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Tag Archives: Hammer Horror
Horror Host Icon: Sammy Terry
The state of Indiana was blessed with a true icon in the world of Horror Hosting that spawned a legacy that is still felt to this day, and almost every Host that has followed in this icon's footsteps credit him for inspiring them to become one. And for those of you who have not pieced this together yet, I am talking about Sammy Terry of Nightmare Theatre who is one of my all time favorite Horror Hosts! I can only imagine growing up in Indiana, rushing to the TV set at 11:00pm and turning to Channel 4 to watch Sammy deliver the chills of his segments as well as the frights of the night's movie. It must have been something very magical and spooky for those lucky viewers who got to experience it. And let's be honest, Sammy Terry is the perfect topic for this Halloween update and is a very long overdue Horror Host Icon update. So if you are ready, let's take a spooky ride with the one and only Sammy Terry. And keep in mind this update is about Bob Carter, the original Sammy Terry; in a future update Mark Carter's Sammy Terry will get covered, as he as well is fantastic and is keeping his Dad's character alive for fans.
Sammy Terry is a ghoul who sleeps in a coffin and hosts films from his dungeon. He has green and greyish skin, wears a hooded cloak, a skull necklace as well as yellow gloves and has a creepy spooky voice and an iconic laugh that sent shivers down the spine of viewers for decades. Sammy Terry was way different from many other Horror Hosts as he would not be a jokey, silly kind of host. He would treat the night's films with respect (well most the time) and would also mostly gleefully tell you about the horrors, thrills and chills that awaited you. Sammy Terry also evolved over the years and went from a cigarette smoking creepier flamboyant ghoul to the ghoul we all know and love. Sammy Terry was well loved by his fans, and he would be a massive attraction at his public appearances as both young and old fans would come to see him. In the state of Indiana he was one of the most recognized and iconic TV personalities of all time and remains the state's top and most respected Horror Host who has inspired many creative minds over the decades. Sammy Terry is a ghoul with charm and a sinister touch that truly is one of the best in the business. Sammy Terry is a Ghoul whose legacy will always live on in the Horror Host community.
Bob Carter was born on December 4th, 1929 in Decatur, Illinois to Russell and Phyllis Carter, and all through his life he was true to the state of Indiana as he was a graduate of Millikin University where he studied Radio Communications and got a major in the field. Bob would get his master's degree in New York from Syracuse University and would return to Indiana when he started working as a radio DJ in Fort Wayne and even filled in once for Dick Clark as the host of American Bandstand in 1959. Bob would then move to Indianapolis in 1961 and started working for WTTV Channel 4 as a jack of all trades as he would produce, direct and would host a talk show called "Coffee With Carter" that would be a three hours long. In 1962, he would become the host of Shock Theater (later changed to Nightmare Theater) and would become the one and only Sammy Terry! Bob would play the character for decades and would become one of Indiana's most iconic TV personalities and would also become one of the biggest Horror Host Icons of all time. Bob would marry Phyllis Ann Eaton Carter and they would have four kids together. Besides being a celebrity, Bob was also well loved by the community and received honors for all his achievements in helping others. Bob was also very much into music and was the owner of "Family Music Center" and would use this love to also help start music programs for schools. Bob would be "Sammy Terry" up until around 2010 when his son Mark took over. Sadly Bob Carter passed away on June 30, 2013 at the age of 83 and the world lost not only a great person but also one of the best Horror Hosts of all time.
