31 Days of Halloween - Day 8

Here's a story I wrote for issue #17 of the "Dexter's Laboratory" comic book. It has a January 2001 cover date, which means it hit stores in October 2000, just in time for Halloween.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 7 - Movie

I've had "Moon of the Wolf" (1972) sitting on my shelf for at least three years, and finally felt compelled to watch it. This made for tv movie wasn't too bad to start with. The initial murder mystery is pretty nicely set-up as is the cast of suspects along with the soap opera trappings of secret pregnancies, and social prejudices. Unfortunately, you know the killer is a werewolf, and it's even pretty obvious who it is that turns into the werewolf as soon as the character is first introduced. There's nothing more tiring about a mystery than waiting for the sheriff, played by David Janssen, investigating the case to catch up with the viewer. He spends much of the movie, in a French speaking region of Louisiana trying to find someone who can tell him what a loup garou is. Maybe in 1972, a tv audience would have been just as in the dark, but it is called "Moon of the Wolf" after all.

Once the werewolf is finally revealed, he's defeated in the most anticlimatic way possible, and the sheriff isn't even present when it happens. The build up to this point wasn't too bad, a little suspense and maybe throwing one of the characters in jeapordy might have turned this into a nice little tv movie.

Much of the second half of this movie is set up so that you're waiting for the big reveal of what the werewolf looks like. Well, look at the top of this post. there he is. The make-up was done by William Tuttle who also did the make-up for "Mark of the Vampire," George Pal's "The Time Machine" and "The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao," and "Young Frankenstein," so you have to assume that there wasn't a lot of time set asside for applying a complex make-up (no transformation scene either), which is why this well groomed werewolf's minor amount of facial hair stops at the neckline.

Even so, I'll take this over crappy fake looking CGI werewolves any day.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 7 - Riddle

Why doesn't anyone like Dracula?







Answer to yesterday's riddle: Throw it up in the air--it will come down SQUASH!


Nice job, Max!

31 Days of Halloween - Day 7

For well over a decade now, if you wanted to find a magazine with some do it yourself halloween craft projects that weren't those nauseatingly safe-cute preschool, and grandma, type crafts featured in "Women's Day," and "Family Circle," the only option was "Martha Stewart Living." There's nothing wrong with this. There's usually some pretty great looking stuff in there. Even so, I've yet to actually want to construct any of it for my own house.

I think David J. Skal nailed the reason why perfectly in his fantastic 2002 book "Death Makes a Holiday." In an era when everyone from conservative Christians to mavens of political correctness are trying to tame the holiday into something "nice," Martha completely tames the holiday. "For Stewart, everything about Halloween is Perfectly Under Control." The chaotic spirit of the holiday does not have its presence felt in her orderly, decorated version of it.

For those of us who want to make some Halloween decorations, costumes, and so forth with a bit more bite and grue to them, then look no further than the special Halloween issue of "Make". It's worth buying just for the cover and interior illustrations by Seth, but there's a lot of great stuff in there, from nauseating looking cakes, to a fantastic decapitated Marie Antoinette costume, to a jack o'lantern carved to look like a cylon, complete with scanning red eye and sound effects, to an easy to build, inexpensive way to turn your store bought fog machine into a turbo charged deluxe fogger. If I actually had the time to do it this year, this project I would tundertake.

They're also having a contest for DIY projects to be included in the next Halloween Special Issue. You can find the information via their website at the link above.

I'll still pick up "Martha Stewart Living" each October, but "Make: Halloween" is the magazine I'll be looking forward to.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 6 - Movie 2

My second viewing was actually a group of short films put together by Lurker Films, as the first volume in "The Edgar Allan Poe Collection" under the title "Annabel Lee."

"Annabel Lee" uses both stop-motion and marionette puppets to translate Poe's story of loss, and love's ability to overcome loss, even death. Set mostly in a nightmarish world filled with half rats, decay, and various skeleton abominations, "Annabel Lee" is a visually impressive interpretation of Poe's story.

Paul Naschy, the one-man horror film industry of Spain, stars in the next short, a very loose adaptation of "The Tell-Tale Heart." which was filmed mostly in a private library I wish were mine. My only wish is that this film were longer.

A generally excellant adaptation of "The Raven" rounds out the shorts, with perfect voice narration, nice acting, and a really cool raven puppet. This may have been my favorite film on this disc, which also contains numerous bonus features including an interview with Poe expert Paul Clemens, who some of you old readers of Famous Monsters may remember as being the kid who looked a lot like Ernie on "My Three Sons" and who made up Forrest J Ackerman to look like Vincent Price. Clemens was also the star of "The Beast Within" (1982) which was recently released to DVD.

