From Zombos' Closet

The Monster Times No. 27, 1973

For the children of the night, it doesn't get any better than issue 27 of The Monster Times. Vampires take flight, beginning with Gary J. Svehla's Forgotten Vampires of the Cinema. Of course, now we have the Internet and streaming movies and stuff we'd love to forget but can't because it keeps coming back like a vampire. But in 1973, an article like this one was pure gold to horror fans. Putting a nail in Blackula's coffin is Joe Kane with Scram, Blacula, Scram, who seems to really not like poor Mamuwalde much at all. Perhaps the most dispiriting read is Dave Stidworthy's the Decline and Fall of Bela Lugosi. On the one hand, while Lugosi suffered through a career that didn't shine as much as Boris Karloff's, to say that his many poverty row movies or his Ed Wood wonders are forgettable is rather shortsighted. You can call them many things, or critique them many ways, but you can never ever say they're forgettable. 

Comic reader version:  Download The Monster Times 27 (read more creepy magazines from Zombos' Closet)

The Monster Times No. 25, 1973

The Fly and Return of the Fly buzzes around issue 25 of The Monster Times as Jim Wnoroski takes a swat at the movies, and C.C. Beck is marveled for his artistic work on Captain Marvel. I recall seeing Mr. Beck at one of Phil Seuling's Comic Art Conventions. Beck's hobby was to create very realistic sword and sorcery weapons out of paper and cardboard. He auctioned off some of these at the convention. Seuling, a big fellow, let down his hair (he really did, as he let it grow long) and grabbed a mighty Beck-crafted axe, then posed a la Conan for photo ops. Hopefully, some of those pictures still exist. I also had picked up one of the weapons to check it out and was surprised to find it light as a feather, but very realistic in appearance. Also in this issue, horror heroines get some love, and the Kung Fu craze kicks up the action.

Comic reader version:  Download The Monster Times 25

A Night of Fright Double Bill Pressbook: Did You Get Your Erotiphile Giveaway?

So, what's better than a double bill viewing of The Horrible Dr. Hitchcock and The Awful Dr. Orlof? Why, getting the Erotiphile novelty giveaway card, of course! Now that's a giveaway to hold on to. Quite cheeky I might add, too. 

Comic reader version:   Download A Night of Fright Pressbook

The Monster Times No. 18, 1972

The Monster of Piedras Blancas gets some love in issue 18 of The Monster Times; at least from the article's author, David Stidworthy (yeah, like that's a real name): the rest of TMT awarded a Schlock Award Winner to it. Christopher Lee returns as Count Dracula in Dracula A.D. 1972 and talks about the Count that made him famous, Tony Isabella searches for Willis O'Brian's Missing Monster. For comic buffs, Art Miller discusses Nedor comic's infatuation with monsters When Monsters Ruled the Comics.

Comic reader version:  Download The Monster Times 18

Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949) Pressbook

I was just watching Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man last night. I still chuckled at the silly gags. That made me start thinking I'd like to catch Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, so I pulled out the pressbook to prepare. There is nothing more so 1940s than seeing Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi wearing a turban and tux. The article titled Karloff Still Haunted by Monster Role is worth a gander. 

ComicRack and YakReader version:  Download Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer (and see more pressbooks from Zombos' Closet here).