BORIS KARLOFF'S THRILLER By John Rose

The Mad Doctor

Today on The MonsterGrrls’ Thir13een For Halloween, we are discussing Thriller. No, not the Michael Jackson album (although we know you drag it out around this time of year for Halloween parties), but instead, the greatest horror anthology show you never saw. Created for NBC Television by Hubbell Robinson and hosted by Boris Karloff, Thriller debuted in 1960 and ran for two seasons during a peak period for anthology shows.

Thriller title card

Beginning initially as a crime and suspense series in the mold of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Thriller hit its stride in horror with its sixth episode, “The Purple Room,” featuring Rip Torn as the inheritor of a house and property with a condition: he must spend the night there and live in the house for a year, or his cousins (Richard Anderson and Patricia Barry) will inherit the property. And of course, the house has a little problem with ghosts...

The success of “The Purple Room” made the producers realize that audiences had more taste for gothic and supernatural horror than run-of-the-mill crime stories, and Thriller soon filled its plate with spook tales. Many of these were based on works by authors who were giants in the genre, including Edgar Allan Poe, Cornell Woolrich, Robert Bloch (who contributed a number of teleplays), Robert E. Howard (the episode “Pigeons From Hell” became the first televised adaptation of Howard’s story), August Derleth, and Twilight Zone alumni Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont. Its distinguished roster of “major players” included Leslie Nielsen, William Shatner (who starred to great effect in "The Hungry Glass" and "The Grim Reaper"), Mary Tyler Moore, Henry Daniell (a woefully underrated actor in the vein of Price and Karloff himself), Richard Chamberlain, Elisha Cook, Russell Johnson and Natalie Schafer (both of who would later be marooned on Gilligan’s Island), Marlo Thomas, Robert Vaughn, Marion Ross (who went on to Happy Days), George Kennedy, Cloris Leachman, Dick York and Elizabeth Montgomery (who went on to star in Bewitched), Tom Poston (Newhart) and Richard Carlson.

Filmed in black and white, Thriller made the most of that medium: Alfred Hitchcock had already proved, both with the movie Psycho and his own series, that black-and-white film emphasized the gloomy settings, shadowy dread and horror of these stories better than color ever could. Thriller quickly became a must-see program during the 1960’s.

Our distinguished host

Karloff, who enjoyed his status as a horror star and had no problems moving into a small-screen medium, was the perfect host for Thriller. With his rich, sonorous voice and deadpan delivery, Karloff inserted himself into the beginning of each episode, introducing its title and “major players” and then would intone, “As sure as my name is Boris Karloff, this is a thriller!” Karloff also acted in five episodes of the series, perhaps his most morbid appearance being the title character in “The Incredible Doktor Markesan,” an August Derleth story about a mad doctor who has turned most of his rivals into zombies. Karloff also displayed a talent for black humor, and frequently appeared to enjoy his introductions, drawing the viewer into each episode. Though Thriller had made itself on horror stories, it still mixed some non-supernatural mystery tales into its oeuvre, and even created some humorous episodes such as “Masquerade” (based on a Robert Bloch tale, a honeymooning couple (Tom Poston and Elizabeth Montgomery) is temporarily detained at a “hotel” run by a group of deranged characters (among them John Carradine (!)) who may or may not be vampires).

The comic

Gold Key Comics published a comic-book version of Thriller, which went on to last until the very end of 1979; after Thriller itself went off the air, the series title was changed to Boris Karloff Tales Of Mystery. Some of these comics were republished in an archive series by Dark Horse Comics, beginning in 2009.

Though ratings for Thriller were still strong after the second season, complaints were raised about the violence and morbid tone of the series, and the producers battled constantly to keep the dark tone they were striving for. Thriller’s final death blow came when Alfred Hitchcock, who had just signed a deal with NBC to have a one-hour version of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, demanded that Thriller be canceled so there would be no confusion (or competition) with his show. NBC bowed to the clout of Hitchcock, and Thriller was cancelled after 2 seasons and 67 episodes.

