The Flying Sorceress (1956)

One of my favorite Tom & Jerry cartoons also happens to be perfect for Halloween... "The Flying Sorceress" (1956). Tom answers a classified ad for an old woman seeking a cat. Of course the old woman turns out to be a witch. Check out some of these gorgeous screen caps:

Tom tires of constant chores in this suburban palace.

The old lady's home stands in a perpetual thunderstorm!

Tom's new bed. Yikes.

Tom steals the witch's broom...

But the fun doesn't last for long...

Of course the whole incident was just a dream.

Or was it?

For years the only way to see this classic was in a butchered pan and scan format, the way it was broadcast on television. But now you can enjoy it in all its Cinemascope widescreen glory on DVD. Buy it here.

Monster Tales: Vampires, Werewolves & Things

Fans of "Baleful Beasts and Eerie Creatures" would do well to seek out another early 1970's children's horror anthology, "Monster Tales: Vampires, Werewolves, and Things" (1973, edited by Roger Elwood, illustrated by Franz Altschuler).


The two books are so similar in design, binding and size they could almost be mistaken for belonging in series. "Monster Tales" sets the tone with a short introduction by genre author Robert Bloch (probably best known for penning the novel "Psycho", but with a huge resume in books, television and film). We then get six stories by six different authors, all illustrated in wonderful black and white.



The complete contents are:

INTRODUCTION by Robert Bloch
WENDIGO'S CHILD by Thomas F. Monteleone
TORCHBEARER by Arthur Tofte
THE CALL OF THE GRAVE by Brian Ball
WEREWOLF BOY by Nic Andersson
PRECIOUS BODILY FLUIDS by Mario Martin, Jr.
and
THE VRKOLAK by Brian T. LoMedico

Like "Baleful...", the first story of "Monster Tales" is also the stand-out: "Wendigo's Child" by Thomas F. Montelone.


Set in Corona, Arizona, we follow young Marty Alvarez as he sets out to explore an Indian burial ground recently uncovered just a short bike ride's distance from home. Hoping to discover arrowheads or other artifacts, Marty instead finds buried a small mummy that appears to be part human, part bird.

His stomach churned as he uncovered the thing, and he pulled his trembling hand away--he had almost touched it. It looked vaguely like a little baby, with its curled-up legs and thin, sticklike arms. It was about two feet long and covered with dark brown skin that looked like cracked, dry leather. The head was like a human skull, but instead of teeth, it bore a sharp, curved beak like a big
bird... The eye sockets were empty--big and dark and round, but the face seemed
to be almost grinning.

Convinced he's made an important archeological find, he wraps the thing in his shirt and takes it home in the basket of his bike. Along the way, Marty stops by an Indian friend, Charlie Longhand, in hopes of learning more about his find.

After asking Charlie a vague question about Indian mummies, we learn of an old Indian legend of the "Wendigo", a fearful god that was part man, part reptile and part bird. It was said that when a child died, its buried body would sometimes transform into a child of Wendigo to protect the graves from harm.

Once home, Marty stashes the mummy in his cellar overnight. But the creature's presence has disturbed his dog, Digger, who is now howling endlessly in the backyard. Hoping to assure Digger there is nothing to be afraid of, Marty leads the dog into the dark cellar, armed only with a flashlight. But the Wendigo is missing! Or is it?

He heard a sound. And then another. Several loud, snapping, cracking sounds cut through the darkness and burned his eardrums. They were followed by an oozing, soft, gurgling, slurping noise.

Marty and Digger never do get out of that cellar, by the way. Scary stuff.

Below are the illustrations from the other stories. I'll detail these stories in a later post.

The Torchbearer:


Call of the Grave:




Werewolf Boy:




Precious Bodily Fluids:


The Vrkolak:

Target Halloween Gift Card

Target stores have just put out a Halloween gift card, themed to the Japanese "Domo" monster, on which they've based their campaign this year.

The card itself is the "Domo".

Unfolding the cardboard holder reveals 4 sheets of static-cling reusable stickers to dress your Domo.


Mummy...
Frankenstein...
Vampire...

Ghost...
Here's the inside without the stickers sheets.


And the rear.


Did I Steal This Gift Card?

The small print on Target gift cards states that they have no value until purchased, require no fee, have no expiration date, and can be kept and reloaded at any time. To someone like me who shops regularly at Target, that translates to "Go ahead and pocket one once in awhile if you like." I suppose I could go through the motion of having the cashier put a couple bucks on it, spend it right away on a pretzel and a Red Bull, then keep the card, but that would just waste every one's time and wouldn't net Target one extra penny.

I have quite a little collection of Target gift cards, but aside from this Halloween Domo one, the only other card in my collection that is even remotely appropriate to showcase on this fright-themed blog is this one...


