Complicating matters is that the name Monarch was used by a number of different publishers, in both America and Britain.
The firm was based in Derby, Connecticut, and was best known for its Bad Girl books, which tended towards the sleazy and sensationalist. Many of these had semi-dressed (or un-dressed) ladies on the cover.
Monarch produced both fiction and non-fiction. The former included Westerns, Science Fiction - some by such distinguished authors as Robert Silverberg and Poul Anderson. There were even a few juvenile titles.
The non-fiction included plenty with titles likely to appeal to fans of their Bad Girl novels. There were books on various aspects of the real Wild West, including the various Indian Wars. Biographies of famous singers and movie stars - from Shirley Temple to The Loves of Errol Flynn, famous generals, politicians, and even a couple on contemporary Popes. Books on famous battles, and Medal of Honor winners. True Crime - one of which featured a photograph of notorious 1930s gangster "Baby Face" Nelson lying on a slab in an Illinois Morgue. There was a book of crossword puzzles, one on beauty care, and a number on American politics.
Monarch Books was only active from 1958 to 1965. It was established in 1958, and the first two titles were published in October that year. The line expanded steadily over the next few years. They seem to have run in to problems in early 1964, with delays to the release dates for a number of titles, and a declining number of new books. Things improved for a time, but their last books came out in December 1965.
Some sources claim that Monarch Books was the paperback publishing division of Carlton Publications. Both were based in Derby, Connecticut. Others say only that at least one of the owners of Carlton was also a part-owner of Monarch.
There were certainly links between the two. Monarch Books were distributed by Capital Distributing, which also handled Carlton Publications. Monarch released novelisations of the science fiction movies Gorgo, Konga, and Reptilicus, while Carlton Comics published comics based on the same three characters.
These two sites provide a limited amount of information, but Wikipedia does contain errors.
The Internet Speculative Fiction Database requires you to click on the various headings, to get more information. Their title list is longer, and more detailed, than the Wikipedia list.
Then I came across this - a very detailed history and listing of Monarch books - Wow. A lot of work went in to this. There are also links to two sites which show all the Monarch book front covers, and some back covers. A gold-mine of information.
Many Monarch 'authors' were actually pseudonyms - the site lists who was who; along with cover artists where known. The Monarch numbering system, and prefixes, are also explained.
Image galleries of the covers:
Early on, the film tie-in books were mixed in with the regular fiction titles. The MM - Monarch Movie Book series - was a short-lived line that grouped all the film tie-ins together, but it only included eight titles, all released between May 1960 and June 1961. Thereafter, there were no more movie tie-ins.
I have only found one television tie-in novel, but I may have missed others, simply because I did not recognise the titles.
Some covers were painted, in the usual Monarch style, others used photo covers - these were the most common. All the tie-ins sold for the same price, 35 cents.
Honestly, some of the films these books were based on are really obscure. Several of the back covers said 'See the Picture - Read the Book !'. That might have been rather difficult in some cases.
There is one book which is mentioned in some sources as being a film tie-in, Monarch Books 241 Rasputin: the Mad Monk, by Stuart Friedman (1962). However the book itself does not mention any film tie-in, it was described as non-fiction, and the Hammer film of the same name was not released until 1966. I doubt there is any link.
143 Jack the Ripper, by Stuart James (January 1960). Based on the 1959 British film Jack the Ripper, released in the US in 1960. Painted front cover, black and white photo from the film on back cover.
218 Rebel of Broken Wheel, by Dean Owen (October 1961). Based on The Rebel, a Western TV series (1959-61), about a former Confederate soldier. Colour photo cover.
The book is credited to Dean Owen, a pen-name of Dudley Dean McGaughy.
Monarch Movie Books, 1960-61 only.
It appears that Monarch liked to get their books out well in advance of the film arriving in cinemas. Most of the films Monarch novelised were foreign, rather than US films.
MM600 The Enemy General, by Dan Pepper & Max Gareth (May 1960) Based on an American film shot in Europe. Black and white photo cover.
Authors are actually Louis Morheim and Stuart James.
MM601 The Strangler's of Bombay, by Stuart James (May 1960). Based on the British Hammer film. Black and white photo cover.
MM602 The Brides of Dracula, by Dean Owen (May 1960). Based on the British Hammer film. Painted cover.
The book is credited to Dean Owen, a pen-name of Dudley Dean McGaughy. The copyright page says © 1960 by Jimmy Sangster.
MM603 Gorgo, by Carson Bingham (July 1960). Based on the King Brothers film, which was not released until 1961. Black and white photo cover.
The book is credited to Carson Bingham, a pen-name of Bruce Cassiday.
MM604 Konga, by Dean Owen (August 1960). Based on the British film. Painted cover.
The book is credited to Dean Owen, a pen-name of Dudley Dean McGaughy.
MM605 Reptilicus, by Dean Owen (Jun 1961). Based on the Danish film. Black and white photo cover.
The book is credited to Dean Owen, a pen-name of Dudley Dean McGaughy.
MM606 The Street is My Beat, by Carson Bingham (June 1961). Painted cover.
It seems this film was not made as planned, and did not appear until 1966. The book is credited to Carson Bingham, a pen-name of Bruce Cassiday.
MM607 Mad Dog Coll, by Steve Thurman (June 1961). Based on the film, which was loosely based on the life of a real gangster. Black and white photo cover.
The book is credited to Steve Thurman, a pen-name of Frank P. Castle.
That was the end of the line for Monarch Movie Books. There would just be The Rebel TV tie-in book before the end of the year.
Eight photographs from Worthpoint - these should give an idea of the range of titles Monarch published.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
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