"...To all the monsters in my nursery: May you never leave me alone."
- Guillermo del Toro
If had the opportunity to hang out with any celebrity, it would definitely be Guillermo del Toro. The man exudes such passion for what he does. He is completely unashamed of his geekiness.
I'm pretty sure that I could listen to him talk all day long. In fact, sometimes when I'm feeling uninspired I will turn on the DVD commentary for his movie Hellboy and just listen to del Toro and Mike Mignola discuss monsters and the creative process.
Anyways... Happy birthday to one of my favorite directors who turned 50 today!
One of my fondest memories growing up involves being scared to death. Whether it was R.L. Stine's Goosebumps books or the Are You Afraid of the Dark TV show (or the Scary Stories to tell in the Dark series, which I've discussed at length already. Twice.), there was something alluring about being frightened.
Enter an unassuming, solid black cassette tape lent to me by my best friend in elementary school.
The cassette was called "Chamber of Horrors" and even though I was scared out of my mind I couldn't wait to get home to listen to it! The tape was a collection of spooky sound effects and music meant to be played at Halloween parties, but for my friends and I, it was our go-to mood setter for any time we wanted to scare the bejeezus out of each other.
Listening to that cassette tape, my imagination ran wild. I could imagine nightmarish scenes in which hordes of monsters, vampires, and witches prowled empty streets, archaic graveyards, and dilapidated houses. Standout sound effects for me include the bubbling chemicals, the funeral dirge, and the cackling witch. I remember flinching any time that creepy voice exclaimed "Happy Halloween!" and I had to constantly brace myself for those unexpected, random screams intermingled with the other sound effects... But I loved every minute of it!
As the sticker on the cassette reads, the tape includes voices, sound, and music. I'm not sure how I didn't recognize it at the time, but a rip-off of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" plays in the background. Other musical accompaniment includes with a rendition of a prog rock song called "Birds of Fire", and - inexplicably - some whimsical jazz number, complete with a clarinet and saxophone.
I had to beg my mom to take me to K-Mart to get my own copy to play on my Walkman. I wore that tape out and had to buy another the following year! For a number of Halloweens this was the soundtrack for the "haunts" I set up to terrorize trick-or-treaters in my aunt's yard. I remember thinking that all it took to set up a proper haunted house was dimming the lights, throwing up some artificial cobwebs, and cranking the volume on the boombox.
Imagine my delight at finding that I still had a copy in my basement!
And now, for your own listening enjoyment (If your nerves can handle the horror!):
Note: Apparently some versions of this tape included a narrated story that utilized the sound effects as part of a narrative. If I can track it down I will share it in a future post!
A "Blood Moon" is so named due to the reddish color that tints the Moon during a total lunar eclipse. This rare event only takes place during a the night of the full moon phase when the Moon passes into shadow (or umbra) of the Earth.
Throughout the ages and across a variety of cultures this astronomical event has been interpreted as a bad omen which served to foreshadow famines and other calamities. Ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians and Incans thought that during a lunar eclipse the Moon was swallowed by a demon or some sacred animal. Advanced cultures such as the Greeks recognized lunar eclipses as evidence for the Earth being round.
My wife and I are rarely able to witness such amazing celestial phenomena due to our schedule, so we were very excited to have the chance to witness the lunar eclipse early this morning. Of course, as our luck would have it, it was a very cloudy, foggy morning... Still, we were able to catch a glimpse of the eclipse and the red Moon every once in a while. I can only imagine what it must have looked like in clear conditions!
Creepy was another one of Warren Publishing's comic magazines that was published in the 70's and into the early 80's. Technically Creepy came first and was met with such success that Eerie was not far behind. (I've discussed Eeriebefore, if you recall. Also, you've already metCreepy's horror host Uncle Creepy in a previous post).
One of Warren's most prolific talents was illustrator Richard Corben who created the artwork for the cover above and the classic story below. Be on the look out for more Corben in the future, he's one of my favorites!
"Change into Something Comfortable" was originally published in 1984 and was written by Doug Moench.
Always on the look out for new issues of Creepy and Eerie to add to my collection, I was thrilled to find a selection at a recent comic convention. I was doubly excited to get my hands on an "All Corben" issue that reprinted some of the artists best stories at the time.
Funny story: As soon as I picked the magazine up a gentlemen who sounded a lot like your typical surfer/stoner dude noticed the cover artwork and told me all about how he had read this very issue when he was growing up. He then proceeded to completely ruing the ending for me...
"Monsters eating another monster?!? I didn't see that coming! That traumatized me as a kid, man!"
I suppose I would have been more disappointed, but the cover does kind of give it away...
Note: You might have noticed that I took down Corben's adaptation of "The Raven". After thinking about it for a while I decided that this comic might be more appropriate for the time of year. I lose sleep over stuff like that...
Don't worry you worry, though, I'll definitely be re-posting it later on.
That country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and mid-nights stay. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain...”
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