The show started in 1962 as Shock Theatre and was only hosted by the voice of Sammy Terry over a graphic. this chilled the blood of viewers who wanted to know who the ghoul was behind that creepy voice and would write letters to the station asking to see this ghoul! And with that Channel 4 decided to give the viewers what they wanted, the ghoul Sammy Terry was introduced to them, and a true icon of Horror Hosting was born. The show would have a name change to Nightmare Theater during the early days of its run and would have Sammy mostly hosting a double feature of Horror and Sci-Fi films and would be a staple for viewers from the early 60's all the way to the early 80's and was one of the area's most watched local shows. In the late 80's, the show would air very sporadically as specials, and this change annoyed viewers who wanted their Sammy Terry fix every week. And like every classic Horror Host show, the original version of Nightmare Theater would end…but a new era would begin around 2010/2011 when Sammy Terry (II) would comeback with Halloween Specials and an online version of the show. The original run of Nightmare Theater is still looked back on very fondly by fans and the show still remains popular on Horror Host Trade Lists and on sites like YouTube.
On Nightmare Theater Sammy Terry has had a great share of co-hosts with the first being Ghoulsby, an undead zombie who does not talk but helps around Sammy's dungeon and gets into all types of trouble. He shuffles around and is well loved by fans and is still on the show from time to time to this day! But while Ghoulsby is super popular, on a whole other level is George, the spider who is Sammy's best friend who comes down from the ceiling and to talk to Sammy, and while fans could not understand what George was saying with his high squeak voice, Sammy did and would respond and even alert the viewers to what he was saying. In the history of Nightmare Theater, both George and Ghoulsby have made the show even more special and these are just two of many that have showed up on the show with many guests also making appearances and adding to the show's legacy. And I would say this: if co-hosts ever get a branch in the Horror Host Hall Of Fame, both George and Ghoulsby would 100% be inducted, and I want to thank them both for being awesome cast members on Nightmare Theater. And I have to also just say this name, and fans of the show will know it: Cowboy Bob.
Sammy Terry is one of my all time favorite Horror Hosts as I find him to be a true master of the art who brought a friendly sinister touch to the art of hosting and had a way of capturing your attention with every word he spoke. While he sometimes poked fun at the films being shown, he did it more cleverly than most. For me, his laugh is pure iconic and is one of the most imitated laugh among my friends who enjoy Horror Hosting only rivaled by the likes of Dr. Creep and Sir Grave Ghastly. And when I started collecting and trying to archive Horror Host shows, one that was early on my list to try and get as many of them as I could was Sammy Terry. The thing about Sammy Terry is that he is just something very special in the world of Horror Hosting. He has gone beyond Indiana in having a loyal fan base, and he has inspired so many creative minds not only in the world of Horror Hosting but also just in the Horror genre all together. I also feel that Sammy Terry captures the magic of the Halloween season and is a great example of what a classic Horror Host is and what the modern host should aim to be as iconic as. I know many of my friends grew up watching Sammy, and they all will tell you the same thing that he is one of the best to ever grace TV screens. If you have not seen classic Sammy Terry, make sure to look him up on YouTube or track down some of his episodes on trade lists and see just how awesome he was.
On March 26, 2011 the first class was inducted into The Horror Host Hall Of Fame at Horrorhound Weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana and among such iconic names as Vampira, Zacherley, Morgus The Magnificent, Ghoulardi and Dr. Creep, the one and only Sammy Terry took his place among the immortals. Captain Crypt and Fenriz Fatal of the Horror Dungeon inducted Sammy Terry into the Hall of Fame, and they did a great job as his son Mark who plays the character Sammy Terry now accepted the plaque. The crowd in attendance loved seeing their hometown host get this honor and their claps and cheers proved that Sammy Terry is 100% an icon in the world of Horror Hosting and entertainment. It was amazing being there for this introduction and because of this, I got to meet Sammy Terry (Mark) for the first time, and I have to say he is a class act and such a nice and great guy. Sammy Terry is at the top of the names in my book who should have been inducted into the first class of The Hall Of Fame.
Like all true icons of Horror Hosting, Sammy Terry has had his fair share of very cool merchandise over the years with many of it being created in the last 10 years or so. Sammy's ghoulish face has graced products like Trick or Treat Halloween bags, t-shirts, magazines, newspaper articles, trading cards, buttons, cocktail sauce, hats, posters, comic books, statues, action figures, hoodies, home media and so much more! Sammy Terry is a Horror Host who has always done the right thing when it comes to his fans and still delivers some amazing items for them to collect. I for one have a hat, home media, comics, shirts, posters, buttons, trading cards and even a statue…as you can tell I am a big fan of his. So if you are a fan like myself and want to collect some Sammy merchandise, there is lots of amazing stuff released for you to get.
