25 Days and Counting...

Day 4 of the countdown to Maskfest features a few pics of Courtlandt Hull's display from the 2010 Maskfest. These amazing full size figures of the House of Wax, Dr. Phibes and Werewolf of London come straight from the Witch's Dungeon, which will be celebrating it's 45 year this fall!

26 Days Until Maskfest

Day 3 of the countdown to Maskfest features  a few pics of Jordu Schell's table from the 2009 Maskfest. The massive Genetic Mutation II and Phaedon were absolute show stoppers!

My most excellent wife surprised me by picking up the Two-Face that Jordu had at his table. Best birthday present ever! Here's a few pics of it up close:

Countdown to Maskfest Continues... 27 Days!

Day 2 of the countdown to Maskfest features a few pics of Stephen Collins' work, including his amazing possessed Dick Smith creation "Evil Dick"

One Month 'til Maskfest

With Maskfest one month away we'll be gearing up here at the Blood Curdling Blog of Monster Masks with a one-month countdown!

Starting today, and everyday until Maskfest begins on March 25th, I'll be posting a photo from the past two Maskfests.

Once again Maskfest will be held in conjunction with the Indianapolis Horror Hound convention, and like years past, it promises to be an amazing weekend! Here's a sneak peak of the mountains of mask goodness on the way over the next month...

Early 1980's Topstone Monster Mask Ad

This full-page color Topstone Ad was scanned from the inside cover of Fango #21. The ad features a few late Topstone originals, like the Prickle Puss mask, as well as some not-so-original designs.

During the eighties, Topstone was notorious for knocking off Be Something Studios designs. The Ghoulish, Stone Age Creature, and Silver Wolf are all blatant BSS knock offs, as is the Fang Face, which bears the same name as the BSS original.

Well, they say imitation is the best form of flattery, and it was during the early eighties that BSS was creating some of the best mass produced masks of the time.

Here are a few side by side comparisons.  There's no doubt the Be Something Studios masks are of much higher quality, but there's certainly an bit of old school Topstone charm to the knock-offs!

Halloween & Party Expo 2011 Photo Stream

Justin from Night Owl Productions and Art Director for Trick or Treat Studios was kind enough to document the 2011 Halloween and Party Expo and post a set of great monster mask photos on Flickr. Check out his photo stream here.

Headhunters Quaterly Vol. 2 Num.1

Continuing along with the goal of eventually scanning each of the HHQ issues to post and preserve for mask and monster enthusiasts, here is issue #5 (Vol.2 Num.1)

Issue 5 features an inside look at the Devil's Workshop. Some nice Harry Inman and David Lady new releases in the New Stuff, and a few pics of some very early Darkside Studios masks.

In addition to the images here, the entire issue is available for download in PDF format, just right click and save creeps!

Halloween 3 Masks and Nightmare III Ad

As a mask loving kid in the early 80s, there was nothing more exciting than a full color mask ad on the back of a Fangoria or Starlog! How little did we all know how valuable each of these masks featured on the back of Fangoria #21 would be today.  The Don Post Halloween 3 masks, based on the "Hagatha" and "Ghost Skull" masks, and the third original design "Jack-O-Lantern" always command a premium whenever they pop up on ebay.

It's been quite some time since I remember seeing a Distortions Nightmare III being made available in the auction circuit.  I believe the original intent was that the each copy in the Nightmare series would be limited to 250 copies, but I'm not sure if that many copies were actually released.

Horror Masks Ad - Psycho #24

This Little Horror Mood Shop of Horrors ad was sent over earlier this week from John at MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD. The ad was featured in the Psycho Magazine 1975 Winter Special. Not much seems to be known about these masks. David Lady posted excellent color photo of the F10 Wolfman mask on a thread I started at the HMA. It seems likely that these masks were created by R. Quinn Studios. 

Monster Hands ad from page 26

Monster Feet Ad from page 25

Monster Capes! w/ Topstone Witch Mask

Be a Don Post Gorilla! - Fangoria Ad

 This full page ad ran for a short time in Fangoria magazine in 1982 and gave readers the opportunity to literally own the Whole Magilla! Good stuff from Fango and Don Post Studios.

Monster Scenes Dr. Deadly Mask

Check out the Monster Scenes Blog for more info on the upcoming Dr. Deadly release from Trick or Treat Studios, sculpted by Justin Mabry.

Rick Baker - Monsters of the Movies #4

The 4th issue of Monsters of the Movies featured a write up about then up-and-coming make up artist Rick Baker. The article has some nice shots of Rick's Dracula and Frankenstein masks, as well as some fun stories about the making of Octoman and Schlock. There's a nice little Don Post story included too!

Standard Don Post mask ad from the early Monster of the Movies Magazines

Gore Store Ad - Horror Fan Magazine

A nice assortment of Be Something Studios monster masks can be found scattered throughout this ad. The Mr. Bone Apart, Man Wolf, and Goat to Hell are all time BSS classic masks!

The Boneapart mask was one of the first masks I really remember noticing when I was younger. It was between 4th and 5th grade that I was bitten by the mask bug and really started to take an interest in rubber monster masks. It must have been the Halloween season of 1984 that I rode my bike up to a small party supply and costume shop called Corkys, and there was Bone Apart in all it's glory. The bike ride became an everyday ritual that Halloween season, and for several more after that. I believe the cost was $35, which was far more than I could afford at that age. About three years, I grabbed a copy of a brand-spanking new Bone Apart in the original bag with tags for a whopping $10 on ebay.  Here he is...

Be Something Studios Boneapart Mask

Be Something Studios Bone Apart tag

Death Studios Evil Dead Mask

Aw, memories... I was digging through some envelopes of old photos a few days ago and I ran into some shots I took of this Death Studios Evil Dead mask. It was back in 1997, while dropping off a sculpture at Death Studios, that Jeff gave me this copy. I only had it for a few short years, as in 1999 I sold it along with the large majority of my mask collection. Fortunately, I took several shots before we parted ways. And even though it's only in photo form, it was nice to run into an old friend again!

Photo from the 4th issue of the All Hallows Eve Companion

Terror Daves Blog - Dr. Lady Article

While it was posted over a month ago, I just ran into this great article again on the Terror from Beyond the Dave's Blog featuring an interview with David Lady. Be sure to check out the article and interview, it features some great mask history and wonderful photos of Dr. Lady's impressive monster mask collection.

While you're there check out the rest of the blog. It features some great write ups, and some killer Svengoolie news and updates!