The Monster Blog

Some New Acquisitions For The Vintage Halloween Gallery

2008-11-04T23:45:00.003Z

Well, that's Halloween for another year, I hope you had as much fun as I did! Halloween may be finished, but here on The Monster Blog we'll still be posting about monsters and stuff right through the year. I'm also still on the look out for some great old images for the Vintage Hallowen Gallery. I've picked up a few new images recently, and finally got around to scanning them to get them ready for the gallery.

Of the batch, the one featured on the left is my particular favorite. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it's my favourite image in my little collection. It's just got something about it, something strange and magical. The pumpkins in it look really huge and unworldly piled up like they are, and the square mask on the girl is just mesmerizing as is the simple design on the pumpkin she holds. I think it would make the basis for a great painting, maybe one day I'll do one myself (I've wielded a paint brush or two in my time) as it's just the sort of subject matter that interests and appeals to me.

As well as the Queen of the pumpkins, you'll also find a couple of scary Uncle Sams and a bewitching witch. I've got my eye on a few more images and I'd love to get my hands on them. It amazes me the stuff that turns up on eBay, I get an email almost daily of the new items listed, and you can guarantee there's always something in there to get me excited. As soon as I get another new batch, I'll add them to the collection!

More Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T21:16:00.003Z

Well, just getting ready for some Halloween party stuff, just time to make a quick post and find Monster Kid has beat me to it! Still, I also wanted to take the opportunity to show off my pumpkin crop. This is the first year that I've had enough space to try growing veg and stuff, and pumpkins were a definite must try for me and my son. So here they are, my 3 wonderful pumpkins, six months in the making and ready for fun.

For each one of these little beauties I think there must have been another 3 that never quite made it, lost to slugs and snails. Two of them were for Jack 'o' Lanterns and the third will be for making some pumpkin pie next week. So here we go, here's my two that I carved with my son earlier. Whatever you're up to tonight, have fun!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T13:17:00.004Z

Well, Here we are; Halloween, Samain, All Saints day, All Hallows Eve, D�a de los Muertos.... From all at Halloween Monster Party; We would like to wish you a happy holiday!

Laurie Lipton's Day Of The Dead Inspired Art Works

2008-10-28T00:34:00.004Z

Wow, these drawings by Laurie Lipton are awesome. I would buy any number of these at the drop of a hat (if I had the money.) They're inspired by the Mexican Dia De Los Muertos and are currently being exhibited at the Copro/Nason Gallery in Santa Monica. My favorite is The Bone Woman a fantastically detailed and horrifyingly beautiful piece of art. Lovely, lovely work, me wants one...

Survive the outbreak

2008-10-18T11:59:00.005+01:00

Zombie Rotten recently emailed me a link to this site: The Outbreak. It's an online, interactive Zombie movie and it's quite good fun! The site contains no advertising, and I can't find much out about the project or the filmmakers. Zombie Rotten and I discussed the possibility that it could be viral marketing for an up and coming game, or even a movie.

I personally hope that it's simply created through a passion for the genre! It looks like it may have had a reasonable budget, and the action is handled really well. I suppose if it is some form of viral campaign, then all will be revealed soon. For the time being, why not pop over to the site and see if you can indeed survive the outbreak!

Great Costume Ideas

2008-10-17T15:21:00.002+01:00

It's almost here folks, time to start planning your costumes ready for your Halloween party and trick and treating! I thought I'd share this site that I enjoy, it's called WTF Costumes. I've got their feed in my bloglines, and it's always a pleasure to see new posts there. They have photos of some pretty wacky costumes on there, and there should be plenty to inspire you to make your own! Here's some of my favourites. First up the shocked looking baby sporting an Alien chest burster. Then we've got (pretty sickening) Bloody Sanitary Pad Ninja costume, that pretty much does what it says on the tin. Finally, a kick-ass Hellboy costume that looks pretty damn good. Take a look around their site, there's loads of good stuff on there!

The Life and Death of a Pumpkin

2008-10-15T12:19:00.001+01:00

This is a strange little video; halloween from the perspective of a pumpkin. Very cool!

