King Kong Books

The Creation of Dino De Laurentiis' King Kong

Bruce Bahrenburg was a Paramount publicist who wrote a book about the making of King Kong. As the tagline says, the book contained over fifty black-and-white photos from the movie and behind the scenes.

According to Publishers Weekly (January 10, 1977), over one million copies of the book were printed.

Thanks to Greg Plonowski, the book can be downloaded!

Download the book as PDF
Download the book as CBZ

Click on the images below to see larger images.


U.S. Mass-Market Paperback (front)
Pocket
Download high-res image

U.S. Mass-Market Paperback (back)
Pocket
Download high-res image

UK Mass-Market Paperback (front)
Star
Download high-res image

Thanks to Greg Plonowski, the book can be downloaded!
Download the book as PDF
Download the book as CBZ


UK Mass-Market Paperback (back)
Star
Download high-res image

German Mass-Market Paperback (front)
Heyne Bucher
Download high-res image

German Mass-Market Paperback (back)
Heyne Bucher
Download high-res image

Children's Paperback (front)
Reader's Digest Services
Download high-res image

Children's Paperback (back)
Reader's Digest Services
Download high-res image
In 1977, Scholastic Magazine produced a King Kong poster for classroom use. The fold-out poster featured the John Berkey painting of Kong with the train. On the reverse side, each folded page contained brief text about how the movie was made, using information from Bruce Bahrenburg's book, The Creation of King Kong.

Guide to the Creation of King Kong

Download a 300-DPI PDF
Download a 300-DPI CBZ

Added 2022-08-01

The January 27, 1977, issue of Rolling Stone magazine featured a cover story interview with Jeff Bridges. The issue also had this Pocket Books advertisement for the Creation of King Kong book.

Rolling Stone, January 27, 1977

Download a high-res image

Added 2022-12-10

Other editions not in my collection

French Mass-Market Paperback (front)
Minoustchine
Download high-res image
Horreur.com blog post

Spanish Mass-Market Paperback (front)
Plaza & Janes
Download high-res image

Novel and Script

Ace released two paperbacks in conjunction with the release of King Kong.

The first paperback was the original 1930s novelization by Delos W. Lovelace, based on Merian C. Cooper's script.

The second paperback was the complete script of the 1976 film by Lorenzo Semple, Jr. This book seems to much harder to find these days.


Novelization by Delos W. Lovelace
Based on the 1933 film
U.S. Mass-Market Paperback (front)
Ace – November 1976
Art by Frank Frazetta
Download high-res image

Novelization by Delos W. Lovelace
Based on the 1933 film
U.S. Mass-Market Paperback (back)
Ace – November 1976
Art by Frank Frazetta
Download high-res image

The Complete Script by Lorenzo Semple, Jr.
U.S. Mass-Market Paperback (front)
Ace – March 1977
Art by Frank Frazetta
Download high-res image
Thanks to Greg Plonowski, the book can be downloaded!
Download the book as PDF
Download the book as CBZ

Scan of an actual script


The Complete Script by Lorenzo Semple, Jr.
Based on the 1933 film
U.S. Mass-Market Paperback (back)
Ace – March 1977
Art by Frank Frazetta
Download high-res image

Novelization by Delos W. Lovelace
Based on the 1933 film
U.S. Mass-Market Paperback (front)
Ace – November 1976
This is apparently a later printing of the paperback, as it drops
the expensive foil lettering of the original subheading and replaces
it with plain white text.
Art by Frank Frazetta
Download high-res image
From the blog and everything else too

Novelization by Delos W. Lovelace
Based on the 1933 film
U.S. Mass-Market Paperback (front)
Ace – November 1976
This is another later printing of the paperback, which drops the tagline altogether.
Art by Frank Frazetta
Download high-res image
Photo via an eBay auction

1976 Postcard from Ace Books (front)
Art by Frank Frazetta
Download high-res image
Added 2022-11-25

1976 Postcard from Ace Books (back)
Download high-res image
Added 2022-11-25

Will Shephard's Inside King Kong: A Journal


Inside King Kong: A Journal (front)
by Will Shephard
Purchase on Amazon.com
Download high-res image

Inside King Kong: A Journal (back)
by Will Shephard
Download high-res image

Gianluca Sposito's King Kong: The Untold Story

Gianluca Sposito's slim book tells what happened to the "robot" Kong and his styrofoam twin as they traveled the world after the filming of King Kong. The book was published in English and Italian by Italian publisher Intra. The ISBN is 979-1259915016. It was published April 6, 2023.


King Kong: The Untold Story (front)
by Gianluca Sposito
Purchase on Amazon.com
Purchase from Intra
Download high-res image

King Kong: The Untold Story (front)
by Gianluca Sposito
Download high-res image

King Kong: La storia mai scritta (front)
by Gianluca Sposito
Purchase from Intra
Download high-res image

King Kong: La storia mai scritta (front)
by Gianluca Sposito
Download high-res image

Comic Books


Italian reprint of the Whitman/Gold Key
Comic adaption of the 1933 movie
Published in January 1977
Kirk
View the covers

Miscellaneous Books


Monsters Series: King Kong
by Ian Thorne
Crestwood House, 1977
A children's book about the history of Kong in film
Download high-res image
Download the book in PDF
Download the book in CBZ
From Archive.org
Added 13-JUN-2021
For more info on this series of books, visit these pages:


Copyright © 2024, Hunter Goatley. All rights reserved.
Last updated 2024-10-09 11:54.