From Zombos' Closet

Devil Goddess (1955) Movie Pressbook

Here's the pressbook for Devil Goddess, the last film in the Jungle Jim series by Columbia Pictures.

Mesa of Lost Women (1953) Movie Pressbook

This Howco movie pressbook for Mesa of Lost Women doesn't do this opus of inanity justice, so read my movie review to get a better sense of the senselessness this movie brings to 1950s bottom-basement wonders.

First Man Into Space (1959) Movie Herald

Who knows the effects of the deadly gamma rays? The mysteries of space provided a fertile ground for destructive rays and destructive aliens in the 1950s and 1960s as well as for heroic and conflicted comic book heroes. The Fantastic Four would blast into space and be enveloped by cosmic rays in 1961, Bruce Banner would be mutated into the Incredible Hulk in 1962 by gamma rays, and space rays would have a positive influence on DC's Negative Man in 1963. But First Man into Space in 1959 blasted off first to ignite the radiation mania in popular culture.

More Stuff in the Closet

Marvel-Con 1976 Program

The Monster Times Issue 5

Monster Game Board to Die For

Mexican Lobby Card: Chamber of Horrors (1966)

Horror Tales Vol. 4 Issue 5 August 1972

Take a gander at the inside ad in this issue 5, volume 4, of Horror Tales. So, is YOUR hair growing or going? Did the advertiser think aging and balding adults (such as myself) were buying this issue way back in 1972? Around that time I was a much younger version of myself who could care less. Now I'm an adult paying extortion prices on eBay to recapture that glorious time when I had more hair on my head than in my ears, and a newstand filled with 60 cent magazines. Did I pay any attention to ads like this back then? Certainly not. Which is why it's so irksome to me now. It's like some cosmic deity was giving me a hint of my future.

At least this issue has some hair raising thrills for you. Voodoo's Queen of Witchcraft will stimulate those winnowing hair follicles while Deadly Fangs toys with you, and the Ghost Writer tells a tale of Zombie Vengeance, which should bring the writers among  us a certain unpleasant sense of familiarity. 

Charles Herbert (1948-2015)

from Professor Kinema

At one Monster Bash several years ago Charles Herbert was sharing a table with B-movie/schlock producer/director Bert I. Gordon and his daughter, Susan.  He was very fan-friendly and we had one brief chat.  I bought a few items, he autographed a few items and, with Susan, posed for a few photos.

Like a lot of juvenile performers, his best (albeit only) years were as a child in films and TV. Mostly uncredited, his earliest appearances date back to 1953.  On TV he appeared in such classic shows as Screen Directors Playhouse, Celebrity Playhouse, and Playhouse 90.  The few (of many) TV shows and feature films of interest to Monster Bash attendees include Science Fiction Theater, One Step Beyond, Men Into Space, The Outer Limits, and one episode of Twilight Zone based on Ray Bradbury's story I Sing the Body Electric.

A genuine cult status was achieved with his appearances in such feature films as The Monster That Challenged the World, as the little boy fighting over a found sailor's cap; The Colossus of New York, as the son of the Colossus; The Fly, he shows Vincent Price that funny looking fly caught in the spider web and about to be the fly's dinner; and appearing with Susan Gordon in the Bert I. Gordon directed The Boy and the Pirates.  His only top billing in what would essentially be his final film appearance came as Buck in William Castle's 13 Ghosts.

By 1968 his film and TV career was over.

Susan Gordon, Professor Kinema, and Charles Herbert

Circus of Horrors (1960) Movie Herald

Here's the Circus of Horrors movie herald. This version came with the pressbook, offering movie theaters a sample of the advertising handout they could order. Pretty elaborate for a horror movie. The pressbook is even more amazing. It's a whopping 18 inches by 24 inches in size. A big pressbook for a circus big top movie.

Mexican Lobby Card: The Thing With Two Heads

One of the wilder horror movies out there. Way out there. Ray Milland and Rosey Grier butt heads in El Regreso Del Monstruo (The Thing With Two Heads, 1972)

Shock Vol. 3 Issue 2 May 1971

Another inappropriately dressed victim being victimized for your gruesome pleasures adorns the cover of Shock, Chilling Tales of Horror and Suspense, Vol. 3, Issue 2. She must be cold with all that snow around. And dead people. And knife-wielding anti-social ghoul. Inside the covers, where it's warmer, gloves make the janitor (a killer), Danny fights for the woman he loves (against a legion of the living voodoo dead, no less),  more voodoo dead set sail, and the faceless legion tightens its coils around an unlucky couple. Oh, and a certain lady of death wants to suck the life out of you, too, so...well...good luck.

Stark Terror Vol. 1, Issue 4 June 1971

I bet you didn't know that werewolves carry weapons and big coils of rope, and have a penchant for drooling over scantily clad ladies wearing big hoop earrings? But they do if only for Stanley Publications' Stark Terror magazine. Here's some nifty horror comics to assuage that feeling of dread and despair we all feel after Halloween as we wait for next year's to hurry round.

Halloween Press Photo: You Think You've Got a Costume?

And I bet you thought YOU had a costume.

Christmas Press Photo: How Nightmare Before Christmas Came About

Central Press Association, 1935--Santa, fed up with all the Halloween holiday nonsense, sets up shop before October 31st, to tell eager young candy-gobblers, like brightly dressed Tim Burton, they should enjoy Santa's (s)elf-printed coloring books instead of sugary sweets. Santa's giant elf-handler and marketing muscle on the right (behind his chair), provides support to move the line along, even as little Tim desperately tugs on Santa's hand for anything sweet or chocolaty instead of crayons.

Halloween Press Photo: Apple Bobbing 1956

Los Angeles, 1956--In one of those life-altering moments you never realize until it's too late, young Adam Paradise ponders Eve Garden's seemingly harmless apple challenge.