Joe Bob Briggs has has an extensive history in film, long before The Last Drive-In ever hit Shudder, and now Dark Horse Books is celebrating that legacy with an updated and expanded edition of Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-In, the collection of the horror host and author’s film columns, mail bag responses, and more. FANGORIA is excited to team up with Dark Horse to exclusively reveal some pages from the upcoming release, which hits shelves this Halloween season.
The newly designed hardcover edition of Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-In, which retails for $54.99 USD, features a new cover by Wallace McBride and interior artwork illustrated by Mike Norton, with colors by Bill Crabtree and a new introduction by Stephen King. The book features Briggs’ columns for the The Dallas Times Herald, as well as essays on cult classics like Basket Case and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, as well as fan letters and replies, B-movie reviews, and “Briggs’ adventures as the world’s foremost expert on drive-ins.”
“I’m thrilled that someone still cares about these little pieces dashed off for a daily newspaper four decades ago and was amazed that they were reprinted in book form the first time,” said Briggs. “To have them now memorialized and illustrated by a prestige outfit like Dark Horse is mind-boggling. They come from a time when the mainstream media hated what I was doing and many organizations actively tried to cancel me, but today they seem so tame that nobody will believe that. I hope all the genre experts of the current day will regard them as the primitive pre-history of pop-culture film criticism.”
The exclusive pages give us a sneak peek into Briggs’ essays for familiar cult favorites, including The Evil Dead, Halloween III, and Friday the 13th Part 3 3-D, interspersed with Norton’s drawings of the late-night horror host. “Where is the slasher?,” he demands of the third film in Carpenter’s popular franchise, while he notes that Evil Dead “may make [The Texas Chain Saw Massacre] eligible for the Disney Channel.”
“It’s a real honor to be able to participate in a Joe Bob Briggs book,” said Senior Editor Daniel Chabon. “I grew up with MonsterVision when it was on TNT, have been an avid fan of The Last Drive-In since it debuted on Shudder, and went to see Joe Bob’s How Rednecks Saved Hollywood when he was on tour. This long out-of-print book is truly something special and essential for all Mutant Fam and more!”
Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-In hits shelves on October 15, and is available for pre-order now. Check out the exclusive pages below:
