Category Archives: monster world

Today in Halloween: ‘Chilling, Thrilling Sounds …’

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If you grew up in the 1960s, the Disney record “Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House” was the soundtrack to every Halloween party ever.

Released in 1964 on the Disneyland label, the vinyl LP featured a mix of spooky sounds and narration, but the Disney sound effects – whistling wind, driving rain, ghostly moans and horrible screams, not to mention creaking doors – was perfect for mood-setting background “music” for Halloween parties.

Bits and pieces of the album are all over the Internet. Here’s a taste.

Happy Halloween party!

Today in Halloween: ‘Mockingbird Lane’

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I’m just a wee bit tired of coy TV show titles. I suppose “Smallville” started it all. Here was a TV series – often enjoyable, especially toward the end – that seemed embarrassed to embrace its true nature as a Superboy story.

Other shows with titles that seem too cool for school in some ways included the Aquaman show that was kinda sorta inspired by “Smallville” and carried the title “Mercy Reef.” Sufferin’ Shad, but that sounds like something Aquaman would have exclaimed. It’s probably just as well the show never came to pass. It would be in its sixth season by now and Aquaman, who I’m sure would have had a cooler, subtler name, would have just begun talking to his pet clown fish.

So there’s precedent, title-wise, for “Mockingbird Lane,” the apparently failed NBC pilot that aired tonight as part of the network’s special night of Halloween programing that included an episode of “Grimm” and … a Chris Hansen show about busting would-be Internet hitmen and scam artists?

But, surprisingly, “Mockingbird Lane” was better than could have been expected. Or maybe a high level of competence should have been expected, considering it was co-written and produced by Bryan Fuller (“Wonderfalls”) and directed by Bryan Singer (the first two, good “X-Men” movies).

“Mockingbird Lane” was based on “The Munsters,” that silly sitcom that aired from 1962 to 1966. The show’s premise was that the Munster clan – Frankenstein-like Herman, vampiric wife Lily, son Eddie (a werewolf), Grandpa (a vampire, last name Dracula) and niece Marilyn (a cute, “normal” blonde – was a perfectly normal family, especially compared to the wonderfully twisted Addams clan. The comedy arose from the public’s reaction to the Munsters.

Apparently Fuller and Singer set out to remake the series, but in subtler fashion, and NBC was interested enough to buy an hour-long pilot but hasn’t okayed – and maybe won’t okay – an actual weekly series.

So tonight’s episode served to introduce and maybe bid farewell to the Munsters, who live at 1313 Mockingbird Lane. The plot revolved around the search for a heart for Herman, whose ticker is worn out because of his love for his family, as well as efforts to keep Grandpa from killing too many of the neighbors.

It took me a while to figure out what was missing from “Mockingbird Lane.” It was Fred Gwynne’s boisterous overacting and booming laugh as Herman. Jerry O’Connell was fine, maybe welcome, as a quiet and contemplative Herman.

The entire case was fine, especially Eddie Izzard as Grandpa. It was unimaginable he would follow the endearingly cornball lead of Al Lewis as the original Grandpa. Izzard instead played the old vampire patriarch as quietly menacing.

Random observations:

I liked the use of bits of the original show’s theme music throughout “Mockingbird Lane.”

Since O’Connell didn’t sport a traditional Universal Frankenstein head in the show, I enjoyed how they introduced him. With a lantern hanging behind him, Herman’s silhouette had a decidedly square look.

Izzard looked decrepit during the show, only reverting to his normal appearance at the end. It’s a nice touch.

Likewise the suggestion that niece Marilyn has got … something … going on besides being the boring “normal” girl. Anyone this into the smell of a decaying old mansion has a dark side.

Of course, we may never know for sure.

 

 

Today in Halloween: The return of Count Chocula

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It’s that time of year again. Time for the return of the ultimate trio of monster cereals.

Count Chocula, Franken Berry and Boo Berry, of course.

I was at Target today and snapped the picture above of a Count Chocula box. It was part of a display, near the checkout, of the three General Mills monster cereals.

Talk about your impulse buy aimed at 30-, 40- and 50-somethings.

Although there are plenty of indications General Mills makes the three cereals year-round, they seem to show up on store shelves every fall.

