History of Carnosaur book covers Roger Corman’s dinosaur horror franchise

Universal Pictures keeps on pumping out Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies and cartoons – in fact, another Jurassic World movie will be reaching theatres in 2025, and there are two seasons of the animated series Jurassic World: Chaos Theory dropping onto the Netflix streaming service this year. But while that’s all cool to have, one dinosaur series I wish had more installments is the Carnosaur franchise, which was produced by the late, great Roger Corman. The first Carnosaur (which was inspired by a novel written by Harry Adam Knight) was released in 1993 as a mockbuster alternative to Jurassic Park, and was followed by Carnosaur 2 in 1995 and Carnosaur 3: Primal Species in 1996. Sadly, while there were two spin-offs of sorts with Raptor in 2001 and The Eden Formula in 2006, we haven’t gotten an actual Carnosaur movie in almost thirty years, and no sort-of spin-offs in almost twenty years. While I hope Carnosaur will get some sort of revival, author Joseph Palinkas has decided to look back at the films we have gotten from this franchise with the book History of Carnosaur, which is now available for purchase on Amazon.

History of Carnosaur has a page count of 160 and the following description: 30 years ago, Carnosaur was dropped into theaters, making a solid box office and starting a pulpy fun run of 1990s creature feature dinosaur carnage. 30 years later… for the first time, behold, History of CARNOSAUR. A varied, brisk dive into the beginnings and lifetime of this beloved series. With some help from Adam Simon, Louis Moreau, Ted Haines, Scott Valentine, Brandon Tenold and many more! Explore the roots of the 1984 Carnosaur by Harry Adam Knight, all the way to The Eden Formula. Featuring exclusive interviews and photos. Edited by Patrick Galvan. Formatted by John LeMay.

Palinkas told the folks at Dread Central that he was inspired to write this book because, “I was allowed by my father to rent the [Carnosaur] VHS at Family Video in Ionia, Michigan. I will never forget that night. The dreadful fun fear of the box art… I had no idea what to expect… I remember watching it in agony. The gore was realistic… the lighting and atmosphere were unlike any other horror sequences I experienced at that point in my life (I was thirteen). I was already watching a good number of classic horror, Freddy, Jason, Halloween, and other random shit from the 70s and 80s. I remember being nervous about standing near the back screen door… all I could imagine was that Deinonychus and its out-worldly but familiar screech popping into my vision. The hippie scene is unforgettable. After I read Brosnan’s novel [in 2012], I had two issues… it was pitch black out, kind of a warm night, I did not stop reading until midnight… I could also imagine around every corner… a Carnosaur could come out and slam my head in. The other issue was… why the hell is this novel is obscure?… It’s a great story and horrifying. Perfection. I wanted more… I wanted to know EVERYTHING about the series.” To read more from Palinkas about the process of putting the History of Carnosaur together, click over to the Dread Central link.

I am definitely interested in knowing all there is to know about the History of Carnosaur. Are you a Carnosaur fan, and will you be picking up a copy of this book? Let us know by leaving a comment below.