However, no less a horror luminary than Stephen King declared Thriller to be “the best horror series ever put on TV” in his 1981 cultural overview of the genre, Danse Macabre. Thriller was never forgotten by those who had seen it, and its cult following eventually paved the way for a 14-disc DVD release of the entire series in 2010, containing all 67 uncut episodes with new commentary tracks and separate music tracks. Cable channel MeTV also added the show to its broadcast lineup, and episodes can also be found on YouTube. Most likely, Thriller will continue to be discovered and rediscovered by new and old horror fans in perpetuity.

Be sure to return soon for the next installment of The MonsterGrrls’ Thir13en For Halloween. Next time around, you may just get goosebumps…

MAD DOCTOR’S NOTE: For an extra Halloween treat, click the links throughout the post to see the episodes we mentioned on YouTube.

THE HISTORY OF ‘SALEM’S LOT By Bethany Ruthven

Bethany Ruthven

Good evening, darlings, and thank you for reading. Halloween time is here again, and welcome to The MonsterGrrls’ Thir13en For Halloween, where we are doing Tales Of Unease as our theme. Today I am examining an interesting vampire tale conceived by the world’s foremost horror author, Stephen King. The tale is ‘Salem’s Lot, and while it is certainly a vampire tale, its origins are actually from a short story, “Jerusalem’s Lot,” which was first published in King’s 1978 collection of short stories, Night Shift.

“Jerusalem’s Lot” is an epistolary tale, composed of letters and 

diary entries from one Charles Boone to an old friend, “Bones,” and the occasional narration from Boone’s manservant Calvin McCann. The tale describes the arrival of Boone and McCann to the neglected ancestral home of an estranged cousin, which is decried by local townsfolk as a “bad house” with a history of tragic events, mysterious disappearances, and strange noises attributed by Boone to “rats in the walls.” Obviously, anyone who has ever read a certain H.P. Lovecraft story knows that this won’t end well, but when Boone and McCann find an old map of a deserted village called Jerusalem’s Lot, which they decide to explore despite warnings from the townsfolk. Thus, the scene is set for the discovery of blasphemous Satanic rites, ancient tomes of evil, secret occult practices, family secrets, and of course the requisite nosferatu, or undead. The story was written by King while in college, but it did not see formal publication until after his second novel, ‘Salem’s Lot, was published, which is also set in the same town.

The book

The plot for ‘Salem’s Lot occurred to King while teaching a high school course on fantasy and science fiction at Hampden Academy in Maine. One of the books covered in the class was Dracula by Bram Stoker, and King wondered what would happen if Dracula returned to twentieth-century America. His wife suggested that Big D would probably get run over by a taxicab, but King kept mulling the idea over, and finally hit on a small-town setting for his story. The eventual novel was described by King himself as “Peyton Place meets Dracula,” but was successful, and was nominated for the World Fantasy Award in 1976, and the Locus Award for All-Time Best Fantasy Novel in 1987.

The story of the novel has Ben Mears, a writer who lived in Jerusalem’s Lot long ago, returning after a twenty-five-year absence. Mears has been haunted for most of his life by a bad experience he had in the Marsten House, an old house on a hill that overlooks the town, and was once the former home of Depression-era gangster Hubie Marsten. Ben has come back to ‘Salem’s Lot to write a book about the Marsten House, and hopes to stay in it, but discovers that the house has been purchased by an Austrian immigrant named Kurt Barlow, who has arrived in the Lot to open an antiques store. Barlow, according to his business partner, Richard Straker (the only one of the two ever seen in public) is on an “extended buying trip.” Undaunted, Mears takes a room in a boarding house and begins work, striking up a friendship with high school teacher Matt Burke and a romance with Susan Norton, the town librarian.

Soon after Barlow “arrives,” a young boy named Ralphie Glick disappears, and Glick’s brother Danny dies, becoming the first vampire. Danny infects a number of locals in the town, including his own mother, but fails to infect Mark Petrie, a friend of the Glick boys who resists Danny with the aid of a plastic cross from a monster model kit (nice touch). Before long, Ben, Matt, Susan, and local doctor Jimmy Cody are all drawn into the battle against Barlow for ‘Salem’s Lot.

The 1979 mini-series

Warner Bros. acquired the rights to ‘Salem’s Lot and set about trying to turn it into a feature film, but after several false starts at a proper screenplay for King’s 400-page novel, the project was turned over to their Television division, and producer Richard Kobritz decided it would work much better as a television mini-series. After a screening of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, director Tobe Hooper was selected for the series, which came to television in 1979.

