Stephen Botherstone & Dave Lawrence — Scarred For Life- Vol 1:The 1970's(book)
The book comes in the form of a nicely produced paperback- with a glossy full colour cover, and good paper stock. Inside the book it’s all in black & white, but very well illustrated- and when you buy the book you get the option of downloading a colour PDF of the book. The book is self published venture, and can only be order direct from Lulu.
Clearly the whole thing is a real passion project, with the two writers Stephen Brotherstone and Dave Lawrence both writing the book in their spare time & lunch breaks. And that’s what comes across though-out the pairs passion for the 70’s, and all the strange & unsettling things within it. All of the books subjects are very well researched, but the writing never becomes stuffy, dry or academic- this is a book that is clearly trying to appeal to anyone who either grew up in 1970’s Britain( as I did), or anyone interested in creepy, odd, and disturbing stuff from the 70’s.
After a few introductions & forewords we move into the main text of the book. And the first eighty or so pages is entitled The Kids Are Alright. This takes in eleven TV series that where supposable made for children. We move from the creepy fansty of The Owl Service, onto the Sci-Fi Drama of Tomorrows People, though to gritty & realistic portray of British secondary schools in the 1970’s with Grange Hill. Onto the exploits of a come to life scarecrows in Worzel Gummidge.
After this we have some more TV related section: (Bogey) Me Of Harlech featuring weird regional TV shows. Bleak House- a section about grim & hopeless dramas. A Very British Dystopia- which I think needs no further explanation. Followed up SCI- FI UK, English Gothic( any no explanation needed!). How We Used To Live- looking at the racist, sexist, and political incorrectness in TV shows. And lastly in the TV part of the book, Beyond The Sofa- which focuses in on Dr Who, but instead of going down the standard routes, we get sections about the Doctor Exhibition in Blackpool, the yearly Annuals, and of most interest to myself a ten page write-up about the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
The next section of the book is the largest, taking in a 110 pages, and this is entitled Scared By Public Information Films. And this features subsections about different types of PIF, The making of Lonely water- one of the most known PIF’s. and a short piece discussing the general bleakness of 1970’s PIF’s. This I guess will be a part of the book that will appeal to a lot of people, and it’s once again it's very well put together & researched. And really I’m was amazed how many PIF’s there where made in the decade.
After this we move into a shorter section about disturbing & creepy toys, board games- and there are some really, really surprising items in here. Who would have thought there was a board game about after the bomb drops?, or one about the Bermuda Triangle- all aimed at kids!.
The next 50 or so pages sees a series of subsections relating to films of the 70’s, and these move from nihilistic & ultraviolet cinema of the decade. Trailers & comics relating the first Alien film. Savage horror. Satanic films. Killer animal films. Bizarre sci-fi, and When Pop Star Movies Turn Darker. This was once again interesting, though I did think it was a pity there was no mention of the more brutal, sleazy, and provocative British horror movies of the time like the films of Pete Walker, or the films of Norman J Warren.
The next hundred or so pages going into written word; with Pan Horror Story Collection, Pulp Horror Novels, Occult novels, etc. And keeping the ‘on page theme’ we move into different comics- from boy & girl focused weeklies, onto the more horror bound & strange marvel or DC comics.
Coming towards the end of the book, we get a quick write-up about all the weird & creepy sweets & foods we had in the 70’s. Before getting seventy or so pages about the paranormal boom of the 70’s- be it in books, as documentaries, in songs, or on the big screen.
Really it astonishing how many subjects the pair has managed to cram into the book, giving the whole thing a lot wider audience than say a book just about say 70’s cinema, or PIF’s. Added to this it’s very reasonably priced at £16.99(around $23.00), plus postage. The pair are currently working on the second volume for the 1980’s, and plan to get this out towards the end of this year/ early next. In conclusion if you enjoy darker, horror tipped, and odd side of British culture- this really is a no brainier!. Head over here to order your copy direct from Lulu.