Lisa Morton will be guest posting today. Her new book Monsters of L.A. is one that should be checked out she clearly has a love for monsters, an interesting passion but one with endless story behind it.
Hi Jess, and hello to your readers! Let’s get past the fact that I am experiencing severe clothes envy over that amazing skirt the model in your blog header is wearing, and talk a little about my new book Monsters of L.A….
When I decided to write a collection of stories set in my hometown of Los Angeles, I knew immediately that I wanted the book – Monsters of L.A. – to present parts of the city that not many people know about. Most of those outside of California probably connect L.A. to Hollywood; others think of us for our beaches and our amusement parks. Residents might immediately connect the place to smog and traffic.
But there’s a lot about L.A. that most people don’t know, even natives. Ask anyone on a street in these parts about the city’s history, and they probably won’t know much more than what they’ve heard on the Universal Studios tour.
L.A. has a strange and rich history that’s seldom discussed. I worked some of my favorite bits of L.A. history into Monsters of L.A., and I’ll offer five choice items here:
1) Did you know that L.A.’s got a lot of local folklore that includes everything from lizard people living beneath the streets to a catwoman called “La Japonesa” roaming the hills northeast of the city? “La Japonesa” is an old story that came north with Latin American immigrants, and I adapted it for my take on “Cat People”.
2) Ever heard of Angelino Heights? It’s a historic district that sits on a hill just a few minutes northwest of downtown L.A., and it’s made up of glorious 19th-century Victorian houses, some in pristine condition…and some that look as if they must surely be home to ghosts. This lovely neighborhood (which is easy to get to and well worth a visit next time you’re in L.A.) became the setting for my version of “The Haunted House”.
3) You may know about the beautiful Los Angeles County Arboretum in the San Gabriel Valley, which is home to not only hundreds of varieties of plants, but also strollling peacocks…but did you know that those peacocks used to also roam the nearby streets of wealthy San Marino? When I was little, if we happened to be in that area at night, we could hear them screaming; I remember mom and dad driving us around them sometimes. The Arboretum and San Marino figure in my story “The Alien”.
4) You may think of a diminutive songwriter when you hear the name Paul Williams, but those of us with a fondness for architecture recognize that name as belonging to the genius behind the famed Los Angeles Airport Theme Restaurant, the Beverly Hills Hotel, and thousands of other structures around L.A. What’s even more impressive, though, is that Williams was the first certified African American architect west of the Mississippi. He makes a guest appearance in my story “The Urban Legend”.
5) Did you know that every evil clown in the world is born in North Hollywood? Okay, well, obviously, I’m making that part up…but North Hollywood really is home to a store called Circus Liquor, which features the most bizarre giant neon clown sign ever. You can see that monstrosity from blocks away, and it really is creepy enough to appear in a piece called “The Killer Clown”.
While I wouldn’t go so far as to call a collection of horror stories educational – my real goal, after all, is to seriously creep you out – I do hope that Monsters of L.A. might get readers to consider Los Angeles in a whole new light…a black light, that is.