While the resulting miniseries is regarded as a classic of the genre, with wonderful performances by several luminaries including David Soul (Ben Mears), James Mason (Richard Straker), Lance Kerwin (Mark Petrie), Reggie Nalder (Kurt Barlow) and legendary character actor Geoffrey Lewis (Mike Rykerson), the minseries takes liberties with King’s work. Some characters have been combined or simply removed, and Barlow, rather than being perceived as human, is a bald, hissing Nosferatu vampire in the mold of Max Schreck, with Straker serving as a superhuman version of Renfield. Due to the series being shown on television, graphic depictions of blood or violence were abhorred, forcing Tobe Hooper to rely on atmosphere and mood, which actually works in the production’s favor.

Better than A Return To 'Salem's Lot, by far

In 1987, Larry Cohen directed a feature film called A Return To ‘Salem’s Lot, a “sequel” to the series  that is rightfully described as a godawful mess of a film, and my darlings, you are advised to avoid it at all costs. A better substitute is TNT Television’s 2004 miniseries adaptation of ‘Salem’s Lot, starring Rob Lowe as Ben Mears, Samantha Mathis as Susan, Donald Sutherland as Straker, and Rutger Hauer as Barlow. Though still not perfect, this adaptation has its merits and is closer to King’s original novel, and will do you just fine if you cannot find the original for your Halloween viewing.

And there we are. Do return to us soon for our next round of chilling horrors here at The MonsterGrrls’ Thir13en For Halloween, and if you hear a scratching at the window and something asking to be let in... just tape a cross to the glass. Then move the next day.

Regards,

Bethany Ruthven

MAD DOCTOR’S NOTE: All forms of ‘Salem’s Lot are available for purchase (or rental if you have Amazon Prime) here at Amazon. But do avoid A Return To ‘Salem’s Lot. Even our Monster Shop werewolf Towser won’t touch it.

THE LEGACY OF SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK By Punkin Nightshade

Punkin Nightshade

Well, howdy! Looks like we’s all back together again for Halloween, and welcome to The MonsterGrrls’ 2019 Thir13en For Halloween. This here is Petronella Nightshade, what am Punkin, and this year we is talkin about some horror movies and TV and such what is related to books. We’s done some posts like that before, but this year Mr. John what’s our Mad Doctor wanted to do somethin different than old Frankenstein and Dracula, so we are talkin about some other kind of books and callin it all Tales Of Unease. And this right here does look like some uneasy stuff we are talkin about today, cause this here post is about some books called Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, what was collected by a feller named Alvin Schwartz, and had pictures drawn in them by a feller named Stephen Gammell.

The first edition covers

Folks has always told each other scary stories, ghost tales and that, round Halloween time. Somethin about the nights gettin longer and colder gets folks thinkin that way, and of course scary stories is all right for Halloween parties and such. The first Scary Stories book, what come out in 1981, was a bunch of old stories from folklore and them urban legend things that Mr. Schwartz had been huntin up. People had told each other them stories for years, but Mr. Schwartz had been a journalist at one time, and had started writin books. So like them journalists do, he did a whole bunch of researchin on the stories in the books afore he ever wrote a word, and he found that a lot of them stories was real old, had the same origins, and was told just about all over the place, in one way or another. Gorry, I can even remember hearin some of em at Coven gatherins down in Witchhazel Swamp. But Mr. Schwartz warn’t just gettin em from folklore. Some of these stories had come all the way down to us from folks like Shakespeare, Mark Twain, and Joel Chandler Harris.

From "The Haunted House"

Mr. Schwartz ended up writin  three of these books. The other two was called More Scary Stories To Tell In the Dark, and Scary Stories 3: More Tales To Chill Your Bones. The artist, what’s Mr. Gammell, did up pictures to go with the stories, and them was probly the scariest thing about the book. Like I said, just about everbody has read or heard the stories in the books, but it was Mr. Gammell’s artwork that turned them into somethin special. Mr. Gammell had won him a Caldecott Medal for doin watercolor pictures in another book called Song And Dance Man, but on these he didn’t use nothin but charcoal and ink. The way he done em made the stories downright frightenin, like you was just readin em for the first time.

