Don Post Glossy 8 x 10s

Great promotional images of classic Don Post Studios Calendar era monster masks...

Don Post Studios Dracula Monster Mask

Don Post Studios Wolfman Monster Mask

Monster Mask Madness Across the Blogosphere

There is some good monster mask mojo flowing through the blogospere this month. Here's a few blogs to check out...

I just found the Branded in the 80's Halloween Mask Madness Countdown yesterday morning. Check out the mad fun for the remainder of the month. Note: The site has some insane archives full of other 1980's pop culture too, you can lose days of your life on this site!
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In addition, Monster Magazine World ran a  Halloween 2011 - "Do the Monster Mask" post yesterday with an excellent photo-filled write-up on Rubies.

Image Source: Branded in the 80's

Dime Store Mask Display

Imagine taking a stroll down to the local dime store and being able to grab a Shock Monster of the shelf for Halloween...

Image Source: Raymond Castile

Stroke of Midnight Studios

Last week I posted a classified ad from Stroke of Midnight Studios and asked readers for any info on the studio. A few very helpful ghouls provided some excellent insight on the studio. I received an email from a frequent contributor to this blog, the Green Ghoul, who sent over this poster and scanned the article below...

Stroke of Midnight Studios Monster Masks

These scans were a big and beautiful 300dpi, but Blogger has some image size restrictions. In order to see the mask images as large as possible,  I've separated a few of the mask shots from the article to allow for the original large resolution that the Green Ghoul provided...

Troll Mask by Stroke of Midnight Studios

Bat Mask from Stroke of Midnight Studios

Here are a few more shots from the Green Ghoul...

Boris Mask by Stroke of Midnight Studios

Death Studios fans will remember David Smith's Bat monster mask being offered in the 1995 line-up as "Nightmare"...

Distortions Unlimited Ad

As the Travel Channel continues to air "Making Monsters" each Sunday this month, why not follow-up with another Sunday morning Distortions post. This time with the classic green "Nightmares" ad which was scanned from the inside front cover of the September '88 issue of Fango...

 Here's a link to the previous Orange Distortions Unlimited "Nightmares" Ad.

Trick 'r Treat

Since it's release in 2007, Trick 'r Treat has become a perennial favorite here at the Phantom's crib. Every October it gets a good play or two. This year we popped it right in on October 1st. While folks have strong opinions either way in regards to this film, in my humble opinion, it is among the best Horror or Halloween themed movies ever created. Not that the story is particularly special, but the cinematography and mise-en-scène is spectacular - the perfect Halloween setting! 

Whatever your feelings on the movie, it's hard to deny that the school bus massacre scene is awful creepy. And there's no doubt that the masks the children are wearing really escalate the creep factor to another level.

A few years back, it was possible to score a copy of the Dracula mask seen in the scene above for just a few bucks through UK based costume shops. You can still find remnants of these long gone masks online by doing a Goggle image search for "Glow Dracula Mask".  Unfortunately, they are all sold out and those glory days are gone. These days,  the mask sells for a steep premium on popular auction sites.

Glow Dracula Mask

Glow Dracula Mask with Cut Jaw

Halloween Society Catacomb - Monsterland #2

Ron Magid, of the Halloween Society, contributed to a number of Forry's Monsterland magazines with a column titled "The Halloween Society Catacomb". Occasionally the column featured a write up pertaining to the world of masks, like this one featured in issue #2, which is a nice summary of the golden age Don Post Studios monster masks. 

Note: this article was originally posted in Monster Magazine World's excellent "Do the Mask" Series

Front: 300 Line "Bones", "Sow Bug Alien", Glowin Ghoulies "Gargoyle"
Back: 1100 Line Timberwolf, 900 Line "Old Vampire"

Images Source: http://monstermagazineworld.blogspot.com/

Mole People Masks!

This picture of The Mole People (1956) Director Virgel Vogel and Director of Photography Ellis Carter posing with production versions of various Mole Man masks was found on page 15 of Fango #73...

Mole People Masks

Stroke of Midnight Studios Mask Classified Ad

Classified ad for high quality latex masks from the Stroke of Midnight Studios found on page 57 of Fango #46 from August 1985.

Note: Thanks to the post below, we've got the info on who ran and contributed to Stroke of Midnight Studios!

FEARnet - Killer Clowns Compilation

 As haunted houses begin popping up, it's a perfect time to start posting videos and photos from home and professional haunts. So in the spirit of all that is good and fun about October, here's a video from FEARnet's Route 666 featuring some nice Killer clowns at work...

Some nice masks pop up in this video. While I won't even come close to attempt to catalog them all, here's a few:

Bump in the Night FX has a few excellent clown masks that can be seen including the Big Top Clown Mask, and the multi-faced Clowning Around

Bump in the Night "Big Top Clown" Mask

Bump in the Night "Clowning Around" Mask

Don Post Studios - Bitter Mask