Sasquatch, The Legend of Bigfoot

2008-10-13T22:18:00.011+01:00

My DVD triple bill of Sasquatch Horror finally arrived, and with much anticipation I got to watching the film. I was sure I saw Sasquatch, The Legend Of Bigfoot as a little kiddy way back in the seventies. The name rung such a bell as did the poster, but after watching the film, I can't recall any of it bar one scene, and even then I'm not so sure. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to do a little write up on the film, to share with the Halloween Monster Party readers.

The film comes across as a documentary with its ponderous voice over and facts about the creature. It also comes across as cheaply made from the outset. The first few minutes of the film involves nothing more than stomping footsteps and lots of stock footage of woodland animals being startled by an unseen figure. But all concerns of the lack of a budget are soon cast away as the official sounding voice starts telling us all sorts of interesting facts about sightings of the Sasquatch. The famous Patterson and Gimlin footage is show and a rickety looking old computer is fed with facts about the creature. Uncannily, given these facts, it's able to produce a line drawing that looks like a still from the footage shown a moment before, and this proves, yes, proves that Bigfoot exists. See, I told you it wasn't cheap.

We then learn from Chuck Evans, the narrator that he has organized an expedition to the land of the Bigfoot, in the hope of capturing one. To aid him in this endeavor he as assembled a crack team to trek for months through the Pacific Northwest to an area that man has never set foot and it thought to be the home of the Bigfoot. Now, by this point you can be forgiven for thinking that you're watching a documentary, the opening voice over and scientific information give the impression, and the build up for the expedition looks convincing enough. They could have gotten away with the ruse, but unfortunately, the moment the expedition members are introduced, you know this has to be a badly acted fiction.

The expedition is manned by such preposterous characters that you know this is a put on. Along with the scientific crew, there's the comedy character in the clumsy red haired cook. If he wasn't enough, you're also treated to an ancient, wise mountain man, a hard bitten cynical photographer from New York and a Native American Indian tracker. The Native American fella is, well, let's put it bluntly, a white fella in a long black wig speaking clipped and hackneyed wise Indian sayings in a manner little better than sticking up you hand and going 'how'. All in all, they're a pretty motley bunch, so much bigger than life that any thoughts that this might have been a documentary are long blown.

We follow the expedition as it treks along to where the computer has told them they will find Sasquatch, and where the wise mountain man knows they live. This is the bulk of the film - trekking and wilderness calamities. They are attacked by cougar at one point, that they kill. I can't be sure they didn't actually kill it, which I hope is not the case, especially if it was just for the film. They get washed away in a river, they have comedy capers with squirrels, attacked by a bear, and they tell tales of the past when miners and trappers were attacked by big ape like creatures. After all this trekking and adventure, a couple of broken trees herald the entrance to Bigfoot's domain.

It's not all camping adventures though, we're constantly reminded of the creatures ever present danger by endless point of view shots and weird animal noises and footprints. In Bigfoot's domainthings get extra paranoid. The team hunker down for the night, setting up an elaborate system of trip wires to warn of any approaching Bigfoot. They get their tranquilizer guns at the ready, and from the early tales of Sasquatch attacks, we know these creatures can kick butt (as in throw papiermachi� rocks) and the team are scared.

Before you know it, the trip wires set off the alarms, and a number of creatures attack the camp. I say creatures, you can't quite be sure. You get the odd glimpse here and there, but nothing definite. Tables get thrown about, large fake boulders are rolled through the camp, the team all miss their targets and get injured in the process. They survive the night, but decide that after all their trekking, the best thing to do is run like the wind back home. And that's exactly what they do, Sasquatchless and beaten, with nothing more than a few footprint casts and broken bones to show for their trouble.

Now me, I love these kind of cheap schlocky horror films, and there was much to enjoy in this one, especially if you like the great outdoors. I read somewhere that they used actual Sasquatch recordings for the creatures noises in it, which sounds like nonsense, unless a Sasquatch actually sounds like an air raid siren. It's all very leaden, but you get the idea the guys in the film are having fun at least. It's a shame we don't get to see more of the Sasquatch creatures, but my guess is they would have blown their budget doing so, and in a way it's nice that the creature is kept almost secret.

