horror collecting

What is one to do? I tried to be a good collector of Horror memorabilia, but with so much out there, thank you very much Sideshow Toys, and Ebay making almost anything available, which item do you get? how do you afford it all? Trust me I tried. So unless you happen to have a unlimited amount of funds and room to store it all, you are ultimately faced with this dilema. Well, after my failed attempt at having it all, I decided it would be best to just settle on one paticular monster and put my money and efforts into that. Of course that doesn't mean that when something really cool comes out I won't stray and add some other monsters item, but for the most part I am now just collecting Creature from the black lagoon items. I thought the obvious Dracula and Frankenstein items would still be just too much on there own. Now it turns out no matter what you choose you still are faced with the same problem just on a bit smaller level. Which Creature item should I get next, how do I afford it and where do I put it all. Oh well, if you are going to have problems, these are the best kind to have. As for all the other monster items I collected prior to my moving to just the Creature, well, I originally told my wife those would be sold off and room made for other things. yeah right folks, of course many years later they are still here with me where they belong. maybe some day I'll get myself to actually take one out of the package and play with it. or maybe not.
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classic horror on tv

You didn't have to always wait for those late night horror shows to see some great classic stuff.

Television was doing fairly well adding some great content. Some of my favorites are Dark Shadows, Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Night Gallery, The Night Stalker, and even if you wanted to add some comedy, you had The Munsters and The Addams Family. These were great fillers to get you to the next Frankenstein and Wolf man duel. Dark Shadows really stood out for me, Barnabas Collins was a very spooky character and they even threw in ghosts and werewolves to boot. I was born in 1964 which was just by chance also deemed the "year of the monsters" I think maybe there is something to that.

Horror movies vhs dvd

These days it is very convenient and easy to watch one of your favorite horror classics, We have VHS and DVD's always at the ready for us. But back in the day, if it wasn't scheduled to be on TV or showing at a local theater your only other course of action was maybe playing a 8mm version on your movie projector. Seems like that would be a real bummer, but I'm not so sure of that. Having things so readily available seems to take away the fun and the anticipation, unlike staying up late for that special surprise you've waited all week for. I seem to find myself more likely to watch a horror flick when it is on TV then pop in one of my tapes or DVD's. I don't know why, it just seems better that way. Unfortunately the frequency these movies are on the tube is getting to be less and less, even around Halloween we are starting to see more of the Jason, Freddie and Michael Myers type movies instead. The SciFi channel was fairly generous when it first started and was showing on a frequent basis a good Dracula or Frankenstein clip, but my how things change. The new generations seem to like the have it now and must be as gory as possible mentality. But give me a black and white television with some fog and howling wolves and I am good to go. Lon Chaney, wherefore art thou?

Kiss meets the monsters

There was one thing that hit me as hard and left as big a impression on me as when I first saw a copy of Famous Monsters magazine. The first time I saw a picture of the band Kiss. I new there was this song on the radio I really liked called "Rock and Roll all night" but I had never really seen or heard of this band Kiss. One day my sister brought home a copy of the album Kiss Alive. If any one has seen this cover it is one of my all time favorite pictures, in fact, right now that picture is the wallpaper on my cell phone. Just think of it, the two things I was the most into was Monsters and rock and roll. When I saw that album I cover I saw what was to me the best of both worlds. That make-up and those costumes, all the fire and smoke and especially Gene Simmons who created his persona the Demon right out of these very classic horror flicks.
So yes I now had some new hero's up there with Lugosi, Karloff, Chaney and my most favorite most forgotten monster master, Dwight Frye. Sure Alice Cooper was cool but this seemed to go that one step beyond. Does it get any better than this.

Hey son, meet forry

My father worked nights and usually got home very late at night. On friday evenings I would be up watching Nightmare Theatre when he got home. Watching Nightmare Theatre was everything to me, every week when we got the new TV guide the first thing I would do is turn to Friday evening at 11:30 and see what monsters would be scaring me on the double feature for that night. As a matter of fact, just recently at a swap meet I saw a box of old TV guides from the 70's, just like when I was a kid I picked some up and looked right at the magic time and there were those great horror classics I am sure I was up that night watching. Oh how I miss those times. One night while I was enjoying two horror greats, my father got home from work and tossed a bag in my direction. I picked up the bag and took out the contents. I couldn't believe my eyes, a magazine called Famous Monsters of Filmland issue #94
What a moment that was, I will never forget the incredible excitment I felt.
From that time on, until this very day, Famous Monsters has become a major part of my life.
I couldn't read these magazines enough, not just the movie stills, but the behind the scene stories and pictures were amazing and all the goodies you could send away for. What utter treasures. Now the Monster club my friends and I had got even more elaborate as we added our Famous Monster fan club cards and badges to the whole shibang. Forry Ackerman became my mentor in all things monsters and horror and I could never pay back to him all that he has given me. Now I have boxes of those great old magazines (thanks for the help Mike) and maybe someday I'll complete the whole set. I'm definetly up for the challenge.

Hey, do you like monsters?

I was six years old and the new kid the neighborhood. One of the kids from my street came up to me one day and asked me the magic question....do you like monsters? I didn't have any experience with them at that point but I was looking to make some friends so I replied that I liked them a lot. This was the start of two very important friendships for me and from that point on there was no looking back. We spent every weekend watching all those great classic horror movies which we were treated to every Friday night on Nightmare Theatre and Sunday mornings on Creature Feature. To say that watching Dracula, Frankenstein and all the ghouls and creepies didn't leave me completely terrified, would be far from fact but I put up a good front and eventually came to see all these monsters on the screen more as friends than foes. We started our own monster club and began bugging our parents for all the great toys the 70's had to offer. Aurora monster model kits were our main target and the Creature was my first score. Sure you have the re-issues today from polar lights and thank god for those, but if only I had locked those originals away for my future collection. If only.

Classic Horror Lives

Universal Monsters, Hammer horror and all the others who are responsible for bringing to life all the great characters and moments of the classic horror genre, this blog is in your honor and I can only hope that it truly catches the spirit of that which was and is the greats of Classic Horror and how it made a impact on my life and the lives of so many others.
Okay, I've done it and entered the land of blogging. This is all very new to me but for myself and anyone else who gives a hoot, or should I say howl, I would like to throw out there some of my past and present experiences with classic horror. So, as the days go on, I would like to share the times spent staying up late and watching the Wolfman, Dracula and the Creature dare me to go to sleep after the final credits have rolled off the screen, or wait ever so impatiently for the next issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland to be released.
I may be in my Forties now, but I can still be found creeping around the local stores and online looking for the newest monster toys for my ever growing collection. I know I am not alone and I invite all you other closet ghouls to come out and celebrate the timeless treasures of Classic Horror.