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Due at the end of this month by McFarland is what promises to be the greatest and most complete compendium of all things Creature from the Black Lagoon, the highly anticipated The Creature Chronicles. Co-authored by Tom Weaver, David Schecter and Steve Kronenberg, and with an introduction by none other than the one-and-only, fabulous Julie Adams, Chronicles is sure to satisfy the most discriminating of Blackie fans.

I was told by David Schecter at Monsterpalooza this spring that this project has been Tom Weaver's labor of love for many years. The book was promoted at a 50th Anniversary panel discussion attended by Miss Adams and Ricou Browning and moderated by Scott Essman. The highlight was a slide show and home movie film clip of Creature rarities shared by "The Arizona Gill Man".

The book is offered for pre-order at the usual places. Here is the promo blurb from Amazon:

"He was the final addition to Universal's "royal family" of movie monsters: The Creature from the Black Lagoon. With his scaly armor, razor claws and a face only a mother octopus could love, this Amazon denizen was perhaps the most fearsome beast in the history of Hollywood's Studio of Horrors. But he also possessed a sympathetic, poignant quality which elevated him fathoms above the many aquatic monsters who swam in his wake. Everything you ever wanted to know about the Gill Man and his mid-1950s film career (Creature from the Black Lagoon, Revenge of the Creature, The Creature Walks Among Us) is collected in this book packed to the gills with hour-by-hour production histories, cast bios, analyses, explorations of the music, script-to-screen comparisons, in-depth interviews and an ocean of fin-tastic photos."

Fin-tastic, indeed!