From Zombos Closet

JM Cozzoli

A horror and movie fan with a blog. Scary.

The Monster Times Issue 38
January 1975

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The Golden Voyage of Sinbad gets the filmbook treatment in issue 38 of The Monster Times. At least it adds a few pre-production sketches of Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion effects for the models. Marvel's handling of Conan the Barbarian is examined (thank the lord for those black and white magazines that escaped the dreaded comics code, especially here), and Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. blabs about The Blob in a great interview. Interestingly, he relates how the blob's color was dyed deeper shades of red as the film progressed. "Since the creature devours some fifty people by the end of the film, it was a logical thing to do." Yeaworth also confirms the multiple titles for the movie before release: The Molten Meteor, The Glob, and Night of the Creeping Dread. He notes Steve McQueen suggest using "The Blob" one day during shooting. Bless you, Steve. Last but not least for this issue, TMT praises The Mad Ghoul for B-ing a movie above the rest.

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The Monster Times Issue 38
January 1975Read More »

Psycho Issue 15, November 1973
All Ghoul Horror Issue

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The cover art by Vincent Segrelles is fantastic, but doesn't seem to have much to do with this special all ghoul issue of Skywald's Psycho, issue 15. The stories are ghoulish enough, though. My favorite is The 13 Dead Things. The editor, Al Hewetson, is quoted as saying the glut of Marvel black and white magazines forced Skywald off the newsstands, otherwise their horror-mood brand of illustrated terror was selling well. (I came across this complete checklist of Skywald magazines on the Wayback Machine website. I converted the information to PDF, so you can Download Complete-Skywald-Checklist.)

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Psycho Issue 15, November 1973
All Ghoul Horror IssueRead More »

The Monster Times Issue 7
April 26, 1972

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In this issue 7 of The Monster Times, Gary Gerani's Hot Prints Anyone? explains "how you  too can own and show your favorite monster movie in your own home!" Imagine that. Viewing a complete feature film in the privacy of your own home, with or without buttered popcorn, any time you like. Wild. At the end of the article, Gerani peers into the future: "We of The Monster Times see a day when the studios change the law, allowing distribution of their product to private homes…" Quite a blast from the past for monster kids, right? How many of you remember scouting around at conventions and other places for illegal full-length prints of your favorite horror films? If it wasn't for VHS, we'd all be in jail by now. Oh, wait, some of us did go to jail over VHS. Nevermind that. Anyway, other notable articles in this issue include the Would you buy a used car from this Gorilla?, which wonders why the monster-sized Volkswagen 411 car model television spot featuring King Kong came and went in the blink of an eye, and The Monster Market's Godzilla Aurora Kit review (costing a whopping $1.94 in U.S. currency). The reviewer wasn't too happy with its glow in the dark parts, the King of Monsters claws looking like Mickey Mouse gloves, and the weak stickiness of the model glue used for assembly because of too many snifflers getting cheap highs back then. Now, of course, you can just go to Colorado. 

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The Monster Times Issue 7
April 26, 1972Read More »

Return of Chandu (1934)
Publicity Pressbook

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Here’s a very special pressbook from the closet vault. It’s the 12 x 17 inches Publicity Book for The Return of Chandu. This, the Advertising Book, and a theater giveaway Chandu Mask were presented in a large, eye-grabbing folder. Quite an impressive promotional presentation for this serial starring Bela Lugosi.

Comic book reader version: Download Return of Chandu

See more pressbooks From Zombos’ Closet.

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Return of Chandu (1934)
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The Dinosaur Times Issue 1
Summer 1993

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The publishers of The Monster Times tried their hand at The Dinosaur Times in the 1990s, using the same format. It lasted for a few issues before going extinct. This first issue covers Jurassic Park, Godzilla movies, dinosaurs in the movies, and even The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in-between the more fact-based and academic stuff. And, of course, there's the centerfold poster to leave tape marks up on your walls with, too. Parents everywhere hated those centerfolds, I'm sure.

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The Dinosaur Times Issue 1
Summer 1993Read More »

Cool Sci Fi Stuff Seen on eBay:
Nomura Robby Robot 1957

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Seller chancchabhnclv has this up for auction on eBay. Although, at zero feedback and an asking price of $850.00, I doubt he (or she) is going to get many bites. But this Robby the Robot knock-off by Nomura is a fondly remembered toy from my youth. I still have a strong memory of my mom and I walking down 86th Street in Brooklyn to a small, hole in the wall, toy store. I was maybe 5  years old. Inside the store, behind the counter that ran the length of the store, the man had all these wonderful metal robot toys from Japan. This one, the Mechanized Robot, caught my eye and wouldn't let it go. It was Robby! Even the clear plastic dome showed his memory pistons all moving and lighted up as he walked!  I took Robby home and spent hours watching him walk around while those memory pistons pumped up and down. He was even more awesome in the dark (see the YouTube video at the end of this post: how cool is that!)

Sadly, over time, my Robby toy didn't grow up along with me. I don't remember what happened to him. My bad. But I still remember him. (Note: I added two photos that show the unique battery position and a side view, taken by vintagespacetoys.com.)

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Cool Sci Fi Stuff Seen on eBay:
Nomura Robby Robot 1957Read More »