Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all! It's been a crazy week gearing up for the big night. We decided to change up our display this year and set up a cemetery. We spent the better part of the past two weeks building the fence and stone columns. I was able to get a few shots of the front yard from last night...

 

Photo of the stairs leading to our front door

 

Close up of our Death Studios "Cadaver" corpse, together with this wooden coffin, has been a staple of the display for over 10 years!

 

I built these two scarecrows on Friday. They were inspired from some pics I saw on the Pumpkinrot blog a few weeks ago.

 

Close up of few pumpkins in front of our Flying Crank Ghost

 

Our flying crank ghost in action

 

A couple of pumpkins next to the front door.

 

The view of the whole front yard from across the street.

 

The left side of the cemetery.

 

The right side of the cemetery

 

Close up of Don Post Skull Wall Sconce. I built two 9 foot columns for each side of the cemetery and mounted a skull on each. 

 

I built this enormous 16 foot scarecrow three years ago and this is the second time we've displayed him.  I was great to see him in action again!

 

Death Studios "Death 2" mask and hands in the attic window. We put a red strobe on it and it peered down on the trick or treaters from above!

 

Grim Reaper blowing in the night wind with illuminated clouds in the sky.

 

A few of the ghoulish decorations inside.

 

A Blucky skeleton hanging out in the garage!

This year we played Haunted Horror Sounds over our cemetery. It features a wonderful organ track though out the entire disc. It's a spine-tingling blend of creepy effects and red-blooded retro cheese all rolled up into one.

 

Download it here and check it out!

Retro Mask Pics

With Halloween just a few days away, these pics seem appropriate! How about that Topstone Melting Man & Ghoul!

Images source: Evil-Eye

VXX EC Zombie Mask

A package showed up at the door yesterday with a VXX EC Zombie mask! Opening up the box I was greeted by the intense eyes on this creepy corpse. I can't say enough about the killer sculpture and the retro style paint scheme. Here's a few pics of my copy:

Check out more gruesome ghouls on the VXX-FX Photostream

Early Jordu Schell Masks

Having already professed my admiration of Jordu Schell as my favorite monster and creature designer in a previous post that highlighted some of his recent work, today's post will take a glimpse of some of the earlier work.

In the mid to late 1980's Jordu's began making masks under the name of Weirdom FX and in addition, his sculpts began appearing in the Death Studios catalogs. This old black and white flier was sent out from Death Studios announcing the new Jordu/Weirdom additions to the Death Studio line up. I'm not sure exactly when this was sent out. It was likely sent as a catalog insert sometime between 1985-1989.

The Halloween Masks Pool

A cool Flickr group that showcases a variety of Halloween masks and nice photography. The pool features tons great shots of vintage vacuform masks.

 

  Image by: WeLoveTheDark

 

 

  Image by: WeLoveTheDark

 

 

Image by: EYE-talian

 

Image by: Nemo_434

Images are copyright of the photographer. If you own the photos and would not like them displayed I will remove them from the post

Bayshore Zombie Mask Ad

This classic Zombie Mask ad from The Magic Center appeared in comics before my time, but I've always been a big fan of the ad as a whole. Great typography, use of minimal color and terrific images of both the Zombie and his partner in crime Frankenstein!

Bayshore Zombie Mask

2010 Trick or Treat Studios Catalog

Here's a copy of the Trick or Treat Studios catalog I snagged at Maskfest 2010 back in March. I LOVE the concept of this flier and the Shock Doctor on the back!  Makers of "Masks to DIE for!", Trick or Treat features a great blend of Retro style masks and modern monsters and by the looks of things has had a great first year.

 

Earlier this summer I got my first Trick or Treat mask in the mail. The Ghastly Ghoul, sculpted by Justin Mabry, is hands down the best mass produced mask I have bought in the past 20 years. The mask I received looks just like the photo in the catalog with a top notch paint job and a decent thickness for a mass produced piece. Here's my copy which I added some pupils to:

This is just the first of many T'oT masks I'd like to add to the family. Shock Monster is next up and then Radioactive Zombie!

In addition to their site, you can check out the Trick or Treat Blog here!

Riverside Library Mask Display

A local library has a wonderful collection of classic monster masks on display this October. The collection belongs to Carlos  Marquez and features some very rare masks., several of the which have been customized by independent artists. All together it’s one impressive display!

The masks on display include from top to bottom:

Row One - Karloff Frank by Don Post Studios,  The Wolfman by Tony Pitoco, Karloff Mummy by Daniel Horne, Lugosi Dracula by Don Post Studios (custom painted by Aaron Lewis,) Creature from the Black Lagoon by Don Post Studios.

Row Two-  Mr, Hyde by  Tony Pitoco,  Karloff Frank by Don Post (custom paint job from Ghost of Frankenstein),  Phantom of the Opera by Don Post Studios,  Curse of Frankenstein by Carol Hicks.

Row Three- Micheal Meyers by Justin Marby, Dr. Loomis by Le Romaire.

The Pitoco Wolfman was an outstanding piece. I’ve never seen one in person and I was very impressed. Definitely one of the best ever released by an independent artist!

 

The Horne Mummy is without a doubt the best Karloff mummy I ever have seen. This mask is currently in production and can still be had from Daniel. This one is already a classic and a worthy addition to any classic monster collection.





The Aaron Lewis custom paint job is top notch. Aaron took the standard calendar re-issue  paint scheme and transformed it into a beautiful replica of the classic calendar photo.