A worthy addition to your DVD library.


You can order directly from Lurker Films. Be sure to tell them I sent you.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 6 - Movie 1

"Tales of Terror" (1962) for some reason has always been my favorite of the Roger Corman directed Edgar Allan Poe movies starring Vincent Price. Why this is, I couldn't tell you. The three stories making up this movie are pretty slight, especially the opening "Morella" which is more about walking through a heavily cobwebbed set than anything else. The final story "The Case of M. Valdemar" is wicked, disturbing fun, with Basil Rathbone as an oily mesmerist who keeps Vincent Price's soul alive inside his dead body, with grisly results.

It's the middle story, "The Black Cat," which I think is solely responsible for my great love of this movie. Peter Lorre plays a dispicable, drunk. Vincent Price, in what may be his hammiest, scenery chewing role, plays a wine connosieur, who meets his match when Lorre challenges him to a wine taste off. Price then becomes involved with Lorre's mistreated wife, until Lorre catches on and carries out a revenge scheme. This is a humorous segment, never funnier than when Lorre and Price are together on screen, a chemistry that would carry over to the humorous "The Raven" (1963), the following year.

Don't miss it.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 6 - Riddle

How can you turn a pumpkin into a squash?








Answer to yesterday's riddle: Shudders!

Shawn guessed correctly!

31 Days of Halloween - Day 6

Last year, as part of the 31 Days of Halloween countdown, I included a post about the classic Disney sound effects album "Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House." It was a record I listened to again, and again, and again as a kid. I still have that record, but alas, I lamented a year ago, no longer had the "Spooky Party Hints" that were printed on the albums inner paper sleeve.

The best treat I received this season came from Neato Ghoulville's Todd Franklin, who found the album at a flea market, with the party hints insert intact, and sent it to me as a gift. Todd, I can't thank you enough.

Since Todd was so generous with me, I'm going to share with the rest of you. Here are the Spooky Party Hints from"Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House" and there are some good ideas there.

To hear the record itself head over here

31 Days of Halloween - Day 5 - Contest!

You've now read all about "Halloween the Happy Haunting of America." Now find out how you can win a copy of your very own. Chuck Williams was kind enough to send me two copies of the DVD, and I'm looking for a trick or treat bucket to drop it into.

So what do you have to do? If you're here, and you're interested in this contest, then you probably love Halloween. Let's see just how much you love it. Email me (use the "contact" link under "links" in the collumn to the right) an image of that great job you did decorating your yard, porch, or interior of your home; or that great prop or decoration that you made; or even your best, or favorite costume that you wore. Just one or two images will suffice, please. It doesn't have to rival Disney's Haunted Mansion or anything. This contest will not be judged on quality. The winner will be chosen randomly from among the entries.

Be sure to include a name and address (which will not be shared) with your entry. All entries must be received by October 14, 2007. All entrants agree to allow me to post their images here on this website. That is all. The winner will be announced a few days after the end of this contest.






Accompanying image from the October 2007 issue of "Country Living." Photography by Ryan Benyi.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 5 - Movie 2

I first encountered "Halloween the Happy Haunting of America" (1997) on VHS in the late, great Creature Features store in Burbank, CA in 1998, and loved it immediately. Produced and directed by Chuck Williams and Daniel Roebuck, and starring Daniel Roebuck and the legendary Bob Burns, "Halloween the Happy Haunting of America" is a fun roadtrip through haunted attractions throught the United States interspersed with reminiscences about the holiday by horror actors such as Robert Englund and Angus Scrimm and Rock Star, Alice Cooper. There's also segments on mask makers such as Don Post, interviews with the living relatives of classic horror legends such as Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, and Henry Hull, and, my favorite part, footage from the amazing Halloween shows that Bob Burns used to put on in his back yard with special effects by Dennis Muren and make-up work by Rick Baker. This is lots of fun.

If this had been all that was featured on the 10th Anniversary DVD, I'd be real happy, but there's more, so much more. The 2-disc set includes a follow-up combination tour of the Magic Castle magicians club in Hollywood interspersed with more haunted attractions. There's also a bunch of photo and art galleries, segments showcasing more than a dozen more haunted attractions, an interview with Rochelle Santopoalo, who edited the now defunct Happy Halloween magazine, a music video, the pilot episode of "Raw Talk" a round table discussion with horror celebrities hosted by Williams and Roebuck (the sound recording is a bit uneven in this segment, on Tony Todd in particular), a blooper reel, and my two favorite features on this disc; a tour of Dan Roebuck's AMAZING collection of monster toys and masks, and Roebuck's Rondo Award winning tribute to Spookshows: Dr. Shocker's Halloween Spooktacular, which is a lot of fun, and had my kids in stitches (my daughter laughing so hard she was snorting like a pig, which I've only ever witnessed one other time). There's a ton of stuff here. It took me a couple of days to get through it all.

