Recommended reading - The Mammoth Book of Pulp Fiction (1996):

The Mammoth Book of Pulp Fiction

Hardboiled writing from Dashiell Hammett, Donald E. Westlake, Mickey Spillane, John D. MacDonald, Jim Thompson and many more…

Edited by Maxim Jakubowski.

Mammoth Books.

Published 1996.

ISBN-10: 0786703008

ISBN-13: 978-0786703005

Back cover description:

Fast action and wild, wild pleasure: a massive collection of seven decades of pure, unadulterated pulp fiction.

The paper may have yellowed and crumbled away but the stories and a thousand thrills still hit the spot. Join the shady operators, voluptuous molls, ruthless big shots, crooked and sometimes honest cops on a rollercoaster ride through the mean streets of popular literature in the company of such superlative writers as: Dashiell Hammett, Donald E. Westlake, Ross Macdonald, Charles Willeford, David Goodis, Frederic Brown, Robert Bloch, Karlan Ellison, John D. MacDonald, Jim Thompson, William P. McGivern, Lawrence Block, Bill Pronzini, Mickey Spillane.

And twenty other leading lights of the hardboiled school of writing, as the action moves back from the silver screen to the pages where it all began, Just watch out for open windows and flying bullets!

Contents:

Acknowledgements; Introduction; Too Many Have Lived, by Dashiell Hammett; Flight to Nowhere, by Charles Williams; Black, by Paul Cain; Finders Killers! by John D. MacDonald; Murder’s Mandate, by W. T. Ballard; Cigarette Girl, by James M. Cain; The Getaway, by Gil Brewer; Preview of Murder, by Robert Leslie Bellem; Forever After, by Jim Thompson; The Bloody Tide, by Day Keene; Death Comes Gift-Wrapped, by William P. McGivern; The Girl Behind the Hedge, by Mickey Spillane; Enter Scarface, by Armitage Trail; A Candle for the Bag Lady, by Lawrence Block; Black Pudding, by David Goodis; A Matter of Principal, by Max Allan Collins; Citizen’s Arrest, by Charles Willeford; Sleeping Dog, by Ross Macdonald; The Wench is Dead, by Fredric Brown; So Dark for April, by Howard Browne; We Are All Dead, by Bruno Fischer; Death is a Vampire, by Robert Bloch; Divide and Conquer, by Jack Ritchie; A Real Nice Guy, by William F. Nolan; Stacked Deck, by Bill Pronzini; So Young, So Fair, So Dead, by John Lutz; Effective Medicine, by B. Traven; Killing Bernstein, by Harlan Ellison; The Second Coming, by Joe Gores; Hibiscus and Homicide, by William Campbell Gault; Hell on Wheels, by Thomas S. Roche; Ordo, by Donald E. Westlake.

On this day in movie history - The Frighteners (1996):

The Frighteners

directed by Peter Jackson,

written by Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson,

was released in the United States on July 19, 1996.
Music by Danny Elfman.

Cast:

Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace Stone, Jake Busey, Chi McBride, Jim Fyfe, Troy Evans, Julianna McCarthy, R. Lee Ermey, Elizabeth Hawthorne, Angela Bloomfield, Desmond Kelly, Jonathan Blick, Todd Rippon, John Sumner, Michael Robinson, Jim McLarty, Anthony Ray Parker, Paul Yates, Melanie Lynskey, John Leigh, Nicola Cliff, Ken Blackburn, Stuart Devenie, Genevieve Westcott, K.C. Kelly, Leslie Wing, Leslie Klein, Frank Edwards, Alan O’Leary, Danny Lineham, Charlie McClellan, William Pomeroy, George Port, Billy Jackson, Sophie Watkins, Taea Hartwell, Max Grover, George Grover, Tony Hopkins, Lewis Martin, Clay Nelson, Matthew Chamberlain, Vivienne Kaplan, Liz Mullane, Matt Aitken, Grae Burton, Michael Elsworth, Nic Farra, Peter Jackson, Rhys Jordan, Paul Kingdom, Isaac Lucas, Michael Maxwell, Bryce McCawe, Nicolas Pegg, April Phillips, Tracey Savage, Jeff Slaven, Clinton Ulyatt, Fran Walsh.

