I’m not the book reviewer that writer Michael Cieslak is on this site, but I really wanted to share my thoughts on this book. After seeing Charles Band speak at the latest Horror Realm, I just wanted to read this book. It did not disappoint!

So much fun to read. A wild life related to you as if you were sitting down with the subject and he was telling you the tale while munching on a five gallon pail of peanuts. Want a night in a jail cell? Check. Want financial ruin? Check. Affair with an A-List actress? Check. Multiple near death experiences? Check. Run in with a loan shark? Check. Owning a fricking castle? Check.

There are so many surprises (Liberace’s mansion anyone?) in this book, but it doesn’t leave direct-to-video horror fans from the 80’s and 90’s wanting. He covers the greatest hits from his library and discusses how he got into this crazy business. Despite the 300 word title to the book, don’t worry…

It’s a true page turner!

I read this thing over the course of a week and could not wait to read the next chapter. It feels like a very personal book as well. I’ve listened to Mr. Band’s podcasts, met him at a convention, and have seen his behind the scenes stuff for years, so I have an “ear” for his voice. Reading this book, you hear his voice and just the way you know he would put it.

Charles Band is a hopeless huckster, no doubt. A true showman in the vein of P.T. Barnum, but he was a visionary as well, jumping on the VHS and streaming trends before anyone else thought they would be a thing. To peek behind the curtain, I can’t think of many biographies as good to scratch that itch of curiosity you may be experiencing.

I rate this a 5/5 stars.

Get the book here: Confessions of a Puppetmaster: A Hollywood Memoir of Ghouls, Guts, and Gonzo Filmmaking – The Wild, Candid Story of Exploitation Cinema and a Fortune Made and Lost

Tim Kretschmann is the host of Dead On Movie Reviews, Now Streaming, and Dead On the Bases. He is also a columnist on OtherworldlyCulture with the column Universally Loved.