From Zombos' Closet

Mexican Lobby Card: El Demonio Sanguinario

I'm not quite sure who's the demonic beast in this one. The lady pulling on the centaur's mane, which he doesn't seem happy about, gets my vote, I'd say.

Halloween Eureka Haunted Castle

This 23 inch 3D Halloween Haunted Castle decoration from Eureka has entertaining accents like the alligator in the moat, the sinister eyes staring at you, and if you look closely at the left tower window you'll see a pair of green hands holding onto the bars. 

Monster 50's Rock n Roll for Halloween

Here's a shakin' mix tape from Professor Kinema for Halloween, for you old timey rockers like me. 

Click to play or right-click to download:

Side A (28 minutes):
Monster Rock n Roll Mix Side A

Side B (20 minutes):
Monster Rock n Roll Mix Side B

 

Songs Side A:

• Graveyard --  Leroy Bowman
• The Monster -- A Pair of Kings
• I'm the Wolfman -- Round Robin
• Caveman -- Tommy Roe
• Gila Monster --Joe Johnson
• Witch Doctor's Wedding -- Tommy Holmes
• The Gorilla -- Bert Convy
• Haunted House -- Chris Kevin
• The Skeleton Fight -- Mack Allen Smith
• At the House of Frankenstein -- Big Bee Kornegay
• Monster Hop -- Bert Convy
• Mad House Jump -- Daylighters
• Split Personality -- Jim Burgett

Songs Side B:

• Nightmares -- John Sowell
• Horror Show -- Sharkey Todd
• Igor's Party -- Tony's Monstrosities
• Nightmare Hop -- Earl Patterson
• Frankenstein Rock -- Eddie Thomas
• Screaming Ball -- DuPonts
• Dinner With Drac -- Lee Kristopherson
• Son of Dracula theme

Why Write for a Living? By Scott M. Baker

Scott M. Baker tackles the age-old question every writer has...
 
Why would anyone in their right mind want to write for a living?

Nobody wants to write for a living. We do it because we have to. Once we’ve put pen to paper that first time, we’re addicted. The only fix is to type out a few pages of a short story or novel.

Those of you who have a passion for writing know exactly what I’m talking about. You carry a pocket-size notebook everywhere you go to write down your thoughts. You carefully observe people for unique mannerisms that then make their way into your characters. You listen in on conversations, not because you’re nosy, but because you study how people talk so your dialogue sounds realistic. You can’t watch the news or read a newspaper without getting an idea for a short story or novel. To you, a personal crisis is when you find out that the really awesome scene you thought of last week was already used in another book or movie. For you, writing is not so much a profession as it is a calling.

The reward is not the paycheck. Most writers will be lucky if they make enough money to pay the bills. The reward is seeing your name on the book cover. It’s the thrill of having people read the story you have to tell. It’s hearing from your fans about how much they enjoyed reading your work. It’s going to conventions and book signings. It’s watching that one story or novel slowly become a long bibliography.

If you’re nodding your head while reading this, then you’re one of the lucky ones.

Lucky ones?

Yes. You’re lucky because you’ve answered the call. The road ahead will not always be easy. You’ll have frustrations. You’ll have doubts. You might even abandon writing for awhile, only to go back to it soon. Writing is addictive, but the rewards are worth it. So if you answered the calling, I wish you the best in your endeavor. You’re going to need it.

If just one of you finds enough inspiration from these postings to write a novel or short story, or picks up some advice that helps you get published, then my efforts were not wasted. Just remember me when writing the acknowledgment page of your book. 

Now get to work.  As my good friend Clint says, “Write or die.”

Monsters From the Vault Vol 16, No 29

Zombos Says: Very Good

Drop everything and make like Renfield to pick up the latest Monsters From the Vault magazine, volume 16, issue number 29. In a detailed and exhaustive examination, analysis, and rebuttal that fills more than half the magazine, Gary D. Rhodes pins the fat, juicy spider of 1931's Dracula's growing cadre of deriders to the wall with academic gusto in The Curious Undead Life of Todd Browning's Dracula.

I can't think of anything Rhodes leaves out of his argument: the mystery of the now infamous piece of cardboard seen obscuring the lamp in Mina's room and the supposition that the Spanish Dracula, shot on the same sets, is superior to Browning's version are dissected frame by frame, scrutinized and compared with fervor, and refuted with quantitative information delivered deftly, blow after blow. 