It's fair to say film is no oscar winner, and irredeemably a product of the seventies, but there's a lot of fun to be had along the way for us monster fans. There are a couple of other films on the disc as well to enjoy - Snowbeast is another I saw as a kid in the 1970s, but I watched it again a couple of years ago and it was dreadful... With that in mind I will have to try out Snow Creature (1954) soon. I'll let you know if it's any better.

Sasquatch, Legend Of Bigfoot: Get it from Amazon | Get it from eBay

A Happy Halloween From Silver Shamrock!

2008-10-12T00:13:00.008+01:00

If I'm honest, none of the halloween films did much for me. But Halloween 3 (a strange film, with nothing to do with the rest of the franchise) did include this great ditty:

Monster Illustrations

2008-10-10T22:37:00.005+01:00

I'm getting into the Halloween spirit this year, and have managed to start work on a series of monster images that I've planned for a while. Here they are!

Dia De Los Muertos

2008-10-08T11:40:00.004+01:00

With Halloween rapidly approaching, I wanted to make a post about one of my favourite Halloween celebrations; "Dia De Los Muertos", The Mexican Day Of The Dead.

The Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico originated from the Olmec, Zapotec, Mixtec, Mexican, Aztec, Maya, and Totonac rituals that marked and celebrated the deaths of their ancestors. In the pre-Hispanic era, it was common to keep skulls as trophies and display them during the rituals to symbolize death and rebirth.

The festival that became the modern Day of the Dead fell in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, and was celebrated for an entire month. The festivities were dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl, known as the "Lady of the Dead".

In most regions of Mexico, November 1st honours deceased children and infants where as deceased adults are honoured on November 2nd. This is indicated by generally referring to November 1st mainly as "D�a de los Inocentes" (Day of the Innocents) but also as "D�a de los Angelitos" (Day of the Little Angels) and November 2nd as "D�a de los Muertos" or "D�a de los Difuntos" (Day of the Dead)

Many people believe that during Dia De Los Muertos it is easier for the souls of the departed to visit the living. People congregate in cemeteries to communicate with the souls of their departed and will build altars, containing offerings of the dead's favourite foods, beverages, photographs and belongings. The celebrations are humorous, and joyful - as much a celebration of life and the lives of the departed as they are of death.

A common symbol of the holiday is the skull (called calavera), which can be found abundant as masks, foods (such as sugar skulls) and an array of decorative items. However my favourite Dia De Los Muertos items are the abundednt paper mache skeleton dioramas; scenes and situations that are re-enacted by paper mache skeleton figures.

Dia De Los Muertos is also celebrated in parts of America, the tradition being taken there my Mexican immigrants. And Dia De Los Muertos has gradually generated a cult interest worldwide.

Respect the Gill Man!

2008-10-06T20:51:00.011+01:00

Now, if there was ever a film that didn't need to be remade; it's 'The Creature From The Black Lagoon'. So of course, what are Hollywood up to at the moment? You guessed it, remaking it! The project is helmed by Breck Eisner, the guy behind the box office flop 'Sahara'. Now it may be interesting to know that this disastrous director is remaking another classic; George Romero's 'The Crazies', oh, and Flash Gordon. How? We ask, well I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that he is the son of Michael Eisner. OK, yeah, it's probably the only reason this guy is getting big budgets to remake anything he wants. Writer Gary Ross said in March 2007 the Gill-man's origin would be reinvented, with him being the result of a pharmaceutical corporation polluting the Amazon. "It's about the rainforest being exploited for profit". Noooo! Leave it alone!

Now I have the rant out of my system, I'd like to say just a few words about the 'Big Gilluna', 'Gill-man', 'Creech' or as many call him, simply 'The Creature' - I love him, and the movies. I think The Creature is such an iconic monster, and the movie has an enduring legacy. This classic film was made in 1954 and was filmed and originally released in 3-D requiring polarized 3-D glasses. The movie was directed by Jack Arnold, starring Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, and Whit Bissell.

