Ghost of the Ghoul Goes West, pt. 15

Hello again, loyal S&Pbrains!

Still recuperating from a long two weeks' traveling and gearing up for performing two shows a night, five nights a week, for the next month.

I'll take the work, trust me. But it might be a little daunting.

At least at my age.

I am still organizing souvenirs and photos from my trip, and as I mentioned in my last post, my friend Adam Dougherty's table in the Monsterpalooza showroom was (probably) the coolest in the whole place, with its vintage Hallowe'en decor, and his incredible limited edition Hallowe'en Nightmare! series of model kits.

See for yourself...

He made that TV, too. 

Those kits just kill me. If the original Topstone Mummy, Ghoul, Melting Man and Shock Monster masks had actually been living, breathing monsters in the heyday of Monster Kid Hallowe'en nights, well -- it would've looked exactly like these scenes (as always, click to enlarge)...

Add to this brilliance the fact that the sidewalk and white picket fence look so exactly like the fence and walk around my Grandmother's house -- the scene of my Hallowe'en birth and growth -- and you have a perfect storm of old school All Hallow's LOVE churning through my soul.

Oh, and this li'l kit (called The Ghost!) is pure genius...

Brilliant work, Adam.

Happy Hallowe'en!

DDSP!

The First Day.

And what a day it has been...

Sure, I've taken to my sick bed with a nasty cold, but I have Blu-Ray Ellen Ripley and I can shoot ghosts with my old 3DO game system and I can read and write and draw and post new posts to this ol' S&P.

And even as I cough and rattle and ache and sniff and when I speak the walls shake with the sound of Regan MacNeil's croaking demon voice, 2012 is already surprising me with good news...

I won a raffle!

One of my Monsterkid pals, Adam Dougherty, is an excellent sculptor and model maker, currently creating kits for Moebius Models. He's a professional and a true artist and a great fella -- here he is with another Monsterkid crony of mine, the great make-up artist and sculptor Casey Wong, from Monsterpalooza 2010:

These guys make me smile big. True Monsterkids, these two!

So... Adam just informed me that I won a raffle on his Facebook page, and it makes me awfully happy to report to all of you S&P-brains that Adam is sending me one of the amazing kits he created, signed by him -- and it's a real beauty:

YES! Moebius Models' Elvira: Mistress of the Dark kit is on its way to the S&P courtesy of the man who created it! By the way, Adam goes by the nickname KreatureKid, because of his lifelong fanatical fascination with all things Creature From The Black Lagoon! And who can blame him?

And this kit is so authentic, Elvira herself takes stunned delight in its beauty...

(courtesy Moebius Models and CultTVman.com)

At Moebius' website, and on the kit box, the details of this fine KreatureKid Kreation beKome Klear (Klick to enlarge):

I just cannot wait to get this -- signed by the KreatureKid himself! -- into my collection. This guy is truly one of the great new breed of Monsterkids, creating fine horror and Hallowe'en art for us to enjoy for years to come, and helping to keep classic Monster Madness alive and well.

And I honestly wasn't even aware that liking his page entered me into a raffle -- I liked it because I like his art, and him.

As your humble pubkeep I strongly suggest you each go to his page right flippin' now and 'like' it. Then, follow all the links to pictures of his Hallowe'en kits, his Bela Lugosi as Dracula kit, and amazing things in the works for the coming year.

Thanks Adam, and Moebius Models, and thank you 2012 for being so amazing on your very first day!

January music is on its way.

A happy, happy New Year to you all.

DDSPolystyrene!

Dick Cathcart

November 6, 1924 --- November 8, 1993

Happy 87th.

Dumdumshrek, Pop.

Sincerity.

Four Hundred.

#400.

Unreal.

This is the Skull & Pumpkin's 400TH POST.

Twice two hundred.

CD (could be CCCC as well, but that looks too Soviet-ish, and this is a politics-free zone).

In honor of this almost relevant, not quite important, nearly meaningful milestone, and in honor of Black Cat Appreciation Day, I offer our own dear Hallowe'en, or 'Hallie'...

She is very nice. Because she's a black cat and all black cats are nice.

And she's cute. Because all black cats are awfully cute.

Aw, li'l Hallie.

