RIP John McCarty

 

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By Bruce Hallenbeck

November 25, 2025

 

I've just been informed that my old and dear friend John McCarty has passed away. It seems very unreal to me, as I went to meet him for lunch last week and he called me at the restaurant to tell me he couldn't make it because he had fallen in his driveway. He had a neurological disorder which made him dizzy and caused him to fall a great deal, and a few days after that, his wife found him in their house at the bottom of the stairs. He had fallen and hit his head. He was taken to the hospital but passed away shortly after.

I don't know where to begin writing about John. He was, in many ways, a mentor to me. I first came across his name in an issue of the late, lamented CINEFANTASTIQUE Magazine, for which he had written an article about Val Lewton. The article mentioned that he lived not far from me, so I got in touch with him and, both being film buffs, we became fast friends. He was nine years older than me and he took me under his wing, as it were. My first experience of being on radio was thanks to him, when he and I went on WGY in Schenectady, New York to do film trivia shows.

Next, he directed me in two radio plays for WGY Mystery Theater - a local offshoot of CBS Mystery Theater - and in one of which I played Sherlock Holmes. At the age of 22, I must have been one of the youngest to play that role ever!

My first stage appearances were also with John; he and I appeared in Oscar Wilde's LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN. Around that time, I also had my first ride in a passenger jet - to London. We were both huge Hammer fans, and we knew we had to go there. We flew first class, on the same plane with David Frost and his girlfriend. When we got there, we had tickets to two plays, OTHERWISE ENGAGED with Alan Bates and Jacqueline Pearce, and PHAEDRA

BRITTANICA at the Old Vic, with Diana Rigg and Michael Gough. We went to Stonehenge as well. We also spent an afternoon with my pen pal, Hammer's great music composer James Bernard.  It was an amazing trip.

Later that same year, we went to the Famous Monsters Convention in New York, where we met an actor we both adored, Peter Cushing. Another unforgettable experience.

In later years, John became well known for his film-related books, beginning with SPLATTER MOVIES, a term he coined. He kept writing right on up to the end; his latest novel, MASQUERADE, was just published. I'm happy to say that my last words to him were about how much I enjoyed it. I think you will too.

McCARTY, John

Born: 1944, Albany, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 11/25/2025, East Greenbush, New York, U.S.A.

 

John McCarty’s westerns – director, writer, film editor:

Thrist: A Civil War Story – 2013

Dead Horse Trail – 2016