The Dungeon was a very cool vintage toy store in Indiana that was located in the Washington Square Mall that also was a place that you could buy Sammy Terry merchandise and had its own little Sammy Terry museum! And the really cool thing about the shop is that behind the walls hides the current set for Sammy Terry (Mark Carter)! Upon learning about this store, I knew I had to visit it so along with Juliet and my friend Scott Scarborough on July 28, 2019 we made the trip to visit The Dungeon! When entering the mall we noticed that it was suffering the fate of so many indoor malls as at the start was so many empty shops or ones filled with churches or flea market booth type stores, but as we found the aisle were The Dungeon was we knew this was clearly the coolest part of the mall as beside them was a movie store and the other side housed a comic book shop. Once inside the shop, I made a beeline to the back of the store, as I had to see the Sammy Terry museum and merchandise and right off the bat I noticed a very cool statue of Sammy next to a replica of the coffin, and the owner of the shop was so nice he allowed Scott and I to get our picture with the statue, We looed around at all the props, art and plaques in the room. I got some great Sammy Terry items including DVD's, Button, Trading Cards and even bought a Ghoulsby long sleeve t-shirt! And then something very cool happened as the owner allowed Scott and I to see the set and see the original coffin as well as so many more amazing pieces of Horror Host history! Being able to see and touch the coffin was very magical and hard to explain just how amazing it really was. Once back out I checked out all the action figures and the Mad and Cracked Magazines he had in stock and ended up also buying a couple of issues of Cracked Magazine as well as a killer monkey figure from the movie Congo. This was a great time and was one of the coolest Indie Toy Stores I have ever seen inside a mall, and it also gets major props for having the Sammy Terry museum as well as all the cool merchandise. Also it was a great time seeing the set and all the history that was there. Check out some of the pictures below to see the store from that day. Since our visit the Dungeon has move from the indoor mall to a new location in an indoor shopping center. I have yet to visit their new location, but hope to soon!
One thing that I felt I had to do as a massive fan of Sammy Terry was visit his final resting place and pay my respects to his legacy. So on December 29, 2019 Juliet and I decided to make the over 2hr drive to Greenwood, Indiana to Forest Lawn Memory Gardens to do so, and crazy enough the day we picked had rain storms and high wind making it feel like that day was the right day to visit. When we first got to the cemetery we noticed that all the doors to the mausoleums were locked and after driving to every building in the cemetery it looked like we might not have gotten to pay our respects as we were not able to get in! But after calling the main office of the cemetery they were nice enough to give me the pass code, and Juliet and I made our way into the mausoleum and we were the only two people in the massive tomb. After looking around trying to find him, we finally did and as we approached his marker a very loud boom echoed out and made us both jump as the wind outside knocked over a metal rack that held flowers. I feel this was Sammy giving us a good scare! Juliet and I stood around and talked about Sammy's legacy and even shared what our favorite moments of his show was before we left I made sure to thank him for all his years of being not only a great person but also all the years of entertainment he left us all to enjoy. As we were leaving Horror Host Slash Cooper and his bride Foxi Roxi of Graveyard Tales were pulling in to also pay their respects. On the car ride home, my mind was filled with all the great moments from Nightmare Theatre and all of Sammy's classic lines ran on a loop. So I want to say a big THANK YOU to Bob Carter aka Sammy Terry for being one of the world's best Horror Hosts and for influencing a whole new generation of Hosts. Rest In Peace Sammy Terry, you truly are missed.