Still... at a Hallowe'en pub, every day is black cat appreciation day, so I don't want to linger too long on this one. Suffice to say I will always be happy she came to stay with us.

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A few posts back, I made mention of our fears and the events or images that trigger them, and asked you for some of yours -- this is a public house concerning itself with all things spooky -- and I've received a number of replies.

Some can be read in the comments of said post, but I thought I'd highlight them, and a few others who wrote via email rather than commenting.

First up, our own dear Chris, Her Majesty The Frog Queen, admits to her own fear of Lady Elaine Fairchild, the creepiest resident of the Land of Make Believe (creepier than Prince Tuesday or Bob Dog, by multiples). But then, of course, comes dear Chris's pet neurosis:

"I remember the time I leaned against a post in the barn of an old house we lived in and several baby black widow spiders came crawling down my head and all over me. Definitely the reason that I am afraid of spiders today."

Shiver!

The Frog Queen also admits, 

"Going to catholic school and seeing The Exorcist as a kid was the earliest and so far the last time I was really frightened by something that is made up."

Me too, your Highness. Me too...

Jules opened up and let us all in on some of her most memorable, lingering, illogical fears; fears with which I can readily sympathize:

"Things that were in my dreams AND in real life: Carol Channing (or does that fall into the "clowns and spiders" category?)." 

It does, but in the right way. She proceeds to mention, among other things,

"... the "bingbong" of "It's 10 o'clock, do you know where your child is?" I obviously was at home, watching that, but I shivered every time -- up too late, and what if I WAS out in the scary post-curfew timezone?"

 Oh yes.

I get it. And I remember it very well.

Best of all, she finishes,

"... but my scariest, periodically in my nightmares thing was/is a dead body made to look as if it's moving. Like propped up, dancing, like a puppet. Sometimes with the eyes opened. Not a zombie, but a delusional maniac animating a dead person (usually someone they killed) to make them "alive" again...something between Norman Bates' Mother idea, and Debbie Reynolds in What's the Matter With Helen?(SHUDDER!)"

Oh my. Total shudder, indeed. I'd nearly forgotten about this movie. Yikes!

Baron No One informs us via email that he "used to run behind his mother's rocker and hide every time the theme for The Outer Limits came on the TV! I didn't mind most of the aliens and scary stuff, it was the damn song that did it..."

 "... I still get a chill every time I hear it -- on the DVD set I watch almost every day!"

Yep! Who ever said Autumn People don't love to scare themselves silly? Keep it up Baron (and whaddayaknow, a Queen and a Baron -- the ol' S&P's attracting royalty and nobility!).

I think the most chilling admission (so far, keep 'em coming!) of an untraceable, unexplainable childhood fear that can still manage to disturb has to come from loyal S&Pbrain Kent Mason, who simply writes:

"... I used to see people coming in and out my bedroom door as I slept. They did nothing to me, just moved through as if heading elsewhere, not making a sound. All in black, like dead shadows, featureless, and the only noise they really made was a kind of squeaking whisper. By morning they were gone, but I have that dream every so often even now at 26."

Kent, I have to say I didn't even go scouring for an image to go with that. Total nightmare!

Well, there you have some of them, good S&Pers. I really enjoy reading and sharing them at the bar, passing around the stories and letting our common passions and understanding laughter calm our nerves, exorcise (sorry Chris!) a few fears, and remind us how far we've come since our childhood nights...

... but those creepy dark figures moving through the door... I'm going to lock up early tonight!

DDShadowPeople!

Now playing...

... on the Philco Predicta TV above the bar.

A back to basics bit of B-movie beauty.

Edward D. Wood Jr.'s 1959 masterpiece:

Oh, now, don't worry. I won't make all of you sit through it.

I mean, you can find it freely viewable all over the 'net -- it's in the public domain -- but I imagine, or rather hope, that anyone visiting the S&P already has at least one copy on DVD (and probably VHS!) in their library.

This film brings me back to summer midnights with a black & white, 9" television and the feeling that I would have understood this filmmaker. That he would have 'gotten' me. And that holy the heck, even *I* could make something spooky and cool. 

