Death Studios Masks Group Shots

These photos show the evolution and gradual change of masks on display inside of Death Studios through the years. There are so many classic Death Studios pieces on these shelves. If you're a fan of Jeff's work, be sure to click on these photos to view the expanded full-size versions.

I've had the pleasure of stepping inside this room a few times throughout the years, but not before 1998, so I did not get the opportunity to see most of these early Death Studios pieces in person. However I do recall seeing a few vintage pieces from the 1983 catalog that were still on display including athe Ed French "Geek" mask and the Bill Nelson "Millennium" mask. Enough about me though, on to the good stuff...

Mask Ad Monday: 1969 Woolworth's Ben Cooper Costumes Ad

 

Ghostface Mask Origin Stories

 I'm going to piggy back Tuesday's Alterian Ghost Factory spotlight post with a few articles written about the urban legends surrounding the Ghostface mask. 

An argument can be made that the Ghostface mask was born at the Alterian Ghost Factory, and not Funworld. Personally, I don't have a strong opinion either way, as both materials featuring Funworld's "Peanut-Eyed Ghost" and Alterian's "Wailing Ghost" both seem to start being distributed roughly around 1990-1991. Although I will say, have heard stories from several folks in the industry that insist that the Alterian version came first. Here are some of the early Alterian Ghost Factory ads and collateral materials that feature the Wailing Ghost...

Either way, there are several stories and fun urban myths that have surfaced as to the origin of the mask. Here are a few...

Fangoria Article on the FunWorld origin

Abandoned House origin

Huffpost Article on the Loren Gitthens origin

Conventional origin story

Studio Spotlight #1 - Alterian Ghost Factory

Hey Creeps! Welcome to the first installment of the Studio & Artist Spotlight, a weekly series that will feature work from smaller studios and independent artists. As I mentioned yesterday, this series will feature images collected from various online sources over the course of the past 20+ years. If I end up posting something that may have been taken or posted by YOU, please reach out and let me know. I'd love to add the proper image credits!

 These installments will be done in alphabetical order, which leads us to the first studio I have archives of, Alterian Ghost Factory. Established in the early 90's, Tony Gardner's Alterian Ghost Factory released a number of original designs, and licensed characters. Some of the licensed designs were available in economy and deluxe collector editions. Here are the images I have squirreled away over the years of Alterian Ghost Factory masks. Again, these come from collection photos, ads, and various forums, so the image quality and size vary quite a bit. Enjoy!...

 

 

Artist & Studios Images and Catalogs Found!

 Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween weekend. Personally, I had a productive weekend sculpting several new projects. I also ran into a large batch of data that I thought I had lost... a folder titled "Artists & Studios". Within this folder, are almost 5,000 images (4.31GB) that I had collected and organized over the years from a variety of sources that include photos, collection shots, and catalogs of independent mask makers, and smaller studios (basically any studio that wasn't Don Post, Distortions, Be Something/Zagone, and Death Studios). 

I plan to start a weekly, or bi-weekly post featuring each artist/studio and running through the folders in alphabetical order. This series will begin soon with Alterian Ghost Factory being the first!

Alterian Ghost Factory - Hemlock Mask

 

While I lack the time to do deep dives and comprehensive write-ups on these artists and studios,  I'd still love to share the image collections that I have saved through the years. They would serve the hobby much better being out there for folks to see, save, and potentially discuss, than they would sitting in folders waiting for me to do proper write-ups.

Also, a quick note: While I have always attempted to give credit for images sources throughout the years, I do not know where most of these images came from any longer. Most came from HMA, Monster Mayhem, and Latex Mask Central posts, as well as countless random searches preformed over the years. If I end up posting something that may have been taken or posted by YOU, please reach out and let me know. I'd love to add the proper image credits!

Happy Halloween!!!

 Is there anything more fitting for this day of days than vintage photographs os would-be trick or treaters? Me thinks not. Happy Halloween to all you creeps and ghouls!!!