The Hallowe'en Tree, pt.6

Good day to you, loyal S&P-brains!

I imagine you are all quite full of Hallowe'en and are ready for a brief stretch of holiday-free weeks before the end of the year madness overtakes us all.

I certainly could use it.

But I did want to show off some of our fantastic fright night scenes from last week.

It was a beautiful night, the weather was perfectly Hallowe'en. Not too cold, not too warm, no rain, slight breeze, cloudy skies with a nearly full moon. Just beautiful.

First to enjoy the weather and the night's festivities, our animatronic graveyard group.

Capt. Lantern, Ficketts, Nevermore the Raven, and

the Lean Bros. & Ghoul swing quartet.

Some tombstone detail. We sure lost some greats this past year.

Our kid-friendly Boo Corner, showing Mad Monster Party (along

with The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Legend of Sleepy

Hollow, It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, and other

Hallowe'en specials all night long).

But the real attraction for just about everyone who visited that night had to be our amazing

Hallowe'en Tree.

It really turned out to be something special...

Almost 100 pumpkins, carved and sent from family and friends all over the country, to honor the passing of Ray Bradbury, and celebrate our love for All Hallow's Eve.

Just stunning.

At the base of the Tree was our longtime 'host' of the haunt, the Great Pumpkin.

And just around the tree trunk from him stood the brooding, ancient and wickedly wise ol' being, Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud.

I'd like to think ol' Ray would've loved it.

Just above and beyond our Tree, in a dormer window, floated one of many wandering revenants...

... and in the same window, not long after, could be found our little black kitty, Hallowe'en herself, watching our goofy goings-on in the yard below.

Yes, she's wearing a little orange/black jester's collar.

No, she's not summoning Satan.

As far as I know.

The next day, I had to get a good sunshine shot of our Hallowe'en Tree.

Just beautiful.

Hallowe'en 2012 is in the history books, and I had a fabulous week.

I hope each of you enjoyed your Hallowe'en.

Still cleaning up...

DDSP!

Work, work work...

Hello dear S&Pers!

I KNOW I've been notably absent this month, and I have no excuses but that Life is what it is.

I beg your forgiveness and appeal to your Autumn-Lovin' Hearts for understanding.

I will say, though, that I have been working on Hallowe'en 2012. Of course I have -- I just haven't been posting about it as I usually do.

Perhaps it's because there's not much new to post about; we are waiting on more pumpkins to arrive, and when we get the Hallowe'en Tree going, I will post all about it.

But for now, I have been bringing our animatronic figures back to life, brushing from their shoulders the dust of a year of storage, rewiring, powering, and programming.

Until The Big Night, they shall live in my bedroom...

They will soon be joined by the Great Pumpkin, who will have some new dialogue this year.

And of course, Mr. Moundshroud needs his suit and cape.

More later.

I hope you are all enjoying your October.

It's magic.

DDSProgress!

Happy 203rd, Mr. Poe.

Oh yes, pubgoers, one of our most celebrated icons, most beloved literary, horrorary and Hallowe'enary icons is having a birthday!

(source)

Sure, he's not necessarily 'around' to see it, but Edgar Allan Poe's spirit is alive and well -- well, okay, gloomy and brooding -- even 203 years after his birth in 1809.

A remarkable man was Poe. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the detective story. He is considered America's first true regularly published (and scathing!) literary critic. He wrote books of poetry before he left grade school. His works have been in print, continuously, since 1827. Ponder that a moment.

I have always enjoyed his works, even when I was too young to grasp the language or even the concept (in some cases) of much of it when I first attempted to read him seriously. Hell, even now I have to admit he's not an easy read.

But the great, dark magic that is a Poe work is a thing of beauty.

(source)

In honor of his birthday, the Skull & Pumpkin will be celebrating all day and night with Poe goodies -- fireside readings of his works in our library, absinthe and bourbon and cognac at the bar -- and I hope you will join us in our celebration wherever you are, if you cannot get to the S&P in person.

I'd like to think we are all here in spirit.

As a treat, do this: go here, and download/print/cutout/assemble this awesome paper Edgar Allan Poe from the cool folks at Toy A Day.

 Sweet!

And then another treat: give a listen to the jukebox to the right. I've added two delightful tracks of Poe's genius recorded in the early 1960's, and sure to bring a smile to any Monster Kid who ordered things from the Captain Company in Famous Monsters magazine, and in fact any genre magazine from the '60s to at least the early '80s -- Richard Taylor reading The Tell-Tale Heart and The Masque of the Red Death!