I mean, Plan Nine's lack of technical prowess was (still is) funny, but it also offered a kind of glimpse into how the movie was made, and that anyone could do it. I could see the bad sets and the props made of things I recognized and it all felt like one could go into the garage and whip up something no worse, and maybe better!

Talk about a film that practically begs you to pick up a camera and make anything you wish, with no money but with reckless, enthusiastic abandon.

It inspires creation -- the creation of spooky things.

'Cause it's got Bela, Tor, Criswell and Vampira... come on!

And the dialogue... oh my God.

Eros: First, you had your firecracker, a harmless explosive...

Lt. Harper: One thing's sure: Inspector Clay is dead — murdered — and somebody's responsible!

Eros: Those whom we're using cannot think. They are the dead, brought to a simulated life by our electrode guns. You know, it's an interesting thing when you consider: the Earth people, who can think, are so frightened by those who cannot — the dead.

Larry: Strange. If someone had broken in, the dirt should be piled up here somewhere. It looks like it's fallen in, into the grave. 
Lt. Harper: Larry, you'll be out of that uniform before you know it.

Criswell: My friend, you have seen this incident based on sworn testimony. Can you prove that it didn't happen? Perhaps on your way home you will pass someone in the dark, and you will never know it, for they will be from outer space. Many scientists believe that another world is watching us this moment. We once laughed at the horseless carriage, the aeroplane, the telephone, the electric light, vitamins, radio, and even television! And now some of us laugh at outer space. God help us... in the future.

And is it solaranite? Solarbanite? Solanite? 

OH, we all know how terrible it all is. It's supposed to be the worst film ever made, right? Well... I disagree. The cardinal sin of a film is to be boring, unentertaining, uninteresting. As bad as Plan Nine can be, it is certainly never any of those things.

So yeah. We're watching it all night.

It makes me want to make Hallowe'en.

And yes, Criswell...

God help us... in the future!

DDSPlan9!

A bow to a master.

Hello, S&Pers.

I hope you're all enjoying your weekend and your Summer so far.

Things are keeping your humble pubkeep quite busy, but I had to make time today for a celebration of one of the most pioneering, legendary makeup and effects masters in the history of television and cinema.

Folks, raise your glasses -- a birthday toast to the one and only

Dick Smith!

Dick is celebrating his 88th birthday today!

Wait, you're not asking 'Dick who?', are you?

This is the man who brought the world such incredible characters, such memorable faces, as:

Dustin Hoffman's Little Big Man (1970)

Max Von Sydow as Father Merrin, and

Linda Blair as Regan, and

Eileen Dietz as Pazuzu/Captain Howdy in The Exorcist (1973)

The incredible Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone, and

Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972)

Robert DeNiro's insane Travis Bickle, the Taxi Driver (1976)

Scads of gory ghosts in Ghost Story (1981)

Oscar-winning makeup sessions for Oscar-winning actor F. Murray Abraham, as

aging composer Antonio Salieri in the brilliant Amadeus (1984)

Oh, we could go on for days.

He did so much to advance the art of film, television and stage makeup and effects in his long career, not only earning Oscars, Emmys, Saturns and other awards but influencing an entire industry with innovative techniques, new ideas and time-tested methods.

He also advanced the awareness of and enthusiasm for special effects and makeup for kids and young adults in a series of handbooks and makeup products in the '60s and '70s.

I believe I've already told you the story of my history with this revolutionary

magazine. This little '60s tome may have single-handedly created all the

major makeup artists working in the industry since the '70s. No joke.

In the '70s, Smith's line of do-it-yourself makeup kits inspired and excited

every monster and horror geek in Monster Horror Geekdom, and provided 

effects and results that had previously been unobtainable to Hallowe'en Kids.

A treasure trove.

The genius of Dick Smith. But for you, so much that makes our Hallowe'en special would be gone. You created monsters and mad men, helped us create them too, and then taught and inspired the makeup masters who gave us so many more monsters and mad men, and aliens, and demons, and...

Again, raise a glass, everyone --

Happy birthday, Mr. Smith!

DUMDUMSHREKPOP!

Son of The Ghoul Goes West, part KTLA 5.

Hello again, S&Pers!

I surely hope you have all been enjoying the Irish Month. I know weather across the country has been nearly schizophrenic in its ups and downs, so we know Spring is so tantalizingly near. With that renewal just about here, I have been busy with some projects and starting back up at my current workplace for the 2011 season, and haven't had time to relax here at the ol' pub.

One of the things that has been occupying my time is compiling audio for Nevermore and his exciting trip to Burbank next month. I still have plenty of programming to do, and it scares me a little. But just a little -- I'm good with deadlines.

Another exciting part of Monsterpalooza this year is... television! Yes, come early morning of Friday April 8th, the first day of the convention, a number of us crazy monster makers will be involved in news segments broadcast from the convention! This is all because of a close friend of my family who happens to be a hilarious and brilliant reporter for the morning news team on the oldest TV station in Los Angeles.

KTLA 5.

KTLA is now on digital channel 31, but it still represents a few firsts -- the first station licensed for commercial broadcasting in L.A., acquiring its license in 1947, and the first commercially licensed TV station west of the Mississippi (and only the seventh in the country, at a time when there probably weren't more than 500 or so sets in L.A. alone).

But for me, it represents a more personal set of firsts.

You see, KTLA TV5 was the station that ran all of the classic Universal horror films for decades. Oh, they weren't the only station to show great horror and sci-fi in the Southland-- KHJ 9 and KTTV 11 had plenty of shock power in those days, and I have much love for those memories too -- but Channel 5 seemed to always be running the great films of Karloff, Lugosi, Chaney Jr., Price, Lorre, Atwill, and all my other heroes.

There was always a Monster Week, or Sci-Fi Week, or Godzilla Week, or Apes Week, and each weeknight was another film in the series... it seemed to never end!

They'd run the movies on weekends too, repeating them four or even six times over Saturday and Sunday. In the days long before VCRs, let alone computers, DVDs, Tivo and Netflix, we had entire films memorized by Sunday evening, and were performing them at school on Monday morning.

Oh! the incredible images, the nerve-rattling moments KTLA was first to show me...

Yes, the first time I ever experienced the shock of these Monster Kid Moments, these rites of passage for fantasy film fanatics, was solely the fault of KTLA. I was watching TV 5 the first time my mind was blown by these legendary scenes...

Oh the precious memories.

KTLA was also the station that carried The Twilight Zone. Golly, the first time we saw these images...

KTLA also ran the fantastic films of Ray Harryhausen, all the Planet of the Apes films, and more of the great Toho Giant Monster 'kaiju' films from Japan than I could count.

In the mind of my inner child it was every week, all year long, that you could find something monsteriffic on KTLA.

It was KTLA running a Monster Week that helped me bond with my uncles over all things Universal Monster at my grandmother's house so long ago. It was KTLA which first taught me to stay up late (Movies 'Til Dawn!) suffering from a full bladder because I was too scared to walk down the hallway. KTLA absolutely put so many terrifyingly fun images in my brain that I could probably sue them for damages, but I owe them so much more than anything I'd get that it hardly would be worth it.

Besides, they also gave us legendary personalities like the unstoppable reporter Stan Chambers...

... and the funny and fun Tom Hatten, who'd doodle great pictures for us while showing us Popeye cartoons and episodes of Our Gang, Laurel & Hardy, and hosting the Family Film Festival every weekend...

... and getting back to the horror, the nearly god-like persona of Seymour, horror host extraordinaire!

Created and portrayed by the wholly under-appreciated and unique actor Larry Vincent, the tuxedo'd Seymour began his L.A. horror hosting career on KHJ 9 in 1971, but moved to KTLA for some years, and this is when I best remember him and his Monster Rally.

More of the fascinating, creative and all-too-short life of Larry Vincent, including audio files of Seymour shows, can be read here. Seymour, your Fringies miss you!

And just in case you still don't quite grasp how important KTLA was to the rise of the Monster Kid movement:

... this was published in the very first issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine in 1958. What's zat say in the corner? What're them call letters? Yeah, that's right.

'Nuff said.

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Oh, KTLA 5, you rocked. Very, very hard.

And so I am looking forward to Monsterpalooza all the more. Being back in L.A., showing off my Hallowe'en work, seeing friends and family, and somehow connecting ever so tenuously to KTLA 5... I cannot wait.

O' ZOM-beeee!