Sunday Supplement 10/13/13

Lon Chaney said: "There's nothing funny about a clown in the moonlight." Apparently, there's nothing funny about a clown on a box of breakfast cereal, either. Forget Famous Monsters of Filmland, and Aurora monster models, and Vampira and Bob Wilkins. It's stuff like this that gave birth to a generation of Monsterkids. Really. A couple spoonfuls of Sugar Rice Krinkles and every kid around the table looked just like this:

Speaking of Ray Russell (and sardonic grins), test-drive this personal assessment of writerly motivation: "I would say... ego, guilt, boredom, a love of language, and the desire to entertain myself. I think it was William Saroyan who said he wrote so that he would have something good to read in his old age. That's not a bad reason."

Okay. I kind of doubt this is a kosher product, but I couldn't pass it up. "Oh, Chick!" I bought the coffee cup, too.

Macabre Republic visits the haunted Hudson Valley. Man, those are some serious Jacks!

For my $$$$$, Mondo Zombie Boogaloo is just another way of spelling "2013 Halloween Essential." Some great tracks here courtesy of Yep Roc Records; I'm already addicted to "Theme from Young Frankenstein" and "Theme from Halloween" carved up and surf-stitched and electrified into mean new monsters by Los Straitjackets. Plus "Tingler Blues" and "Demon Death" from Southern Culture on the Skids -- the latter is a mean little short story of a song with a Deadbolt vibe. Nevie Rose's faves are "Que Monstruos Son" ("Dad! It's 'Monster Mash'! In Spanish!" *) and "Goo Goo Muck." And, hey, you can never go wrong with any version of "Monster Surfing Time." That's just boss, hoss.

And last but (hopefully) not least, an American Frankenpost Flashback: Five Favorite Universal Horrors for Halloween. You don't have to wait for the big day, though... it never hurts to get an early start on your Halloween viewing.


* Viva hombre lobo... and Morticia, too!

Sawtooth Jack 2012

Here's the official 2012 October Boy that I carved up last night (note: I could probably explain the spirit-hand visitation in the lower right hand corner, but in keeping with the season I'll just say that some mysteries are best left unexplained). Not too many trick-or-treaters went nose-to-nose with this bad boy when he was encamped on the front porch, though. Rain rolled over the hill from Oakland early, and that (mostly) skunked the trick-or-treat action around here.

Hope you and yours had a great holiday. On the post-Halloween front, Joe Nazare of Macabre Republic is back in action, post-hurricane. He's posted an interview with me where we discuss Halloween, favorite Twilight Zone episodes, and Universal Monsters. As Joe says, "it's a cool six-pack to stave off any Halloween hangover," and you can check it out here.