Ghost of the Ghoul Goes West, pt. 6

Just a brief look...

Impossibly skinny and cartoonish... perfect!

My apologies to you all (and Mr. Chicken in particular) for not posting any video yet but I am honestly waiting until I get a whole day's worth of real programming time before trying to show you how he moves. I've had to rebuild and redesign things after burning out servos and so on, and it only looks right when it's all choreographed and moving  just right.

Soon, I promise.

Besides, I have to finish making his little shoes...

They'll be black with grey spats, and barely visible anyway. I thought this Model Magic base would be fine. 

My ol' friend and monster buddy, Henchman Henner, is making the little stage with footlights, and we'll meet up in Burbank to put it all together and fine tune things before setting it up at Monsterpalooza.

It never ends up just as I first imagine it, but it always ends up being odd, fun, quirky and entirely mine.

I'll take it.

O'ZOM-beeee!

On farewells, Hallowe'en style pt.2

Welcome, good pubgoers.

I am glad you are here this evening.

I'm glad I am here. We should all be glad we are still here.

Tonight, we raise a glass and celebrate the passing of a fellow Autumn Soul who, now free of his long struggle with a diseased body, lies resting in a sunny pumpkin field,  floats darkly among the branches of a twisted wood, rides the wind of a banshee's howl, for the rest of ever.

John Wolfe, thank you for being you.

Now that your fight is done, I hope you are getting that long thirst truly quenched.

I know we will all continue to keep Hallowe'en in our hearts as you did.

We ask for peace to your family and friends, all who loved you and whom you loved, as we grieve your departure.

And we will seek your Autumn spirit this Hallowe'en, and every Hallowe'en, now that you have left this life and embraced what is beyond that very Veil we Autumn People so long to draw aside on our favorite night of the year.

And even as we say our goodbyes, we turn to live the more appreciative for what -- for whom -- we can still enjoy the wondrous gift of loving so deeply in this short, amazing life.

Bless you, John.

Your glasses, everyone... come on, shout it with me --

DUMDUMSHREKPOP!

O'ZOM-beee!

Ghost of the Ghoul Goes West, pt. 5

OH! I have been working...

Cutting, gluing, wiring, soldering, programming, breaking, cursing, punching, hitting, spitting, kicking, drinking, cutting, gluing, wiring...

Boy did this project turn into a much more difficult thing than I had ever dreamed.

Still, I may actually get it done before shipping it off to L.A. before I ship me off to L.A..

Here is Edward Van Bone, minus his jacket and legs.

I think I need to change up his hair and how 'clean' he is, because right now he looks

so much like Andy Williams that it's starting to distract me.

Don't protest, Eddie ol' boy -- it just means I've made you too 

good-lookin'.

Yeah... I need to put some baldness back in, matte it down a bit, and make sure he's a little grungier.

But as long as Edward Van Bone moves right for two and a half days in April, it's all good.

Onward.

O'ZOM-beeee!

Make it March!

This is my request to the audio hosting site Podbean, who have decided for some reason to no longer recognize my (paid!) account and will not let me log in.

For three days I've been trying to edit playlists and add new songs and radio shows as I do near the top of every month, and I have been unable to do so!

So until that time, I can't update anything in the radio or the player.

BUT... I'm making real progress on Edward Van Bone, and will have pictures very soon.

Oh, Podbean... why must you ruin my pub with your slow responses and fracked up software? C'mon, Podbean... make it March!


Oh, since this is a new post, I can at least show something neat and Hallowe'eny.

DDSPodbeansucks!

Oh no, wait... it's March, so
O'ZOM-beeee!

To the Phantom, a phavor.

Welcome, S&P-brains!

I'm taking a tiny break from all my torturing tinkering in the dungeon laboratory to come up to the pub and share a round with everyone. Making monsters is thirsty work!

I see the ol' place has acquired a few more cobwebs and a blanket of dust since I've been away... and it feels just right.

Hey listen, while we're up here relaxing, maybe you can help me out with a little biznizz for a buddy of mine. I sure hope so.

My friend Cortlandt Hull is a legend in the Monster Making world, and probably needs no introduction to most of you loyal S&Pers. You've probably seen him here once or twice -- he doesn't drink much, but he's got some of the best pub-time tales about our favorite monsters (and movie monster makers!) you've ever heard.

The amazing Joe Moe (L), your pubkeep and Cortlandt Hull (R) goofing for the 

camera in front of the always gorgeous Witch's Dungeon display at

Monsterpalooza '11.

Cortlandt is a real ar-teest -- a fantastic painter, makeup artist, graphic designer, illustrator, and most famously to Monster and Hallowe'en Kid fandom, a writer, producer, director and the wonderful horror figure maker and creator of the historic Witch's Dungeon Classic Movie Museum, a Bristol CT monster museum that just this past Fall celebrated its 45TH year delighting and thrilling Monster Kids (and their kids!) every Hallowe'en season.

Well, Cortlandt's latest horror-iffic homage is in the works, and needs the help of all us Kooky Monster Kids.

Just watch this, please. He'll explain everything...



If you would please shamble over to Cortlandt's Kickstarter page for The Phantom of the Opera: Unmasking The Masterpiece and consider any donation you can handle. There are many levels of funding and each comes with its own perks and Phantom-ish swag.

It is more than a worthy project to fund -- it's a chance to help preserve one of the most iconic films in cinema history, and of our Hallowe'en and Monster Kid heritage.

There are only 27 days left to raise the needed funds, and the planned DVD set is going to be such an awesome addition to every avid Horror Lover's movie library that you will be very, very glad you had a part in making it happen.

Please tell your friends, and refer them to the Kickstarter link above.

A toast -- to Cortlandt, the Witch's Dungeon, and getting full funding for Unmasking The Masterpiece...

DUMDUMSHREKPOP!

I haven't forgotten you.

I'm just toiling in the laboratory day and night.

Pictures and video to come, promise.

Now -- where's that spare arm...?

DDSPressedfortime!

Old tubes, St. Valenstyle.

Who ever said love was pretty?

Yes, even our trusty old Hallowe'enith console radio knows that today -- and certainly tonight -- we celebrate that most delectable of emotions -- the all-seeing, all-devouring, all-but-can't-be-lived-without energy of LOVE, good S&Pers.

Just now, the crackling and sparking and humming has calmed, and the magic eye tuner on our beloved radio has somehow become the cute li'l lovelorn fella you see drooling and sneering above.

I am pretty darn sure that means we have some new bit of fun to listen to all night long.

First up, a delightfully twisted little tale concerning med school pranksters, an old cadaver, and a med student pursuing the love of a beautiful but mysterious young woman who seems to think she's half a century in the past.

 

Love and the Lonely One was the first episode of the awesome CBC radio horror series Nightfall, first broadcast in 1980. It's probably not for children. Or the kinds of grown-ups who wouldn't venture into the Skull & Pumpkin. 

So I know all of you will love it.

Then, to cap our romantic radio repertoire, we have a tiny little tale of terror, voiced by the master of screen horror himself, William Henry Pratt.

From the 1963 Mercury Records series Tales of the Frightened, here is Boris Karloff spinning the short-but-oh-so-satisfying The Vampire Sleeps, wherein chance brings together a young nobleman and a (yet another) beautiful and mysterious lady.

You're not one of the frightened, are you?

Anyway, we'll be toasting, talking, dancing and romancing here at the S&P all day and night. Do come by.

Good listening, good loving, good night to you all.

DUMDUMSWEETHEARTS!