Nightmare Theater and Sammy Terry are still very popular that to this day are looked back upon with very fond memories and are ingrained to the history of Indiana. And you have to give his son Mark so much credit as he is doing an amazing job of keeping Sammy Terry and his father's legacy alive. It's now at the point in this review that we take a look at the DVD copies of classic Sammy Terry shows that I own, and I would like to thank so many people for making this update possible from Stumpy Disks, B-Videos 101, Toby Long and so many other friends and tape traders. I would also like to remind you all that I will not be giving these episodes star ratings and will take the film's write up from our friends at IMDB and I myself will write about the host skits. So with that, let's head into the Dungeon and see what Sammy Terry and his friends have in store for us.
Nightmare Theater: Batman Returns
Starring – Michael Keaton & Michelle Pfeiffer PG-13 1992
Host: Sammy Terry starts off coming out of his coffin and greeting the viewers with his classic laugh and then talks about the villains of the movie and how they have bad plots in mind to bring down Gotham and only Batman can stop them. We next see Sammy as he pulls a string and blood comes from the ceiling of the Dungeon and into his cup as he is making his take on a Christmas cocktail. He then talks about how Catwoman fell out of her bosses window and that that drop was larger then falling out of his. We next join him as Sammy talks about Penguin and makes a joke about sushi. And next Sammy talks about lovers, tombstones and the nights movie and even says Batman Returns is Blood Chilling. Sammy and George then talk about the Sammy Terry Fan Club and what you get with membership as well as how to sign up. Next Sammy Terry talks about the umbrellas that Penguin uses and then makes a joke about George having to use one. We then hear Sammy talk about the sewers of Gotham City and the minions of Penguins that include clowns and real life penguins.
Movie: While Batman deals with a deformed man calling himself the Penguin wreaking havoc across Gotham with the help of a cruel businessman, a female employee of the latter becomes the Catwoman with her own vendetta.
Note From Matt: This episode is sadly cuts off not only the end of the film but also Sammy Terry's closing as well as I would guess one more of his segments.
Nightmare Theater: Black Sunday
Starring – Barbara Steele & John Richardson Not Rated 1960
Host: Sammy Terry comes out of his coffin filling the air with his iconic laugh and alerts the viewers that tonight's his night to howl as he says this wolves outside start howling. He then says that even Vampires and Witches like to celebrate the holidays and mostly at night as they can do their deeds, and says that the viewers need to lock the doors and windows as its Black Sunday. Sammy and George take us into commercials a few times before we next join Sammy who tells us that Black Sunday's start off with things bad and throughout it things get worse and then he and George talk about bratwurst as well as bad neighbors and how to write to Sammy. Next Sammy is sitting in his rocking chair with a spooky cocktail and talks about vampires before sending us back to some commercials and then the movie. At the end Sammy asks you if you would rather be a with options of being vampire or witch, he sets up next weeks movies and gets back into his coffin and as it closes he once more lets out his iconic laugh.
Movie: A vengeful witch and her fiendish servant return from the grave and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of the witch's beautiful look-alike descendant, with only the girl's brother and a handsome doctor standing in her way.
Nightmare Theater: Brides Of Dracula
Starring – Peter Cushing & David Peel Unrated 1960
Host: Sammy comes from his coffin and welcomes us to the show and says we are going to have a bloody good time with glee, he then talks about the nights film like he is telling you a creepy story about Dracula and dorms of beautiful women, and then ushers us into the film. We next see Sammy and even George as they usher us in and out of the film for commercial breaks. Sammy Terry and George then talk about love, Dracula, blood, spring and how to send away for a Sammy Terry order from for shirts and posters. Sammy then talks about being at a Parade and he hopes to see the viewers there. Later Sammy Terry makes a blood cocktail and talks some more about Dracula and his way of getting blood, and he even ends up sharing some of his drink with George. We then join Sammy as he tells us this is the time of the year that vampires love as this is when people's blood is warmer and more people are out of their homes more often and the shadows are lasting longer and this is also the start of the baseball season. Sammy Terry ends the show by telling us to join him next week for a Gamera film and then goes back into his coffin as he wishes us "Unpleasant Nightmares".
