Richard Scheib — A Viewing Guide To The Pandemic(book)
A Viewing Guide To The Pandemic is just over two hundred pages guide to depictions of plague and pandemic, in both Film and television. It blends (largely) concise & honest reviews with often troubling facts/ figures regarding real plagues and pandemics, as well as looking into the background/origin of the fictional side of things too.
The book is released by Headpress, and is a perfectly bound paperback affair- with a card cover, and a mix of black and white texts and monochrome photos- blending stills, poster art, etc. It has a page count of two hundred and twelve pages.
Seemingly, this is the first book by New Zealand-based Richard Scheib; otherwise, he writes for and runs https://www.moriareviews.com-, where he has actively been reviewing cult films since 1999. His writing is informed but always honest/ never too stuffy, dotted with interesting facts/ research- detailing both real and fictional plagues and pandemics.
The book opens with a nine-page chapter, looking at how the COVID-19 pandemic affected him and his partner, both of whom have respiratory issues. The chapter truly brings back the feelings of fear, bewilderment, and disbelief we all had during that time, and it's a perfect way to open the book.
The rest of the book is broken up into four parts, each of which has several chapters. So, there’s The Essentials of Pandemic and Outbreak Film- this section runs for thirty-two pages, and covers both Films and TV shows. It opens in the year 1950, with the release of Panic In The Streets, which was the first film to focus on a viral epidemic. Throughout this chapter, there were a lot of titles I’ve heard of/now want to check out, such as 1972’s Rage, which features George C Scott playing a rancher whose son gets infected with a military nerve agent. Also, in this part of the book, he has a rewarding/entertaining discussion about why he thinks the two TV series adaptations of Stephen King’s The Stand don’t work.
The second part of the book looks at Real World Pandemics- broken down in chapters focusing on Black Death, Ebola, Bird Flu, and assorted pandemics. The third part of the book looks at a fictional/outlandish pandemic, with the four chapters covering Zombies, Vampirism, Mass Instanity, and more exotic outbreaks.
The fourth part of the book brings us back to more present history- with The Era Of The COVID-19 Pandemic. This part of the book takes in four chapters/forty pages worth of reviews/ discussion of titles focusing on Covid.
Over the other three parts of the book, Scheib once again talks about a lot of films & TV shows I wasn’t aware of. He also, of course, covers more known titles such as Outbreak (1995), Night Of The Living Dead (1968), The Walking Dead (2010-22)- once again giving a balanced/ honest overview/ review of each
A Viewing Guide To The Pandemic is both a useful reference book and an engaging/ entertaining read. And I’d most certainly be interested in reading future books from Scheib, whom I’m sure will have more than a few ideas for other viewers' guides, what with his impressive twenty-six years reviewing cult titles on his website. Drop in here to buy direct from Headpress