The Lady from the Black Lagoon by Mallory O'Meara

The story of a lady badass, a mystery into film lore and fun modern commentary to supplement all the detective work? Meet The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick written by Mallory O'Meara. 

This was such a compelling read about a woman who should've had a much more prominent career. Milicent Patrick created the makeup design for The Creature in The Creature from the Black Lagoon and promptly...disappeared. What happened to her? Who was she? Where did she go? 

These are all questions that Mallory O'Meara, a self-avowed Creature superfan and lover of all things horror, sets out to find in this book. From Milicent's earliest days on the grounds of the Hearst Castle to Disney, where she worked on Fantasia, and through her career as a makeup designer and artist who created the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Mallory weaves together her story which such care.

Mallory says that Milicent was one of her heroes growing up, and as her life was such a mystery, it's also fun reading about the process of finding out what happened to her. Mallory also shares tidbits of her life along the way, and there are some great parallels between the two women. 

No spoilers on what happened to Milicent, you'll have to read for yourself!

via wifflegif

I hadn't seen Creature from the Black Lagoon before reading this, but I had it saved on my DVR, so I watched it this month (Hallowe'en and all). I can't say I was overly impressed with it. It just seemed like a lot of it was the tediousness of watching the men get their gear ready, jump off the boat, swim around a bit, get out of the water, then right back at it again. Plus, always protect your six! The Creature snuck up on them so many times it was a little ridiculous. 

And as an aside, in Mallory's book she writes that Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water is a tribute to this film and his desire for the Creature to end up with the woman. I'm not sure I got romantic vibes from the Creature? I definitely didn't finish this movie thinking, "You know, he was just misunderstood..." But that's just me. I also disliked The Shape of Water, so that may have something to do with it? 

Anyways, if you're looking for a spooky season classic film book, you can't go wrong with The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick.