Give me a break?

NO, I say!

I'm just busy.

I know, dear S&Pbrains, that I have been markedly absent from this humble little place for a while, but it really is strictly about my workload and my mind being... well, my mind!

I do want to assure you all -- if it's at all important to you -- that I am not "taking a break from blogging" or "going through a rough patch" or even "reevaluating my life".

I'm just... busy. And a kind of busy that keeps me from fully immersing myself into the darker -- and way more fun -- side of my life.

I can also assure you that come Christmas, everything will get back to what passes for normal around this spooky ol' place.

(I am also trying to locate a better audio hosting site for our jukebox and radio, which should explain why there has been no change to either for some time -- Podbean has decided my paid account no longer merits uploading multiple files at once, and adding five or ten mp3s one at a time? Yeah, not going to put up with that when I have paid to not have to hassle with it).

The Skull & Pumpkin, like all aspects of our Hallowe'en and Horror love, is always alive and well, even if your humble pubkeep has vanished for a time.

More posts to come, promise.

I mean... hell, Monsterpalooza's coming in April... and I have this feeling that Ray Bradbury and Uncle Forry might be having a nice chat together somewhere in that Museum...

I  hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving.

Please keep coming in, relaxing, perusing the library.

See you very soon.

DDSPatience!

Thanksbirthday.

Today I am thankful for everything in my life.

We all should be.

But I have an extra little glimmer of gratitude that this year, Thanksgiving falls on the (would've been) 95th birthday of our dear Uncle Forry, Dr. Acula himself, Forrest J Ackerman!

Boy am I thankful for everything this crazy guy gave us.

Folks, enjoy your families and friends this Thanksgiving Day. 

Remember to tell them you love them.

And be glad we live in a mixed up place where our love for the creepy is allowed to flourish, thanks to pioneers like ol' Uncle Forry!

DUMDUMSHREKGOBBLEGOBBLE!

Bradbirthday.

Most of you Autumn Folk who frequent this humble establishment know very well that we love our Hallowe'en library.

Our shelves strain under the weight of fine fantasy, horror, and dark beauty dressed as poetry, prose, philosophy, and other pages that enchant and inform.

Among the stacks and shelves reside the collected works of one of the world's most celebrated writers, who also happens to be (arguably) the greatest champion of Hallowe'en and lover of all things spooky in American literature.

And today he celebrates his 91st birthday.

Is it really possible he's ninety-one? The Perpetual Kid is this old?

Then again, is it possible he was ever this young?

Dear God. Ray Bradbury.

Friend of one Forrest J Ackerman, from whom Ray received early help in publishing, and with whom he shared a long and wonder-filled friendship.

Ray (L) and Uncle Forry in costume.

So many words written.

So many dreams he has dreamed.

So many dreams his dreams have caused me.

So many enriching, inspiring, impacting images he has granted the world...

His own painting of The Hallowe'en Tree, 1960

It is quite simply impossible for me to overstate his influence in my creative life as a writer, musician, painter, sculptor and most blessedly as a Hallowe'en artist, an Autumn Person.

My love of his work is pure and boundless, and my gratitude for his existence is exceeded only by my inability to properly express it.

Raise 'em high, fellow Autumn People...

A toast -- I don't know how tired you are after such a remarkable life, but here's to hoping you see at least a few more Hallowe'ens, Ray.

You've given so many of us so much Hallowe'en magic.

Happy birthday.

DDSP!

The End of The Son of the Ghoul Goes West.

Well, okay.

It's not really the end.

Such things never end -- they take on a life and spirit all their own in our memories, photo albums, our hearts.

Plus I haven't run out of pictures or video.

I just want to get these posted because they are the most important, and then we can lay this to rest for a bit and move on to more projects and excitement for the rest of 2011.

And trust me, there's plenty on tap.

But that's for later.

For now, a few more moments from one of the highlight events of my year, every year.

First up, I had to post this.

I mean, how often do you get to see a gigantic Kong for sale?

Another set of Kong  joy:

Can you even believe how cool this is? A complete entertainment center and chairs! It was also on sale, and my heart wept at the cruelty of the world that we hadn't the means to get it home even if we'd had the money to buy it. Man!

Oh well, on to more treasures...

Handmade, one-of-a-kind figures from the incredible Cortlandt Hull and his Witch's Dungeon museum. Such a thrill to see these works every year. Look at the Dr. Phibes! And Professor Lampini with the skeleton of Count Dracula in his (real, steam-bent 19th century) toe-pincher coffin!

So beautiful.

And here are some exceptional paintings from L.J. Dopp, the painter of the works in the Vincent Price tribute section of the Museum.

Speaking of the Museum, I have a lot of kinda fuzzy pics because it's always dark in there and my camera and I both have difficulty focusing on anything anyway... but there were a few more things I wanted to show you.

A gremlin. From Gremlins. Too cool.

An incredible Dr. Pretorius (The Bride of Frankenstein,1935) from the incredible artist Daniel Horne. 

The crazy bulbs, tubes, bottles and so on were the perfect touch for this hilariously

sinister grandfather of cinematic mad scientists!

More beautiful pieces in the Museum.

Had to show you this. One of the absolute finest undead figures 

I have ever seen. Ever. Up close and in person, it is stunning. This is the thing

that crawls from the grave in the old pre-code horror comics, and in my childhood

nightmares. I never got the name of the artist, sadly.

Here, in a lights-on/prepping for Museum crowds moment, V is about to be demolished by the Eddie Quist

werewolf from The Howling (1980). I think the only way she would get close enough to this thing is if

all the lights were on.

More fun stuff...

Look at the size of that skull! Must be the one used to make...

... this incredible Frankenstein Monster 'bust' from Mike Hill. Mike brought

a lot of amazing pieces this year...

Henry Hull as Dr. Glendon in Universal's Werewolf of London (1935).

Oliver Reed in Hammer's 1961 Curse of the Werewolf, and

Charles Laughton as Quasimodo in the 1939 RKO

The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Karloff the Uncanny as the Frankenstein monster from

The Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

Casey Wong's wonderful tribute to our dear Uncle Forry, grand Pied Piper of Pandemonium

to all of us Monster Kids. The Wolfman cane 4E is holding was generously provided by

Ron Chaney and the Chaney Family (and one of these days I will have one, damnit!).

Here's a good moment to segue to a few friends -- the real treasures to be found at Monsterpalooza, and all the great Monster Kid celebrations around the world. 

L to R: V, me, Uncle Forry, Casey Wong and our friend, "Elder" Robert Taylor!

Another with Casey, this time goofing off in the Museum with Nevermore!

Casey's a great artist and a nice guy and it was great to spend a bit more time

with him this year.

The talented, funny and fun Cortlandt Hull (L) from the Witch's Dungeon in CT and the

wonderfully abby-normal Joe Moe, having a chat at Cortlandt's booth. Two perfectly

crazy guys, and I feel very lucky to count both among my friends.

And lastly, at least for now, a final bit of video from Nevermore in his Vincent Price masquerade... the last little bits of his routine...

There's always more to show off, but most of it is more personal, and we have other things to get to.

I know better than to think that any of this gives even a shred of an idea of what it feels like to attend Monsterpalooza, but I also know I'd be dying to see your pictures if you'd gone and I hadn't. I just wish I could take everyone with me every year... but this is the only way I know how to come close to doing anything like that.

On to more Hallowe'en goodness next time.

And a little note: I have removed, since Easter is over, the Godspell soundtrack that had been in the Hallowe'enith Radio over the weekend. The ol' console is now back to its Hallowe'eny tricks with two great old time radio programs. First is a 1943 classic from Lights Out, He Dug It Up. Since it's Spring and folks are getting back into their gardens, I thought this tale of a man planting a tree would be appropriate -- especially when he digs up something he should have left alone.

Then we have another great Jack Benny Hallowe'en special, this time from 1937, spending an evening at Andy Divine's place! Kinda noisy, but a lot of fun.

Hope you all enjoy.


Oh, and it's still April, so
DUMDUMSHREKPEEPS!

The ghoul goes west, again.

Just a quick mention.

Those of you who've been frequenting the S&P for a while already know all about Monsterpalooza and what a fine convention it is.

I am going back in April '11, and bringing with me another animatronic display for their incredible Museum. I am not precisely sure what it will entail, probably the Raven and Uncle Forry running some patter and generally being the cool kids on the block for the weekend -- tho' this time around, I have time to make something especially for the convention, so we'll see.

But I just noticed on the official Monsterpalooza website that on the Artists page, if you scroll down the list of remarkable contributing artists, you'll find my name.

And... if you click it, you will be sent right back here to the ol' Skull & Pumpkin. Go on, click it.

SEE!??! You come right back here. Weeeiiiird!

How bloody fantastic is that?

So humbled, so blessed. These people are the best of the best in the horror, Hallowe'en and monster art realm, all over the world.

That my humble works are among them even for a few days is an honor not easy to explain.

But of course I will spend plenty of posts trying anyway!


DDSProjects!

Hap-E Birthday, Uncle 4E.

Another birthday to celebrate here at the ol' S&P.

Today we're celebrating the 94th anniversary of the birth of the original Sci-Fi and Monster Kid himself:

Forrest J Ackerman

November 24th, 1916 -- December 4th, 2008

Vonnetta and I had a fantastic visit to his Ackermansion back in 

January of 2002. This picture is one of my prized possessions.

Of course, patrons of the Skull & Pumpkin know all about my love for 4SJ. For a stretch it seemed that all I talked about was 4E, as I headed to Burbank and a very memorable Monsterpalooza convention with my animatronic tribute to him.

So even though I've posted this before, I'll do it once more in honor of his birthday, and let him have the (almost) final word:

Forrest J Ackerman Shall Not Die!

Amen.

DUMDUMSHREKPUNS!

Uncle Forry on the Wide Webbed World.

(Excellent, atmospheric picture by Caleb Oglesby.)

He used to call it the "Wide Webbed World".

It was the name he gave to his own website.

He can still be found all over that World, even after his passing -- numerous interviews in audio, video and text; tributes and stories from friends and fans from across the globe; remembrances of his Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine; pictures of his Ackermansion collection, his Mini-mansion final years...

... and now, of course, in animatronic form.

If you were to search your favorite engine for Monsterpalooza 2010, Monsterpalooza Museum, Uncle Forry animatronic and similar terms, you would find some of what I have had sent to me by various friends over the last few days.

At Dread Central, they've posted a loving and insightful review of the entire convention (which describes the feeling and impact of this unique convention in terms with which I wholeheartedly agree). The 'Museum' video at the bottom of the page shows a good bit of Uncle Forry doing his thing at around the :25 mark.

A YouTube entity I only know as 'channelbron' has created an odd little music video of Uncle Forry that runs a bit over a minute. It feels like an ultra-light version of an Aphex Twin/Chris Cunningham video. Very cool.

Another YouTube offering is from Erck712 and his collection of pics from the convention. I believe the music is from Rob Zombie. Uncle Forry can be seen for a few moments at around the 1:51 mark.

I suppose there is probably some mention or image of our dear animatronic Ackermonster in any video or photo set from Monsterpalooza 2010, so I should just say go looking and you'll find something.

I fear this all seems self-serving and conceited, especially after requesting your pictures, stories, and thoughts in the last entry. I have received some very neat stuff so far, and it will all be offered and discussed here soon. 

But I love that Uncle 4E is still making the fans smile, even in death. 

Your pics and stories to come.

DUMDUMSHREKPEEPS!

The ghoul goes west, part 10, The Musical.

Okay, it's not the musical.

I am heading home tomorrow morning, and by tomorrow evening I should be performing at the Moon River Grill as I tend to do on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 5 to 7:30 PM during the season in Branson.

I should be (should be) awake enough and energetic enough to do it right.

No pressure, though. I mean, it's not like anyone's out there with charts of my arrangements waiting to catch me in some musical flub.

But it's kind of funny to think of going from some incredible, once-in-a-lifetime (-ish) weekend to an easy going evening of jazz standards and mellow dinner tunes. Not in a 'how're ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm?' kind of funny, just a different venue for a different set of creative and artistic skills -- I've been in Monster Mode so severely and enthusiastically for the last few weeks that I am wondering how easy it will be to jump from Monster Mt. Olympus to land on a piano bench ready to sing and swing.

Uncle Forry is packed up and ready to ship back to our little Ozarks homestead.
The ghoul goes east...

You can see the boxes as they left the convention to the lower left. 

Big Scary Demon Giant Thing is keeping a malevolent eye on them.

I wonder if that ol' skull is sitting in that dark box dreaming of thousands of smiling faces and teary eyes as he languishes among the packing foam and bubble wrap (do androids dream of electric sheep? Only Philip K. Dick knows for certain).

Of course, I will be home and back to living my normal (?) life long before those boxes come back.

But let's face facts, Hallowe'en lovers... I'll be thinking of servos, green LEDs and my monster heroes as I'm tickling the ivories this weekend. A Hallowe'en Kid can never truly keep separate all his passions...

See? There was a musical bent to this post.

I will have more tales of Monsterpalooza soon. I need to get home, settle in, take stock of pictures and stories, and wait for some of the more exciting and promising offers from this past glorious weekend to come to fruition... and there are some very cool things to come if even one of those cool people I met follow through with any of their ideas.

Did I mention I ran out of business cards on Saturday?

Waiting on mails and calls... please oh please oh please...

But until then, my music awaits.

Thank you for coming along with me on this rather remarkable journey, loyal pubgoers.

And thank you V, the Instigator, for summoning your unmatchable karmic magic to nudge the Universe into manifesting this entire adventure.

     

       Is it still April? Oh yeah...

DUMDUMSHREKPEEPS!

The ghoul goes west, #9, #9, #9, #9, #9....

Two things.

-- My feet are destroyed.

-- MONSTERPALOOZA rocked... so hard!

Uncle Forry was a huge hit, and all of the business cards I left next to him were gone by Saturday night --  had to leave one taped to the frame for Sunday!

Of course, without Henchman Henner's audio gear, and his lurking about with flashlights and pliers (and a vehicle!) at the ready, it would have been very difficult to accomplish...

Had to toss in this one too... it encapsulates his personality very well:

I ran into so many great people, old friends and new...

The future of Classic Horror/Universal Monster art and fandom -- 

Adam 'KreatureKid' Doherty and Casey Wong.

Casey's great Forrest Ackerman bust made it to this year's 'Palooza as well:

 ... dressed up for a panel of Forry's closest friends regaling us with some of the lesser-known Forry Stories:

The panel was touching and funny, and most of the audience was made up of people who'd met him, and many who knew him well. It was a highlight of the weekend, and was put together by Forry's personal assistant for the last decade or so of his life, the inimitable Joe Moe.

Here's Joe to the right, Casey to the left, and Slimer from Ghostbusters making a 

non-green appearance in between them. 

The very cool John Gilbert, known as the Arizona Gillman for his encyclopaedic
knowledge of all things Black Lagoon. Oh and because he lives in AZ.

My friend (everyone's friend), actor Danny Roebuck (Lost, Rob Zombie's Halloween
 films, Matlock, a trillion other things). He led a hilarious and nostalgic presentation on 

the various goodies sold by the Captain Co. in the back of Warren Publishing's 

magazines (Eerie, Creepy, Famous Monsters of Filmland, etc.). 

Always a pleasure seeing him.

Author Lucy Chase Williams (The Complete Films of Vincent Price). I met her last year

and was very glad to see her again. A delightful and funny woman!

A last, long look...

Onward...

The very fun and creative Bill Diamond of the Monster TV Network gave me a big laugh and a very fond final memory from this year's convention. He brought over one of his incredible handmade puppets, the chatty gargoyle Gorgo, to shoot an impromptu gab with Uncle Forry... and me!

Uncle Forry, yours truly, Gorgo, and Bill Diamond.

Here, Bill's cameraman John sets up the shot.

The moment I find the video (they shot it, I didn't) I'll let you know... it was short but funny.

But, as ever, all good things must come to the aid of their fellows, or something. 

This too shall pass. 

Everything has to end sometime...

Casey, how do you get into all these shots?

We broke down our little display, and packed up. It was nice to see family after a weekend of such great friendship and fun.

There are just a few more stories to relate, and I'll get to them this week (lots of family time and then a little travel and work come first)... but for now, random parting images:

DUMDUMSHREKPOOPED...