Tawdry Tales and Confessions from Horror's Boy Next Door - by William Butler (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

In the last 40 years, actor, director and former effects artist William Butler has easily lived three lifetimes. From his early beginnings creating super-8 horror shorts and working the circus midway to a blissful existence as a producer-director living in the Hollywood hills, he's seen it all, gained it all and... lost it all.

Tawdry Tales chronicles the jaw-dropping, sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking life of an industrious young artist who started out with an unflinching determination to work in film and who somehow became "Horror's Boy Next Door", appearing in dozens of movies alongside the genres most legendary villains, including Jason Vorheees from Friday the 13th, Leatherface from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre the George Romero's zombies from Night of the Living Dead. Butler chalks it all up to having a face you just want to hit with a butcher knife.

Butler lovingly has transcribed 35 years-worth of journals he kept into one fascinating and heartfelt memoir that follows his story around the world as he worked with and in some cases lived with some of Hollywood's most beloved and "colorful" personalities including Viggo Mortensen, Leslie Jordan, Tom Sizemore and the legendary Prince.

Butler's TELL-ALL contains:

- Foreword written by Executive Producer of The Walking Dead Greg Nicotero.

- Shocking, never before revealed antics from the set of Friday the13th VII, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3, Tom Savini's Night of the Living Dead, Ghoulies 2 and many more.

- The true story of how the sequels Return of the Living Dead 4 and 5 went so horribly wrong.

- The raw ugly truth of what it's really like to be a director of small movies for big companies.

- Unfiltered tales from his 35 years of production with Charles Band

- Hilarious stories of Butler's working experience with Prince, Madonna, Donald Pleasence, Tom Sizemore, Viggo Mortensen, Klaus Kinski, Greg Nicotero, Stuart Gordon, Yvonne DeCarlo.

- Scandalous and hilarious tales from his five years spent as actor Leslie Jordan's roommate.

- Dozens of never before seen behind the scenes photos.

Review Quotes

"Billy Butler is the David Sedaris of Horror!"

Leslie Jordan, Emmy Award-Winning Actor

"Heartfelt, nostalgic, and hilarious! Butler tells like it was!"

Tony Timpone, Fangoria

"When the nukes finally hit, all that will be left is cockroaches, Cher, myself and Billy Butler."

-Charles Band, Legendary Director and Producer

"I'm afraid to read it."

Greg Nicotero, Executive Producer The Walking Dead

"It's rare when I meet and become friends with someone who is more fucked-up in the head than I am. That's Bill Butler. Especially his sense of humor. Having said that, Butler is also one of my most-trusted friends and a guy who is always straightforward with you. He is a genuine and honest person that will always have your back".

-Kane Hodder, Horror Film Legend

"Billy Butler's remarkable career is filled with lessons, humor and heart. Part biography and part guidebook to the benefits of being a good guy in a crazy industry that doesn't always reward good behavior, Billy's relentless optimism is infectious. And by infectious, I mean, I may have actually contracted something. It's nice to know that nice guys can finish first and Hollywood dreams can come true... even if those dreams are filled with blood, guts and dismembered limbs."

- Chris Gore, FILM THREAT

Tawdry Tales is a tell all memoir that is not only a must own for horror lovers, but an honest, unflinching look at the (literal) HIGHEST of highs and lowest of lows in Hollywood. It's an example of how the passion to create can lead one from humble beginnings to being on top of the world. Butler writes as if he's speaking directly into starry eyed aspiring artists and his stories, both devilishly decadent and unflinchingly honest, are able to show why he's one of horror's mainstays. Also - after reading Tawdry Tales, one must ask themselves, "HOW IS HE STILL ALIVE!!" Drop what you're doing and run to this book!

-Jerry Smith, Dread Central