You'll Be Gripped!

If that happens, tell those mean ole aliens to keep their hands to themselves.

Until then, check out this article:

These breathless whispers of freakiness are from the June 9, 1987 Globe.  And before you ask, I do not have the previous two parts of this world-shattering series.

The theories of the distinguished Rev Theodore Peters don't hold theological water, because his Lutheran faith (and Protestantism) maintains that God revealed himself through his son and the Bible, and that's all that's necessary to know what you need to know to learn God's ways.

You are free to make up your mind and/or heart about whether space beings (or other beings) are messengers of God.  You might even meet one on Sunday at church!  But don't hold your breath.

See you Monday!

  

Two-Faced Rorshach!

 

           Among his many astounding, amazing, stupefying, and wow-istic accomplishments, Dave Gibbons came up with approximately seventy zillion different mirror-image faces for Rorschach.

       

            In 1987 I encountered Rorschach at OKC’s Southside Comics.  I tried to catch up with him, but he departed over a nearby fence into the rough of the adjacent golf course.

            This in-the-flesh near run-in inspired me to scour the series in search of places in which the same Rorschach facial pattern appears on separate occasions.

            I’m NOT counting page 20 of Chapter 12.  This is a “dolly-in” shot that keeps the focus on Rorschach the whole time, and the pattern remains the same intentionally.  Still, I’ve made note of two Rorschach face-patterns which repeat.

RORSCHACH FACE DUPLICATES:

            Both of these are “reaction” shots.  The first is on page 8 of Chapter One, in Blake’s apartment, as Rorschach discovers Blake’s hidden costume closet.  The second is on page 24 of Chapter 5, Rorschach’s face as he realizes Jacobi is dead.

            It may not be coincidental that both of the above views take place in Happy Harry’s bar.  The first appears on page 15 of Chapter One, the second on page 14 of Chapter Ten.  In fact, each face is seen as Rorschach responds to something Happy Harry says.

            At a later date, I entered Southside Comics to find Rorschach checking out the new arrivals.  When I asked him about his face’s repeating patterns, he said, “Hurrm.”

 

            Make of these what you will.  Are there more duplicate Rorschach face-patterns in Watchmen?

Halloween Is Here, and It's Retro

 Yup, my friends, this is the wonderful day at last!

To celebrate, here's a bunch of songs in an old-fashioned vein.

01 - A Haunting We Will Go - The McGuire Sisters - 1956  (1:56)

02 - Zombie - The Salmas Brothers - 1959  (2:20)

03 - Gravedigger's Rock - Clyde Scott with the Zanyopolis - 1959  (1:57)

04 - Danse Macabre - Georges Mantalba - 1959  (6:12)

05 - Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde - The Versatones - 1963  (2:41)

06 - (Oooh I'm Scared) of the Horrors of the Black Museum - Nightmares - 1959  (1:51)

07 - Mystery - Harry A Yerkes Dance Orchestra - 1920  (2:46)

08 - Beware of the 4-D Witch - Joe Bisko - 1973  (2:42)

09 - Lost Ride - The Phantom - 1953  (2:28)

10 - Halloween Party - Jack Starr - 1959  (1:33)

11 - What Can It Be - The Alvans - 1961  (2:31)

12 - This Way Frankie - Lord Chatterley & the Transylvania Septet - 1959  (2:21)

13 - Shock Party - Amery Lynn - 1959  (2:20)

14 - Movin' Outa This Haunted House - Bill “Butterbean” Flippo - 1961  (1:37)

15 - Spooky - Sal and the Watchers - 1962  (2:16)

16 - Celery Stalks at Midnight - Doris Day with Les Brown - 1941  (2:59)

17 - Monster Gonzales - Tommy Bruce - 1966  (2:53)

18 - Rock-a-Boogie - Andy Quinn - 1957  (1:53)

19 - The Walls Keep Talking - Anita O'Day - 1941  (3:10)

20 - Albino Bat - The Regents - 1964  (1:46)

