Horrorshow #2 - Jordu Schell Feature

Horrorshow magazine was bar none my favorite publication from 2006-2008 featuring great articles on masks, garage kits, creature designers, and a whole lot more. I haven't seen a new issue hit the news stands in quite sometime now, hopefully we'll see more in the future.

Issue #2 was the first copy of Horrorshow that I had the pleasure of finding and it featured a huge 20+ page article on my favorite creature designer and mask maker, Jordu Schell! As if this wasn't enough, the issue winds down with a great article featuring a one-of-a-kind custom mask!

The One-of-a-Kind article written by Dan Dristiliaris features a killer custom finishing job from Aaron Lewis of Monster Mayhem. Aaron does amazing painting and finishing work and sculpts some of the best retro/ vintage style masks you can find anywhere! Check it...

Distortions Unlimited Mask Ads

Yesterday's post got me thinking a bit and I found myself combing through my old issues of Fangoria on the hunt for early 80's monster mask ads. My favorite ad came from the back cover of Fangoria #31 from December 1983.

This ad features my favorite early Distortions mask the Sycron alien! The design of this thing is perfect with the elongated skull and the cracked skin texture. One of Ed Edmund's true masterpieces! Another notable mask is the very rare Nightmare IV, the last in the 4 mask series. The Sixth Finger Mask (Outer Limits) is another highly sought after piece. Finally, the Zombie and the Rotted Corpse are also all-time Distortions greats (both were also re-issued as part of the Resurrection Series in late 1998). More can be found about the Resurrection Series on this post on the HMA blog.

Here's another old Distortions Unlimited ad I found from an early issue of Fangoria. Unfortunately, I have no idea what issue this appears in as I cut this out years ago and found it loose with some other ads. This ad features the classic Human Error on the left, and the Neutron Alien on the right. Again, both are also featured in the Resurrection Series. If you can get your claws on any of the 24 copies produced in-house at Distortions painted by Jordu Schell, they're worth the $170 price tag. You won't find them on the Distortions site, but if you give 'em a call or email they'll take care of you!

Amazing Cinema #4 - A Guide to Independent Mask Makers

Amazing Cinema Magazine was short lived fanzine from the early 80's that featured tons of who's-who and how-to articles. The September 1981 issues special feature was: A Guide to Independent Mask Makers. The article showcased some very early work of several important artists including Dave Ayres of Special Effects Studios, Ed Edmunds of Distortions Unlimited, Jeff Keim of Death Studios, & Joe Reader.

A ghoulish glimpse back at the beginning of an era the would literally change the face of the hobby and the industry!

Halloween Hootenanny

Last night I spent the night down in at ISU with a few chums for the Rob Zombie/ Alice Cooper Halloween Hootenanny. It was the first time that I've seen Alice Cooper live, and he didn't disappoint!

This was the first time I've seen Rob Zombie outside of White Zombie. There was a ton of energy in the crowd and a fine time was had by all (except Ralph-ski's truck)

The dude to the far left in the second pic is my boy Kev rocking on stage with Alice for "School's Out"

Each set featured some great theatrics and masks! Alice had his classic 7th Voyage Cyclops romp around on stage. While Rob shared the stage with a very impressive Phantom Creeps Robot!

Here's Wayne Toth with the massive Creeper costume. Check out more of Wayne's bad-ass work here

Don Post Calendar Masks

Greetings Creeps, the infamous Monster Calendar featuring the classic Don Post Deluxe Mask series is the focus of today's post. Designed and created by Jim Matthews, this novelty calendar was distributed at local novelty stores in the late 1960s. The calendar itself featured fantastic photos of by Bary Herron of the Universal Monsters Characters that Don Post Studios immortalized in latex.

While I was born 8 years after the release of this classic calendar, the photos of these masks remain ingrained in my memories from my childhood as they would turn up again and again in Famous Monsters magazines.

I scored an original calendar about 15 years ago at a convention. While the actual calendar at the bottom of each page had been cut off, the photos of the masks were all in wonderful shape! I have scanned all the pages at a high resolution and uploaded it for those of you guys and ghouls who'd like a copy.

Been DYING to get your hands on it? Well here you go creep. Be the first kid on your block to download the PDF Calendar ...so lifelike, you'll expect it to hiss!!!

Horror Sounds of the Night

Hey Creeps! We're taking a brief break from masks for the first post of October. Instead I'm sharing my first and favorite Halloween sound effects tape, Topstone's classic Horror Sounds of the Night. On the original tape, Side A & Side B were the same. Here Side A is broken into two tracks, while Side B can be heard in it's entirety. Look for more classic sound effects tapes leading up to Halloween.

Download Horror Sounds of the Night

Link updated: 1-18-13