Creepy Carolers

"A Cool Yule with a Ghoul!"

Classic Horror on TCM!

Well...  Good job, Turner Classic Movies.  I'm not going to have much room left on my DVR after October!

I don't know how many of you have access to the TCM channel, but I thought I would share a portion of their programming schedule for this month which is dedicated to classic horror films!  TCM is celebrating Halloween all month long with a great selection of vintage movies, including films from the silent era, the original Universal classics, and the Hammer films as well!

Friday, 7th
Nosferatu (1922) @ 8pm
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) @ 9:45pm
The Unholy Three (1925) @ 11:15pm
Phantom of the Opera (1925) @ 1am

Saturday, 9th 
Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) @ 8pm
Frankenstein meets the Wolfman (1943) @ 9:15
House of Frankenstein (1944) @ 10:45pm
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) @ 12:15

Sunday, 16th 
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) @ 8pm
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) @ 9:45pm

Monday, 17th 
Horror Hotel (1960) @ 8pm
Horror Express (1972) @ 9:30pm
The House that Dripped Blood (1970) @ 11:15pm
The Creeping Flesh (1972) @ 1:15am

February, 21st 
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) @ 8pm
Eyes Without a Face (1960) @ 10:00pm
The Body Snacher (1945) @11:45pm
Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954) @ 1:15am
Machabre (1958) @ 2:45am

Saturday, 22nd 
The Killer Shrews (1959) @ 6:45am
The Devil Bay (1940) @ 8am
The Seventh Victim (1943) @ 9:15am

Sunday, 23rd 
Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) @ 8pm
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1970) @ 10pm
The Phantom Carriage (1922) @ 12am
Epidemic (1987) @ 2am

Monday, 24th 
The Gorgon (1964) @ 3:15pm
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) @ 4:45pm
Rasputin, the Mad Monk (1966) @ 6:15pm
House of Dracula (1958) @8pm
Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1965) @ 9:30pm
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1969) @ 11:15pm
Taste The Blood of Dracula (1970) @ 1am
The Scars of Dracula (1970) @ 2:45am
Dracula A.D. (1972) @4:30am

Wednesday, 26th 
The Robot vs The Aztec Mummy (1965) @ 6am
The Time Machine (1960) @ 7:15am
Time After Time (1979) @ 9am
The Ice Pirates (1984) @ 1pm
Satellite In the Sky (1956) @ 2:45pm
Logan's Run (1975) @ 4:15pm
Soylent Green (1973) @ 6:15pm

Friday, 28th 
Dracula (1931) @ 8pm
The Mummy (1932) @ 9:30pm
The Invisible Man (1933) @ 11pm
THE Wolfman (1941) @ 12:15am
The Black Cat (1934) @ 1:30am
The Uninvited (1944) @ 2:45am
Island of Lost Souls (1933) @ 4:30am

Saturday, 29th 
The She-Doll 1936 @ 6am
Bedlam (1946) @ 9am
The Black Scorpion (1957) @ 12pm
The Blob (1958) @ 1:45pm
Village of The Dammed (1961) @ 3:15pm
The Thing From Another Would (1951) @ 4:45pm
Earth vs The Fling Saucers (1956) @ 6:30pm
Blood and Black Lace (1964) @ 8pm
Carnival of Souls (1962) @ 9:30pm
It's Alive (1974) @ 11pm
The Baby (1973) @ 12:45pm

Sunday, 30th 
The Tingler (1959) @ 12pm
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) @ 1:30pm
The Abominable Dr. Philbes (1971) @ 6pm
Young Frankenstein (1974) @ 8pm
Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein (1947) @ 10pm
The Monster (1925) @ 12am

Monday, 31st 
Mark of The Vampire (1935) @ 6am
Walk With A Zombie 1943) @ 8:30am
Dementa 13 (1963) @ 9:45am
House of Wax (1953) @ 11:15am
Black Sabbath (1964) @ 12:45pm
Dead of Night (1945) @ 2:30pm
House on Haunted Hill (1958) @ 4:30pm
The Haunting (1963) @ 6pm
The Devils Bride (1968) @ 8pm
The Mummy (1959) @ 9:45pm
The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1961) @ 2:45am
To The Devil, A Daughter (1976) @ 4:30am

Famous Monsters Speak!

What a treat this must have been for the monster kids!!!  

"Famous Monster Speak" was an album released in 1963.  Advertised, appropriately enough, in the back of Famous Monsters magazine and other Warren publications this record delivered on its promise:  Allowing the listener to hear Frankenstein's Monster and Dracula talk!  

The album consisted of two stories - one on each side of the record - featuring each monster as the narrator.  Both stories are creatively framed by their own establishing plots.  For Frankenstein's Monster, a summit of scientists has gathered to listen to a "primitive recording device" which features the creature recounting his creation from his own perspective and his struggles against creator.  Meanwhile, Dracula's story is told when he summons a reporter to his lair to type up an expose' on his life as an immortal vampire.

I particularly enjoy the artwork for the album with iconic images of both the Monster and Dracula.  Inexplicably, the Wolf Man, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the Mummy also share the spotlight despite not actually appearing on the record itself at all.  

Overall, this is good listen if you enjoy the old radio dramas.  The voice acting is spot-on.  Gabriel Dell supplied the voices of both the Monster and Dracula.  His portrayal of the Monster appropriately alternates between menacing and tragic, while his Dracula maintains a consistently sinister tone (and without imitating Lugosi!).  The sound effects also help to set a great atmosphere for both the framing narratives and the monsters telling their stories.  

Side 1 - Frankenstein

Side 2 - Dracula 

I'm always on the look out for a copy of this record as I scour the shelves and racks of flea markets flipping through vinyls.  Maybe one day I'll luck out and actually track one down. 