21 - Terrorvision Time - Brian & Garry and the Chain Rattlers - 1965  (2:39)

22 - Shiverin' and Shakin' - Edwin & Alvin - 1959  (2:20)

23 - The Little Man Who Wasn't There - The Glenn Miller Orchestra - 1939  (3:03)

24 - The House in the Alley - The Brassett's - 1959  (2:11)

25 - Monster in Love - The Von Vons - 1961  (2:34)

26 - Monsters of the World Unite - Homer and Jethro - 1964  (2:54)

27 - Chiller Limbo - The Vic Plati Quintet - 1965  (3:14)

28 - King Kong Song - ABBA - 1974  (3:28)

THIS LINK GOOD FOR SEVEN DAYS.

PERMANENT LINK.

Note that these songs are sourced from vinyl, tape, acetate, and the interwebs. A few are less pristine than others. None newer than 50 years!

Have a joyous evening of spooks and silliness, of frights and fun. See ya Monday, my fiends!

  

The End of the Munsters!

Yup, we've shared every page of the Whitman Munsters coloring book!  Except for the covers.  Here they are!

To refresh your memories, here's the front cover.

Above is the inside of the rear cover ... evidently it was a test scratchpad to see what the crayons looked like on paper!

Here's the rear cover.  I can tell you that as far as I know, I NEVER IN MY LIFE ever saw "Whitman crayons" in the real world.

See you on Friday, Halloween, for a new compilation of Halloween music!

  

A True Story, Sure Enough!

That's what NBC promised us in 1973. Well, you know how trustworthy TV networks are!

This spread is from the November 24, 1973 TV Guide.

The article's author, Samuel Rosenberg, is easily mentioned in the interwebs as the author of a LIFE magazine essay about Frankenstein.  Sadly, I don't have a copy.  Do you?

See you on Wednesday!

  

It's Dark in Here

Maybe that's why they called it Night Gallery, mmmm?

I cut this from the November 27, 1971 TV Guide.  And saved it all these years, just for YOU!

According to this article, the demonlike monster is from an episode to be broadcast December 1, 1971.

As you can see from the screengrab, it's from the adaptation of Lovecraft's "Pickman's Model."

PS Look closely at the critter's arms and legs.  I heard a rumor that this costume re-used elements from Creature from the Black Lagoon's Gill Man.

Comparing the two, it sure looks like it!

See you on Monday for the last week of this year's BLOG-O-WEEN!

  

Zounds, the Hounds!

A Two-fer of

Scary Books, Kiddies!

The Hounds of Tindalos.  By Frank Belknap Long.  Belmont Books, 1963.  No cover credit.  “This book contains the complete text of nine stories from the famous hardcover edition, and is reprinted by permission of the author.”  Copyright 1946, Arkham House.

            Boy, the cover art is silly, huh?

             The stories in the Belmont collection are:

"Dark Vision" (Unknown, 1939)

"The Black Druid" (Weird Tales, 1930)

"The Space-Eaters" (Weird Tales, 1928)

"Grab Bags Are Dangerous" (Unknown, 1942)

"Fisherman's Luck" (Unknown, 1940)

"The Elemental" (Unknown, 1939)

"Golden Child" (Thrilling Wonder Stories, 1945)

"The Peeper" (Weird Tales, 1944)

"The Hounds of Tindalos" (Weird Tales, 1929)

            And our second feature ...

The Hounds of Tindalos.  By Frank Belknap Long.  Jove Books, 1978.  Cover art by Rowena.

 

            The Jove version contains these tales:

Introduction

Death Waters • (1924)

The Ocean Leech • (1925)  

The Space-Eaters • [Cthulhu Mythos] • (1928)

The Hounds of Tindalos • [Cthulhu Mythos] • (1929)  

A Visitor from Egypt • (1930)  

Second Night Out • (1933)

The Dark Beasts • (1934)  

The Flame Midget • (1936)  

Dark Vision • (1939)  

The Elemental • (1939)  

Fisherman's Luck • (1940)  

The Refugees • (1942)  

Grab Bags Are Dangerous • (1942)  

The Census Taker • (1942)

Step Into My Garden • (1942)  

It Will Come to You • (1942)  

The Peeper • (1944)

           I bought this critter on December 12, 1978, at a now-defunct Target store.

