Slandered as a deviant and provocateur in some circles and worshipped as a cult figure in others, the work of director Ed Wood left a legacy of infamy. Although best-known for his abysmally applauded oeuvre, Plan 9 From Outer Space, which earned Wood the Golden Turkey Award for Worst Film Director, it was Wood's idiosyncratic behavior of directing in drag, shoestring hustle and entourage of misfits—including his friendship with vampiric icon, Bela Lugosi—that has most fascinated fans and critics alike.

Characterized by his love of angora and kooky affability—eccentricities celebrated in Tim Burton's film homage—Wood's fetishistic proclivities soon gave way to the sleazy underbelly of pornographic pulp novels. Authoring such titles as Black Lace Drag and Orgy of the Dead, Wood countered his depraved plots by inter-splicing them with what a press release describes as "lengthy philosophical, sociological and psychological discourse." Often writing under numerous pseudonyms and issuing erratic re-publications, the obscurity and sensationalism of Wood's novels have both captured and eluded the attention of dedicated antiquarian collectors.