The original film is genuinely frightening, but also elicits a certain amount of pathos for the creature, reminiscent of KING KONG. It had two very successful sequels; 'Revenge Of The Creature' and 'The Creature Walks Among Us'.

An interesting piece of creature Trivia is that Jenny Clack of the University of Cambridge discovered a fossil amphibian in whatonce; a prehistoric swamp, she named it Eucritta melanolimnetes, which is Greek for 'the creature from the black lagoon'. This, as well as a vast range of collectible and highly sought after memorobelia, a novelization and a musical proves the primal power of The Creature!

Man, I hope Hollywood don't ruin one of the most iconic monsters of all times! Hollywood we beg you to show the Big Gilluna some respect!

World Zombie Day To Mark The 40th Annivesary Of Night Of The Living Dead

2008-09-25T14:54:00.003+01:00

I love Zombies. No, seriously, I do - since a child I have loved the undead. George Romero's seminal film Night Of The Living Dead is one of my favourites of the genre (along with all his other Zombie films). Amazingly, it's 40 years old next month, and it set the template for decades of undead fun and continues to inspire young film fans and artists around the world.

Now, as much as I love Zombies, I've never actually wanted to dress up and act like one. It seems I'm in the minority here, as all around the world Zombie fans gather and dress as the staggering undead for fun. These Zombie walks are a regular occurence these days, and on Sunday the 26th of October, there's a world wide event where the pretend dead will take to the streets in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Night Of The Living Dead.

World Zombie Day will see cities around the world fill with Zombies, all in a good cause. As well as celebrating the film's annivesary, it's also being organized for charity to help world hunger. You can find out more about the event at the World Zombie Day MySpace page, here's an excerpt:

World Zombie Day is the day that all ghouls from Kentucky to Kokomo, from Atlanta to Afghanistan, from Washington to Wales, and from Pittsburgh to Puerto Rico can celebrate together in a near orgy of blood covered bliss!!

Every major and minor city of the world that has ever hosted a zombie walk can band together and give one solid groan heard WORLDWIDE for the zombie cause!

RISE UP UNDEAD BROTHERS AND SISTERS!!!

NOW IS OUR TIME TO GROAN AND SHAMBLE FOR WORLD HUNGER!!

According to the page, all Zombies are being asked to bring non-perishable food to the start of their Zombie walks to prove that they can do something for the starving masses of the world. The obvious question is, how many will be bringing canned brains? Good luck to everyone, and let's hope the police and armies aren't mobilized on this fun day out!

The Wolf Man Remake

2008-09-23T12:14:00.006+01:00

I recently stumbled across news that there is a new Hollywood remake of George Waggner's 'The Wolf Man'. This new remake is directed by Joe Johnston (Jurassic Park III, Honey I Shrunk The Kids) and stars Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving.

A quick look around the web revealed that the remake will keep the original premise of the film, hmmmm - Hollywood? Remake? Keeping the original premise? I think we can all believe that when we see it, however in this case it could be true; Benicio Del Toro (a huge Wolf Man fan and collector of memorabilia) plays Lawrence Talbot. The official synopsis states 'Talbot was traumatized by his mother's death as a child, while Gwen Conliffe is his brother's fianc�e. Following his brother's disappearance, Talbot hunts a murderer, which turns out to be a werewolf, and the curse is passed on.'

This could be great news for monster lovers - could Universal be resurrecting their classic monsters for a new century? Personally, I don't think you could ever beat the originals, but a new strain of 'Universal Monsters' would certainly be a refreshing addition to the remake crazy Hollywood horror business.

I suppose the proof will be in the pudding, and I'm sure it is quite possible (in fact, highly likely) that they drag this remake miles from the fantastic original and produce something that is only a faint reflection of the 'classic' horror of Universal's Golden Age of Monsters. I for one, hope this is not the case and secretly pray that they keep Stephen Sommers away from any possible Dracula remake!

The Wolf Man is scheduled for release in April 2009.

