Design: Famous Monsters of Filmland

Famous Monsters of Filmland (1958-1983) Originally published as a one-off to capitalize on the popularity of recently syndicated  horror movies. The first edition did so well that it ran for the next 25 years. As a kid this was the mag to get. Great stories, cool photos, and illustrations  – and beautiful full color cover paintings. The bands The Cramps and The Misfits  liked it so much they stole the type-face for their logo. Happy Halloween.

Photography: Scary Vintage Halloween Kids Pt. 2

I love the picture of the little devils but the rest are really, really creepy. It’s refreshing to not see any Jasons or Freddies or Sexy Cops or Harry Potters or Supermen but C’mon. These are creepier then any of todays costumes, by a mile. Points for creativity, a mosquito is a pretty great idea but what the hell is going on with the group of bag heads and I don’t even think the last photo is human.

WTF

The Art of Packaging: VHS Covers – Evil

"Because a brain is a terrible thing to waste"

“A serial killer so evil, he mocks the devil himself” – He mocks the Devil himself? That’s the tag from the 1993 jem – The Satan Killer. These are from the 80’s and 90’s when a VCR was unique and every distributor an dfilm company tried to cash in on the new fad by releasing every single lousy, awful, cheap, shitty movie ever made – ever. They all look completely rushed and hap-hazard, from the terrible artwork and naive layout to the copy and ridiculous taglines. As it’s almost Halloween here are some of the fine horror titles, if you’re over 30, you may have seen at your local video store.

Nail Gun Massacre - "A very penetrating story"

"They came to play, they stayed to die"

"The ultimate driller killer thriller!"

Death Spa - "You'll sweat blood"

"They're men turned inside out! And worse... they're still alive!"

"A terrifying look into the mind of a possessed psychopathic killer"

"A serial killer so evil, he mocks the devil himself"

Halloween: LP 3 – The Horrors, Strange House

Basically this band doesn’t exist anymore. – or at least this incarnation. Strange House is the 2007 debut LP by, then, hard rocking, garage, freakout band The Horrors. Long on style, The Horrors tried to live up to their name for this LP both musically and sartorally. Much of this LP would fit nicely on any Halloween playlist – Jack the Ripper (a screaming Lord Sutch cover), Sheena is a Parasite and She Is The New Thing being the standout tracks. Check out the great animated video for She Is The New Thing, super creepy and cool. After this LP The Horrors totally changed their tune – literally, with follow-up LPs, Primary Colors (My Bloody Valentine, Joy Division) and the brilliant new Skying. All great LPS by a constantly evolving band.

Strange House Album Cover

She Is The New Thing - Video stills

Halloween: Pin Up Witches

These are primarily stills from movie studios in the 40’s either promoting a particular film – i.e. “I Married A Witch” starring Veronica Lake, or to promote a particular actress. Some are remembered, Yvonne De Carlo, Betty Grable, others forgetton, Dusty Anderson, Etchika Choureau – all beautifull.

Yvonne De Carlo - Pre Lili Munster

Vironica Lake - 'I Married A Witch'

Dusty Anderson

Betty Grable

Virginia Wells

Joyce Holden

Etchika Choureau

Ann Miller

Waterskiing Witches

 

Music: Halloween LP 2 – The Misfits, “Walk Among Us”

They have become a bit of a joke now, more a Hot Topic black sweatshirt then a real band. That’s fine because they only made one great LP and a couple of good singles and everybody’s got to make money somehow.

Here’s what allmusic.com has to say,    “The Misfits’ 1982 debut full-length, Walk Among Us, rapidly became a legendary effort of U.S. punk, the more so because it so willfully violated many rules which were already ironically straitjacketing the scene. Utterly devoid of political confrontation or social uplift, embracing a costume sense that might have given Kiss pause and generally coming across like the horror-movie nightmares they looked like on the cover, the Misfits just wanted to entertain and do their own thing — and that they did, brilliantly. Nearly every song on the album — 13 total, delivered in a light-speed 25 minutes — is a twisted classic, with the band’s trademark ’50s/’60s melodies run through a punk/metal meatgrinder on full display.” –  Sounds about right and it is the perfect Halloween soundtrack.

'Walk Among Us' LP - Halloween 7" single

Jerry Only, Glen Danzig, Doyle

It's called "The Devil's Forelock" (post Danzig)

Drummer(?), Danzig, Logo, Doyle

The logo taken from the film "The Crimson Ghost" - 7" Single - 'Bullit"

Doyle & Jerry Only doing the 'model' thing