From Zombos' Closet

Zombos' Closet...a vast trove of endearingly cheap thrills, including movie and book reviews, and scans of his collections of cinema pressbooks, goofy paper-cutout Halloween decorations, and his amazing collection of Mexican lobby cards from B-grade films. If you have time to descend into a serious rabbit-hole of marvelous trash-culture nostalgia, visit that site just as soon as you possibly can. (DangerousMinds.net)

about this blog From Zombos' Closet...

The Monster Times Issue 34, 1974

The Time Machine kicks off issue 34 of The Monster Times, with It Came From Out of the Underground (comix, that is), and Star Trek Lives! By 1979, Star Trek fandom would get their fix with Star Trek the Motion Picture (well, okay, sort of), and more ST to follow on the big screen. William Shatner also gives TMT a lengthy interview, too. Doug Murray pours over the slimy monsters to be found in comics, and a pondering over Zardoz ponders some more. Ladies of Fright explores female terrors in film beginning with Freaks, but of course needs to be added to by now, and a preview of Madhouse with Vincent Price is tossed in for good measure. Of special nostalgic and historical interest, you'll find on page 27, a half-page rundown on all the cool happenings planned for the 1974 New York Comic Art Convention, where fans mingled with the greats. Sadly, I didn't take pictures when I attended--I know, how stupid of me! But I was there, although my memories are more foggy than clear about the whole thing, but I swear, I wasn't doing drugs. I wasn't!

Comic reader version: Download Monster Times Issue 34

More magazines in the morgue From Zombos' Closet.

The Monster Times Issue 26, 1973

In issue 26 of The Monster Times, Destroy All Monsters brings out the big guns, Metropolis, Illinois, gets super coverage, Richard Bojarski tells us all about Rondo Hatton in Horrorwood, and Star Trek lives! -- as a Saturday morning cartoon (which was pretty good, actually). Also not to be glossed over is the Ghoulie Glossies, wherein Gary Gerani reveals the dark side of movie stills traded on the hot convention circuit. Pressbooks are briefly mentioned in the article as "these are sent directly to the theater managers who in turn usually send them directly into the garbage can..." Bite your tongue! On the plus side, there's coverage (albeit too brief) of the 1973 New York Comic Art Convention, Ah, those were the days!  Conventions were so much cooler back then. I wonder whatever happened to Heidi Saha?

Comic reader version: Download Monster Times Issue 26

See more in the magazine morgue From Zombos' Closet.

The Monster Times Issue 21, 1973

An all-Frankenstein (really they meant The Monster, for you purists) issue of The Monster Times, for number 21, makes for stellar reading. A Glenn Strange interview, Frankenstein in the Comics, Frankenstein's Castle, The Decline of Frankenstein (bite your electrode!), Frankenstein's Bloody Terror, and the usual TMT stuff to keep you busy. Whew!

Comic reader version: Download Monster Times Issue 21

See more in the magazine morgue From Zombos' Closet.

The Monster Times Issue 41, 1975

Issue 41 of The Monster Times has some monstrous coverage to sink your teeth into. There's the wonderful low-budget It! The Terror From Beyond Space, Werewolf comic books are howled at, Six Versions of Frankenstein (up till then, of course) are counted, a mostly I'm-disappointed review of Young Frankenstein (now generally considered a comedy-horror classic), and How to Make a Mummy for Fun and Profit (which, disappointingly, is actually about the actual mummification process). The best part is Looking Back With Zach: An Interview With John Zacherly. One annoyance though: during the interview they showed Zackerly a photo of him with a very young Richard Thomas, taken out on Long Island, New York. "They" didn't bother to actually include the photo, although Zacherly explains it. I'd love to have seen THE PHOTO. Space:1999 and How to Make a Monster Movie round out the issue.

Comic reader version: Download Monster Times Issue 41

See more magazine From Zombos' Closet.

Rebecca (1940) Mexican Lobby card

The old dark house trope as done by Alfred Hitchcock--and quite a movie it is. This Mexican lobby card does the movie justice. Well, except for the typo.

I'll Get You for This (1951) Pressbook

Here's the British pressbook for I'll Get You for This. I was never a big George Raft fan, but you can tell by the poster art how they played off his onscreen persona as a tough guy with a nasty temper. Wikipedia says that Peter Lorre was supposed to appear in the movie but his role was played by someone else. That's a shame. I'm a big fan of Peter Lorre. I'll watch Peter Lorre in anything.

Comic reader version: Download I'll Get You Pressbook

Neutron Mexican Lobby Card

Here's the Mexican lobby card for Neutron contra los Asesinos del Karate (1964). At first glance it looks like a simple layout, but look deeper. The inset scene and text are given dynamism by being slanted short of the diagonal, allowing the proscenium illustration to show the story's key themes. Notice the careful balance of the woman at bottom left, perfectly positioned along the slanting text and scene, as she looks to left and upward, while Neutron looks toward left (ostensibly towards her).

Freaks (1932) Re-Release Pressbook

Tod Browning's Freaks remains still freaky after all these years. Here's the 1949 re-release pressbook. I'm surprised the studio had enough gumption to make audiences again squirm in their seats with another showing. This movie works its black magic by turning the monstrous, like a reflection in a mirror, back to the viewers. Browning made us uncomfortable because of our limitations, not those of the circus performers considered freaks because of their physical differences. A truly amazing movie, whose awkwardness from silent movie conventions and melodramatic performances only heightens its unnerving effect one feels after watching it.

Comic reader version: Download Freaks Re-Release Pressbook

See more pressbooks From Zombos' Closet.

Quasimodo's Monster Magazine Issue 4, 1975

In Quasimodo's Monster Magazine issue 4 you have a whopping 100 pages of monster goodness. Roger Corman, Lon Chaney, Jr., Space 1999, classic horrors, Doug McClure and The Land That Time Forgot, and enough bloody merchandise to scream about--oodles of monsterkid goodness. You can find more of the Quasimodo issues in my magazine morgue too!

For comic reader: Download Quasimodo's Monster Magazine Issue 4

Read more magazines from the morgue.

Island at the Top of the World (1974) Pressbook

A lost viking civilization in the Arctic provides the theme for this fantasy film with David Hartman. Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too was the other part of the double bill theater showing. Some critics at the time liked Winnie and Tigger more than Hartman. Island's pressbook, as usual, throws everything into promotion. Did you know that toothsome means attractive? Agneta Eckemyr is described as "toothsome enough to make a mummy drool." As usual with many pressbooks, female actors were often treated as mostly eye-candy fluff and glamour objects.

Comic reader version: Download Island at the Top of the World Pressbook

See more pressbooks From Zombos' Closet.

The Strawberry Roan (1948) Pressbook

Gene Autry sets his mind to tame a wild horse after it throws a boy and paralyzes him. Autry sings inbetween the taming and the Western drama. This is Pat Buttram's first movie, although he's probably more remembered for the Green Acres sitcom with Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor.

Comic reader version: Download The Strawberry Roan Pressbook

See more pressbooks From Zombos' Closet.

Stolen Identity (1953) Pressbook

In this Austrian movie, a cab driver dreams of going to America and steals the identity of a murdered man. Love triangle motivations complicate things. 

Comic reader version: Download Stolen Identity Pressbook

See more pressbooks From Zombos' Closet.