Hammer Lives Again

2008-09-23T10:53:00.011+01:00

OK, Many of you may have heard the news already. But the illustrious 'Hammer Film Productions' are back!

The company that brought us such films as 'The Brides of Dracula', 'The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb', 'One Million Years B.C.' and the fantastic but dated TV series - 'Hammer House of Horror' are back in business after a lengthy hiatus.

Hammer Film Productions were founded in 1934, the company was best known for their Gothic 'Hammer Horror' films produced from the late 1950s until the 1970s. Hammer films were cheap, however they used quality actors and stylish sets to deliver films that looked far bigger than their budgets. During their glory years, Hammer dominated the horror film market, enjoying worldwide distribution and massive financial success.

In 2007 (after being passed around various owners) Hammer Film Productions was sold to the Dutch consortium Cyrte Investments. Hammer have gone back into production - initially with 'Beyond The Rave' - a 'webisode' based vampire film, and the studio have now begun production of their first 'proper' movie of the 21st Century - 'The Wake Wood'.

What lies in store for Hammer? Can we look forward to another Golden Age of British Horror films? Only time will tell. But if the new Hammer films don't quite cut the mustard, we can at least look forward to Hammer's back catalogue being given a new lease of life!

Stabilized Famous Big Foot Footage

2008-09-16T23:04:00.007+01:00

Coincidences are a funny thing. At the weekend I sat and enjoyed the big foot comedy film Harry And The Hendersons with my five year old son. He really enjoyed it, as I did. Back when I was that young, I remember seeing the famous footage of the creature romping through the forest, shot by Patterson and Gimlin. It's probably one of the most recognisable bits of footage from the world of strange creatures and cryptozoolgy.

Over the years I recall seeing various documentaries on the film. Some analyzed the gait and walk of the creature, others looked into it being a hoax. I'm not certain it's real to be honest, but now you can get a good look at it with the joys of image stablization. A version of the footage has appeared online, and thanks to modern video techniques, the shake has been taken out to create a mesemrizing and stable bit of footage. What do you think? Personally, about two thirds of the way through you see what looks like a zip line down the back, but who knows!

I was looking at something else Sasquatch related the other day, and spotted a film on IMDB called "Sasquatch, the Legend of Bigfoot". I have really vague recollections of seeing this film as a young 'un on TV one night in the early 80s. It's caused me an itch that I need to scratch, and luckily the film's made it to DVD. Needless to say, it's been ordered and I'm looking forward to seeing if I have in fact seen it. There's a couple of other good monster flicks on there as well, so it will make a nice little package. I'll report back when I've had a chance to watch it.

Plastic Of the Past and Mexican reissue 'Pop-Top' monsters

2008-09-15T21:59:00.019+01:00

Each year as Halloween draws closer, I always get nostalgic. In the late 70s and early 80s of my youth I loved Halloween. And as Halloween gets closer, I remember the Halloweens long past. They were joyous times, times of cheap monster masks that reeked of rubber so severely that they would put you off your trick or treated monster candy. I remember skull and wolfman headed flashlights and cheap plastic candy buckets. I don't know, it just doesn't seem as if the kids have time to celebrate Halloween anymore as we are already being forced towards Christmas by the time the holiday arrives.

As a Halloween and monster enthusiast, at this time of year I tend to look back at the things long gone that for me scream 'vintage Halloween'. One of the items that does do this for me is the (now) highly collectable MPC 'Pop-Top Unbreakable Horrors' produced in 1964. These 5-inch tall wonders scream childhood monster nostalgia to me (and I wasn't even born until 72, but my older cousins had them!)

The gimmick with these toys was that their heads could be popped out off their bodies and could be interchanged with any of the other figures. There were eight monsters produced, two sold in each package. These glorious toys are now �ber collectable, and reach large sums on ebay and in toy conventions. Every monster kid dreams of finding them, mint on card or in packet at a flea market or garage sale, but sadly, this is rare.