Movie: A young teacher on her way to a position in Transylvania helps a young man escape the shackles his mother has put on him. In so doing she innocently unleashes the horrors of the undead once again on the populace, including those at her school for ladies. Luckily for some, Dr Van Helsing is already on his way.
Nightmare Theater: Corridors Of Blood
Starring – Boris Karloff & Christopher Lee Not Rated 1958
Host: We start with Sammy coming around the corner and talking about Proms as well as what films will be shown next week, he even hints a trip to the zoo to look at the animals. He then chats about the next film that will be airing tonight and talks of the horrors of hospitals. We next see Sammy Terry and he is hanging up with George and they are talking about a race track being opened in Indiana for the season and that Sammy has a race track special coming soon and George can not be apart of the pit crew because he is going to the track in order to watch the fans as he finds them funny. Sammy then makes word connection on the word blood and its sinister and he laughs before we see commercials. In the end Sammy talks about the ending of the film and then reminds the viewers about next weeks double feature before heading back into his coffin to end the show.
Movie: In an effort to relieve the suffering of surgery patients, Dr. Thomas Bolton painstakingly develops an opium-based anesthetic, to which he gradually becomes addicted. In order to provide a continual supply of chemicals to continue his experiments and support his addiction, he falls in with a den of murderers who use his signature to sell cadavers to the local hospital.
Note From Matt: This is clearly the second film of the night as the opening credits and such are missing and we jump into the show already in progress.
Nightmare Theater: Crimson Cult
Starring – Boris Karloff & Christopher Lee Rated R 1968
Host: Sammy Terry comes out of his coffin and starts talking about witches curses when a strange looking witch enters and shuts his coffin for him, as Sammy keeps on talking about the effects of a curse. He also talks about the fate of witches being burned at the stake and then ushers us into the Crimson Cult and during the start and end of his segment a blonde woman ghost appears. We are also treated to Sammy Terry telling and showing us what Horror Movies are now on VHS and able to rent at Indy Video. Sammy and George usher us in and out of the movie and commercials a few times before Sammy and George start talking about Halloween that is only seven days away! Sammy then gives a list of all of the public appearances he will be making during this time and its a lot, and he ends it with saying he will have posters and shirts for sale as the ghostly blonde woman once more shows up and we got to commercials. We next join Sammy who talks about October and the masses that witches have on this day, and really gets a kick out of talking about the sacrifices and the ring of fire. In the end Sammy Terry and the strange looking witch alert us that the next show will be on Halloween and he will host the movie Halloween! The Witch then opens Sammy's coffin and once in closes it for him.
Movie: When his brother disappears, Robert Manning pays a visit to the remote country house he was last heard from. While his host is outwardly welcoming, and his niece more demonstrably so, Manning detects a feeling of menace in the air with the legend of Lavinia Morley, Black Witch of Greymarsh, hanging over everything.
Nightmare Theater: Curse Of Frankenstein
Starring – Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee Not Rated 1957
Host: Sammy exits his coffin and talks about the horrors of being sick and wasting away, he then talks about the fear of being the victim of someone else's mistake and monster before he lets out his laugh and takes us to the night's film. Sammy and George then quickly take us in and out of movie and commercial until Sammy then tells viewers how to get shirts and posters and give the P.O Box address to get his catalog. Next time we join Sammy and George they talk about Dr. Frankenstein and how George as an idea to use body parts to make Sammy look better and they two go back and fourth and at one point Sammy turns into a blonde bikini woman. We next see Sammy back to normal sitting with tombstones and talking about Dr. Frankenstein as well as other who find themselves on death row and the feelings they must have knowing death is coming. He then ends the episode talking about what is next week on the show and then ushers the viewer into the second film of the night "Baron Blood".
Movie: While awaiting execution for murder, Baron Victor Frankenstein tells the story of a creature he built and brought to life – only for it to behave not as he intended.
