I picked this happy duo up at a CVS (or maybe it was Walgreens) a few years ago. Would I do it again? No. Not that they aren't well crafted, it's just I really don't like Halloween items that are too cutesy. I'm not much into plastic gore pieces, either, but ol' green eyes looks more like a hobo than The Monster. The skeleton is kind of Dia de los Muertos, though, so not too badly done.
Standing around 3 inches tall, these Universal Monster figures are darn cute. I'm not sure if they were made by Yanoman.
I picked up these scary jigglers at Toys "R" Us during Halloween a few years ago. They are about 5 inches high and smell like strechable rubber monsters normally do, which is badly. But they were too adorable to pass up, especially with their expressive faces and shiny colors. Frankenstein's Monster is my favorite. His tux beats even Dracula's and that bolt through his head is hilarious. No wonder his eyes are popping.
These are copyright 1992 from Joy Insignia, Inc. and Troll Company (although the graphics show 1991). I picked them up from eBay a while back, when eBay was still an enjoyable place to find interesting monster collectibles.
Not quite as stylish and colorful as the Mani-Yak iron-on transfers, but still worth adorning your t-shirt to strut around a horror convention or two. Click each one for a larger image.
While mailing the American Vampire comics to contest winners today, I noticed these nostalgic stamps at the post office. Westerns were the mainstay of Universal Pictures before they discovered more lucrative box-office receipts with monsters. Cowboy serials were the ideal world of every white boy growing up in a long ago era, when American pride, fortitude, and integrity were as sociable and wholesome and as much a given as eating mom's apple pie with a glass of milk on a Sunday afternoon.
As for me, I saddled up with the Lone Ranger and Tonto, rode the trails with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, and I always hoped to get the pretty girl, kick-ass a little harder with the villains than Tom Mix, and strum the guitar strings faster and straighter than Gene Autry. I'm still working on his Cowboy Code. I wish some of the people I meet and read about these days would work on it, too.
Missing from this wonderful line-up of Americana is Bill Pickett. He's a black cowboy. Not too many folks sashayed up to the box-office to buy tickets for movies with black cowboys back then. But there's black and white in that silver screen all the same.
Way back in 1923, rodeo sensation Bill Pickett became the first black screen cowboy in The Bull-Dogger, and he was just the first in a long line of cowboys of color who galloped through movie history alongside their more mainstream, pale-faced peers. (Robert Silva, The Good, the Bad, and the Black Cowboy)
Looking at these wonderful stamps reminded me of Stephen Avalos' The Ghosts of Edendale, a creepy twist on the invincibility and purity of men wearing white ten-gallon hats, and Dead Birds, a Lovecraftian-western best not viewed alone and after dark.
Which Western horror movies would you recommend? And if you dare say Billy the Kid Versus Dracula, better put up yer dukes, cause them's fightin' words!
(Click on the graphic for a larger view while you're ponderin'.)
Dark Horse has released a 50-card set of Creepy magazine covers. In back of each card is a rundown of that issue's stories, along with authors and artists listed. There's also an Uncle Creepy's Fiendish Facts, which details a bit of information about a particular person involved with that issue.
The white card stock is thick but plain, but the cover reproductions are rather good, and the information on the back for each issue is handy to keep, er, well, handy.
Additional cards include the shocking Monster Briefs In Color! advertisement (okay, fess up, I know you ordered them, too), and the ad for the Uncle Creepy and Cousin Eerie masks (wish I had kept mine).
I just preordered my copy of Kim Paffenroth's Valley of the Dead at Horror Mall. The limited edition will be 150 copies. Kim was kind enough to send along the manuscript for me to read, so I'll have a review up soon, along with an interview. Here's more information...
"Valley of the Dead has just been put up for preorder. It will be for sale for 90 days, during which no more than 150 signed and 26 lettered will be sold. The actual books will ship on about August 30, 2009.
"The artist is Alex McVey. Check out his super creepy artwork for famous horror authors like Stephen King, at http://www.alexmcvey.com/. With Alex’s art and the high quality of the production, the book should be quite a striking, beautiful collector’s item."
For seventeen years of his life the whereabouts of the medieval Italian poet Dante Alighieri is unknown to modern scholars. All we know is that during this time, he traveled as an exile across Europe, while working on his epic poem, The Divine Comedy. In his masterpiece he describes a journey through the three realms of the afterlife. The volume describing hell, Inferno, is the most famous section. Valley of the Dead is the real story behind Inferno. In his wanderings, Dante stumbles on a zombie infestation, and the things he sees there - people being devoured, burned alive, boiled in pitch, torn limb from limb, eviscerated, impaled, decapitated, crucified, etc. - become the basis of all the horrors he describes in Inferno. Afraid to be labeled a madman, Dante made the terrors he witnessed into a more "believable" account of an otherworldly adventure with demons and mythological monsters, but now the real story can finally be told.
Bif Bang Pow! is commemorating the 50th Anniversary of The Twilight Zone with, among other nifty collectibles, bobbleheads of the mystic seer and invader...
"Just in time for the iconic series 50th Anniversary, we'll be producing collectibles from the series in the form of statues and bobble heads-but some will have, let's say, 'special' twists to them, much like the series itself. And most exciting of all, for the first time, we'll be bringing the world 3D representations of the man himself, Rod Serling. Serling is one of my personal heroes, and I couldn't be more excited about this property. We aim to do the genius of Serling justice, both in our representations of him and the many creatures and characters that live in that fantastic universe. There's lots more news to come, but the first product should hit in time for San Diego Comic-Con 2009."
When I walked past a showcase of little Kaiju-induced nightmares at the New York Comic Con, I was struck by their unique blend of weird features and glowing colors enhanced by LEDs. I was struck with terror by their price, too. They don't come cheap; but wonderful, limited art rarely does.
"PLASEEBO CUSTOM is a shop dedicated to creating unique one of a kind collectible figures and designing original figures for limited soft vinyl production.
"PLASEEBO has three Artist / Designers in the group in addition to a talented pool of Artist / Craftsmen. The lead designer is BOB CONGE and the two associate designers are BILL HAND and JOHN KASTNER. Each of these Artist / Designers has a unique vision and style of their own which directs the fresh look of a PLASEEBO CUSTOM figure. Some of our customs are completely built from scratch using various sculpture materials and techniques while others are created by using a combination of chopped existing figures, found objects and various sculpture materials. Whatever the direction or medium of expression, the drive is always to bring to life a personal vision in the form of a new figure."
