The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick

By Mallory O'Meara

In 1954, movie-going audiences were shocked and awed by Universal Studio’s groundbreaking horror film Creature from the Black Lagoon. As the years passed, the film gained a reputation as a landmark of the monster-movie genre. But only a small number of devotees were aware of the existence of Milicent Patrick who remains, to this day, the only woman to have designed a classic Universal monster.

That is, until film producer, horror-aficionado, and Black Lagoon acolyte, Mallory O’Meara begins to investigate rumors about the monster’s creator only to find more questions than answers. Through diligent research, O’Meara learns that the enigmatic artist led a rich and fascinating life that intersects with some of the largest figures of mid-century America, including William Randolph Hearst and Walt Disney.

The sudden, premature end to Patrick’s career is defined by circumstances that parallel—uncomfortably so—O’Meara’s own experiences in the film world, an industry that continues to be dominated by men. In a narrative with equal parts mystery and biography, The Lady from the Black Lagoon interweaves the lives of two women separated by decades but bound together by the tragedies and triumphs of working in Hollywood.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jabberwocky Literary Agency, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781625674272

Mallory O'Meara

Mallory O'Meara is an author, screenwriter and a producer for the independent film company Dark Dunes Productions. Whether it is for the screen or the page, she seeks creative projects imbued with horror and monsters. A New England native, she now lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews for The Lady from the Black Lagoon

[Daniel Titley · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I went into this wanting to read about the amazing work of Milicent Patrick and ended up reading about mainly what the author thought about her... It felt more like reading a compilation of blogs clumped together with crude language rather than a legit academic research which I've no doubt the author conducted well on this extraordinary figure, yet it just did not execute well for me. As a monster kid, I've spent my life reading many books on monster movies and the artists and actors that brought them to life, so naturally I was hyped to finally read about the woman behind the look of the "Creature from the Black Lagoon". But overall, I feel the book is thicker than it needs to be and is mainly gushing with the author's own views and personal opinions (and tirades) of men in the film industry (a valid subject to a degree, but the wrong book to stuff it into) I wanted to read about Miss Patrick and the Creature. Pity.