I can't recommend this DVD set enough. This show truly captures the spirit of the season, and you can tell that everyone involved really loves Halloween and all things associated with it. You can order one directly from the producers here.

Be sure to tell them I sent you, as Chuck Williams was gracious enough to supply me with a copy to review here.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 5 - Movie 1

The plus side about horror movies made in the 1970s is that they didn't always feel compelled to explain everything, or anything. The negative side is that so many of them look like they were made for tv -- whether they were, or not.

"Let's Scare Jessica To Death" (1971) is one of those movies. Jessica (Zohra Lampert), recently released from a six week stay at a mental institution, moves with her husband, and a close friend of theirs to a secluded home, where in true hippy fashion they plan to return to the land, and grow apples, which they spray with liberal doses of toxic pesticides. When they arrive at the house, they discover a woman squatter already there. Rather than kick her out, they ask her to stay with them, and Jessica's mental state, already precarious before reaching the house, quickly begins to unravel as all sorts of inexplicable events begin to surround her. Dead bodies, beckoning voices, and attacking drowned bodies seem to be a phenomena only she experiences, but a ghostly mute girl, and the unfriendly old men of the town with their starnge wounds and bandages, are seen by the others as well. Everything seems to have something to do with a woman who once lived in the house, and who drowned on her wedding day, but whose body was never found. Is the strange woman who they found already inhabiting the house really the drowned woman, or is Jessica simply having another nervous break down? You decide.

This movie was no nail biter, but did have some odd moments of tension. It's worth a look, but not much of a loss if you don't see it.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 5 - Special Announcement!

This year for the Halloween countdown, I've decided to provide two contests. The first one will begin tonight, so be sure to check back tonight for today's movie. All of the details will be posted then. Good luck!

31 Days of Halloween - Day 5 - Riddle

What do you find on the windows of a haunted house?







Answer to yesterday's riddle: Corpse and Robbers!

A lot of good guesses though.



The above image was created by Daniele Montella. You can see how it was created here.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 5

Yesterday, I picked up my first bag of candy corn of the season.

George Renninger, an employee of the Wunderlee Candy Company, invented the popular confection in the 1880s.

More than 35 million pounds of candy corn will be produced this year. That equates to nearly 9 billion pieces—enough to circle the moon nearly 4 times if laid end-to-end. Wouldn't that be something to see?

For more facts and history of candy corn visit Candy USA

For more daily Halloween goodness here are some old favorites: Senses Working Overtime, <Tiki Ranch< and X-Entertainment

...and some new additions: Musty TV, Frankenstein's Funhouse, and Random Acts of Geekery.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 4 Movie 2

When I was a kid, there were two comedians that I found funnier than anyone else. One was Don Knotts. The other was Paul Lynde. It took me many years to catch on to why my parents were so concerned with my infatuation with Paul Lynde.

"The Paul Lynde Halloween Special" aired only once, back on October 29, 1976, and was believe lost for the past 30 years. Notable, mostly as the television debut of the rock group, KISS, master tapes have been found and the special is now available on DVD from S'More Entertainment. If you were born after this initially aired, there's no way you are going to want to watch this. The jokes are horrendous. The references, including skits about CB radio, disco, and guest stars Roz "Pinky Tuscadero" Kelly will be well outside your life experience. For those of us who witnessed this special when it first aired, it's a pleasant bit of nostalgia, much like "The Star Wars Holiday Special" only without the cool Boba Fett cartoon. Though to be fair, "The Paul Lynde Halloween Special" is easier to sit through.

Other guests include Billy Barty, Florence Henderson, Tim Conway, blink and you'll miss them Donnie and Marie Osmond, and in full make-up, Billie Hayes as Witchie Poo from H.R. Pufnstuf and Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West.

KISS performs "Detroit Rock City," "Beth," and "King of the Nighttime World."

31 Days of Halloween - Day 4 Movie 1

Today is the 50th Anniversary of the launching of Sputnik, an event without which there would likely be no space program of any sort today. Certainly, humans would never have set foot on the moon.