From "Wonderful Sausage"

Once these books got out there, they just took off. People think that kids don’t like bein scared, but kids loved these books, and they was real popular. But there was a lot of parents out there that didn’t like em, and they thought Mr. Schwartz was a bad man for writin books that was scarin children. Probly the one they got the most upset about was Wonderful Sausage, in which a butcher gets mad at his wife one day and kills her, and then puts her down in the sausage grinder and makes some sausage out of her. And his customers end up likin that sausage, so of course he has got to find some more folks to make him some more sausage. I ain’t goin to tell you all of it, but it don’t end well nohow.

But the Scary Stories books was bein aimed at middle-school young’uns, and bigger kids like what I am, and they wasn’t never made for real little young’uns. Some learned folks said that there warn’t nothin wrong with em, and that they helped young’uns deal with stuff that really scared em by puttin a face on it, and that much is true. Most times a child ain’t gonna run into an old witch (well, not where y’all live, anyway), or some ghosts, or even some mad feller who’s stalkin around killin people. But children got real things they is scared of too that they can’t put a name or a face on, like growin up and not knowin what to do, or studyin real hard and not doin well on a test, or even somethin worse like their parents breakin up and the child is thinkin they done somethin to make it happen. And these stories was helpin them work that out in their heads.

But some folks is goin to meddle, just cause they can. And so it was that cause of the nature of them stories and the drawins in the books, Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark got listed by the American Library Association as bein the most challenged series of books back in the 1990s, cause parents didn’t want their young’uns readin about murderin folk and disfigured folk and cannibal folk and so forth. Course a young’un can see just about all that on the television now and again, but they acted like readin about it was worse. However much, most folk agree that there ain’t nothin wrong with them books, and most libraries still has them on the shelves. And hearin that he was on a challenged-book list might well have tickled Mr. Schwartz, who passed in March of 1992, well afore folks started fussin about his books.

The movie poster

The Scary Stories books is still real popular, and folks is still buyin them, and young’uns is still enjoyin gettin scared by them. And so it is that just a little while ago there was a horror movie come out what was based on them books, called Scary Stories To Tell In the Dark. There has been horror movies before what was anthologies, or bunches of stories all told in the same film, but this one is not no anthology film. Scary Stories The Movie tells about three young’uns named Stella (what’s Zoe Colletti), Auggie (what’s Gabriel Rush) and Chuck (what’s Austin Zajur), what go explorin an old house what’s supposed to be haunted on Halloween. In that house they find them a secret room and an old book of horror stories which has been writ down by someone named Sarah Bellows, who used to live in that old house long ago. They take that book out with them and find that new stories are bein writ in that book without no kind of explanation, and that them stories are happenin to folks they know, and so they got to warn all them folk and find out just what is goin on. All kind of hooraw happens in this movie, and it looks like it is goin to be a crackerjack just like the books has been.

So that is all about that, and I am done here with this postin. Be sure you come back and see what else we got goin for this year’s Thir13en For Halloween, cause it is goin to be one thing and then another. Blessings be on you!

Sincerely,

Petronella “Punkin” Nightshade

MAD DOCTOR'S NOTE:  The entire Scary Stories series is available on Amazon and other fine booksellers, and most likely at your local library.  Check them out! 

Special thanks to Rose Marie Machario.

INTO THE TWILIGHT ZONE By John Rose

The Mad Doctor

The dark time has come round again, and we bid you welcome to The MonsterGrrls’ Thir13en For Halloween 2019! This year our theme is Tales Of Unease, a look at horror literature and how it connects to film and television. Today we begin on a particularly auspicious note, because today, 60 years ago, was the premiere of one of the most well-known, emulated and longest-lasting anthology series on TV—Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone.

During the 1950’s, Rod Serling had made a career for himself as a prominent screenwriter in Hollywood, with successes such as Patterns for Kraft Television Theater and Requiem For a Heavyweight for Playhouse 90. But Serling was becoming increasingly frustrated with corporate censorship and sponsors who altered his scripts either to promote themselves or to avoid controversy. The most glaring example of this was the line “Got a match?” having to be struck from Requiem because its sponsor sold lighters.

Your next stop...

