audio and video tapes are a unique element of the archive: since 1974 Mr. Wiater has interviewed more writers in the field than anyone else, and the unedited tapes and transcripts of the interviews are an unparalleled resource for students of the field, as the published versions of them represent only a fraction of the overall interview content. There are hundreds of audio and video tapes in the archive. Interviewees include virtually every well-known writer in the field and many lesser known ones. It is doubtful there exists anywhere a repository of such unpublished and unseen material as this, or an archive that documents this important genre of popular literature as thoroughly and sympathetically as does Mr. Wiater's archive. Noteworthy Items Audio and Video Tapes of Wiater's Interviews of Leading Figures in the Field of Modern Horror • Unedited tapes: a unique resource contrasting those published versions which represent only a fraction of the interview material • More than 100 hours of audio interview content with leading figures such as Bradbury, King, Barker, Matheson, Robert Bloch, Harlan Ellison, Ira Levin, David Morrell, Roger Corman, David Cronenberg, George Romero, Sidney Pollack, Martin Scorcese, Laymon, Lansdale, Kevin Eastman, Joseph Citro, John Farris, Peter Laird, Lumley, Anne Rice, John Saul, and many others. (complete list attached) • More than 36 video tapes, each of which is 2 hrs. long. Most of this video content has never been seen; when the shows were produced, the 2 hour interview tapes were edited down to 24 minutes long. Interviewees include: Barker, Ellison, Matheson, Romero, Straub, Gahan Wilson, Wes Craven, Douglas Clegg, Charles De Lint, Jack Ketchum, Nancy Kilpatrick, Richard Laymon, RCM, John Skipp, Craig Spector, Edo Van Belkom, and many others. (complete list attached) Well over 1,000 Photographs (including *irreplaceable* photos of Richard Matheson) • 82 Photographs by Beth Gwinn in “Photographs” (76 are 8x10 & 6 are 5x7) • Approx. 30 photos in “Literary & Personal Correspondence” • Approx. 7 photos in “Interview Documentation” (including contact sheets & negatives) • Approx. 53 photos in “Manuscript Collection” • 50 photos in “Stephen King Files” [9 B&W photos of King's office; B&W photo of King playing guitar (slightly damaged at center of top edge) 8 color photos of King singing on stage during musical performance; 7 additional color photos from same musical event; & (in white envelope) 22 B&W photos from King's Office w/ photos of Marsha & Julie as well as additional photos of King & Wiater, and Wiater in front of Bangor offices; together with 3 more photographs (2 B&W, 1 color) • Photos in “Richard Matheson Companion” (large envelope labeled Matheson Photos – IRREPLACEABLE) 4 photographs: 1) “Somewhere in the 1970s me rehearsing as Dr. Chumley in “Harvey” with Jack Arnold's Wife Betty.” 2) “Private R. Matheson 1946” 3) “Next to Our Camper 1964” 4) “Me sitting at the Grand Piano in my living room 1994” & Family Photos of Matheson • 40 photos in “Dark Dreamers The TV Series – DD#2 – 2000, 2001” • Approx 130 photos in “Dark Dreamers The TV Series – DD#2 of 2 • 53 color photos in “Miscellaneous Box – Dark Dreamers” • “ Various File Folders / Correspondence / Additional Comic Book RebelsMaterial” & “Unmarked Brown Box: Dark Dreamers Material & Various Personal Writing” • 48 photos in “Personal Work Papers” & “Work in Progress” & “Early Articles and Interviews for Magazines” & “Personal Papers” • 10 photos total in “Correspondence” & “Archive of Modern Horror” & “The Tocuher” & “Early Book Proposals” & “Teaching Projects” & “Early College” • Large group of color photos from HWA events Music & Artwork • Original compositions by Richard Band with notation. INSCRIBED to Stanley from Richard, “May “dark dreamers” go on forever!!! “To infinity and forever beyond”!! (singed) Richard Band 9/30/2001. • Original artwork by Peter Laird, Mark Martin, Gahan Wilson, Richard Corben, Eric Talbot, Frank Brunner, Ryan Brown, Gary Alan Cousin, Charles J. Lang, etc. Stephen King Files • Photos (mentioned above) • Numerous mss. of interviews with King and his assistants; ms. drafts of articles written about King by Wiater; contracts; correspondence (to King and King's office from Wiater – none from King); a COPY of an autographed story by King, “Keyholes”; material for Stephen King Trivia Quiz • COPIES of TLS from King to Wiater Richard Matheson Companion • photos (mentioned above) • letters of agreements from contributing authors and contracts signed by all contributors to RMC; additional contracts; mss. of book proposal and interviews; mss. for “Collected Stories of RM” • TLS from Dean Koontz & ms. For Introduction for Hell House Synopsis of Core Material 1) Books (see attached sheets) 2) Literary & Personal Correspondence Anthony, Piers (SF writer) TPS, 1987 Balun, Charles (critic) ALS, 1990 Bauman, Jill (artist) ALS, 1992, plus several letters in manila envelope Betancourt, John TLS, 1987 Bloch, Robert (horror writer) APS 1987-90 (x2); TPS 1988-91 (x3) Bradbury, Ray (SF/horror writer) ALS, 1986; TLS, 1981 Cabana, Raymond TLS 1984-87 (x5); ALS 1983 Campbell, Ramsey (horror writer) ALS 1987-91 (x2) Cave, Hugh B. (horror writer) TPS, 1990 Citro, Joseph A- (horror writer) TLS 1988-92 (x21) Clark, Alan M. (horror writer) ALS, 1993 (x3) Clegg, Doug (horror writer) APS 1994 Costello, Matthew J. (horror writer) TLS, 1990 Crouss, Tom (publisher) APS, 1994 Daniels, Les (horror writer) TLS 1987-88 (xl 1); TPS 1994 Dee, Ron TLS, 1992-96 (x4) Douglas, Drake TLS, 1986 (x3) Engstrom, Evan card, 1985 Etchison, Dennis (horror writer) TLS, 1984 Farris, John (horror writer) TLS, 1986 (x4) Gervais, Stephen ALS, 1988 Golden, Christopher (horror writer) TLS, 1994 Grant, Charles L. (horror writer) TLS, 1985 Gwinn, Beth Hall, Mellissa Mia ALS, APS 1988 Herron, Don TLS, 1991 Holder, Nancy L. (horror writer) TLS, 1988 "Ketchum, Jack" (Dallas Mayr)(horror writer) TLS 1992 King, Stephen (horror writer) Kraft, Stephanie (Stephen King newsletter) TLS 1986-87 (x3) Koontz, Dean (SF/horror writer) TLS 1990 Lansdale, Joe R. (horror writer) TLS 1985-86 (xl3) Lansdale, Karen TLS 1985 Laymon, Richard (horror writer) TLS, 1997 "Lee, Edward" (Lee Seymour) (horror writer) TLS 1992-95 (x9) Lumley, Brian (horror writer) TLS, 1991 “Macabre, J.B." TLS 1983 Maclay, John (horror writer) TLS, 1993-97 (x3); TPS 1987 Massie, Elizabeth (horror writer) APS, 1991 Matheson, Richard (horror writer) TLS, 1994 Mayr, Dallas (horror writer "Jack Ketchum") TLS, 1994-97 (x3) McCammon, Robert (horror writer) TLS 1983-86 (x6) McCammon, Sally S. ALS 1984-92 (x5) McDowell, Michael L.