However, all is not lost if you want to grab yourself a couple of figures and don't have the budget to buy the vintage originals! A Mexican company (or companies) at some point began to make 'knock off' copies of the MPC originals. I'm not sure if these recast figures were licensed, I suspect not - but these pop Top copies occasionally resurface from Mexico around Halloween time, often, like their originals, they are sold 2 in a packet as Halloween pi�ata toys. Apparently the plastic is of a very different quality, and the colours differ, but hey, who cares? These are Pop-tops of a kind, and nothing says Vinatge Monster like these little guys!

Search eBay for MPC Pop-Tops

The Cloverfield Monster

2008-09-11T15:51:00.010+01:00

I really enjoyed the secrecy surrounding the build up to the release of Cloverfield earlier this year. I'm wracking my brains to think of any other film in recent years that managed to keep its monster so secret. There's not been that many big Hollywood monster films in the last decade, the only two comparable ones I can think of are the King King and Godzilla remakes. I recall seeing images of the new CGI Kong before hand and Godzilla gave us a tease of a foot and and eye before its release. But in the run up to the release of Cloverfield, there was nothing!

In fact, Googling now for the Cloverfield monster doesn't furnish any images from the film itself, but there are images of the Hasbro toy monster. There are also a few pre-release images of the monster that turned out to be fakes (more here). One can't but help wonder if they were purposefully released by the production company to keep people of the scent of the real one.

I was really stoked at the time and went to see it at the cinema with Monster Kid. The excitement of the build up to seeing the monster was immense, with nothing to really judge it on, my imagination was doing a good job of imagining what to expect. With little more than glimpses through out the film, it was hard to build a full picture of what it looked like, I was a little disappointed with the monster, but I really liked the lolling way it moved and it's unworldly walk.

At the time I commented that the creature reminded me of one of the land striders in the 80s puppet fantasy film The Dark Crystal. I hadn't seen it since I was a child, but I recalled the creature's strange gait and movement. As I wanted to do a belated piece on Cloverfield's creature, I did a quick look around today to find a photo of the land strider, and was struck by the similarities. Ok, so it's not like they could be mistaken for brothers or anything, but if you look at the side by side comaparison below, you'll see how I made the connection. I remember the strider's having quite a strange walk as well, but not quite as strange as the Cloverfield monster's one!

The other thing that was a real let down with the Cloverfield monster was the fact it didn't feel like a sea creature, if indeed it came from the sea and not space. I would have liked a more crab like, crustacean jointed sort of body. Its face was also a let down. You don't get many great views of its face, but looking at the toy's, it looks like a rabid bat. There was a monster video cover from the 80s with a similar look to it, but the title eludes me. Something that looked like it could have come from the depths of the ocean would have been smashing. As it stands it looks more alien than anything. Still, the more I think back to the film, the more I appreciate the actual monster. The parasites that fell of the creature at leasted looked like they'd come from the sea, unlike the actual creature itself.

Cloverfield was unusal for me, for days afterwards I couldn't get it out of my head, scenes from the film really unsettled and impressed me at the same time. At the end of it all, they kept the monster pretty mysterious to the end. That with the 9/11 inspired moments of public panic and exploding buildings made it really resonate. The shroud of mystery around the creature really helped to that end, and with talk of a sequel, I can see there being a lot more good stuff to come.

On a lighter note, I thought I'd finish with one of the videos that appeared in the run up to the film, claiming to reveal the monster from the trailer. The first time I watched, the mock serious tone of the video really drew me in, and frankly set me up nicely for the ending. IF you haven't seen it already, I won't spoil it, but needless to say, first time I saw it, I laughed really hard.

The Origins Of Halloween

2008-09-10T09:52:00.012+01:00

The light is getting colder - winter bright, and the shadows are growing longer once more. As we move into the autumn fall we get closer to Halloween. Yeah, it's a fair way off but it is on its way.So, if you are here at Halloween Monster Party, then it's likely that you are a big fan of monsters and Halloween. We all enjoy the holiday, but where did it originate?

Halloween originated from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts, who lived over 2,000 years ago in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated the New Year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and crops and the beginning of the cold dark winter, a time of year that was often associated with death.

