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In 1972 KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER transfixed audiences. The movie became the highest-rated TV movie in U.S. history and spawned the cult TV series starring Darren McGavin. The TV movie’s iconic screenplay was written by horror legend and novelist Richard Matheson (I Am Legend) and was based on an unpublished novel by Jeff Rice, which was released the following year. Now Bram Stoker Award-winning editor and writer James Aquilone and Monstrous Books have acquired the print rights to Kolchak and will be teaming up with Blackstone Audio to release an audiobook of Jeff Rice’s original, cult novel narrated by actor William Katt (Greatest American Hero, Carrie). 

“It was a humbling experience working in the shadow of Jeff Rice and Darren McGavin!” William Katt said. “The cult classic Kolchak: The Night Stalker laid the groundwork for so many shows that followed—including The Greatest American Hero and so many others that borrowed generously and paid homage to the amazing world of Carl Kolchak!”

“I always thought William Katt would make a great Carl Kolchak,” said James Aquilone, publisher of Monstrous Books and editor of the award-winning Kolchak: The Night Stalker 50th Anniversary graphic novel. “So when I had the opportunity to choose a narrator for Monstrous Books’ reprint of the original Kolchak: The Night Stalker novel, I knew I had to reach out to the star of one of my favorite shows as a kid, The Greatest American Hero.”

The new, deluxe edition of KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER also features a new foreword by writer and actor David Dastmalchian (Count Crowley; Late Night with the Devil), a new afterword by writer and producer Rodney Barnes (Killadelphia), a new essay on Jeff Rice by Kolchak expert Mark Dawidziak, (The Night Stalker Companion) and a cover by Russ Braun (The Boys).

In the KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER novel, the corpses of young women – many of whom are working night jobs — are discovered, drained of blood, with unusual puncture marks on their necks, and it’s up to intrepid reporter Carl Kolchak to find out what happened to them. 

Monstrous Books’ definitive edition of KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER — which publishes on February 11, 2025 — is also available as an ebook and trade paperback.