Recommended reading - The Frighteners, by Michael Jahn (1996):

The Frighteners

By Michael Jahn.

Published by Boulevard Book.

Published 1996.

Movie tie-in.

ISBN-10: 0157297187

ISBN-13: 9780157297188

Description:

When a serial killer reaches out from beyond the grave and, in the guise of the Grim Reaper, embarks on a New England killing spree, it is up to a hapless young man with special powers, aided by some friendly earthbound spirits, to stop him.

On this day in movie history - Escape Clause (1996):

Escape Clause

directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith,

written by Danilo Bach,

was released in the United States on July 14, 1996.

Music by Richard Marvin and Ken Thorne.

Cast:

Andrew McCarthy, Paul Sorvino, Connie Britton, Kate McNeil, Stan Egi, Kenneth Welsh, John Evans, Peter Donaldson, Victor A. Young, Sean Dick, Dawn Greenhalgh, Chantel Dick, Lupe Arenas, Tara Rosling, Peter Langley, Claire Rankin, Yanira Contreras, Stephen Bogaert, Roger Honeywell, Ron Hartmann, Bob Clout, Robbie Rox, Gord Mackenzie, Phillip Jarrett, Scott Wickware, John Boylan, Shawn Lawrence, Chuck Shamata, Laura Catalano, Carol Chwaiewsky, Tricia Brioux, Garnet Harding, Djanet Sears, Stephanie Roth Haberle, Linda Goranson, Julie Evans.

On this day in music history - Walk in the Sun, by Sue Foley (1996):

Walk in the Sun

Album by Sue Foley,

released July 9, 1996.

Track list:

Try to Understand; Give It to Me; Walk in the Sun; The Snake; Wayward Girl; The Wind; Lover’s Call; Better; Train to Memphis; Love Sick Child; Long Distance Lover.

On this day in movie history - Stanley Kubrick: The Invisible Man (1996):

Stanley Kubrick: The Invisible Man

documentary directed and written by Paul Joyce,

was released in the United Kingdom on June 20, 1996.

Cast:

Ken Adam, Garrett Brown, Arthur C. Clarke, Shelley Duvall, R. Lee Ermey, James B. Harris, Michael Herr, Diane Johnson, Stanley Kubrick, Malcolm McDowell, Matthew Modine, Jonathan Pryce, Leonard Rosenman, Kate Sheldon, Bryan Singer, David Thomson.

On this day in music history - The Spell, by Kevin Braheny and Tim Clark (1996):

The Spell

Album by Kevin Braheny and Tim Clark,
released May 21, 1996.

Track list:

The Magician; A Perfect Evening For Flying Carpets; Time In The Mirror (Transporter Version); Palace Of Dreams; The Spell; Merlin’s Last Voyage; The Sail Of Argo Navis; Sorceror’s Parade.

On this day in movie history - Moonshine Highway (1996):

Moonshine Highway

directed and written by Andy Armstrong,

was released in the United States on May 5, 1996.
Music by Steve Dorff.

Cast:

Kyle MacLachlan, Randy Quaid, Maria del Mar, Alex Carter, Gary Farmer, Jeremy Ratchford, Leslie Carlson, Dennis Fitzgerald, Raliegh Wilson, Michael Copeman, Jody Racicot, Rick Roberts, Lori Hallier, Eleanor Joy Lind, Dick Callahan, Doug Lennox, David Cronenberg, Beau Starr, Andy Armstrong, Stuart Hughes, J. Winston Carroll, Todd Schroeder, Mike Lee, Jason Deline.