Note From Matt: This was the second film of the night with "Baron Blood" being the next movie that I sadly do not have.
Nightmare Theater: Curse Of The Black Widow
Starring – Patty Duke & Donna Mills Unrated 1977
Host: We get several segments that is Sammy and George quickly taken us in and out of the movie as well as commercials. Next we join Sammy and George as they are arguing about George's snoring and George is tired already again because he made new cobwebs around the dungeon, while Sammy says that he was at a station baseball game. Sammy then talks about being at a High School Prom next week as it falls on Friday The 13th, and then George gives the address out again so viewers can get shirts and posters. Next Sammy makes a blood cocktail and tells a spooky story in the cemetery patio under the blue moonlight. Sammy ends the show talking briefly about the nights movie and then talks about next weeks fright feature before getting into his coffin and ending the show.
Movie: A private detective named Mark Higbie is on the trail of a murderer whose mutilated and predominantly male victims are found encased in silken cocoons. He eventually tracks the killer's path to Los Angeles, where he discovers her true identity: a woman who was bitten by black widow spiders as a child. However, that's only the beginning of the story.
Note From Matt: The opening segment and credits are missing from this episode.
Nightmare Theater: Deathmaster
Starring – Robert Quarry & Bill Ewing PG 1972
Host: Sammy Terry comes out of his coffin and makes a cocktail and builds up the nights film as well as talks about blood and vampires before taking us to the film. We next visit Sammy who is reading what they will be having for Christmas Dinner to George and Ghoulsby and its all types of weird and foul dishes, they then start talking about guests they will be inviting including The Wolf Man, Phantom Of The Opera, The Blue Beast, a Witch, The Mad Doctor and Yogi Bear and the rule is they all have to wear a Sammy Terry t-shirt and they then tell viewers how they can order one as well as a poster, they then remember they have to invite Skull to dinner as well but George thinks he will eat to much cause he ain't got no body! We next join Sammy who is sitting in his rocking chair and reads the viewers a creepy Christmas tale that is about him and his friends. Sammy ends the show talking about the foulness of dying vampires as well as that of man made smog with pollution and say that is fitting for next weeks film "Godzilla vs. Smog Monster" and ends the show with is iconic laugh.
Movie: Quarry is a mysterious, articulate stranger who draws a cult like following of local hippies. Rather than showing them peace and love, he has more sinister plans for them, as he is a vampire.
Nightmare Theater: Devil's Own
Starring – Joan Fontaine & Kay Walsh Not Rated 1966
Host: Sammy opens up talking about The Mummy hugging people…to death before he goes into next weeks film's announcement. He then talks about the second film that is showing tonight and talks about black magic and tells viewers to get ready to be scared by The Devil's Own! We next join Sammy as he talks about curses and voodoo and does so like a twisted nursery rhyme and of course each have spooky outcomes, and he then talks about how he once used a voodoo doll on a teacher when he was a kid and how he paid for it with a paddling. Next time we catch up with Sammy he talks about his love for baseball and how you can get hurt playing and then talks about how he loves being in the stands with the lovely ladies. Sammy ends the episode reminding us about next week's movies and then gets back into his coffin and wishes us Unpleasant Nightmares before giving his iconic laugh and the lid shuts.
Movie: An English school missionary assigned in an African village has a run in with the local witch doctor and suffers a nervous breakdown. After recovering back in England she takes a job teaching in a small country town hoping to make a new start for herself. All goes well at first, until she starts to hear some disturbing stories about the town. She soon discovers the town is home to a coven of witches and they plan to sacrifice a local girl in one of their rituals.
Note From Matt: This was the second film of the night so no opening credits for the show and this picks up at the end of the first film The Mummy.
Nightmare Theater: Die, Monster, Die!
