Universal Monster Stamps

I don't recall where I had found these way cool monster stamps, but I thought I would share. Sierra Leone has got it goin' on in a creepy fun way!

Although I think it would be even cooler if the portraits were done in black and white, it is always quite interesting to see what the Universal gang would have looked like in living (dead?) color.

I wish we had cool postage like this....

On the 1st day of Christmas, Skully gave to me....

Big spooky holiday shout-out to Chris and Skully at the Hauntcast dungeon for my Christmas present that came in yesterday's mail.

Cheers, bruddah!

Happy birthday Maila Nurmi a/k/a Vampira

Happy birthday Maila Nurmi, best known to us monster kids as Vampira (1921 –2008).



There seems to be a bit of confusion about her day of birth, as I saw it listed variously as December 11th and also December 21st. Well, if it was the 11th, I missed it and either way, I am going to note and celebrate it.

Happy birthday Ms. Nurmi!!!

Romero's Survival of the Dead has U.S. distribution

The last time we had an update about Survival, it was the U.K. rights. Now, we have some domestic information to bring you.

Seems that Magnet Releasing, a subdivision of Magnolia Pictures, has acquired the rights to the film. It is going to be released in Spring of 2010 as part of the "Ultra VOD" program a month before a (what seems to be limited) theatrical run. So, if you don't like or want to head out to the theaters, catch the latest living dead picture in the comfort of your own home theater.

More news to come!!

The House of the Devil (2009)

Written and Directed by Ti West
Starring Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov, Greta Gerwig, A.J. Bowen
Rated R, 95 minutes
From MPI Media Group
Official movie site

One of the best horror films of 2009, The House of the Devil is a creepy throwback and deliberate homage to films of the early 1980s.

The plot is rather simple: Sam (Donahue) is a young college student in need of extra cash for a new apartment. She responds to a flyer seeking a babysitter, and having no car of her own, asks her good friend Megan (Gerwig) to drive her to the job.

They find that the location of the job is an isolated creepy old house. Soon Sam meets Mr. Ulman (Noonan) who confesses that there is no baby, but that Sam is there to "watch" his elderly invalid mother. Despite grave misgivings, and thanks in large part to Mr. Ulman's offer of cash, Sam agrees to stay the night so that Ulman and his equally creepy wife (Woronov) may attend a very important gathering involving the full eclipse of the moon.

Megan reluctantly leaves her friend, and Sam's night of horror begins. Slowly she realizes that there is something terribly wrong in the house.

Directed with dead-on restraint by West, he does a terrific job of building a sheer sense of dread. The creep factor keeps amping up as the audience, along with Sam, slowly unravels the mystery of what the true purpose of her "job" is, until we are treated to a real roller-coaster of a final 15 minutes or so. The actors all do a great job as well, with special recognition for Donahue's wonderfully understated performance. Although there are a few shocking scenes and a little blood towards the end, it is not a gore-fest that would turn off fans of classic horror.

The DVD and Blu Ray drops on February 2, 2010.

If you have not seen this film, and are a fan of classic 70s and 80s horror, I believe you will really dig The House of the Devil. Check it out!

Guy, You Kick Major Ass!! Or, How House Bloodthorn's Head Ghoul Made Me Stop Looking Like a Jabroni and Took the MSF to a Whole 'Nother Level

So, there I was yesterday at work in my office toiling away (ok, I was listening to reggae and mostly staring out the window. Although I did move some files and papers from one side of my desk to the other halfway through the day to show the monumental progress I was making......) when the little green light on my new Droid began blinking.

Ah, an email, I thought, so I checked the phone only to see an email to the gmail account. Spam I concluded given I have only ever received one "real" email at this address! LOL.

Well, low and behold, it was legitimate email from none other than Guy from the fangtastic House Bloodthorn. As you boils and ghouls may already know, Guy has been a big part of the "behind the scenes" aspect of Hauntcast and helped madman Chris Baker with graphics and design and whatnot for the site. Last year, Guy was even kind enough to create and provide for me a couple of very cool avatars - one the Hauntcast skull, and the other the ultra-super cool Blackenstein avvie that graces this very page, as well as my super-spectacular My Space and Facebook pages.

Hmmmm, I wondered why he was emailing me now?

Turns out that Guy had a little bit of downtime between his own projects (including one very cool site redesign that will be unveiled in the near future.....shhh, it's a secret, kids!!), and decided that the Midnite Spook Frolic needed a little.........pizazz. Now, I'm all about the pizazz, so I eagerly read on and was really floored when I saw what he whipped up for me on his diabolical computer of terror.

The new logo was a sight to behold - the background image worked so well. I couldn't believe that he was able to just create something that was just so perfect! I would never have even thought to use a film motif, and the 50s audience in their 3-D glasses was a fangtastic touch.

Guy wrote that I was not obligated to use the images but if I was interested (if I was interested!!! LOL) he'd be happy to send me the images and instructions on how to play around with the layout and codes and all that hard computer stuff. All free of charge!

Well, I couldn't email him back quickly enough, and thought it was so cool that he would take the time to do this for me and hook me up with first-rate top notch professional graphics like this. He graciously sent me the graphics, instructions, and helped me out with a few dumb questions last night when I couldn't get the codes just right. He even sent me a few more logos in different color schemes, which started to make my head hurt because I was torn between two themes!

I laughed when Guy replied to me that he knew his job was done because my head was hurting. LOL.

So, there you go....the super-secret origin story of the all new, extra-fangtasical, magical, award-winning Johnny Thunder's Midnite Spook Frolic.

Guy, if we ever meet up someday, the first 10 rounds are on me, brother. I greatly appreciate everything you've done for me, and for Hauntcast. You are one cool ghoul.

Cheers, man!!!

Blackenstein Goes to Asia

Have I mentioned I love Blackenstein? I have? Hmmm. One of these days I'm going to commission Lauriebeast to make me a life-sized sculpt. LOL!

Yes, I know, I'm the only one, so indulge me, boils and ghouls. I just found this insane foreign VHS cover for the flick. The images don't even necessarily correspond to the film which makes it even better!

Fun for monster kids of all ages.

Dan O’Bannon R.I.P.

Horror writer Dan O'Bannon(1946-2009) has died.

He was the man behind Alien, John Carpenter's Dark Star, Dead & Buried, Lifeforce, Invaders From Mars and Return Of The Living Dead.

R.I.P.

Movie Quote of the Day #4

Betty: "What are those funny things sticking out of your head?"
Rigna: "Those are our antennae."
Betty: "Are you a television set?"

- Classic exchange between Martian and Earthling child in the so so bad it's good sci-fi holiday classic Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964).

Gold, Frankenstein's Monster, and Myrrh

Even more Christmas goodness with our pal Frankie.

Sorry for the lack of news and reviews, folks, but I've been sick for a week now. Hoping I recover for the holidays!