Pepsi Party Monsters!

Back in the early 90's Pepsi (and Doritos's) teamed up with the Universal Monsters brand to do a series of Halloween promotions.  One of my favorite products of this unholy union was the "Pepsi Party Monsters" from '92.  As you can see, the results were gloriously unadulterated cheesy fun!

The artwork seen in this post graced the backside of twelve packs.  I remember tracking down relatives that drank the various Pepsi products so I could collect all of the artwork and hang it up in my room.  I also remember being so disappointed the year they stopped producing these!

As seen above, Frankenstein's Monster celebrated the occasion by shooting some pool.  I never noticed the Wolfman's high-top sneakers until this post.

The Bride of Frankenstein hosted a frat-house toga party.  I remember her headdress on this one always bothered me as it looked a bit too Egyptian...  That's the Mummy's schtick!

 Dracula opted for a classy disco.  Growing up, I always wanted a pair of Drac's sunglasses.

The Mummy went for a hard rock concert.  I love the details for some of the instruments on this one:  Creech is back there rocking out a fish guitar while the Mummy's Egyptian-styled bass guitar is resting in a sarcophagus case.

Inexplicably, the Wolfman threw a luau.  Notice: Frankie's got mad limbo skills!

Finally, the Creature from the Black Lagoon invited everyone to back to his bachelor-pad cave for a conga line while he sucks down some Mountain Dew.

The Art of Basil Gogos

Basil Gogos is a celebrated artist best known for his cover artwork for classic issues of "Famous Monsters of Filmland".  His signature style features saturated colors and dramatic lighting, resulting in striking and unforgettable images.

Basil Gogos

Happy Birthday to Mary Shelley

“If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear!”

- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

Author Mary Shelley was born on this day in 1797.  Shelley was a writer of novels, short stories, screenplays, essays, travel pieces, and more.  However, Shelley is best known for her novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus.

A woodcut  depicting Frankenstein's Creature by Lynd Ward for a 1934 edition of the novel

Frankenstein is considered a influential, classic work of Gothic Horror and, perhaps the very first Science Fiction tale.  In her novel, Shelley warns of the perils of man playing God as an obsessive scientist does the fantastic and terrifying, resurrecting a creature composed of dead tissue.  Upon his the "birth" of his creation, Frankenstein rejects the "Monster" and thus sets into motion a series of horrifically tragic events.  Readers sympathize with Frankenstein's creation, who turns out to be a tortured, misunderstood figure and justly recognize the doctor himself as being "the real monster".

Famously, an 18 year old Shelley began writing the story in Switzerland during the stormy summer of 1816 (apparently brought on by the eruption of an Indonesian volcano).  She and her future husband, Percy Shelley, were challenged by Lord Byron to create a horror story.  Initially stumped as to what exactly to write, Shelley became preoccupied with the idea of a man reanimating a corpse.  This germ of an idea led to severe nightmares.  Inspired, Shelley sett out to create just a short story, but the tale eventually developed into a novel.  The book was first published anonymously in 1818, although Shelley's name would appear on an 1823 edition and all subsequent publications of the story.

Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and the Monster (Boris Karloff) face off in the classic 1931 Universal film

While the book would receive mostly negative reviews, it was popular among readers and would go on to become a classic.  Shelley's story is a cultural phenomenon that has inspired multiple stage and film adaptations.  Her legacy lives on as Victor Frankenstein and his "Monster" are now archetypal characters that remain indispensable fixtures of popular culture.

A Stroll Around the Corridor...

I got bored the other day and decided to take some pictures of a portion of my collection of masks, busts, and action figures and then put them through some filters...  Enjoy.

Frankenstein's Monster versus... Dinosaurs?!?

I love this image.  Artwork by Alex Horley.

Great Monsters of the Movies

It all began with a tattered paperback book found at a random yard sale at some point during my youth...

It was probably on a warm summer day in the early 90's that I found it. Somewhere amidst the clutter cacophony of bric-a-brac, old excersise equipment, and mothball-scented sweaters (Who went to yard sales for clothes? I was on the hunt for books and toys!)...

I found it...

My precious...

"Great Monsters of the Movies" by Robert K. Davidson

Having been interested mainly in dinosaurs up to that point I suppose I was drawn to the book and subsequently begged my mother for the 25 cents to purchase it because there was a brief chapter about Godzilla in the back (A legitimate reason for anything's necessity if there ever was one...).

Yes.

Aside from the orange cover, the contents of the entire book was printed in black and white which was unusual for me, but it added to the mystique of the titular monsters contained within.  Black and white photography always seems to make things more mysterious even to this day, at least in my mind.

I always had to skip this page with this picture of Lon Chaney in London After Midnight.  It legitimately creeped me out.  Still kinda does... 

They were all there...  Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, Wolf-Man, the Creature from the Black Lagoon!  I pored over that book for years, reading the synopses of the classic Universal, Hammer, and Toho films.  It was one of my first introductions to the iconic movie monsters and the actors that portrayed them.  Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney (Sr. and Jr.), Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, and Vincent Price.  I yearned to see them all in the movies themselves, but would have to wait many years to do so.

There was also the occasional insight into the making of the movies.  It was in these pages that I first learned of special effects and make-up techniques.  Rather than destroy any remaining air of mystery the descriptions actually increased my fascination and inspired me to make my own monsters in later years.  

I didn't grow up with these classic movies on the big screen and it wouldn't be until much later in life that I heard of publications like Famous Monsters that kept the flame going, but I always considered myself a "monster kid" thanks to this book.

Eventually, the its cover disintegrated, even with multiple attempts to salvage it with tape and contact paper...  But the book itself made an impression that has lasted for years.