Starring – Boris Karloff & Nick Adams Not Rated 1965
Host: Sammy comes from his coffin and talks about the chills of the fall season and wants the viewers to get warm as they are in for a night of fright! He then talks about the monsters of the world werewolves, vampires, quicksand and politicians. He then takes us into the nights film and say be ready to scream! We next join Sammy Terry who is outside and the leaves are falling on his head as he talks about the joys of the fall season and they talks about Halloween being his birthday and then tells viewers about all his public appearances he will be doing in the month of October. Next Sammy brings out his scary book and has a cocktail and tries to read us a spooky story but has to stop as George is not feeling good and is upset about the MLB strike. Sammy ends the show by telling us about next weeks film and they heads into his coffin for the night.
Movie: A young man visits his fiancée's estate to discover that her wheelchair-bound scientist father has discovered a meteorite that emits mutating radiation rays that have turned the plants in his greenhouse to giants. When his own wife falls victim to this mysterious power, the old man takes it upon himself to destroy the glowing object with disastrous results.
Nightmare Theater: Fear No Evil
Starring – Stefan Arngrim & Elizabeth Hoffman R 1981
Host: Sammy starts off by asking us if we would like to be driven insane or even travel back to the time of the Spanish Inquisition, as he says they both sound like fun. He then talks about time travel, other dimensions, voodoo and witchcraft and then takes us into the film. Next Sammy is talking the black arts and the benefits of it and that magic mirrors help in magic and looks at the painting of himself that turns into a woman who talks about her beauty. The woman in the mirror then starts playing mind games with Sammy as she appears and disappears before him. Next he and George are in front of the painted picture and talks about what you see in the mirror and as he does so monsters appear in the picture including Phantom Of The Opera, a Dragon, Satan and even Ghoulsby as he says we all have dark images! The Woman appears again and this time George falls for her as Sammy tells George he as a one-track mind.
Movie: 18-year-old high school student Andrew looks human in every way but in reality he is the Incarnation of Satan himself. Two archangels name Mikhail and Gabrielle (who are in human form) are sent from heaven to stop him before his evil takes over the world.
Note From Matt: Sadly this episode just ends without finishing the movie and that means also no last segment from Sammy
Nightmare Theater: Dracula vs. Frankenstein
Starring – Zandor Vorkov & Lon Chaney Jr. PG 1971
Host: Sammy Comes out of his coffin with his iconic laugh and welcomes us to the show as well as to the month of September, he then goes into talking about Frankenstein's monster as well as Dracula and how when the two meet that it will be deadly combat! We next join Sammy as he and George talk about next Friday being the 13th and how it's the night of the witches as well as Mr. Video's tape sale at the locations and Sammy will be at the stores for these sales. And he then talks about a few more places he will be appearing and warns that monsters will be loose in the audience, plus he says he will have posters and shirts for sale at all these places. Next George and Sammy talk about lost loves and then George talks about a bikini model that makes men's blood run hot and how women dislike her cause of her beauty. In the end Sammy talks about Dracula and then reminds viewers that next week is Friday The 13th and then speaks about the Evil Eye and says to tune in next week before heading into his coffin.
Movie: Judith Fontaine is looking for her sister Joanie, who has disappeared into the hippie community of Venice, California. It turns out Joanie has become the victim of Groton, an axe-wielding homicidal maniac working for Dr. Durray, who is really the last of the Frankensteins and is now running a house of horrors by the beach and is performing experiments on Gorton's victims. One night Count Dracula visits the doctor, showing him the original Frankenstein creation that was buried in a nearby graveyard. The doctor revives it and uses it to take revenge on his professional rivals.