Deciding that a science-fiction setting with supernatural occurrences would give him less interference in exploring controversial subjects, he wrote a pilot pitch for his show, “The Time Element,” which was the story of a man who travels through time to 1941 Honolulu and tries to warn everyone of the impending attack on Pearl Harbor. The script was eventually produced as an episode of Desilu Playhouse, and the critical acclaim gave Serling the freedom to begin producing The Twilight Zone, which premiered on October 2, 1959, with “Where Is Everybody?”

 

“You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead—your next stop, the Twilight Zone.”

Rod Serling

Although it is often classed as science fiction, The Twilight Zone is very definitely a supernatural series, often utilizing elements of horror and the paranormal. Each episode presented a stand-alone story in which characters found themselves dealing with unusual events, which was described as ‘entering the Twilight Zone.” Often, the show had a surprise ending and a moral. Many critics of the day wondered why Serling had given up writing scripts for more prestigious programs to write a sci-fi-horror series, but Serling knew exactly what he was doing. By couching his stories in a supernatural or science-fiction setting, Serling was free to-examine political and social mores of the day, knowing that they would be observed as metaphorical and therefore would escape censorship.

Many episodes of The Twilight Zone are now deemed as classic television, such as “Time Enough At Last,” “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street,” “Eye Of The Beholder,” “The Invaders,” and “To Serve Man.” Acclaimed writers Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont also contributed scripts, and famed sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury wrote the now-classic episode “I Sing The Body Electric” which became the basis for his short story of the same name. A wide variety of now-famous actors such as Burgess Meredith, Charles Bronson, William Shatner, Elizabeth Montgomery, Carol Burnett, Robert Duvall, Peter Falk, Jack Klugman, Robert Redford and Burt Reynolds all made appearances in episodes of The Twilight Zone.

Serling himself contributed most of the scripts, submitting a herculean 92 episodes over five years, and also began to appear at the opening and closing of each show. Though it was his idea to do this, Serling was very nervous in front of the camera, and reported of his appearances that “Only my laundress knows how frightened I really am.”

He's terrified--no, really...

In the Night Gallery

The original Twilight Zone series lasted for five seasons, and was an immediate hit in syndication, which introduced it to future generations. In 1969, Serling had moved on to serve as on-air host and major script contributor to Night Gallery, another anthology series set in a macabre art gallery which contained a larger focus on the supernatural. Though Night Gallery is fondly remembered and commands a fan base of its own, Serling, who died on June 28, 1975 of a heart attack, is best remembered for The Twilight Zone.

The show has been in continuous reruns, and was made into a feature film in 1983.  Twilight Zone: The Movie starred such luminaries as Albert Brooks, Dan Aykroyd (both Akyroyd and Brooks appear in a wrap-around segment that begins the movie), Vic Morrow, Burgess Meredith (who narrated the film), Scatman Crothers, Kathleen Quinlan, Kevin McCarthy (who appeared in the 1956 version of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers) and John Lithgow.

Due to the popularity of the TZ film, The Twilight Zone was revived in 1985 in a new series narrated by Charles Aidman, himself the star of two original TZ episodes. It was revived again in 2002 for one season, narrated by Forest Whittaker. Both series and the film are available on DVD. The series also inspired a popular dark ride at Disney theme parks, “The Twilight Zone Tower Of Terror,” which takes place in a fictional Hollywood Tower Hotel that is the site of several unexplained disappearances.

Peele crosses over

In 2019, Jordan Peele, who co-wrote and performed in the comedy series Key And Peele with Keegan-Michael Key and directed the Academy-Award-winning horror film Get Out, announced a new series of Twilight Zone for CBS All Access. In addition to executive-producing the new TZ series, Peele hosts the show and introduces the episodes. The series has received critical acclaim and been renewed for a second season.

The continued survival and popularity of The Twilight Zone can be considered a hallmark of what a commitment to exceptional writing and singular vision can do for television. Though the special effects in TZ have not always been successful, the true emphasis in TZ has been on using strange and unsettling tales to explore the human condition. It continues even today to influence and inspire other filmmakers and writers with an interest in the supernatural.

Don’t forget to return soon for our next installment of The MonsterGrrls’ Thir13en For Halloween! You might just find a gateway into another dimension...