Rhodes analyzes the movie within the context of the criticisms delivered by "it's key critics," disputing their assumptions. That Browning's Dracula adheres stultifyingly too closely to the play, or its cinematography is lacking when compared to the Spanish version (directed by George Melford, cinematography by George Robinson), or how Browning's pacing is slower, are some of the critiques Rhodes sinks his teeth into, managing to take quite a bite out of them in the process.

I'm not sure any other movie historian has resorted to using z-axis space to weigh the pros and cons of George Robinson's and Karl Freund's use of scene depth (Freund shows more), or has counted up the shots to prove Browning moves the camera more, and pans and tilts more than Melford did, or can state for certainty that the pacing is slower for Melford's movie at a running time of 102 minutes compared to Browning's 73; even when average shot length is taken into account. Rhodes details how Robinson uses proscenium framing considerably more than Freund, and highlights editing faux pauxs by Melford, such as the wine spilling redundancy, and the Dracula-as-bat bumping into Mina's bedroom windowpane with an audible thunk.

With a discussion of Carlos Villarias's bug-eyed acting and the use of mise-en-scene between both movies, Rhodes drives the rebuttal stake even deeper into the heart of Browning's Dracula nay-sayers. If you love the Browning/Lugosi Dracula as I do, you must read this article; if you love the Melford/Villarias Dracula, you still must read this article: hopefully it will bring you to your senses to realize Bela is best.

Lon Chaney 's The Yellow Ribbon and The Red Knife

Here's a Halloween treat for you. Lon Chaney Jr tell's two 3-minute tales, originally heard on The Wolf Man Speaks album. Courtesy of Professor Kinema.

"The good-natured monster star was hoping to put together a spoken word album similar to Boris Karloff's Tales of the Frightened double album set, but only two stories were recorded...The three-minute "shaggy dog" tales Lon performs are campfire horror anecdotes: The Red Knife and The Yellow Ribbon. Both are set up like long jokes, and both have a "gotcha" punch line."  (Ronald L. Smith, Horror Stars on Radio: The Broadcast Histories of 29 Chilling Hollywood Voices)

Click the links to play, or right-click to download:

Lon Chaney's The Yellow Ribbon

Lon Chaney's The Red Knife

 

Vincent Price Does the Monster Mash

Blast from the past. Here's Vincent Price doing his version of Bobby "Boris" Pickett's Monster Mash. (circa 1977)

Recording courtesy of Professor Kinema.

Click the link below the picture to play, or right-click to download:

Vincent Price Does Monster Mash

 

Halloween 2011: The Spider House

This house, a few blocks from me, is overun with giant spiders every Halloween. Fantastically creepy tableau, especially when the cocooned victim (not seen in this shot) is hanging from the porch. 

Hairy Scary Monsters

Here's a monsterkid version of Wooly Willy!

Halloween 2011 Sighted: Pier 1 Imports

Here are Beetlejuice-snazzy Halloween decorations at Pier 1 Imports. The skeleton appears to be light metal and is 5 feet or so tall, and the haunted house and pumpkins' totem are sparkly rad. Their burst of candy colors makes them very stylish for trendy urban decors. Makes me wish they were edible.

Halloween Beistle Jointed Dracula

Here's a puzzle: this striking Beistle 36 inch jointed Dracula from 1998 with the wild eyes and toothy bite is not the one depicted on the packaging label below. Funny, but I just noticed that while scanning this sucker. I wonder why the design change? That dapper vampire on the label is definitely less in-biting, don't you think? He's more cartoony, while this Dracula is more mes...mer...izing... good lord!, don't stare into his eyesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss...............................................

Frankie Stein and His Ghouls Tunes

While you can buy the other Frankie Stein and His Ghouls albums from Power Records, song by song, on Amazon. This one, Monster Sounds and Dance Music, my favorite, appears not to be available. I don't like plain old Halloween sounds per se, but when you combine them with cool, jazzy rock and roll, well, you've got something a whole lot better to listen to. Combine some Frankie Stein with your Midnight Syndicate tracks and you'll have a super ghoul-time for sure.

Special thanks to Professor Kinema for unearthing this from his vinyl archive!

Play Side A:Frankie Stein and his Ghouls A

(you can also right click the links to download the MP3)

Play Side B:Frankie Stein and his Ghouls B