The Ghost on Hawthorne Lane

Here's another fun piece of fiction from the October, 1964 Jack and Jill.

Isn't "Spice" a fun last name for the author?

One confession -- that missing text on the last page is because some kid with my name wanted to cut out the the image on the other side of this page.

Some time soon you'll see the other side.

Hidden Monsters from 1983

Omni magazine featured this article on cryptids -- that is, animals such as Bigfoot or "dinosaurs in Africa" that are held by believers to be actual, physical beasts -- not folklore.

Lizardman!

He made USA Today in 1988.

Make Your Own Spooky Skeleton!

More pages from October 1964, Jack and Jill.  If you wanted to print each page on a letter-size piece of paper, that would be close to the original size.

Happy hauntings!

Trio of Terror

The October 1985 issue of Video magazine featured three of our favorite Monster Men.

Also note the authentic period advertisements for audio-video equipment that can now be surpassed by a nine-year-old and a cellphone.

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Musical Monday - Silly Surfers & Weird-Ohs

This album came out around 1964 or 1965.  If you've seen any of the surfer/drag-race model kits in the style of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, you'll recognize the artwork.

This album was actually released to promote the model kits.  I dubbed it a few years ago, and here it is.  The songs are straight 60s teen/surf/pop, with a lot of humor and sarcasm thrown in.

It may not be spooky, but it definitely weird!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6FBB3I09

A folding CD case front cover is included, showing both sides of the LP sleeve, and a rear CD insert.

Here's a track list:

1) Gremmie Out of Control

2) Hot Dogger Hangin’ Ten
3) Hodad Makin’ the Scene with a Six Pack
4) A Woodie on a Surfari
5) Beach Bunny Catchin’ Rays
6) Cowabunga! Surf’s Up
7) Huey’s Hut Rod
8) Daddy, the Swingin’ Suburbanite
9) Drag Hag
10) Davy, the Psycho Cyclist
11) Digger
12) Endsville Eddie
 
 

By the way, the "twangy" sound you hear between cuts (and inside some of them) is explained by this bottom image, which was one side of the LP insert.

The other side of the paper sleeve was the lyrics to the songs, which I've included as a 2-page PDF.

BK Turned 80 in 1968

In the world before VCRs and DVDs, the only way to watch an old monster movie was whenever it was playing -- usually on a weekend labeled "melodrama" in the TV Guide.  Pretty much our only source for what to look for was Famous Monsters.

But as far as I was concerned, EVERYBODY should know who Boris Karloff was!

Music from Dead Famous People

Rosemary Brown claimed that various famous composer talked to her from beyond the pale.  Not only that, they dictated music to her, too!

Here's a LIFE magazine article from 1969 about her.

Halloween Crafts from Jack and Jill

Here are more pages from the October, 1964 issue of Jack and Jill.

Nowadays it might be harder to find a paper sack to make a mask from.

A World of Monsters

 The National Enquirer has always been a great source for monsters.

This 1989 story covers "new" video of Ogopogo, which according to Wikipedia is "a cryptid lake monster reported to live in Okanagan Lake, in British Columbia, Canada."

Ogopogo sure ain't no Bat-Boy, such as used to be found in the Weekly World News.  Ogopogo has been sighted for decades, if not centuries.

Stephen King Movies

In 1985, Home Viewer magazine ran a story about movies made from Stephen King's works.

Our Little Girl Wants to Be a Monster

I was sleepless in the middle of the night a few months ago when I wrote this song for our oldest grandchild, Jazra.  Here are the lyrics:

Our Little Girl Wants to Be a Monster

Our little girl wants to be a monster
When she runs out to play –
When her friends start to romp, she does the Frankenstein Stomp
And scares her friends away


Our little girl wants to be a monster,
An Invisible Man named Hank –
But when she’s been bad, it makes us mad
When we can’t see which end to spank!

           And when she sees a full moon
           She points and looks over the roof –
           I thought it was only the boy-childs
           Who want to grow into a wolf!

Yes, our angel wants to be a monster;
It’s driving her parents mad –
They feel such shame when she tells her name,
“But you can call me Vlad!”

           And when she goes in swimming,
           She’ll never come in too soon.
           She won’t tan – I think she’s greening,
           Like a kiddie from the Black Lagoon

Our little girl wants to be a monster;
“What a shame!” her folks lament.
But soon will come the day her baby sister comes to stay
-- And we can start a new experiment!

Musical Monday

For this entry of Blog-o-Ween, I'll share a fun 1960s album of monster songs, called Monster Rally.

This album was a collaboration between the great character actor Hans Conried, and performer Alice Pearce, who also made many appearances on TV.

They can also sing!  These are fun songs that are just a *little* bit "off," if you know what I mean.

Here is the link   http://www.megaupload.com/?d=70K0R1E4

CD and disc art are also included.

Here is the list of tracks:

1 Monster Rally

2 Flying Saucer
3 Close the Door
4 The Dracula Trot
5 Not of This Earth
6 (I'm In Love With) The Creature from the Black Lagoon
7 What Do You Hear From The Red Planet
8 The Thing
9 Mostly Ghostly
10 The Purple People Eater
11 The Invisible Man
12 Take Us To Your President

See you tomorrow!

Trick or Treat, from Jack and Jill

This tale is from the October, 1964 issue of Jack and Jill, a kid's magazine full of stories, activities, and fun.  It's a sweet tale.