My original intent was to commemorate the day, and stay, more-or-less, true to this month's them by watching "War of the Satellites" (1958) or even "Matinee" (1993), but the idea of digging through boxes of VHS tapes I have in storage to find them was simply too daunting. Instead, I chose another first involving spacecraft; "The Man From Planet X" (1951) which is the first movie to depict an alien from another world visiting Earth. Nicely directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, this is a, mostly, inventive, well thought out movie, with an alien that isn't simply arbitrarilly weird. Short, due to living on a world with a higher atmospheric pressure than our own, the alien tries communicating by emiting a strange tone, and is seen adjusting the gas intake on the breathing apparatus of his bulky spacesuit, a maneuver that later puts him at the mercy of the humans he encounters.

The alien's true visit to earth is ambiguous. It's stated towards the end of the movie that he was preparing for an invasion from his dying homeworld, but when first encountered is not necessarilly a threat. Unlike other alien movies that would quickly follow, one of the humans is the villain here, abusing the alien in order to try and coerce it into giving up its technological secrets. It's only after this point that the alien menaces Sally Field's mother, and other humans.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 4 Riddle

What game do little ghouls play?






Answer to yesterday's riddle: Zom-bees!


Stephen guessed correctly.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 4

Last year, there were two new children's books that really shook my coffin for Halloween. This year, I haven't come across anything new that's had the same impact. I did, however, finally get around to picking up a copy of Ryan Heshka's "ABC Spookshow", a book I've been wanting since I'd first come across his website about a year-and-a-half ago.

The book is gorgeous, and I had a really hard time choosing one image to represent it. Shown here is J is for Jack O'Lantern. I can't imagine that anyone here for the Halloween countdown would not be extremely pleased by this book.





Order a copy from your local independant bookseller, or here.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 3 Movie

One of my favorite horror movies is "Black Sunday" ("La Maschera del demonio")(1960). I try to only watch it once every few years, because each time I'm stunned anew by what a visual feast it is. Not only is debut director, Mario Bava's cinematography exquisite, but there are some many haunting, and inventive, images in this movie making it the classic film it is.

Barbara Steele plays dual roles as an executed witch, and as her descendant 200 years later, whom the witch needs in order to resurrect herself. This movie has it all, hooded, robed executioners, witches, vampires, hidden panels, disfigured corpses, decayed ruins, a dreary castle, a family curse, giant bats, frightened superstitious villagers, and men of science who find themselves out of their league in dealing with the supernatural.

The print on the DVD included in "The Mario Bava Collection - volume 1" box set is the nicest I've seen. I highly recommend this movie.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 3 Riddle

What kind of insects do you find in a graveyard?










Answer to yesterday's riddle: Long distance.

Todd Franklin guessed correctly!

31 Days of Halloween - Day 3

Some time ago I posted about a papier-mache Nosferatu head that I constructed for a display I was building for the Shaman Drum Bookshop for Halloween.

As you can see, Nosferatu is completed (though, like all vampires, proving difficult to photograph) complete with glowing eyes.



To dress up the window a bit without having to paint, and then repaint the walls, I created a castle-like setting for him with stone blocks and a barred window all completely cut out of paper and taped to the walls.




The interior of the store got a bit of the Halloween treatment as well. A corner of the children's section was webbed in with spiders.




Another sign was created for a display set on top of one of the low built in shelving units.

Now to get the decorations up in my house.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 2 Movie

Universal's horror films of the 30s and 40s are my favorites, and for me, go hand in hand with Halloween. Tonight I had the pleasure of watching a Universal horror movie, that I'm pretty certain I've never seen; "Man Made Monster" (1941), Starring Lon Chaney, Jr. and directed by George Waggner, both of whom would make on of my favorite Universal monster movies that same year, the far superior "The Wolf Man." Here Lon Chaney plays "Dynamo Dan" a carny performer whose act involves electricity. This act has apparently built up an immunity to electric shock in Dan's body, allowing him to survive a horrendous electrical accident which killed five others. Dan comes to the attention of a kindly researcher, and his not so benelovent assistant, played by Lionel Atwill who turns on his slimy mad scientist persona full volume. The mad doctor wants to create an army of controllable electric powered supermen, and uses Dan as his guinea pig, turning him into a murdering glwoing zombie.

The plot and pacing are more reminiscent of a poverty row production from this period, rather than a Universal classic, but I still found it pretty enjoyable, with the superior make-up and optical effects that universal was known for, and Chaney creates another sympathetic monster.

31 days of Halloween - Day 2 Riddle

What's the best way to call a monster?










Answer to yesterday's riddle: Mas-scare-a.

Nice guess, Stephen! The other guesses were really good as well.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 2

Here's a little decoration you can make courtesy of the October 1964 issue of "Jack and Jill."

