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David Welling
David Welling art studio

Writer. Artist. Some mischief. 

David Welling is a Houston-based writer, artist, and graphic designer. He is the author of Cinema Houston, a concise history of the theatres in Houston. He also writes fiction.

MidWinter Tales: a Seasonal Anthology by David Welling
COMING THIS FALL:
Midwinter Tales: a Seasonal Anthology

In this collection of 14 holiday-themed stories, author David Welling takes you through the ups and downs of the holidays. Family, friends, relationships, and work are all intertwined with excitement—or dread—of this period. For some, it’s a time of romance and excitement, the discovery of someone new, and a kiss under the mistletoe. For others, stress rules with chaos and unforeseen visitors. In many cases, magic is in the air—and surprises lie beyond the presents under the tree.

The centerpiece to this collection is a unique take on A Christmas Carol featuring Edgar Allan Poe, Hamlet, and a rubber chicken–not something Charles Dickens had in mind when he penned the story of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Every year for the last several decades, David has sent out these holiday stories to family and friends as a seasonal Christmas greeting. Now he gets to share them with you.

About Us

Cinema Houston: From Nickelodeon to Megaplex by David Welling

CINEMA HOUSTON
David Welling’s landmark book on the cinema

Cinema Houston celebrates a vibrant century of movie theatres and moviegoing in Texas's largest city. Illustrated with more than two hundred historical photographs, newspaper clippings, and advertisements, it traces the history of Houston movie theatres from their early twentieth-century beginnings in vaudeville and nickelodeon houses to the opulent downtown theatres built in the 1920s (the Majestic, Metropolitan, Kirby, and Loew's State). It also captures the excitement of the neighborhood theatres of the 1930s and 1940s, including the Alabama, Tower, and River Oaks; the theatres of the 1950s and early 1960s, including the Windsor and its Cinerama roadshows; and the multicinemas and megaplexes that have come to dominate the movie scene since the late 1960s.

While preserving the glories of Houston's lost movie palaces—only a few of these historic theatres still survive—Cinema Houston also vividly re-creates the moviegoing experience, chronicling midnight movie madness, summer nights at the drive-in, and, of course, all those tasty snacks at the concession stand. Sure to appeal to a wide audience, from movie fans to devotees of Houston's architectural history, Cinema Houston captures the bygone era of the city's movie houses, from the lowbrow to the sublime, the hi-tech sound of 70mm Dolby and THX to the crackle of a drive-in speaker on a cool spring evening.

Cinema Houston is the recipient of the 2008 Julia Ideson Award from the Friends of the Texas Room, and the Society of Architectural Historians' 2009 Antoinette Forrester Downing Award.

By allowing us to remember what we lost, Welling refines our perspective on what is worth preserving. — Aaron Carpenter, Cite Magazine

© 2024 David Welling
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