From Zombos' Closet

Mexican Lobby Card: Beyond Atlantis (1973)

My, what big eyes they have. I couldn't resist the inherent (unintentional?) humor in the illustration of this Mexican lobby card for La Atlantida, El Paraiso Perdido.

Giant Horror Show Standee

I spotted this on eBay. I had thought theater standees were fairly modern in conception. Wrongo. But they certainly didn't carry around cell phones or pocket cameras back then, so I'm guessing this was used more as advertisement than a backdrop for selfies.

Mexican Lobby Card: Orlak, El Infierno De Frankenstein

Do you notice the odd contrast between the illustration and inset scene of this Mexican lobby card for The Hell of Frankenstein (1960)? 

Mexican Lobby Card: Bomba En El Bosque Del Terror

Here's the Mexican lobby card for Bomba and the Jungle Girl (1952). 

Mexican Lobby Card: Teenagers From Outer Space (1959)

10 Years and Onward (or Yes, I've Got a BIG Closet)

I opened the door to Zombos' Closet 10 years ago, first to Blogspot in 2005, then a switch over to Typepad in 2006. I had two simple goals in mind: keep it commercial free (no blaring banners, no pop-up ads, no videos hawking crap), and keep it fun for you and me as I share my appreciation of the fantastique in film, literature, and popular culture.  And, of course, show off my collection of cool stuff, too, while doing so. For posterity.

For me it keeps my inner monsterkid alive and kicking. For you I hope it does the same or will help you find your monsterkid, the one buried deep within all of us, often afraid to show itself. Or that imagi-movies kid in you. Or that Halloween-tripping kid in you. Or that pop-culture is cool as hell kid in you, devouring the geeky, the sublime, and the surreal, as a defense (and offensive blow) against the doldrums foisted on us by reality, constantly testing our resolve.

That resolve is to never forget that our imaginations keep reality in check. And today, reality needs to be put in check more often. When you apply your imagination to reality, you can bend that reality to your will for the betterment of yourself and everyone else, and that's truly fantastic. It's like body-blocking the hateful, the insipid, the mentally blind, and the determinedly evil folk among us who haven't a clue to share, let alone a sense of wonder for the beauty of the world we live in and our place in it. You know, the stuff that dreams are made of. We know all about that wonderful stuff because we're monsterkids, and sci-fi kids, and  the why not? kids, always pushing back on greedy, selfish reality when others push it on us trying to beat our resolve down.

So embrace that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach, that creepy sensation on the back of your neck, or shudder away as you dread, in the dead of night, just what that sound is, or why your closet door is slightly, ever so slightly, open when you thought you had closed it. It's only the fantastique calling, daring you to dream of gods and demons, and everything else in-between, to bolster your fight against reality. To watch the stars and constantly say why not?

So another year, another opportunity to fight the good fight. And win.

Happy New Year!