THE LEGACY OF VINCENT PRICE by John Rose

#1: The Mad Doctor

Vincent Price

Well, here we are again, and Happy Halloween to all! For our final post on The MonsterGrrls’ Thir13en For Halloween, we will look at one of horror’s true Renaissance men, the great Vincent Price. Though he is known for his roles in horror films such as the Edgar Allan Poe cycle with Roger Corman, Price also appeared on stage, radio and television, was an art collector and arts consultant with a degree in art history, and was also a noted gourmet cook.

Born on May 27, 1911 in St. Louis, Missouri, Price came from a notable family; his father was president of the National Candy Company, and his grandfather was Vincent Clarence Price, who invented the first cream-of-tartar-based baking powder, thus securing the family’s fortune. In 1933 he graduated with a degree in English and a minor in Art History from Yale University. He taught for a year and then entered the Courtald Institute of Art in London, where he intended to gain a master’s degree in fine arts, but found himself drawn to the theatre. First appearing on stage professionally in 1934, he began a full-scale acting career in 1935, performing with Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre.

Beginning in films as a character actor, he debuted in Service De Luxe (1938) and established himself in the film Laura (1944) with Gene Tierney, directed by Otto Preminger. His first venture into horror was the Boris Karloff film Tower Of London (1939). The following year, Price portrayed the title character in The Invisible Man Returns (1940), but then reunited with Tierney in Leave Her To Heaven (1945) and Dragonwyck (1946) and took a number of villainous roles in film-noir thrillers such as The Web (1947) and The Long Night (1947).

From 1947 to 1951, Price was also active in radio, playing the role of Simon Templar in The Saint. In the 1950’s, he moved into more regular horror roles, playing the leading role in the classic House Of Wax (1953), which was the first 3-D film to hit the box-office top ten that year. He also appeared in The Fly (1958) and its sequel Return Of The Fly (1959). That same year, he also appeared in William Castle’s House On Haunted Hill and The Tingler.

Price as Egghead, a Batman rogue

In the 1960’s, Price hit his stride with horror, appearing in the now-classic Poe series directed by Roger Corman for American International Pictures. Beginning with the role of Roderick Usher in House Of Usher (1960), Price appeared in The Pit And The Pendulum (1961), Tales Of Terror (1962), The Comedy Of Terrors (1963), The Raven (1963), The Masque Of The Red Death (1964) and The Tomb Of Ligeia (1964).

 

Price also starred in The Last Man On Earth (1964), the first adaptation of Richard Matheson’s novel I Am Legend, and portrayed witch hunter Matthew Hopkins in Witchfinder General (a.k.a. The Conqueror Worm, 1968). He also portrayed the comic villain Dr. Goldfoot in the spy spoof Dr. Goldfoot And The Bikini Machine (1965) and its sequel Dr. Goldfoot And The Girl Bombs (1966).

 

On television, Price made guest-star appearances in many shows of the decade, such as his well-known portrayal of the villain Egghead in Batman, F Troop, Get Smart, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, sometimes playing a tongue-in-cheek “horror” role.

In the 1970’s, Price appeared in The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and its sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972), and also in Theatre Of Blood (1973), portraying a Shakespearean actor who takes revenge on the critics who ruined his career. Another notable production from this period is An Evening Of Edgar Allan Poe, in which Price performed a one-man showcase of four Poe tales, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Sphinx, The Pit And The Pendulum and The Cask Of Amontillado.

 

Price also recorded a number of dramatic readings of Poe stories and poems, and several records for the Caedmon label that included A Graveyard Of Ghost Tales, A Hornbook For Witches and A Coven Of Witches’ Tales. He was also seen on Canadian television as a narrator on the now-classic children’s show The Hilarious House Of Frightenstein.

Though Price is remembered as a horror star, he was also an art lover and collector. In 1957, Price and his second wife Mary Grant Price donated 90 pieces from their private collection and established the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, California. This became the first “teaching art collection” owned by a community college in the United States, and the Prices would ultimately donate some 2000 pieces to this collection.