During the celebration, the Celts wore ritualistic costumes, consisting of animal heads and skins. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By 43 A.D. The Romans had conquered Celtic Britain. In the course of the four hundred years of Roman occupation, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain: The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honour the Roman goddess of fruit and trees, Pomona. The symbol of Pomona was the apple, and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably began the tradition of 'bobbing' for apples that is a stock Halloween tradition in the modern age.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic Britain. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV (in an attempt to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday) designated November 1 All Saints' Day; a time to honour Christian Martyrs and Saints. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-Hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.

It is believed that British and Irish immigrants took these traditions to the new world, and thus Halloween has spread as a holiday and festival.

Cheesy 'War Weirdos' Custom Monster Toys

2008-09-08T20:30:00.007+01:00

This is a little project I have been working on for fun. I'm a huge fan of Mexican and Hong Kong 'knock off' toys and decided that I wanted to make some custom figures. They are a nod to a lot of the postwar propaganda comics and culture, Indiana Jones and Mignola's Hellboy comics.

I made them out of hacking up a number of toys and actually managed to chop a chunk of my thumb off whilst doing the Frankenstein figure. Not sure if they work so well as I wanted them to look really cheap and seventies. But, they sure were fun to do! I'm going to do the Creature and the Mummy figure when I have time. But here we are; El Monstous toys presents 'Warweirdos' - collect them all!

Hello From Monster Kid

2008-09-08T17:11:00.025+01:00

Hello, I'm Monster Kid and I will be posting alongside my fellow monster fan Zombie Rotten. I hope to be posting an array of monster related articles in the coming weeks, months and years. But in this first post, I would like to say a few words about the highly collectable Monster Toys of the past. I'm a huge fan of vintage monster toys, I don't own a huge collection - but what I do have is cherished.

I grew up in the 70s and 80s, and then, horror was fun. Horror was for boys and girls of every age back in the day. Horror toys for me represent this time more than any other memorabilia.

The toys weren't slick, glossy or well detailed. They were humble, basic and often a little crazy. They depicted monsters that were shunned and somehow deeply sad, yet they had charm, big bags of charm. For me, they not only represent our inherent obsession with the dark corners of our world, but are also highly evocative of times that have passed almost too quickly.

Toy giants like Mego produced a range of Universal Monsters (Mego Mad Monsters) but it was the smaller brands like Tomland, Remco, Lincoln International and my personal favourite AHI that produced the weirder, more charming and more limited runs of figures - The Wolfman, The Mummy, Dracula and The Creature could all be found in fully posable 8" action figure (or 'doll' as they were called back then) format. These little guys were cheaply made, with crazy clothes and utterly bonkers head sculpts.

You can check out The Monster Store for auctions of these crazy figures; they are highly collectable now, and can go for high sums. But if you can afford them, they're worth every penny. Monster toys are still popular today, but for me they are too perfect and too stylised, they don't have the innocence or charm of their antique predecessors. I am going to make future posts about specific toys, but for the time being, I'm signing out. If you are interested in vintage monster toys, it's well worth checking out Ray Castile's excellent The gallery of monster toys

Welcome To The Monster Blog

2008-09-03T12:27:00.001+01:00

Hello, I thought I would quickly get this blog rolling with a first post introducing myself, David, but from in here you can call me Zombie Rotten. I will be join by a fellow poster, Chris aka Monster Kid. We're both big monster and Halloween fans and decided to set this blog up as a part of Halloween Monster Party which we're working on together. The plan is to feature stuff to do with monsters and Halloween that appeals to us, be it new photos, interesting toys, new films or giant creatures in the news.

As little kids, Zombie Rotten and Monster Boy grew up with a love of monster films and toys. This love of monsters has stayed with us ever since. As well as monsters, I like picking up photographs from long past Halloweens. I also have a love of the paraphernalia, legends and stories around monsters and giants. Monster Kid is a talented illustrator and film maker who also has a love for some pretty obscure and hard to find monster toys from the 1960s and 1970s. It's fair to say we both are still big monster fans, and hope to post some nice stuff about these creatures and stuff we see about them on the web and all that. I hope you enjoy the site!