Graham Masterton wrote his debut horror novel titled The Manitou in 1975. The book was a smash in the UK and soared to the top of the US best seller's list by 1976. As the story goes, William Girdler first read the novel while on a flight to London. He was so enamored with the book that he immediately phoned Masterton requesting the film rights. The rest, of course, is history. The Manitou is the jewel in Girdler's crown. The posthumous hit would have surely catapulted Girdler to a new level of filmmaking.

Graham Masterton is an award-winning author with over 30 horror novels to his credit, including Revenge of the Manitou and The Pariah. His complete body of work totals over 70 books. Masterton's horror novels have reached more than 20 million readers worldwide. His 1988 best seller Ritual is the basis of an upcoming feature directed by Mariano Baino.

William Girdler.com recently contacted Mr. Masterton via email, and he charitably agreed to answer a few questions regarding The Manitou. I'd like to thank him for sharing his thoughts with the site.

WG.com: I found an old black and white postcard from the 1920's that features a photograph of a Native American midget named Manitou. He appears to be part of a travelling show. Was this image related to your initial inspiration for the story, or is it a creepy coincidence?

Graham Masterton: I had heard of a dwarfish Native American who claimed that he had been shrunk by a vengeful spirit, although I have never seen the postcard you mention. It was this same Manitou of reduced stature who was supposed to have appeared in two freak shows simultaneously -- one in Illinois and one in Washington State. This gave me the inspiration for Misquamacus' ability to be in more than one place at one time -- often thousands of miles apart.

The tale of William Girdler's phone call to you requesting the screen rights for Manitou is somewhat legendary. What was your first impression of William Girdler? Had you seen any of his previous film efforts at that time?

I had seen Grizzly. It may look like a dated 1970s exploitation movie these days, but you have to throw your mind back 25 years to a time when movies like Earthquake and The Towering Inferno and Jaws were all the rage. Bill's movies were good scary fun, in spite of the flares that everybody wears (I wore them, too!) When I first met Bill in Los Angeles I found him quiet, modest, appreciative and a genuinely nice guy. I liked him from the beginning and we spent several hours discussing The Manitou and all the future projects we were going to do together.

Those who knew Bill said he was particularly excited about making The Manitou. Not only was he thrilled to be producing the feature, but he was a huge fan of the book. Were you aware of his personal enthusiasm for the project?

Oh, yes. He made it quite clear that he loved the book. But he didn't ask me for any input into the movie. He obviously had his own vision of what it was going to look like, and I was confident enough in his talent to let him go ahead. As it turned out, his vision of it was almost identical to mine.

(Click Here to see Misquamacus in action. Mpeg movie: 782 KB)

Girdler commented in a Louisville Times interview that you were approached by several different movie studios interested in the rights to Manitou after you signed up with him. He said some studios offered you 10 times what he paid. Is this true? Did you have any immediate regrets about working with Girdler?

There were several approaches from other studios interested in appropriating the rights but it isn't money that counts when you find somebody who wants to make a movie out of your work. Practically every book I have ever written has been optioned for the movies at one time or another, but it's very rare to find somebody who has both the talent and the financial clout to be able to bring it to life.

Girdler said he launched into pre-production within three months of securing the rights to the story. Shooting wrapped within seven months. Were you surprised at how quickly things rolled out? How does Girdler's speedy filmmaking style compare with your post-Manitou Hollywood experiences?

Yes...I was amazed how quickly The Manitou went from lawyer's office to premiere. But when I recently sold several stories to Tony Scott for his series The Hunger I was also impressed how fast they were scripted, shot and completed. I recently sold my new novel Bonnie Winter to Jonathan Mostow (of U-571 repute) and that deal was signed within three hours.

Did you ever have the opportunity to visit a Manitou set while the film shot in California?

No, I was too busy to visit any of the sets, although Bill kept me closely in touch with visuals and running commentaries.