Ya know, IMO this Long guy is one of those writers for which you can hardly ever go wrong -- kinda like Fredric Brown or Asimov in that regard.

            See ya Friday!

  

It's a Goal!

When a couple of monsters meet, it doesn't ALWAYS go bad!

It's from MAD #281, its September 1988 issue.

See you Wednesday ... don't kick any cars bigger than YOU are!

  

Reverse the Charges!

Yup, that's what this article advises!

Of course, IT'S A JOKE!  This is from a 1983 spoof paper called Irrational Inquirer.

Almost tricked ya!  See you Monday.

  

The Countess Is Counting on You!

 Scary Books, Kiddies!

Countess Dracula. By Michel Parry. Beagle Books, 1971. “Based on the screenplay of the film.”

As you can tell, this paperback’s covers had a lot of flexing. I bought it at a thrift store on August 24, 1984, and subsequently used black magic marker to try and cover up all the cracks.

This restrained, aloof tome is the novelization of a sensationalistic 1971 film of the same name.

Of course, what everybody remembers from this movie is not the poster, but a certain image from elsewhere in the film, as reproduced below:

Obligatory "fangs for the mammaries" joke here ....

See you on Friday, fellow nibblers!

  

There's No Age Like a Morgue-Age!

Yup, the second of three new Halloween-music comps for this year.

01 - Gonna Go Down (To See My Baby) - The Rainbows - 1962  (1:59)

02 - Blood - Zro4 - 1980  (3:25)

03 - Brecon Beacons - Supergrass - 2023  (2:53)

04 - Frankensteiner Polka - Eddie Lawrence - 1958  (2:20)

05 - Nightmares - Art August and the Dorian-Aires - 1965  (2:09)

06 - Supernature - Cerrone - 1977  (3:52)

07 - Barnabas - The Merrymen of Barbados - 1968  (3:47)

08 - My Girlfriend's Ghost - The Oil Tasters - 1982  (3:11)

09 - The Birds Is Coming - Louis Jones with the Bobby Scott Orchestra - 1963  (2:04)

10 - The Hearse - Paul Chaplain - 1967  (1:26)

11 - Boo! Boo! Boo! Here Comes the Loch Ness Monster - The Connecticut Collegians - 1934  (2:23)

12 - Zombies Dance in the Night - Alberta Jordan - 1956  (2:27)

13 - The Invisible Thing - The Casual Three - 1958  (2:45)

14 - Do the Standing Still (Classics Illustrated) - Table - 1977  (2:59)

15 - Demon Lover - Lyn Cornell - 1960  (2:58)

16 - Nightmare - Billy Sills - 1958  (2:31)

17 - Zombie Stomp - Billy Gholston - 1963  (2:22)

18 - Haunted House - The Other Side - 1985  (2:54)

19 - Tombstone - Johnny Darcy - 1958  (2:49)

20 - Life After Death - Funboy Five - 2009  (3:12)

21 - Cannibal Dolls - Land of Giants - 1982  (3:29)

22 - Did You Ever See My Ghoul - Rod Derrett - 1965  (1:53)

23 - Graveyard Paradise - 126 - 1967  (2:59)

24 - Graveyard - Leroy Bowman and the Arrows - 1958  (2:07)

25 - Year Without a Halloween - Lugosi's Morphine - 2006  (2:48)

26 - Halloween Is All Around Us - Golden Records - 2012  (1:22)

27 - The Wind and More - Roky Erickson - 1979  (4:07)

THIS LINK GOOD FOR SEVEN DAYS.

Like they say, you might check in, but you won't walk out under your own power!

PERMANENT LINK.

See ya next time, fellow pumpkinheads!