For more Halloween fun on a daily basis make sure to ring the door bell at my friend Max's wonderful blog Drunken Severed Head where it's pretty much Halloween all year long. Also joining in on the daily Halloween countdown are All Eyes and Ears and Wonderful Wonderblog. There are great treats all around.

No rocks.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 1 Movie 2

After watching "Meet Me in St. Louis," I felt compelled to watch something a little more specifically Halloween oriented, and chose "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" (1966). This 42-year-old classic really fit the bill, and made the start of the Halloween season seem official. Just watching this seems to make the leaves on the trees change color into their autumn hues, and makes the air temperature seem just a tad more chilly. It makes me want some warm apple cider and a donut.

One of these days, I need to track down a copy of the story on record, or even just on MP3. If anyone out there can help out, let me know.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 1 Movie 1

To begin my month long marathon of horror movie viewing, I chose "Meet Me In St. Louis" (1944). Yes, this is the movie starring Judy Garland best known for introducing the song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" to the world. So why this movie?

Towards the middle of this movie there's a short, but terrific Halloween sequence, which is entertaining but also fascinating as it shows just how different Halloween was in 1903 versus how we think of it now. There is no trick-or-treating, instead the children dress up in costumes, and take bags of flour out to commit acts of ritual murder on adults, throwing a handful of the flour in their victim's face to kill them. When not doing this, the kids are out burning piles of discarded furniture and wagon wheels in huge bonfires on the street, and with no adult superstition to boot. This was great stuff.

The rest of the movie's really good, too, but since it doesn't have anything to do with the holiday we're celebrating, I won't go into it here.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 1 Riddle

What kind of make-up do ghosts wear?

31 Days of Halloween - Day 1

You don't need to wait until Halloween for strange things to be seen. Beginning today, there will be strange things a'plenty to see here each and every day during my second annual, month-long, Halloween countdown.

For those of you who were here last year, welcome back, for you first timers, welcome aboard. If you're interested in seeing what last year's countdown was like, look no further than here.

This year's countdown will follow a similar format, with musings on various aspects of the holiday that I find most appealing, links to more holiday fun, as well as daily movie reviews, and images from my collection of Halloween and monster memorabilia. I'm also going to provide a few new tricks and treats this year including a DIY project, a contest, or two, and a daily riddle, the answer to which will be provided the following day.

What made last year's countdown even more fun was that I wasn't alone. My cohorts at Secret Funspot, Neato Coolville, Plastic Pumpkins, and Branded in the 80s, are each going to be running their own month long Halloween countdowns as well, and I recommend you visit them all.

Fall Update

My apologies for the lack of posts of late. I've been busy, busy, busy. In addition to the exciting world of freelance writing, I've also been constructing a number of large papier-mache pieces for a number of window displays at Shaman Drum Bookshop for the upcoming months. Because these things are easier to make outdoors, and dry faster when the weather is warm, I've been trying to get a bunch of these done all at once over the summer, which can cause some weird seasonal confusion when making a 4-foot tall snowman in 84 degree heat in September. I've also been trying to get as many other projects completed, and out of the way as possible, so that I can fully embrace celebrating Halloween for the entire month of October with work intruding as little as possible.

Speaking of Halloween, while the posts have been few and far between over the summer, beginning October 1st, there will be several posts a day here as I begin my second annual month long Halloween countdown. If you missed last year's check the archives. On October 1st, I'll tell you more of what you can expect this year.

In the meantime, here are a batch of small, quick, themed displays I put together for one of the alcoves in Shaman Drum's children's book section.

Detective Comics #836 Available Today

DETECTIVE COMICS #836 goes on sale today. This issue features the second half of my Batman vs Scarecrow story with the new upgraded Scarecrow.

Happy Birthday Ray Bradbury!

Today, one of our greatest living authors, Ray Bradbury, turns 87. Celebrate by reading some of Ray's great stories. It's also the perfect way to get ready for the upcoming Halloween season. I can't imagine the holiday without him.

Homemade Nosferatu

This is the beginning of a work in progress. This is the mostly completed papier-mache head to what will be a five foot tall Nosferatu for a store window display for Halloween. I'd like to build him taller, but the window height is only five feet, and the point is for him to be seen. He will also have hair, and the eyes will glow red. I'll be tweaking the paint a bit as well.

Detective Comics #835

DETECTIVE COMICS #835 goes on sale today, featuring part 1 of my 2-part story "Absolute Terror" with art by Tom Mandrake.

I will be signing today from 2PM - 5ish at Vault of Midnight for anyone who is in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area and would like to drop by.