Season's Creepings

 

Season's Greetings from the Season of the Witch

 

Merry Shockmas

 

Image Source: Mike Guidone

Season's Creepings

 Hey Creeps! The next two weeks will be super hectic over here while I push hard to get two large runs of masks finished up before the holidays. During this time posting will be limited to short bursts of holiday hootenanny featuring festive freaks...

Shock Monster Santa

 

Image Source: Aaron Lewis

Krampusnacht 2021

 Tonight is Krampusnacht! All you bad little boys and girls better beware for the Krampus lurks tonight. 

Sears Halloween Shop Button

 That's a wrap on the Masks of the Sears Halloween Shop series. I do have a few Sears Halloween Shop catalogs that were gifted to me at a Maskfest several years ago by another collector who wished to see them appear here. Alas, they are still packed away from my last move and are waiting to be unearthed and scanned.

 I am always on the look out for hard copies to scan, and hope to obtain some in the future. It's rare that I'll devote this much space over a week to low quality found images, but I do think it was a fun nostalgic look back at a 1980's Halloween tradition...

1979 SEARS Halloween Shop Catalog (Masks of the)

 The final two entries into the Masks of the Sears Halloween Shop Catalogs are limited in nature. The 1979 catalog pictured here is low-resolution and almost impossible to see the selection of illustrated masks in the line-up. The 1987 catalog pictured below is of decent resolution, but is missing one of the two pages of masks. I thought they still had a place here despite the limitations.

1987 SEARS Halloween Shop Catalog (Masks of the)

1980 SEARS Halloween Shop Catalog (Masks of the)

 

1982 SEARS Halloween Shop Catalog (Masks of the)

 The mask line-up in the 1982 Sears Halloween Shop catalog mainly consisted of nine classic Be Something Studios characters, six Don Post Studios masks,  with two Cesar masks to round it out. I'm a big fan of the design of this catalog as well as the classic Halloween characters represented in the choice of masks...

1983 Sears Halloween Shop Catalog (Masks of the)

 Don Post Studios "Return of the Jedi" masks dominated the Sears Halloween Shop lineup in 1983. Four Be Something Studios masks made the cut as well...

1984 Sears Halloween Store Catalog (Masks of the)

1986 Sears Halloween Shop Catalog (Masks of the)

 Like all the mini half-page Sears Halloween Shop catalogs from the 80's,  the 1986 catalog featured a modest selection of masks. Don Post Studios and Be Something Studios masks were a staple of Sears' selections each year. Although, the 1986 catalog line-up featured only two masks from each studio: Gastro and Frankenstein from Don Post, and Horned Beast and Fang Face from Be Something. Two Illusive Concepts masks cracked the line-up with the mid-80's classic Horned Demon, and the ultra-creepy Hooded Nightmare.  The Demon Skull w/ lighted eyes looks to be a Mr. Mask creation, although I can't say for certain. The Heavy Metal mask is also a classic pop culture piece from the mid 80's based on the popular Quiet Riot album "Metal Health"...

1985 Sears Halloween Shop Catalog (Masks of the)

Here is one page of what was likely a two-page spread of masks from the 1985 Sears Halloween Shop Catalog. Because of this, there is an absence of Don Post Studios masks present in these images. There is, however, a trio of Be Something Studios masks and what appears to be a Mr. Mask and Illusive Concepts mask in the line-up. If anyone has a lead on the missing page, I'd love to hear from you!

SEARS Halloween Shop Catalog Week Coming Nov. 22nd

Monday November 22nd will begin a stretch of seven days where we'll begin posting some various Sears Halloween Shop catalogs from the 1979 thru 1987. The Halloween Shop catalogs were usually half page sized and were costume heavy publications printed on cheap newsprint. But, they always featured a selection of Don Post Studio and Be Something Studios masks. Other manufacturers would make appearances from time to time as well. 

Most of the images that I will be sharing will be lo-res, but they are worth posting as they all full of 1980's Halloween goodness! So stay tuned for the SEARS Halloween Shop Week! In the meantime, here is a coming soon ad from Sears published back on October 30th, 1971...

1982 Morris Costume Ad - Don Post Studios E.T. Mask

 

1990-91 Cabaret Catalog

I have very little information to offer on this 1990-91 Cabaret catalog. I own a copy of the catalog and made these scans almost 10 years ago now. But, I have no idea where the catalog came from. It most likely was part of a group of catalogs that I purchased or acquired through the years. No matter, I figure it's about time to at least post the pages that were Halloween costume themed. 

Of interest to collectors will be the masks from West Germany. Particularly the Clown mask, which I believe to be the one made famous by the band Slipknot...

Rock Bottom Novelties "Super Mask" Ad

 This 3/4 page Rock Bottom Novelties ad (designed by yours truly) is fresh off the press and appears in issue #1 of SKIN CRAWL comic from SKINNER. 

1947 Don Post Masks

 I ran into these images earlier today and was absolutely floored! It's amazing that these masks have survived for almost three-quarters of a century. I found them on the Colbster91 Photo Gallery. Until now, I have only seen black and white photos of these masks in the 1948 Don Post Catalog. These are some seriously amazing pieces of mask history!