On this day in movie history - Mulholland Falls (1996):

Mulholland Falls

directed by Lee Tamahori,

written by Pete Dexter,

based on a story by Pete Dexter and Floyd Mutrux,

was released in the United States on April 26, 1996.
Music by Dave Grusin.

Cast:

Nick Nolte, Melanie Griffith, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Treat Williams, Jennifer Connelly, Daniel Baldwin, Andrew McCarthy, John Malkovich, Kyle Chandler, Ed Lauter, Larry Garrison, Chelsea Harrington, Johnna Johnson, Rick Johnson, Britt Burr, Melinda Clarke, Ernie Lively, Richard Sylbert, Michael Krawic, Titus Welliver, Robert Peters, William M. Thigpen, Drew Pillsbury, Brad Hunt, Aaron Neville, Buddy Joe Hooker, Eddie Caicedo, Price Carson, Azalea Davila, Suzanne Solari, Alisa Christensen, Bruce Dern, Louise Fletcher, Khris Kaneff, Sharmagne Leland-St. John, Rob Lowe, Johnny Martin, William Petersen, Lisa Rhyne, Randall Rutledge, Christopher Warner.

On this day in music history - La Cenerentola (1996):

La Cenerentola

an episode of the Great Performances TV series,

directed by Brian Large,

written by Jacopo Ferretti and Charles Perrault,

was released in the United States on April 3, 1996.

Music by Gioachino Rossini.

Cast:

Cecilia Bartoli, Enzo Dara, Raúl Giménez, Alessandro Corbelli, Michele Pertusi, Laura Knoop, Jill Grove, Bruno Campanella, Houston Grand Opera Chorus, Spiro Winsett.

On this day in movie history - Ghost in the Shell (1995):

Ghost in the Shell

directed by Mamoru Oshii,

based on the Manga comic book series by Masamune Shirow,

was released in the United States on March 29, 1996.
The DVD of the updated Ghost in the Shell 2.0 version was released in the United States on January 12, 2010.

Voice cast:

Atsuko Tanaka, Maaya Sakamoto, Akio Ōtsuka, Iemasa Kayumi, Yoshiko Sakakibara, Kōichi Yamadera, Tamio Ōki, Yutaka Nakano, Tesshō Genda, Mitsuru Miyamoto, Kazuhiro Yamaji, Shigeru Chiba.

On this day in movie history - Diabolique (1996):

Diabolique

directed by Jeremiah Chechik,

written by Don Roos,

based on the original screenplay by Henri-Georges Clouzot, Jérôme Géronimi, René Masson and Frédéric Grendel,

in turn based on the novel She Who Was No More by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac,

was released in the United States on March 22, 1996.
Music by Randy Edelman.

Cast:

Sharon Stone, Isabelle Adjani, Chazz Palminteri, Kathy Bates, Spalding Gray, Shirley Knight, Allen Garfield, Adam Hann-Byrd, Donal Logue, Diana Bellamy, Clea Lewis, J.J. Abrams, O'Neal Compton, Bingo O'Malley, Stephen Liska, James Kisicki, Kevin Vinay, Cory Pattak, Kate Young, Sophia Salguero, Hank Stohl, Zachary Mott, Jesse Sky Ross, Tony Amen, Daniel Conley, Aaron D. Frankel, Daniel Kremer, Phil Nardozzi, Steve Patterson.

On this day in movie history - Fargo (1996):

Fargo

directed by Joel Coen,

written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen,

was released in the United States on March 8, 1996.
Music by Carter Burwell.

Cast:

Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Harve Presnell, Kristin Rudrüd, Tony Denman, Steve Reevis, Larry Brandenburg, John Carroll Lynch, Steve Park, Bruce Bohne, Larissa Kokernot, David S. Lomax, Melissa Peterman, Michelle Suzanne LeDoux, Bain Boehlke, Warren Keith, James Gaulke, José Feliciano, Michelle Hutchison, Cliff Rakerd, Gary Houston, Steve Edelman, Sally Wingert, Bruce Campbell.