 

Seeing the importance of fine art being made accessible to the general public, Price also worked as an art consultant for Sears-Roebuck. From 1962 to 1971, Sears offered the “Vincent Price Collection Of Fine Art,” which included prints of works by Picasso, Rembrandt and Dali. Price was also an active gourmet cook, authoring several cookbooks with Mary Price. These included A Treasury Of Great Recipes, Mary And Vincent Price’s Come Into The Kitchen Cook Book, and Cooking Price-Wise With Vincent Price, which was also the title of a cooking show he hosted on Britain’s ITV/Thames Television network.

Price remained active in horror throughout the Eighties, narrating the 1982 Tim Burton short Vincent, and providing the now-famous spoken-word sequence on Michael Jackson’s 1982 hit single “Thriller.” In 1983, he appeared in the British horror spoof Bloodbath At The House Of Death, and worked in House Of The Long Shadows with John Carradine, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. From 1981 to 1989, Price regularly hosted the PBS television series Mystery! and in 1985, he was the voice of Vincent Van Ghoul in Hanna-Barbera’s The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo. In 1986, he was the voice of Professor Ratigan in Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective, one of his favorite roles. His last significant role was as the inventor in Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands (1990). During this time he was suffering from emphysema (Price was a lifelong smoker) and Parkinson’s disease, which also contributed to his retirement from Mystery in 1989. On October 25, 1993, Price died of lung cancer at UCLA Medical Center. He was 82.

Throughout his life, Vincent Price remained committed to a populist belief system, wanting to share art, fine cooking, and tales of mystery and horror with the general public rather than only a select audience. He was and still is an introduction for many people into the world of classic horror, and his life and career show a person who believed that the good things in life (and horror) were for everyone, regardless of their place in society. It is not for nothing that we at the Monster Shop refer to him with great affection as “Uncle Vinnie.”

And so we close this session of The MonsterGrrls’ Thir13en For Halloween. To paraphrase our Uncle Vinnie's ending Frightenstein monologue, the castle lights are growing dim, and there’s no one left but me… and them.

Happy Halloween, dear fiends...

 Happy Halloween From The MonsterGrrls!!

FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND By Frankie Franken

#2: Frankie Franken

Hello, everybody! This is Frankie Franken reporting for

The MonsterGrrls’ Thir13en For Halloween, and we’re almost to the day! Today I’m taking a look at a movie called Frankenstein Unbound, which puts a sci-fi spin on the Frankenstein legend. Mary Shelley has been called the mother of science fiction, but this film, based on a novel by Brian Aldiss, takes it to a new level.

The film opens in 2031, where Dr. Joe Buchanan (John

The good--er, bad--doctor at work

Hurt) is working to develop an energy beam weapon so powerful that it will end all war, while causing no damage to the environment. Unfortunately, his weapon causes rifts in space and time that cause people to disappear, and Buchanan ends up driving into one of these rifts, which takes him back to 1817 Switzerland. While there, Buchanan meets none other than Percy Shelley (Michael Hutchence), Lord Byron (Jason Patric) and Mary Shelley (Bridget Fonda), who is writing a story inspired by her mysterious and well-to-do neighbor, Victor Frankenstein (Raul Julia). Sure enough, Dr. Frankenstein has created a Monster (Nick Brimble) who is already wreaking revenge on his creator, and it isn’t long before Buchanan is trying to stop Frankenstein’s Monster and find his way back to his own time.

The Monster has a few words with Buchanan

While there’s an obvious parallel between the experiments of Buchanan and Frankenstein, this film is a fun twist on the traditional Frankenstein tale. The Monster, rather than cribbing from Boris Karloff’s iconic performance, takes its cues from Shelley’s original novel. Director Roger Corman, who is famed for his low-budget filmmaking, makes a practical-effects showcase that is pretty refreshing when compared to the CGI epics of today. Check this film out if you’re a Frankenstein fan; it’s pretty neat.

Gosh, it's nearly time for Halloween! Come back tomorrow for the end to The MonsterGrrls’ Thir13en For Halloween, and join us for the party! Happy Halloween, everybody!

Sincerely,

Francesca “Frankie” Franken

MAD DOCTOR’S NOTE: Frankenstein Unbound is available on DVD from Amazon. Check it out.

