You Won't Believe Your Eyes! A Front Row Look at the Science Fiction and Horror Films of the 1950s

Walking out of the theater showing Viking Women and the Sea Serpent and The Astounding She-Monster, one disappointed lad was heard to say, "They might as well have mugged us in the parking lot." This was Science Fiction's Golden Age, when giant bugs, prehistoric left-overs and  creatures from other planets filled the giant theater screens, movies that were usually made outside of the studio system on the cheap.

Horror-hungry kids soon realized that nine times out of ten, the movie would be little more than a pale suggestion of what the posters promised. Nevertheless, we kept coming back, week after week, ever skeptical, ever hopeful, and then went home and read about the movies we just saw in Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine.

This revised and expanded "Monster-Kids" edition of You Won't Believe Your Eyes! is an affectionate and funny look at the movies your parents didn't want you to see. You will hear from he actors who were in them, the people who made them, the critics who reviewed them, the exhibitors who showed them, and the children who saw them back in the day.


"McGee knows this genre upside down and backwards, and writes with real authority. He loves these movies, and celebrates them as much for their goofy failings as for their imagination and entertainment value. Best of all, McGee is a terrific colloquial writer of great wit; I laughed out loud as I revisited many of my favorite pictures. You will too."

David J. Hogan, author of Dark Romance and Film Noir FAQ