The Movie Monsters Series adapts the screenplays of classic black & white horror movies as books for young readers (the series was edited by Dr. Howard Schroeder in the Department of Elementary Education at Mankato State). In the case of "Bride of Frankenstein" Carl R. Green and William R. Sanford work from the screenplay of Garrett Fort. However, the prologue makes a rather interesting error in that it passes off the 1931 Universal Studios classic film version of "Frankenstein" as the plot for Mary Shelley's novel, with the creature dying in the flames of the old mill rather than disappearing into the frozen wasteland of the Artic. While it is true that Universal had to find a way to rescue the monster from his fiery death, the idea of creating a bride for the creature is still part of Shelley's novel.

"Bride of Frankenstein" tells a even greater horror story that the original, because with all that went wrong the first time, such as the creature killing a young girl and almost killing his fiance Elizabeth, Dr. Henry Frankenstein wants to try to create life in his laboratory a second time. He is prodded on in this effort by Dr. Septimus Pretorius, who actually puts the "mad" in mad scientist more than Henry. Meanwhile, the creature is out in the world roaming about and manages to make a friend of a blind hermit living alone in the woods. Here is where the screenplay, as well as this novelization, captures the essence of Shelley's argument in her novel. Frankenstein's great sin was not in creating life, but in abandoning his creature after it was born. From the hermit the creature gets a sense of what it is missing and returns to its creator to demand it make a bride for the monster--or suffer the loss of his own beloved.

As an adaptation this little volume is both concise and accurate, sticking to the essence of the film. Both the comic elements involving some of the locals and the monster's love of things dead are eliminated, and I would agree with the reasons for doing so. The reading level is certainly appropriate for the intended age group of elementary school students. The book is also illustrated with black & white photographs of the film, although, ironically, the title creature is seen only under wraps before her reanimation. Most people consider "Bride of Frankenstein" to be superior to "Frankenstein" as a film, but I believe it is important to see them both. Furthermore, if you truly love works of horror, you have to read the original novel sooner or later. I have taught not only the novel but the two films, because they set up interesting discussions and papers dealing with what Hollywood has done to Shelley's original vision of "the Modern Prometheus" (the novel's subtitle).

I used two books to prepare for the GRE. I started with REA's Math Builder for Admission & Standardized Tests which is fraught with errors and presents mathematical concepts in a disconnected manner, but at least loosened 18 years of rust.

Then I studied every single page and did every single problem (some twice)in GRE CBT. I completed both sets of timed tests. I felt more than ready for the computer-based GRE. I was indeed well-prepared for the Verbal & Quantitative tests. However, I had problems in the Analytical.

The good news is that the test-taking tips are good. I'm an execellent test-taker, but I still got a few new ideas. Plus the first sample test gives you an idea of how you will flow through to easier or more difficult questions. And the problems are generally well-edited so you don't often hit those frustrating errors in the questions. This becomes less true at the end of the book, but by then you should have a handle on when you're right and the book is wrong.

The Verbal and Quantitative preparation is good. The verbal questions definitely stretched my vocabulary and the math questions covered almost everything that I saw on the actual GRE. I did astonishingly well on both sections.

The Analytical prep is good for half of that test, drawing conclusions from text passages. My problem was with the logic puzzles. The book has a multitude of samples, but none of them were as difficult as the ones I encountered on the test. Since I had aced every single puzzle in the book, I was completely unprepared for the speed at which I was expected to work on some very difficult problems. I ran out of time with 1/3 of the questions remaining. Fortunately, that turned out to be a "pre-screen" unscored section and I paced myself better on my godsent second chance.

This is a good study guide. I still recommend it. However if you expect to be working at the high end of the difficulty range, I recommend that you also purchase a second study guide that has a better Analytical section.

And here's a free tip that's in neither book. Study with mild distractions in the background. The computer test center is not quiet. Someone will be typing an essay while you're trying to remember a math formula. Every few minutes, someone walks behind you to get in or out. The chairs creak like crazy. While I was studying, I cursed my two-year-old's Barney videos. While I was testing, I blessed them.

New to the statistical and methodological side of research in psychology I found this book a little difficult. That said, it was understandable. Clearly, the researchers were "standing on the shoulders of their forefathers" and at the same time engineering a piece of research which will make you (especially you non-psychoanalytics) think twice about the reality of a human unconscious. This validating piece of work will be of interest to advanced psychology and counseling theory students and researchers. One can skim the studies and get the gist of the design, procedures and results.

The 1936 film "Dracula's Daughter" was always an interesting sequel to Lugosi's classic film since he is not in the low-budget film. The story focuses on the title character, Countess Marya Zeleska, who travels to London and meets a handsome young Lord. Where Professor Van Helsing discovers the young man has become a victim of a female vampire he sets off in pursuit, stake in hand. Actually, freed from the slow and tedious pace of the film, "Dracula's Daughter" is a decent horror story.