Mr Karloff Tortures a Lighter

As a kid, I kept an eye out for monsters.

In 1968, King Boris Karloff made an ad for Ronco lighters.

Oh, the torture!

Welcome to Blog-o-ween!

Our first post is a new music compilation for this year.

Here is the download link:  http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NV7FMVAF

And here's the tracklist:

1 Halloween Sale Goodwill 0:59

2 Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman The
Tubes 4:25
3 It's a Nerdy Halloween Herbert Midgley 2:42
4 Frankie-Stein Robbie Robison 2:58
5 This Is Halloween Panic! At the Disco 3:27
6 I Only Have Eyes for You Spike Jones 3:26
7 Horray For Horrorwood Frankenstein Drag Queens 2:18
8 It's Halloween Greg Conley 3:07
9 Zombie Dance The Cramps 1:51
10 Mummy Beach Hot Lava 2:59
11 Love Song For A Vampire Annie Lennox 4:12
12 Creature with the Atom Brain JezusFactory 2:40
13 Saturday Evening Ghost Frankie Stein and His Ghouls 2:01
14 Halloween Song Evangelicals 2:15
15 Mummy Walk Contrails 2:36
16 Main Theme Dracula Twins 1:32
17 Vincent Price Zombina & the Skeletones 2:19
18 Monster Mash Misfits 2:34
19 Kids Halloween 10/30/2008 ASK U 1:14
20 Halloween Linda Book 2:52
21 Feed My Frankenstein Alice Cooper 4:40
22 Dead Man's Curve Jan & Dean 2:25
23 Creature from Outer Space Big Eyed Beans from Venus 3:05
24 Bo Meets the Monster Bo Diddley 3:03
25 TV Theme Gigantor 0:52
26 Frankenstein Stomp Count Lorry & The Biters 2:01
27 The Skeleton In The Closet Louis Armstrong 3:08
28 Frankenstein Twist The Crystals 2:53
29 Frankenstein Meets The Beetles Jekyll & Hyde 1:51

 
Cover and disc art are included.  Please let me know what you think!
 
See you tomorrow.

A Wonderful Birthday Memory

On September 30, 1966, I turned 10 years old.

I was a huge fan of TV spies, specifically The Man (and Girl) from U.N.C.L.E. .

So when my birthday that year was on a Friday, the same night of the week that Man from U.N.C.L.E. was on TV, my wonderful mother had an inspiration.

I'd have an U.N.C.L.E. birthday party!

We had about six kids over (all boys, of course) and we tore up the house and ran around outside playing spies.  I remember one guy ran too close to the rose bush on the side of the house and nearly scratched his eye.

And, of course, at 7:30PM we watched the episode scheduled, "The Galatea Affair."

Here is the invitation Mom made and sent out. The invites were made of black construction paper. The U.N.C.L.E. logo was drawn by Mom in WHITE INK on the front.

She carefully typed the interior message with REVERSED CARBON PAPER so that you would have to hold it up to a mirror to read it.

I love my mom!


PS see you October 1st for BLOG-O-WEEN!

Camp Out in Your Living Room!

Yes, with this Frontier Cabin you could do that.

It was made out of "Dupont Polyethelene," which makes me think it was a pre-printed sheet of rubber meant to be draped over a card table.

Does anybody know more about it?

Like many of the other ads, this one is from a 1961 issue of Superboy.

Mothman Still Puzzles

As you probably know, the 2002 film The Mothman Prophecies was "based on true events" that happened in 1967 in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

John Keel, who was a newspaperman at the time, investigated the reports of a strange flying creature and wrote a book from which the movie arose.

The film's character called Alexander Leek, a writer interviewed by Richard Gere's John Klein, more or less represents Keel's viewpoint -- the more attention you pay to the paranormal, the more attention it may pay to you.

And you shouldn't really desire that.

Here are two books by Jeff Wamsley, one of the original witnesses from 1967.

Oftentimes, investigations into the Great Garuda (as Keel called it -- look it up!) veer off into other lands of fancy.

A case in point is any of the series of books entitled The Mothman's Photographer.

See you again soon, and stay tuned for Blog-o-Ween, with a post-a-day in October!

A Treasure Chest of Fun

More mail-order offers from 1961.

Take your pick from foaming sugar, hot candy, atomic smoke bomb, and -- don't forget -- you too can be tough!

Me, I was so tough in the 4th grade that 2nd-graders hit me.

What Was His Real Name?

Most everybody who read comics in the 1950s and 1960s will remember Charles Atlas, the guy who wouldn't take sand in his face.


Angelo Siciliano was his birth name, by the way.  And they still sell exercise programs for 97-pound weaklings.

My problem is, I'm a 197-pound weakling!

This ad is from Superboy 86, cover-dated January, 1961.

Speaking of the Ending of Watchmen . . .

This image was generated on a Commodore 64 graphics program and was intended at the time to be a possible front page for the New Frontiersman that was never printed, because New York instead had bodies beyond our wildest imaginings.

What do you think?

Welcome to Kylie

If you put Julie and Kyle together, what do you get?

KYLIE, of course!

Kylie Jean Kramer, our second grandchild, was born on Friday at 2:30PM.  She was 21 inches long and 8lb, 6oz.

Yes, she's a big one, especially considering that Julie is about 5 foot three and about 105 lbs, normally.

Jazra is happy to be a big sister, and for right now our feelings are both tired and thankful.