Princess Asa Signs In

Paul Zdanowicz writes:

"I recently had the privilege to have my copy of MARIO BAVA ALL THE COLORS OF THEN DARK signed by none other than Barbara Steele. I met her yesterday at Chiller Theater in NJ. She was in love with the book and, from my impression, she has never seen it before. I wanted her to sign the cover under the gold mask to which she replied, 'I will absolutely not! It's too beautiful! I'll sign the inside.'"

Paul thoughtfully snapped this photo of the historic moment. We've heard of people talking about the book with Barbara, but this is the first account we've heard of her actually seeing it or signing a copy. So Paul may well have the first copy to claim this distinction. Alas, we don't have a current address for Barbara and so haven't been able to send her a copy of the book, but Donna and I are happy to know she's enthusiastic about it. And I'm sure that Charlie Largent, who designed the gold mask adorning the hard cover, will be especially flattered by the praise of she who wore the original.

More Proud Customers!

A fellow who goes by the singular name of Brett (who also moderates the RUE MORGUE message boards under the moniker "KISS Fan") was one of numerous friendly folks who visited with Donna and me at Lamberto Bava's table at Cinema Wasteland a couple of weekends ago. On the RUE MORGUE boards, and also on his MySpace page, Brett has posted a lot of great pictures commemorating his numerous meetings and trophies from the convention -- including this enviable multi-signed title page from his copy of MARIO BAVA ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK! Here you see my signature along with those of Lamberto Bava, John Saxon and Brett Halsey, which raises the question... "Is there anyone out there who's managed to collect even more signatures of Bava alumni in their copy?"

If so, let us see them!

The next couple of photos accompanied a recent e-mail arrival:

"This is Paul Styles from England! I finally got around to sending you my pictures of me with the Bava Book, and also a shot of how it looks next to my WATCHDOG collection -- of which I'm very proud! As always, good luck for the future and I look forward to reading your VIDEODROME book!"

Donna and I are very proud to have our works occupy such a conspicuous shelf in your library, Paul. Many thanks for the privileged peek into your private domain! And, as much as I like our VW binders, I must say the numbered spines of all those back issues project a very neat appearance!

La ragazza nella impermeabile giallo

"The Girl in the Yellow Mackintosh" would make an arresting title for a new giallo movie, and -- as you can see -- actress Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni is already dressing the part. It was a tremendous treat for Donna and I to meet this icon of contemporary Italian horror (Dario Argento's OPERA, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and THE MOTHER OF TEARS, Lamberto Bava's DEMONS 2: THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES and GHOST SON), at Cinema Wasteland in Strongsville, Ohio this past weekend.

But what is inside that box held ever so tightly in her evil clutch?

Well, Donna and I were so moved by Coralina's deeply emotional response to her first look at MARIO BAVA ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK -- and we were so charmed by her personally -- that we decided to present her with her own personally inscribed copy. Those of you who have received the book will recognize our tailor-made, custom-fitting book container.

Coralina was lucky enough to receive her copy at Cinema Wasteland, where Donna's and my signatures could be joined by those of fellow Cinema Wasteland guests of honor Brett Halsey (FOUR TIMES THAT NIGHT, ROY COLT & WINCHESTER JACK), John Saxon (THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, EVIL EYE) and none other than...

... Maestro Lamberto Bava, whom Donna and I finally met this past weekend after 28 years of contact by telephone and personal correspondence! That's right, as incredible as it seems, I have finally made contact with the Bava family in the flesh! It was an emotional couple of days, as you can imagine, and there will be more pictures and details coming soon to Video WatchBlog!

Italy's greatest giallo directors like to kill Coralina, but we much prefer hugging her and talking with her over a table piled high with good wine and good food. She returns home today with a 12-pound book cradled in her arms, but we came home yesterday much richer, feeling that we had found many new friends -- and a new sister.