[2] Gastaldi left his job as a clerk at the Sella bank in Biella to move to Rome where he was admitted into Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia.
[3] In 1957, Gastaldi wrote his first science fiction novel which the publishers requested an English-language name for the cover.
[5] Gastaldi would write more crime and science fiction novels during this period such as Sangue intasca (1957) as James Duffy, Brivido sulla schiena (1957) as Freddy Foster and Tempo zero (1960) as Berry.
[6] Gastaldi's debut as a screenwriter and assistant director was with the film The Vampire and the Ballerina by Renato Polselli.
"[7] Other works in gothic horror included Gastaldi writing for Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory, The Horrible Dr. Hichcock and The Whip and the Body.