This small volume is part of the Movie Monsters series and the novelization by Carl R. Green and William R. Sanford purports to be adapted from a screenplay by Garrett Fort. In fact, all of these books that I have come across say that. Ironically, "Dracula's Daughter" is the first film in this series where the IMDB backs up the claim. Go figure. All of these books are based on classic (and semi-classic) black & white horror films from the Thirties, Forties and Fifties. So far, "Dracula's Daughter" is the best of the bunch.

Father William Mackey, the subject of the book, was one of the few "white" westerners(a Jesuit priest for that matter) to develop a close affinity with the people of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. The book is a great way to learn about a person who was welcomed and loved by the Bhutanese. A Jesuit priest, Father Mackey was instrumental in introducing western education in Bhutan in the 1960s.He is still remembered affectionately in Bhutan and he touched the life of many a Bhutanese ranging from the royal family to farmers in rural Bhutan. The late Father Mackey, was accorded the highest civilian honor, the medal of the "Heart Son of Bhutan" by the present monarch of Bhutan,His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck. A legend in Bhutan, there are numerous stories about this missionary who did not prosetylize and was least interested in converting the predominantly Buddhist Bhutanese. The author of the book had the good fortune of interviewing Father Mackey extensively. A great story of a good man.

This is not a "self help" book or an easy reading book, but it is very good. It is extremely detailed and reads more like a textbook. As a professional who works with child abuse victims and perpetrators, I found this book to be very helpful in understanding the dynamics of juvenile sex offenders - a rapidly growing problem in our community.

The Mystery of the Deadly Diamond
By Elizabeth Howard

I read The Mystery of the Deadly Diamond, by Elizabeth Howard. I enjoyed the book mainly because it was right to the point. It wouldn't try to throw out metaphors and stuff like that to confuse me. For example, on page 73, "Perhaps she was thinking about the fist or plotting her next crime. Whatever the reason, she was deeply and unmistakably absorbed in her own thoughts." That section told me exactly (and clearly) what she was doing. The book also made it obvious that Marcel loved and cared for Paris deeply. Simply stated on page 125, "I was worried about you because I love you Paris."\

The theme is how Paris Mackenzie tries to find out why a missing diamond relates to her and her family. Also, things are rarely what they seem to be. I definitely agree with that statement. In life, you may think you know something, but it turns out it's the total opposite.

I would definitely recommend this book to others. It's a fast read that makes you keep turning pages. The print is also large enough so that people with poor eyesight can read it no hastle. It was also somewhat short which is normally good. If your looking for a good book that doesn't beat around the bush, it's a must read. This is the best mystery I have ever read. I think a mystery needs the following components to make it good: an interesting plot, a brave hero or heroine, and a surprise ending. The Mystery of the Deadly Diamond has all of those qualities. I think anyone who's looking for a fun and exciting mystery, look no further than The Mystery of the Deadly Diamond.

The PDF is the way forward, be it for a note, a page , a chapter or an entire volume - this is surely the start of the Revolution after Gutenberg.

The Movie Monsters Series adapts the screenplays of classic black & white horror movies as books for young readers (the series was edited by Dr. Howard Schroeder in the Department of Elementary Education at Mankato State). In the case of "Tarantula" Carl R. Green and William R. Sanford work from the screenplay of Garrett Fort. "Tarantula" is presented as an example of a "What if...?" movie that finds a giant spider loose in the Arizona desert. It is also another take on the old maxim, which dates from the Tower of Babel to Frankenstein, that there are some things man was not meant to tamper with.

The mad scientist in question is Professor Deemer, who has the noble goal of providing more food for the world. Towards that end he has using his own atomic pile to change nutrients into "super food," which has produced a giant prairie dog, rooster and tarantula (the movie did pick the best of the three to be the monster). However, Deemer has also been experimenting on human with deadly results having to do with acromegaly, where a gland goes haywire and your face, chest and hands start growing out of control. The professor falls victim to his own evil designs, but that is nothing compared to the fact that his tarantula has escaped from the laboratory and is roaming the countryside undetected and eating cattle.

On the one hand, this book reduces the thrill of a giant spider terrorizing the countryside to a few black and white photographs from the film, but it does capture the "scientific" intrigue that makes it all fun. Certainly this is not a substitute for the film itself, which was arguably the best of the giant monster insect/spider movies of the 1950s, but it does a nice job of adapting the script into juvenile novel form. Despite the fact there are a lot of photographs in this book, it is not a photo novel, but a legitimate novelization of the script. To quote the opening of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show": "I knew Leo G. Carroll was over a barrel when tarantula took to the hills."

I got this book for MYSELF about 2 years ago - at the age of 36. It put me, as do all Wegman books, in bouts of laughter from his ever-so-creative Weimraner photos.