DRACULA A.D. 1972 By Bethany Ruthven

#3: Bethany Ruthven

Good evening, darlings, and thank you for reading. Welcome back to our little Halloween soiree, and today we take a look at another of the Big D’s films, albeit a rather odd entry. The Big D is, of course, Count Dracula, and the film in question is Hammer Films’ Dracula A.D. 1972. While this entry is not well liked by many fans of Hammer’s Dracula oeuvre, one man’s nonsense is another man’s rationale. And the rationale of this film’s existence is that Hammer wanted to set a Dracula film in modern times, due to the success of the 1970 Warner Bros. film Count Yorga, Vampire, which had
done the same.

The poster

The film opens in 1872, with the Big D (Christopher Lee) and his nemesis Lawrence Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) locked in battle on top of a runaway coach. Neither of them survive their battle, but a disciple of Big D (Christopher Neame) shows up and collects Dracula’s ring and ashes, burying them near Van Helsing’s grave in the churchyard of St. Bartolph’s for safekeeping.

Dracula and his dinner date

Exactly one century later, in swinging London, a group of young hipsters (I can’t really call them “hippies” because they have money and wear clean clothes—England always seems to do a few things better than you Yanks), which includes the descendant of the former Dracu-disciple, the laughingly named Johnny Alucard (Neame again), is looking for a new kind of kick after successfully wrecking a somewhat staid gathering in the city. Said group also includes the descendant of Van Helsing, Jessica Van Helsing (Stephanie Beacham), who unlike the others seems to have a good relationship with her grandfather/parental guardian Lorrimer (Cushing again), thus setting her up as the obvious Good Girl among them. Bad Boy Johnny suggests a black magic ceremony at the now-ruined Bartolph’s, which has been abandoned and desecrated, ostensibly due to modern development. Breaking into the old place, Alucard And Gang proceed with a typically bloodsoaked ritual involving Laura (Caroline Munro), a member of their group who is more or less The Girl Who’s Up For Anything. Because such things never go well, the results of mucking about in Things Man Wot Not Of cause the group to flee in terror, and shortly after, Big D arrives and claims Laura as his first victim. From there, a police investigation and other highjinks ensue, eventually spurring Lorrimer to action in order to save his granddaughter and stop Alucard and The Big D, who plots revenge on Van Helsing once he learns that Jessica is a Van Helsing descendant.

Neame as Alucard, junior vampire in training

Regardless of what its detractors say, Big D In Moderne Times 1972 isn’t a terrible movie. It moves bracingly along, not too fast or too slow, and the story is the typical Hammer Big D plot formula (Big D comes back to life, highjinks ensue, blood, murder, Van Helsing or other Vampire Hunter to rescue, etc., etc.). One major problem is that the prologue begins the film in 1872, with what is supposed to be the final battle between Helsing and Dracula. However, the beginning of Hammer’s Big D cycle, Horror of Dracula (1958) begins all that preceded this film in 1885, which means that the other five films before this one never happened at all. Since Hollywood seems to be currently given to assembling universes, I suppose we could say the Big D has his own universe somewhere where vampires and vampire hunters run around after each other all night long, but it’s still rather a stretch.

Continuing, the cast turns in fine performances, with Cushing’s somewhat weary Van Helsing and 

The weary but faithful Van Helsing and his granddaughter

Lee’s ever-violent Big D being high points regardless of the plot’s modernized silliness. Because Big D seems to be confined largely to Bartolph’s once he shows up in 1972, Cushing winds up carrying the film, which he does with his usual grace. While neither actor really comes out of their respective wheelhouses (everything in these particular roles was probably old hat to them by this time), they are still a treat to watch, especially at this time of the season. Beacham is pleasingly fresh-faced as the new generation of Van Helsings, Munro (in her first film for Hammer) carries on the required toothsomeness for Big D’s victims, and Neame is more than over-the-top in his evil, almost cribbing from Malcolm McDowell in the previous year’s A Clockwork Orange.

But even so, Johnny Alucard? Really? Who isn’t going to pick up on that? However, Dracula Goes Disco 1972 is now as much of a period film as all its Victorian/Edwardian predecessors in the cycle, so perhaps it’s right in line with the continuing Legend of the Big D.

And so we come to the end, alas. Well, perhaps not. At any rate, we are almost to the day, and I do invite you back for the rest of our increasingly novel Thir13een For Halloween. Do enjoy yourselves safely and stay out of old abandoned churches.

Regards,
Bethany Ruthven