One Week to Maskfest 2012!!!

With Maskfest 2012 just one week away you could say we've entered the realm of the final countdown...

 As I'm sure it has been for all the mask makers in attendance, It's been a busy to build up to Maskfest here at the Phantom's crib. I should have everything for my booth finished up this weekend, and then I begin work on the Burman mask display that will be a part of the Universal Monster Army exhibit. The UMA always puts together a jaw dropping display. This year promises to be another stunner as Ray Castile's Topstones, Daniel Roebuck's Don Post Studios masks, and Bobby Beeman's masks and 1940s Frankenstein vs. Wolfman plaster mannequin heads will be on display. I promise to flood the blog with photos of these displays and all the other monster mask goodness from Maskfest next week!

1980 Savage Eye Catalog

Hey creeps, the Phantom wanted to sneak in one more catalog scan this month, but with Maskfest a mere 8 days away, there's no time for scanning anything on a large scale. This 1980 Savage Eye will do the job nicely. Looking at the Blog Labels there has never been a post here on the Blood Curdling Blog of Monster Masks dedicated to the Savage Eye mask company, so this is a first here...

 The San Diego based Savage Eye was founded in the mid to late 70's by Charles Curtis. Curtis is credited for the introduction of long necks and bibs on his masks.  In addition, deluxe Savage Eye masks often contained zippers along the back of the necks. This catalog features a nice blend of characters ranging from the classic Universal Monsters, to mythological creatures, and presidential figures...

Star Wars Mask Ad - Pre-Order Circa 1977

This ad for Star Wars Masks and other SW goodies could be found on the inside cover page of the February 1978 issue of Space Wars Magazine. The ad gave interested buyers the opportunity to pre-order the masks which were released in Dec. '77...

Monster Maker Series #7 : Paul Blaisdell - It The Terror From Beyond Space

The Monster Makers series is a monthly look at the men that made the monsters. Many FX and make-up men started as garage mask and monsters makers. Some graduated to making rubber monster masks or monster suits for Hollywood films. Still others went on to produce revolutionary effects...

This month's edition of the Monster Makers series features an article written by Paul Blaisdell for issue #5 of Fantastic Monsters of the Films. In the article Paul describes the general process used to create the head of the alien monster. Although I seem to be missing a critical page from the article, the photos are still worth posting...

Here's a link to a previous Monster Makers post featuring an article from Fantastic Monsters Magazine written by Mr. Blaisdell.

1983 Distortions Unlimited Catalog

Hey creeps, here's another spine-chilling catalog scan from the Yellow Phantom... the 1983 Distortions Unlimited catalog. This might have been the high point for Distortions in terms of still producing high quality collector pieces before making the transition to full-blown mass production. Certainly, by '83, Distortions was producing masks at a higher volume than in years past, and the look of the catalog really reflected this. No longer did the catalog feel like that of an independent artist, or small volume manufacturer. In addition, the 1983 catalog would feature six and a half pages devoted to licensed characters...

Random Sunday Morning Mask Pic: Halloween Procession

Monkey Business

Everyone loves a guy in a good gorilla suit. Of course, every good gorilla suit comes with a good gorilla mask. The Hollywood Gorilla Men blog is devoted to just such the thing. Check 'em out!

Image Source: Hollywood Gorilla Men

June 1964 Genii Magazine - Don Post Studios Ad

This full page early Don Post Studios ad appeared in the June 1964 issue of Genii The Conjurors' Magazine and featured the Don Post Studios Monsters which included Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, The Mummy, Phantom of the Opera, Mr. Hyde and The Wolfman...

1980 Don Post Studios Catalog

Hey creeps, fresh from the scan bed here's the complete Don Post Studios 1980 catalog! The '80 catalog is certainly an odd ball compared to it's late 70's predecessors. While some of the illustrations overshadow the smaller mask photos throughout the catalog, the pages certainly have their charm. I'm a big fan of the cover shot of Don Post Jr and friends posing for the camera...

Woolworth's Halloween Videos

It's that time of year when back-to-school merchandise starts to make way on store shelves for the new Halloween goods. These old Woolworth's Halloween commercials feature shopping isles and shelves full of vacuform masks lined up for the taking. The Sounds to Make you Shiver LP is a nice touch too...

Anatomy of the H2 Mask

There is an incredibly informative post on the Trick or Treat Studios blog pertaining to the anatomy of the ToT H2 mask. While I knew that Justin Mabry (the sculptor) put some serious time and research into creating the most screen accurate reproduction available,  I had no idea just how far until reading this post...

Headhunters Quarterly vol.3 num. 3

Continuing along with the goal of eventually scanning each of the HHQ issues to preserve for mask and monster enthusiasts, here is issue #11 (Vol.3 Num.3). As always, a .PDF of the issue can be downloaded, just right click here and save!

There was a considerable delay between the release of issue #10 and 11, but it was well worth the wait as issue #11 of Head Hunters Quarterly would feature a robust 20 pages of monster mask goodness...

The Cool New Stuff department featured several sneak peaks of independent mask makers 2001 line-ups including Harry Inman's Dark Studios, Death Studios, Darkside Studios, and Head Hunter Studios...

Page 6 featured an article highlighting mask collecting on the mysterious new information highway called the Internet. Back in 1999 & 2000, mask collectors were beginning to find each other on sites like The HMA ....

Pages 7-9 was home to a detailed article which told the tale of how the Don Post Studios Calendar Frank was restored and remade...

13 Questions with Distortions' founder Ed Edmunds was up next...

And finally, Part 3 of the Return of the Classic Don Post Universal Monster Masks would conclude the series that detailed the re-release of theses treasured masks...

Random Sunday Morning Mask Pic: Skeleton & Mini Drac

Image Source: CheshireCat666

Scare-Em Cut Out Masks

While very little space here has been devoted here to cut-out masks, I must confess, I LOVE the designs and the verbiage of these vintage cut-out Scare-Em Masks that were originally released in 1946... Sensational! Fascinating!! Expose to electric light!!! How can you go wrong with that?

Scare-Em Cut Out Devil Mask

Scare-Em Cut Out Pirate Mask

Scare-Em Cut Out Skull Mask

Scare-Em Cut Out Vampire Mask

Image Source: Magic Carpet Burn