That's right---see what the world would look like if you were transformed into a fly! Sorry for the blurry scan... the bejeweled eyes of this "fly-vision" card keep it from resting flat on the scanner. Curious how things look in "fly-vision"? Something like this...

Domo Nation website found here.
Or shop for Target gift cards here.
Or purchase The Fly on DVD here.

13 Ghosts (1960) and Illusion-O!

William Castle's "13 Ghosts" (1960) is perhaps the perfect Halloween film for kids.

A family inherits a spooky old house from mysterious Uncle Zorba, who was known to dabble in the dark arts. It doesn't take long for the family to realize the house is haunted by no less than 13 ghosts. Each ghost is represented as a logo-style graphic during the opening credits, almost as if they were collectible cards.

The screaming woman; the clutching hands; the floating head; flaming skeleton; and Emilio with cleaver in hand.

Emilio's unfaithful wife; her lover; hanging woman; executioner and decapitated head.

The lion; lion-tamer without head; Dr. Zorba; and the mysterious 13th ghost..could it be YOU?


Castle was of course notorious not so much for the quality of his films as for the gimmicks and hype he used to fill the seats. For "13 Ghosts", the gimmick was "Illusion-O".



Illusion-O was sort of a close cousin to regular red/blue 3-D. The film is presented in standard black and white, until a ghost enters the scene, and an on-screen caption informs the audience to use their "Ghost Viewers".

As you can see, the Ghost Viewers are merely standard red/blue 3-D glasses but stacked vertically. The idea is, looking through the red lens caused the ghosts to stand out in contrast, making them visible, while looking through the blue lens helped obscure them in the blue background. In the context of the film, Dr. Zorba had invented some mechanical glasses that allowed the characters to see the ghosts, so when they put on their goggles, you can put on yours!


Let's try it, shall we? Here's the scene as it appears without the glasses. There are several ghosts here, barely visible.


Now let's be daring and look through the red lens...the ghosts are more clearly seen (or is that just my imagination?)


Looking through the blue "chicken" lens obscures the ghosts...but they are still kind of visible.


Let's see what other ghosts we can find:









As is evidenced by these screen caps, the ghosts are pretty much visible even without the glasses, and looking through the red or blue lens has little effect. The whole Illusion-O gimmick seems to be a bit of classic Castle ballyhoo.

The viewers pictured above came in my DVD of the film, which I bought many years ago. There was even a coupon enclosed to order additional glasses for friends and family, but that offer expired in 2002. Apparently later pressings of the DVD don't include the ghost viewer insert. But don't let that stop you from enjoying the film. Like I said, the whole ghost-viewing aspect is more sizzle than steak. And you can always flip the DVD over and watch the film presented in standard black and white throughout.

Words Every 6-Year-Old Should Know...

aura
force emanating from somebody or something: a force that is said to surround all people and objects, discernible, often as a bright glow, only to people of unusual psychic sensitivity

cadaverous
of corpses: suggesting death or corpses ( formal or literary )

decapitated
behead somebody or something: to cut off the head of somebody or something

etherealize
make ethereal: to make something very delicate or highly refined

manifestation
materialization of spirit: a supposed appearance in visible form by a spiritual being

pallor
paleness: an unhealthy-looking paleness of complexion

plaintive
sad-sounding: expressing sadness or sounding sad

requiem
commemorative music: a piece of music written to commemorate somebody who has died

supplication
appeal made to somebody in authority: a humble and sincere appeal to somebody who has the power to grant a request

Do these words seem a little advanced for a six-year-old? And yet I knew them (well, most of them), thanks to Xavier Atencio. He's the Disney animator-turned-Imagineer who wrote the script for the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland, as well as the long-playing record that dramatizes it.

When I was six, my Dad surprised me one day with the album, titled "The Story and Song From The Haunted Mansion." It became my favorite possession, and despite literally hundreds of plays, survived into adulthood without a scratch.

Rather than write down to his intended audience of children, Atencio wrote some of the most elegant prose ever associated with a theme-park ride. If that meant a young listener had to check the dictionary, or ask their parents what a word meant, so be it. Check out this excerpt from the gallery scene:

Even in this flickering gloom, your cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of foreboding. Your trusting mortal eyes tell you that these walls are stretching. But logic says, "No, 'tis mere hallucination."

Or this scene just after the seance, when the ghosts, previously only suggested by sounds and moving objects, finally become visible:

Come now. We must leave this cozy little circle, for the spirits have received your sympathetic vibrations and are beginning to materialize.

"The Story and Song From The Haunted Mansion" has been very well documented at one of the greatest websites of all time, found here.

Word definitions courtesy of MSN Encarta.

UPDATE: This album finally saw an official release to CD in August, 2009.