In this first volume of Michael H. Price's influential series, enhanced and updated for 2019, Price and co-author George E. Turner chronicle the development of horror and weird mystery cinema from 1931 through 1942. Price and Turner crack open the rusting film cans of nearly 400 movies produced by Poverty Row (and other impoverished) studios--films that flickered briefly and then settled into the cinematic silt of old Hollywood; films that occasionally featured future stars like Boris Karloff or Ginger Rogers, but more often were headlined by names long lost to history. In short, authoritative essays, the authors present and analyze each film in its entirety: plots, actors, directors, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and trivia, and the political and cultural contexts in which these films were made. Step back in time to an era when weird, compelling, outrageous, and sometimes even offensive visions routinely made it to the silver screen. Illustrated with over 500 photos, and featuring introductory remarks by Mel Brooks and Josh Alan Friedman, author-entertainers who share a profound understanding of the inseparable nature of horror and humor.