General Mills’ own website makes the connection to the fall release of the cereals:

Remember the excitement of autumn back in your childhood years?

Fall brought pumpkins, falling leaves, and a fun holiday when you could morph into anything you desired. With a mental image of the character selected, you devised a brilliant Halloween costume idea. There were parties, caramel apples, and chewy peanut butter kisses, and breakfast.

Monster breakfasts.

Count Chocula and Franken Berry were introduced not for Halloween, though, but in March 1971. Boo Berry, a ghostly figure, came along in December 1972.

General Mills doesn’t say so, but the cereals were almost certainly intended to capitalize on the rebirth of interest, beginning in the late 1950s and continuing into the 1970s, of the classic Universal Studios monsters like Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy.

That interest had been kicked off by the release to television of the “Shock Theater” package of 30s and 40s Universal horror classics.

While I was fond of the cereals, I don’t remember some of the spin-offs and freebies. Like a record, “Monster Adventures in Outer Space,” that must have been included in cereal boxes.

Anyone else remember the two discontinued monster cereals? I can’t say that I remember either Fruit Brute or  Fruity Yummy Mummy.

They were introduced at a later date and didn’t have a long shelf life. Pun intended.

The monster images changed somewhat over the years. Above is an earlier Count Chocula image.

One thing that hasn’t changed? The monster cereals are “part of this nutritious breakfast!”

 

Today in Halloween: Who’s a cute little Frankenstein?

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Could. Not. Be. Any. Cuter.

Seriously, our latest dip into vintage Halloween costumes is probably the cutest picture yet.

The devil on the left is pretty doggone cute.

But the Frankenstein on the right? Wow.

Maybe it’s the cute grimace in the mask. Or the cheesy tunic.

But I personally think it’s the upraised hands, fingers curled in monster-ific fashion.

Awwww!

Bonus points if anybody can identify the costumes. I did Google image searches to see if the costumes were from Collegeville or Ben Cooper, big makers of kids costumes in the 1950s and beyond, and didn’t come across them.

Today in Halloween: A truly frightening bust

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Here’s another dip into the vintage Halloween snapshots resource that is the vast series of tubes we know as the Internet.

I’ve seen a lot of these photos on the web but there’s little explanation of their origin. I’ve been making some (not-so) educated guesses on a few of them.

This one seems to be another with a rural setting, based in part on what looks like a field or rolling hills in the background and … holy hell, what’s the deal with the trick-or-treater on the right?

The other three have that mix of old clothes and bizarrely terrifying masks that we’ve become accustomed to in these vintage photos. Ditto for the one on the right, with two very noticeable exceptions.

Maybe I’m missing the point here, but wonder why this kid put on a creepy mask and then stuffed her bust with a couple of couch cushions?

We’ll never know.

Trick-or-treater on the right, I dub thee Zombie Mamie Van Doren.

Today in Halloween: Razor blades in apples

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It’s possible it never happened, but it’s too good a story to resist. Some madman in some city – maybe one not all that far away from your own – slipped a razor blade into an apple given out one Halloween to a trick-or-treater. The kid bit into it and the razor blade lodged firmly in the roof of his mouth. Ouch!

Since I was a child, the rumors of razor blades in apples has been one that haunted kids – but even more so their parents – every Halloween. Parents insisted on inspecting the contents of the trick-or-treat bag for tampered-with apples and candy before kids were let loose to indulge their Halloween gluttony.

Some hospitals even offered free x-raying of Halloween candy to make sure no foreign objects were included. I’m not sure if the irradiated candy was any more dangerous than the unscreened treats.

You know it’s a “real” urban legend when there’s a Snopes.com page dedicated to the subject, encompassing razor blades and the equally insidious pins and needles in apples and candy.

Perhaps surprisingly, Snopes quotes an expert, Professor Joel Best, who says he’s confirmed about 80 cases of sharp objects in Halloween treats since 1959.

I guess if your chances are 80 in … how many billion? … treats given out over the years, you’re probably pretty safe.

By the way, Best wrote a 1985 paper, “The Razor Blade in the Apple: The Social Construction of Urban Legends,” that is available for download.