Oh but I must comment briefly, here. You see, I don't know who Richard Taylor was, or is. I am certain (as you will be after hearing him) that he loved doing these things, and his heart is easily in the rightest of right places.  Heck, the back of the album says he's fast becoming the Crown Prince of Terror:

See?

But when you get around to actually listening to it, Taylor's narration seems less "sinister", "mystifying" and "full of suspense", and more like the kid who played Fat Sam in Bugsy Malone reading Poe over the telephone in 1960. Amazing we haven't heard from him since.

And I love it. LOVE it. It works (especially with that cool jazz guitar back), and it's fun, and it's goofy, and it's timeless to us Monster Kids who pored over magazine ads like this:

Ah!

It's the perfect stuff to listen to while making a paper Edgar Allan Poe doll.

Have a wonderful Poe Birthday, good Autumn Folk.

(source)

And happy birthday, Mr. Poe. A toast...

DUMDUMSHREKPOE!

Before we get to November...

Well, November's already here, yes.

But before I get to any new jukebox tunage or waxing poetic about the end of Autumn and all that, I wanted to pass around a few pics of our 2011 yardhaunt, the 'Greatest Hits' display I was able to put together.

Yes, I was going to do a big tribute to the anti-genius of Edward D. Wood, Jr. But time... time not only slipped away, it was fairly torn from my daily schedule with alarming regularity all through September and October.

No complaints. I love working.

But I decided I had backlogged so many great props, figures, routines, music and decor that a greatest hits display would be perfect -- a kind of Hallowe'en version of a cheap TV clip show.

It worked just fine.

Now don't get up, I'll just pass a few around:

 Our 'graveyard' just before adding the animatronic characters.

 The lovely 'V' helping set up 'Boo Corner' (for littler spooks and scared grown-ups!).

 'Uncle Bill' setting up the stupendous 'De Witch Woman' display he built 

last year in honor of the family-favorite James Lewicki illustration 

(story and pictures from this post and this post, remember?)

Our cat Hallowe'en ('Halli') always helps us move the leaves around.

 She also spent a lot of time hanging out with Cap'n Lantern an Ficketts.

 The graveyard ready to go, seen through the web of a spider

that decided she had to set up shop here. 

(Sorry Frog Queen!)

 An angle I only get to see once a year: the business end of my

graveyard attraction.

 Cap'n Lantern, First Mate Ficketts, a tombstone-perched raven named Nevermore...

 ... and the Lean Bros & Ghoul, ready for spooky swingin' songs!

My one and only Ed Wood tribute piece.

 The completed Boo Corner...

... and guests.

'De Witch Woman' took the place of the usual Treat Room we have on

that side of the porch. That foot pumped, that spindle spun, and de ol' witch woman

sang  (in my Aunt Gail's voice) 'Turn an' spin, come off skin!' all night long.

The decade-old Great Pumpkin animatronic character, in his perfectly

glowy, perfectly plasticky pumpkin patch!

A blurry but colorful shot of the display from across the street. 

Of course, the Skull & Pumpkin has always been a Post-Hallowe'en Blues-Free Zone, as you well know. There is nothing about cleanup that saddens me -- not really -- and in fact it has grown to become a rather Zen-like ritual, at once cleansing and inspiring.

Besides, there simply isn't a reason for sadness.

For one, we had a grand time.

For another, it's still Autumn. I mean, look at the view I get to and from work every day...

Still very, very Fall.

I'll be back soon with new musical diversions for a new month.

In the meantime, I'll gather up the pictures and let you all get back to whatever you were doing. I hope you're all discussing your own amazing Hallowe'en 2011 stories!

Until next time!

DDSP!

Making Hallowe'en still.

I think I want to keep them set up in my room for the rest of the year.

My animatronic family, minus the Great Pumpkin and Uncle Forry, while I program a few greatest hits into them.

Making Hallowe'en...

P.S. I notice the S&P has somehow lost a Follower. I wonder if we said something wrong? Oh well -- more libation for the rest of us.

DDSPluggingalong!

One Hundred Fears.

Vincent Leonard Price

May 27, 1911 -- October 25, 1993

When I was a kid, my three favorite movies were King Kong (1933), The Wolfman (1940), and The Fly (1958). 

Which of those three sat atop the rest changed all the time, but it was always one of those three.
 

And whenever The Fly was king, it was always, always because of one man.

He would have been 100 years old today. 

I can't imagine he really wanted to get that old, though Lord knows if he had, he'd be partying it up with the best of 'em all night long.

The man knew how to live, and knew how to scare, and knew how to laugh, and knew how to have a wonderful life.

