From Zombos Closet

JM Cozzoli

A horror and movie fan with a blog. Scary.

Circus of Horrors (1960) Pressbook

At 18 by 23 1/4 inches, this is one big pressbook. Add ten pages filled with photos, articles, a coloring promotion, a theater giveaway clown mask by Topstone, a comic herald, and a full color cover, it becomes a pressbook collector's dream. I'm sure the audience liked the movie, too.

ComicRack reader version: Download Circus of Horrors Pressbook

See more specatular pressbooks from Zombos' Closet.

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Bomba on Panther Island (1949)
Pressbook

I would watch the Bomba and Tarzan movies every Sunday on local television, along with Abbott and Costello. The movies aren’t great, but always entertaining, and they give you an interesting perspective on how Hollywood (and America) viewed the Dark Continent (Sub-Saharan Africa according to Wikipedia), and its inhabitants through cinema. And boy, I wish I looked that good in a loincloth. I know the term “dark continent” has fallen out of favor, but it best encompasses the artistic leanings and dramatic on-film mindsets of the 1930s through 1950s: mysterious, unknown, and sinister.

 

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Master of the World (1961)
Movie Pressbook

This large 15 by 22 inches pressbook for Jules Verne's Master of the World, starring Vincent Price, has stiff covers, lots of promotional material, and a polished page layout. All of this presents quite a "selling" package to movie theaters, and indicative of American International's use of quality pressbooks for movies where Vincent Price is involved. (See The Tomb of Ligeia and The Haunted Palace.)

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Gunn (1967) Movie Herald

Private eye Peter Gunn was one of my favorite characters on television in the 1960s. Even as young as I was I loved that opening theme music. It's a wonder I didn't become a PI. And I shouldn't forget Honey West. She was a favorite, too, though I think I was in love with the AC Cobra she drove and all the high tech gadgets she used more than anything else. Here's the movie herald from 1967's color caper, Gunn.

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Nightmare Theatre TV Ad

Posted in the Universal Monsters and More Facebook group, this print advertisement for Nightmare Theatre reminds us of how much fun it was staying up late to catch a monster movie on local television. Growing up, I slept around 3 hours each night. Now I can't get enough sleep. For me, it was either reading all my monster magazines in the wee hours of the morning or watching TV until the stations went off the air. 

Nightmare Theatre TV ad

Official World’s Fair Balloon

I vaguely recall the 1964-65 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens. But I do sorely miss my mold-a-rama Make Your Own Sinclair Dinosaurs. It was quite magical watching your 25 cent dinosaur being created as you watched. I couldn't get enough of the Futurama exhibit sponsored by General Motors, either. I came across this mailer for the Official World's Fair Balloon. Being a nostalgic type I couldn't pass it up.

Worlds fair 1963 souvenir

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