Returning with some more long-awaited vintage comics, this year I’ve got a fun one for you. An evil witch, a ghostly treasure, headless men and undead crusaders. I can’t help but wonder why a music professor was so dedicated to his craft that he’d seek out a dead witch party to find a forgotten song.
I’m going to preface this by saying this is not the greatest anthology film of all time, but it is one of the most iconic. Obligatory pretentious ‘every true horror fan’ (or at least the ones old enough to have grown up with video store memories) remembers the image of the vicious little tribal doll with his sharp teeth and endless torment of poor innocent Karen Black – – which, incidentally is one reason I’m featuring this movie for the week. Karen Black.
She was memorable. A character actress who may not be absolutely infamous in the mainstream, but still left her mark in 70s tv movies and independent film. Directed by Dan Curtis, based on stories by Richard Matheson, trilogy of terror is a fun and cheesy exploration of Karen Black’s character acting skills. It’s junk food. It’s relatively tame by today’s horror standards. Yet some elements of the movie are still a little disturbing. They stick with you, and if you watch it once, chances are you’ll come back again for several re-watches of Trilogy of Terror.
Whew! Almost mid-October (happy Friday the 13th, and I hope you’re enjoying a bit of Jason slaughter today!) The posts are warming up, and so is my grad school homework. Still, I’ve found time to upload yet another vintage comic. This one is in far worse shape than the others I’ve managed to scrounge up, but the art is – – well, how should I put it? Cartoonier? A little more offbeat? Somehow, at the same time, certain elements of these stories are also pretty detailed towards realism. In fact, the werewolf face is remarkably similar to Dr. Hyde in the ’31 film. 21 years after the fact, I can’t help but wonder if the artist sourced a lobby card or old poster, perhaps?
Following on the tail-end of the glory days (pre-code horror comics), I sort of appreciate the pulp-ish inspiration they clearly drew from on the cover art. It’s also a victim of radio-style dialog, per usual for the earlier stuff, but there’s a certain charm to that too. The first story is…well…I mean it’s a basic werewolf plot. Incredbly basic. Bare bones down to the character name (Eric Lupin.) The second story proves yet another age-old fact. You can’t trust men. You can’t trust women. You definitely can’t trust gigantic Amazonian witch snakes.
Spanish is a beautiful language, no matter the dialect. Mexican Spanish in particular is the one I’m accustomed to hearing the most (being from Texas.) I love the husky quality of a slow speech in a Mexican film, especially when you combine it with the crackle of old cinema, and the eery atmosphere of shadows created in a black-and-white picture. Combine that with angry witches, curses, mirrors…you’ve got yourself an incredible picture.
On a dark night, preferably a rainy one too, watch this one by candlelight. Keep your phone off. Don’t let anything distract you…and soak it in like a bath. It’s how all true horror should be experienced, especially dark classics like ‘The Witch’s Mirror’, which tells the story of a witch…obviously…who tried to protect her god-daughter, but failed…and seeks vengeance on the young woman’s husband who murdered her through the power of the same magic she had tried using for good.
Back in the 90s, I was wild for books. I still am, but the point here is that I devoured every book fair that came to school. Especially when it came to book lights and horror stories. Monster Road was one of my favorites. Perhaps it was the cover that drew me to it, or the fact that I’d run out of Goosebumps books, but this one was pretty easy to miss tucked back at the bottom ‘L’ shelf.
Written by David Lubar, Monster Road tells the story of Kevin taking a road trip with his eccentric scientist Uncle. Eccentric and wildly naive, every single monster Kevin’s uncle meets on the trip strikes him as something absolutely mundane and non-supernatural in any way. What’s more, he seems to come up with a solution for most of their problems in the process.
My old copy I had of Monster Road sadly fell to pieces, but that’s the sign of a well-loved book. At least for a kid. Monster Road is a great little story to read with your kid, or to just let them read on their own, lying in the somewhat sketchy area of 2nd grade – 4th grade reading level.
Something for the kiddies today, just to remind you all ’tis the season and such. Scavenged from the dark recesses of Google images….here are just a few of my favorite coloring pages featuring the subject of things that go bump in the night. I claim no credit for these images whatsoever.
…Yes, I may have a skeleton issue. I CAN QUIT WHENEVER I WANT!
Ahhhh, October at last. I already feel that last breath of warm Texas air submitting to the cooling rush of Autumn. It’s hard to believe that 12 months ago we had our last daily posting challenge. But here we are again. Today I decided to start it off with a little special treat for all of you, and a very witchy delight it is. Time again for vintage Halloween pin-ups of actresses and models from yester-year…
If you guys couldn’t tell, I’m participating in the October posting event again this year. As Halloween begins to infiltrate our marketplaces, I decided this was a better time than any to give you a little taste of this year’s pin-up post. Here’s Dusty Anderson, one of the prettiest wicked witches around.
Halloween isn’t just a time for…y’know, doing all that stuff I talk about all the time. It’s also a great time for awesome photography. Spooky trees, interesting tombstones, ghosts…and Bombshells. From Betty Davis to Dusty Anderson, and everyone in-between. Chances are, if there’s a beautiful model or actress from the golden age out there, she’s had her own little October photo shoot. The following are a selection of my favorites.
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely. I don’t think this phrase generally refers to literal power, like what a witch or warlock would have, but I think it can be applied. Kind of. Usually they’re corrupt already, and the magic bit just kind of makes them a little worse. How often do you see a witch on a broomstick that isn’t out to cause trouble for local farmers? Okay, maybe Kiki. But Kiki doesn’t count, because she negates my point, and I’d rather believe everything I say is the truth. So sit back, relax, and develop a healthy paranoia for that girl or guy in mascara who always seems to stare at you when you cut in line at the coffee shop.
If you’ve noticed a theme of 70s film in this entry, it’s because they were obsessed with witches and cults. If you didn’t already know that, well…—-* The more you know…
Hallow-Holics Anonymous Podcast
Hallow-Holics Anonymous 