Progeny of the Adder (1965) and THE NIGHT STALKER (1972)

[Gothick]

Fans of the original 1972 NIGHT STALKER film might find this of interest:

http://toomuchhorrorfiction.blogspot.com/2010/07/progeny-of-adder-by-leslie-whitten-1965.html

Novelist Leslie Whitten tried to sue (ABC or Dan Curtis, I believe) but according to a brief note in an article about this I just read, had to drop the suit.

G.

[Gothick]

According to the article in the magazine Pulp Horror (issue 5) about Whitten, a fun detail of the Progeny of the Adder plot is that when the police investigate the vampire's home, among the things they find are "broken mirrors, spray tan, and toothbrushes that have been worn down." The latter two items tickled me.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

toothbrushes that have been worn down

Shades of the Depp/DS film!! 

Unlike Art Wallace's suit against DC, I don't recall hearing about Whitten's. Very interesting! And it makes me really want to watch Progeny of the Adder to see just how similar it is to The Night Stalker.

Thanks so much for the link and the info, Gothick. 

[Gothick]

Mysterioso darling,

I do not think Progeny of the Adder was ever filmed. It seems pretty obvious that Jeff Rice, the original author of the story on which Night Stalker was based, must have read the 1965 book. What is quite original in Rice's story is the character of Kolchak--there is nobody at all like him in the Whitten book. In fact, according to the author of the article I read, characterization was not at all Whitten's strong suit.

I checked the internet and it turns out that Jeff Rice launched his own lawsuit against ABC before the movie was finished. It appears to have been settled out of court. The motive for the suit was the fact that the rights to the original story by Rice were sold without his permission. The world is a devious, harsh place.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

That will teach me to read the article before I assume it was made into a movie.    I thought you had provided a link to a movie, as you often do...

Two law suits makes all of this even more interesting. 

The motive for the suit was the fact that the rights to the original story by Rice were sold without his permission.

Whoa. But sadly, not as surprising as it should be.

The world is a devious, harsh place.

That's for sure...

[Gothick]

This is an interesting, sensitively written article about Jeff Rice by Mark Dawidziak. Apparently the lawsuit happened around the time of the Night Stalker series.

https://www.cleveland.com/tv-blog/index.ssf/2015/08/jeff_rice_creator_the_night_stalker_had_an_enormous_influence_on_horror_entertainment.html

The Las Vegas element was another strand that set Jeff Rice's work apart. The Progeny novel was set in DC which does seem like the perfect home for a vampire on the make.

G.