Interestingly, Snopes notes that poisoned candy was the fear from the post-war years until the mid-1960s, when sharp objects became the thing that parents could obsess about.

Today in Halloween: Trick-or-treating trio

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Here’s another vintage trick-or-treating picture from the vast resources of the Interwebs.

What I like about this picture is that – just guessing here – it’s a snapshot of three brothers, trying out their spooky masks before heading out to trick or treat.

Two of the kids are in what look like elf masks and hats, while the oldest (tallest, anyway) has what might be a clown mask.

Look closely at the oldest boy. He’s missing part of his left arm. Makes you wonder what happened.

If he’s anything like one of my uncles, he lived to a ripe old age and enjoyed tormenting kids with that abbreviated appendage. To this day, I have vivid memories of my Uncle Oren, who was missing a hand, and how he would good-naturedly tease me by poking his stump into my belly. We would laugh and laugh, but it was a little unnerving.

‘Til next time.

Today in Halloween: Creepy trick-or-treaters, outstanding in their field

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It’s time for another vintage Halloween photo, a snapshot of trick-or-treating and masquerading long gone.

And good riddance.

This photo, undated but probably from sometime in the 1950s or earlier, has a weird vibe to it. Looks like a rural setting, maybe a Halloween photo of a bunch of classmates outside a school.

The paper bags that a couple of the kids are wearing are … interesting. Maybe they were from families too poor to afford masks. Or didn’t believe in Halloween.

It’s “Children of the Corn: The Early Years.”

The masks we do see are just unsettling, though. The little boy to the left, wearing overalls and a bow tie? That mask is freaky.

And what the hell is the teacher/parent/adult guardian wearing? That outfit must have given those kids nightmares for weeks afterward.

And that house, or church, in the background? What’s that in the upstairs window?

Just kidding.

 

Today in Halloween: Topstone monster masks

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I probably had some Topstone Halloween masks and didn’t realize it. You probably did too.

Unlike Don Post Halloween masks, Topstone were more reasonably priced masks. They were latex/rubber masks like the Don Post masks but were thinner and sold for two or three bucks – a third of the price of the most affordable Don Post masks – through stores and Captain Company ads in magazines like Famous Monsters of Filmland back in the 1960s.

As a kid, I certainly didn’t notice the brands of masks I eagerly bought around Halloween time, so I’m mostly guessing some of mine were made by Topstone. And needless to say many of the masks don’t exist any more. They were never meant to survive for four decades or more.

Topstone sold full over-the-head masks, but I think most familiar to some of us were the “full face” masks, both soft latex and harder plastic, that were common at the time.

Topstone Rubber Toy Company, according to online histories, began making masks in the 1930s. Besides horror masks, the company made clowns, “goofs” and – unfortunately – race-based caricatures like “Remus” and “Chinaman.” As late as 1960, the company marketed “colored” masks.

The company’s heyday was in the 1950s and 1960s, when the advent of the “Shock Theater” package of classic Universal horror films became popular on TV stations and spawned not only magazines like Famous Monsters of Filmland and TV horror hosts like Indianapolis’ Sammy Terry but also a craze for scary monster masks.

Particularly memorable was the “Shock Monster” mask that was aggressively marketed to young geeks like me.

Keith Ward, whose other famous designs included Elsie the Cow and Elmer the Bull (the latter for Elmer’s Glue) designed many of the classic Topstone masks.

Ray Castile is an acknowledged expert on Topstone, its history and its masks. He also produced thegalleryofmonstertoys.com.

Everything you want to know about Topstone masks can be found here.

Today in Halloween: A witch and … a what?

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It’s time for another dip into the misty days of Halloween long gone. It’s another snapshot of creepy trick-or-treaters!

I’ve been trying to run some of these masks through Google image search, hoping I can identify them.

The little kid on the left is, obviously, a witch. It’s a pretty classic mask, hat and outfit.

But the guy on the right? A Google image search mostly produced photos of bald old men from Russian websites. True story.

So, based on the bumpy skin, the big pointy teeth and the outfit that looks like it might be some kind of medieval armor, I’m gonna say this kid was ahead of his time and decades ahead of Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” costume designers.

Looks like an orc to me.