Shoctober 10/31/19

Three more festive figures found at Village Discount Outlet.

Shocktober 10/30/19

Another find from Village Discount Outlet.

Shocktober 10/29/19

Shocktober 10/28/19

Shocktober 10/27/19

A Halloween-themed cupcake at work.

Shocktober 10/26/19

Shocktober 10/25/19

This week's Chicago Reader features a nice cover article on Rich Koz--better known to millions of horror-movie viewers ghost-to-gh...er, coast-to-coast as Svengoolie.

Astonishingly, he's been at this horror-hosting gig for 40 years--more than 10 times longer than his predecessor, the late, great Jerry G. Bishop. And longer, I'd wager, than nearly all of his contemporaries. Even Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, started after Son of Sven.

And may he go for many, many more.

Shocktober 10/24/19

After Dracula and the Wolf Man...er, I mean Werewolf by Night...got their own comic books at Marvel Comics in the early 1970s, it was almost a given that Mary Shelley's famous creation would get his turn. And so he did, in a bimonthly effort originally entitled The Monster of Frankenstein and later retitled The Frankenstein Monster. The title changed made no difference in sales--whatever Marvel chose to call it, they called in "cancelled" after 18 issues (though stories did continue to appear in various Marvel black-and-white horror magazines for a few months more).

That's a shame, because it started with such promise, with writer Gary Freidrich and artist Michael Ploog basically adapting Shelley's novel for the first few issues, then continuing the story as the monster roamed the world, looking at first for revenge on his creator, and then just for some damn peace and quiet. No such luck, though--the Monster not only couldn't rest, he had to face off against Dracula (Marvel's take on the Count, anyway). Then? He got frozen and thawed out in modern times, where he fought/teamed up with the aforementioned Werewolf, as well as Spider-Man and Marvel's other resident lycanthrope, Man-Wolf.

The early issues drawn by Ploog were the best, though. He made the Monster more sympathetic and soulful than subsequent artists could.

This Week's Travel Reading (Shocktober Edition)

Shocktober 10/23/19

Godzilla 1962! (As in King Kong vs....)

Shocktober 10/22/19

I found this figure at Village Discount Outlet Sunday morning. She reminds me of the Halloween drawings of Ellen Clapsaddle, an artist who worked one side or the other of the turn of the 20th Century. I've long admired her whimsical takes on my favorite holiday, but this is the first time I've seen one of her drawings rendered in three dimensions.

Shocktober 10/21/19

And now, one of my oldest and most treasured toys: The mighty Mego Wolf Man!

Shocktober 10/20/19

A Shocktober party I was not invited to.

Shocktober 10/19/19

Shocktober 10/18/19

He's not a man...not a wolf...but a MAN-WOLF!

Introduced in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man way back in the early 1970s, Man-Wolf soon graduated to his own series and carried on howling and fighting bad guys until his inevitable cancellation. But wasn't it odd that Marvel had TWO werewolf-themed comics (including the previously mentioned Werewolf by Night)?

Shocktober 10/17/19

The AHI Frankenstein waits for you...

Shocktober 10/16/19

Shocktober 10/15/19

"Listen to them...children of the night...what music they make!"

Shocktober 10/14/19

As seen on a CTA platform.

Shocktober 10/11/19

And now, one of the rarest of the rare: The AHI Creature from the Black Lagoon!

Shocktober 10/10/19

This morning--the fearsome Tomland Fly!

For Breakfast This Morning (Shocktober Edition)

Shocktober 10/8/19

Straight from the 1970s...The mighty Mego Mummy!

This Week's Travel Reading (Shocktober Edition)

Every Picture Tells a Story 10/6/19

Every Picture Tells a Story 10/5/19

I have no idea what "Glass Cuisine" is, but the dude in the photo looks like Steve Martin.

Shocktober 10/4/19

The Mego Dracula I showed you last week was something I'd hunted for for weeks. This guy? Was a complete surprise. Didn't know Mego was reissuing their Fury of the Wolfman figure--with flocked hair, no less. But there he was, dangling from a peg at my local Target, so home he came. Wonder what my Original Mego Wolfman thinks of him? Hmmm...

Every Picture Tells a Story 10/3/19

Shocktober 10/3/19

Every Picture Tells a Story 10/2/19

Shocktober 10/2/19

I searched long and hard to find this fellow, but find him I did--at the Target in the old Carson Pirie Scott building at State and Madison after of day of wandering the book fair in the South Loop. (Or was it Dearborn Park? I can't keep Chicago neighborhood names straight anymore.)

Anyway...I'd been looking far and wide for the new generation of Mego action figures, and had been modestly successful at finding the 14-inch DC superhero dolls--Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Batman. But the smaller, 8-inch horror figures? Not so much.

But on a sunny Saturday morning, I found Bela.

I haven't let him loose from his package yet--waiting until I have a home of my own, where he can be properly displayed. (Right now? Mom's cats would have him on the floor and torn up five minutes after I walked out the door.) But now that I'm working again, I hope that day will come relatively soon.

This Week's Travel Reading (Shocktober Edition)

I can't think of a better way to kick off the holiday month than with Stephen King's first novel: The story of Carrie White, a much-abused high school girl who, in addition to manifesting puberty, is also manifesting telekinetic powers. This? Will not end well. For anyone.

Every Picture Tells a Story 10/1/19

Shocktober 10/1/19

This T-Rex knows that Shocktober begins (checks watch) NOW!