Today is a great day to watch a Vincent Price movie.

Need ideas?:

          1. Service de Luxe (1938)
          2. Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The (1939)
          3. Tower of London (1939)
          4. Invisible Man Returns, The (1940)
          5. Hudson's Bay (1940)
          6. House of the Seven Gables, The (1940)
          7. Green Hell (1940)
          8. Brigham Young - Frontiersman (1940)
          9. Song of Bernadette, The (1943)
        10. Wilson (1944)
        11. Moss Rose (1944)
        12. Eve of St. Mark, The (1944)
        13. Laura (1944)
        14. Keys of the Kingdom, The (1944)
        15. Royal Scandal, A (1945)
        16. Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
        17. Shock (1946)
        18. Dragonwyck (1946)
        19. Long Night, The (1947)
        20. Web, The (1947)
        21. Up in Central Park (1948)
        22. Rogues' Regiment (1948)
        23. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
        24. Three Musketeers, The (1948)
        25. Bagdad (1949)
        26. Bribe, The (1949)
        27. Champagne for Caesar (1950)
        28. Baron of Arizona, The (1950)
        29. Curtain Call at Cactus Creek (1950)
        30. Adventures of Captain Fabian (1951)
        31. His Kind of Woman (1951)
        32. Pictura (1952)
        33. Las Vegas Story, The (1952)
        34. House of Wax (1953)
        35. Mad Magician, The (1954)
        36. Casanova's Big Night (1954)
        37. Dangerous Mission (1954)
        38. Story of Colonel Drake, The (1955)
        39. Son of Sinbad (1955)
        40. Vagabond King, The (1956)
        41. Serenade (1956)
        42. While the City Sleeps (1956)
        43. Ten Commandments, The (1956)
        44. Story of Mankind, The (1957)
        45. House on Haunted Hill (1958)
        46. Fly, The (1958)
        47. Tingler, The (1959)
        48. Big Circus, The (1959)
        49. Bat, The (1959)
        50. Return of the Fly, The (1959)
        51. Fall of the House of Usher (1960)
        52. Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
        53. Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile (1961)
        54. Naked Terror (1961)
        55. Black Buccaneer, The (1961)
        56. Master of the World (1961)
        57. Tower of London (1962)
        58. Tales of Terror (1962)
        59. Convicts Four (1962)
        60. Confessions of an Opium Eater (1962)
        61. Twice-Told Tales (1963)
        62. Tabu, I (1963)
        63. Raven, The (1963)
        64. Haunted Palace, The (1963)
        65. Comedy of Terrors, The (1963)
        66. Chagall (1963)
        67. Beach Party (1963)
        68. Diary of a Madman (1963)
        69. Last Man on Earth, The (1964)
        70. Masque of the Red Death, The (1964)
        71. War Gods of the Deep (1965)
        72. Tomb of Ligeia, The (1965)
        73. Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965)
        74. Dr. Goldfoot and the 'S' Bombs (1966)
        75. Jackals, The (1967)
        76. House of 1,000 Dolls (1967)
        77. Spirits of the Dead (1968)
        78. Matthew Hopkins: Witchfinder General (1968)
        79. Scream and Scream Again (1969)
        80. Oblong Box, The (1969)
        81. More Dead Than Alive (1969)
        82. Trouble with Girls, The (1969)
        83. Cry of the Banshee (1970)
        84. Abominable Dr. Phibes, The (1971)
        85. Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)
        86. Theatre of Blood (1973)
        87. Madhouse (1974)
        88. It's Not the Size That Counts (1974)
        89. Devil's Triangle, The (1974)
        90. Journey Into Fear (1975)
        91. Butterfly Ball, The (1976)
        92. Strange Case of Alice Cooper, The (1978)
        93. Days of Fury (1978)
        94. Scavenger Hunt (1979)
        95. Once Upon a Midnight Scary (1979)
        96. Monster Club, The (1980)
        97. Vincent (1982)
        98. Thriller (1983)
        99. House of the Long Shadows (1983)
      100.  Pogo for President: 'I Go Pogo' (1984)
      101. Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984)
      102. Offspring, The (1986)
      103. Great Mouse Detective, The (1986)
      104. Whales of August, The (1987)
      105. Dead Heat (1988)
      106. Backtrack (1989)
      107. Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Now, I already spent quite the time and energy celebrating his centennial with a li'l Raven I made. I'm sure you've read all about it.

But I just wanted to mark the day and make the point.

You will never be forgotten, Vinnie...

Happy Vincentennial!

 BLOODBREATH!

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!