Karnstein Castle stands like a bird of prey on the highest point of the hills that surround the village below. A huge monolithic reminder to all those who see it of the power of the family who have lived there for centuries. By day the village of Karnstein is a peaceful place, but by night, an unimaginable evil roams free. Villagers are found dead, their throats ripped open and bodies drained of blood. Young girls disappear and are never seen again. Rumour has it that they are taken to the castle for the pleasure of Count Karnstein, the last surviving member of the family. Into this strange place, come beautiful identical twins Maria and Frieda. While Maria lives a blameless life, Frieda is drawn to the castle and Count Karnstein. A man rarely seen in daylight, a man steeped in Satanic ritual and the blood of beautiful young girls. Before long Frieda and Karnstein unleash a reign of bloody terror on the villagers, and no one, it seems, is strong enough to stop them.

They give a whole new meaning to the phrase "Dead Ringers" Identical twins, with the exact same genetic information, are a fascinating study in human behavior. It is a known fact that when separated at birth, they will often end up with very similar lives, without ever having met one another. So it seems to follow that if one twins turns out to be a "bad seed," the other will also go to the dark side. the shocking stories in Evil Twins prove this to be the case time and time again. And even more astounding are stories of twins turning upon each other in furious rivalries that may date back to the womb. Her is just a sampling of the compelling true stories about evil twins: Sins of the mothers: Harvard-educated chemical engineer Jane Hopkins stabbed her two young children to death before killing herself-six years after her twin sister Jean had tried to poison her own two children... My brother's killer: Identical twins Jeff and Greg Henry were close as brothers could be, inventing their own language and often exchanging identities. But they grew up to become violent alcoholics, and on one fateful binge, Jeff turned on his own twin brother and shot him in the heart with a shotgun... Loathsome Lotharios: Handsome, charming twin brothers George and Stefan Spitzer went to Hollywood to become famous actors. But their movie-star good looks never landed them any parts-except in the lurid home movies they shot of themselves raping the unconscious women they doped up on "Roofies"... Evil twins: Double the deadliness...with eight pages of shocking photos!

The Evil Twins of American Television examines evil-twin depictions in over fifty years of television, comparing male twins to female twins and male-writer depictions to female-writer depictions. Kristi Rowan Humphreys evaluates The Patty Duke Show, Bewitched, Gilligan’s Island, I Dream of Jeannie, and The Brady Bunch, among other television programs that use the twinning trope to explore themes of feminism and identity. Employing traits identified by Betty Friedan in The Feminine Mystique as belonging to the “evil” side of her “schizophrenic split” theory, Humphreys analyzes the ways in which these alter ego characters embody the desire for a separate self and independence through loose inhibitions, career interests, political interests, intellectual prowess, and assertiveness. This book then compares female-written twin episodes to male-written twin episodes, finding that when “evil twin” episodes are written by women writers, the twins are presented less as oppositional binaries and more as compatible, often symbiotic binaries. Thus, the women writers of these shows offer a compelling response to Friedan’s text, one that acknowledges and underscores the many complexities of women—the image of which cannot in reality be so easily split into two oppositional binaries. Humphreys then connects 1960s depictions to more current evil-twin examples, including those in Friends, Knight Rider, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

The chilling true story of the Spahalski brothers, who looked alike, acted alike—and killed alike . . . Robert Bruce Spahalski and Stephen Spahalski were identical twins. Same hair, same eyes, same thirst for blood. Stephen was the first brother to kill—by viciously bashing in storeowner Ronald Ripley’s head with a hammer. Unlike Stephen, Robert didn’t stop with just one victim. With the cord of an iron, Robert strangled prostitute Morraine Armstrong during sex. With his bare hands, he choked his girlfriend Adrian Berger. He brutally bludgeoned to death businessman Charles Grande. Even his friend Vivian Irizarry didn’t escape his lurid killing spree. Robert ultimately confessed to the four murders in vivid detail. But police suspected there were many more. The twins’ twisted story became even more bizarre as the true nature of their sick psyches came to light. In Killer Twins, through extensive interviews, Michael Benson reveals for the first time the horrific details of Robert Spahalski’s life and crimes in a disturbing look at the inner workings of a homicidal mind.

A celebration of Hammer Films, published to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Hammer's first film, The Curse of Frankenstein. This book offers a film-by-film dissection of the Hammer phenomenon, including behind-the-scenes production details.

Think you know everything there is to know about Hammer Films, the fabled "Studio that Dripped Blood?" The lowdown on all the imperishable classics of horror, like The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula and The Devil Rides Out? What about the company's less blood-curdling back catalog? What about the musicals, comedies and travelogues, the fantasies and historical epics--not to mention the pirate adventures? This lavishly illustrated encyclopedia covers every Hammer film and television production in thorough detail, including budgets, shooting schedules, publicity and more, along with all the actors, supporting players, writers, directors, producers, composers and technicians. Packed with quotes, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, credit lists and production specifics, this all-inclusive reference work is the last word on this cherished cinematic institution.