Written with New York Times best-selling author and filmmaker Marc Scott Zicree, Del Toro’s tome contains notes, drawings, and untold creatures from his private journals and filmmaking diaries, with never-before-seen characters, art, and ideas of things to come.
The book begins with a foreword by James Cameron, who writes that del Toros art, fearlessly confronts life in all its beauty and horror. He sees with the wonder and stark terror of a child. His notebooks are a map of the subconscious, and his films doorways into the dungeons of our dreams, allowing us to confront our own individual hearts of darkness, to do battle and emerge victorious.
The next section of the book, entitled Collections, takes readers on a tour of Bleak House, del Toros second home and working office, his artistic masterpiece, his cluttered attic, his pride and joy. Its where he goes to draw and write, to recharge his batteries, to explore unfettered his creative whims.
From there, del Toro, in a series of one-on-one interviews with Zicree that are woven throughout the book, discusses his graphic inspirations, film analysis, storytelling, his mainstays of horror, his idea incubators, and so much more, all alongside vibrant full-color images of the things that have inspired his unique art. The next half of the book contains faithful reproductions of del Toros most elaborate illustrated notebooks. Accompanying this rich mixture of imagery, narrative explorations, and notes are further one-on-one discussions with Zicree about each of del Toros films, translations of del Toros personal blend of Spanish and English, as well as additional annotations which further elucidate the ideas and contexts that gave rise to them.
In addition to the foreword by James Cameron, the book includes an afterword by Tom Cruise and contributions from other luminaries, including Neil Gaiman, John Landis, Alfonso Cuaron, and many others.
Stay up to date with the latest horror news by “liking” Shock Till You Drop’s Facebook page and following us on Twitter!