Nightmare Theater: Dracula's Dog
Starring – Michael Pataki & Jan Shutan R 1977
Host: Sammy comes from his coffin with his iconic laugh and welcomes the viewers to his home that was built with terror. Sammy then talks about all things that could be considered bad days and things that could cause it, and then talks about the curse of Dracula and his pet dog! We next join Sammy who is sitting in his rocking chair and is talking about back to school time and how he and is classmates use to torment the teachers, and then says that the kids need to get Sammy Terry shirts and posters for school. He then pulls the noose and it fills his Frankenstein mug with a tasty cocktail and the sings a spooky school song. We next join Sammy Terry as he and George notice that Ghoulsby is jerking around like something is wrong with him, and George then says that Sammy is also jerking around and that an old witch is making them look like a couple of jerks. George also starts jerking around and Ghoulsby finally puts a stop to it by sticking out his tongue at the witch. Sammy ends the show by saying that Dracula's Curse has gone to the dogs before talking about next weeks film, get gets into his coffin and wishes us all unpleasant nightmares.
Movie: Communist soldiers accidentally unleash the part-vampire servant of Dracula, as well as his vampire dog, during excavations in Romania. Together, they set out for America to find the last living direct descendant of the great Count. Meanwhile, said descendant, unaware of his true heritage, goes on vacation with his family and their dogs, not knowing they are in great danger. Fortunately, a vampire hunter is also on the case and is tracking down the servant and his dog, as well as the descendant, in order to destroy the former and protect the latter.
Nightmare Theater: Frankenstein The Monster From Hell
Starring – Peter Cushing & David Prowse R 1974
Host: Sammy Comes from his coffin and talks about emotions and how they can erupt in many ways with some being very sinister, and that leads him to the nights movies as sometimes these people end up in a asylum. We next join Sammy who is looking at his posters and shirts that he has hanging on the dungeon wall, and he tells viewers how they can order their very own. Just then George and Ghoulsby arrive and are worked up over wanting soup as they both want different kinds to serve at the Super Bowl that is happing that weekend. Sammy next is relaxing and makes himself a cocktail and once more is talking about emotions as well as disorders that people get and explains the actions those who have these disorders have and then says that everyone in Congress is insane. In the end Sammy asks if you would like to stay in the Asylum of Dr. Frankenstein and his Monster From Hell, he then talks about next weeks film before entering his coffin with his classic laugh and once more wishes us Pleasant Nightmares.
Movie: The last of the Hammer Frankenstein films, this one deals with Baron Victor Frankenstein hiding out in an insane asylum so that he may continue his experiments in reanimating the dead along with fellow inmate Dr. Simon Helder, who has been institutionalized for conducting such experiments.
Nightmare Theater: Freaks
Starring – Harry Earles & Olga Baclanova Not Rated 1932
Host: Sammy comes from his coffin and welcomes us to the show and talks about the creepiness of night and how your mind can play tricks on you or even that a madman could sneak up on you and get you, or maybe it's a UFO in the sky coming after you or does your drinking water have a virus in it…he then takes us to the film. We next join Sammy Terry as he sits among the tombstones and is eating a meal of a salad and behind him Ghoulsby is digging up a grave to get bones of the dead in order to make a soup later tonight from it. Later Sammy is still among the tombstones and he is talking about how quiet cemeteries are and how frightful they can be, and how even spirits can rise from the grave to get you and two ghosts come from the grave and they dance and have fun before returning to their graves. Sammy ends the show by asking of the viewers will be able to sleep for the night, and then talks about next weeks movie before wishing us Pleasant Nightmares before going back into his coffin.
Movie: A circus trapeze artist, Cleopatra, takes an interest in Hans, a midget who works in the circus sideshow. Her interest however is in the money Hans will be inheriting and she is actually carrying on an affair with another circus performer, Hercules. Hans's fiancée does her best to convince him that he is being used but to no avail. At their wedding party, a drunken Cleopatra tells the sideshow freaks just what she thinks of them. Together, the freaks decide to make her one of their own.
Nightmare Theater: Fright Night 2
Starring – Roddy McDowall & Julie Carmen R 1988
Host: Sammy Terry comes from his coffin and talks about things that go together including the words Fright and Night and as well talks about things that bring fright including politicians as well as all the classic monsters. Sammy then says that vampires are one of his favorite monsters and then takes us to the nights film. Next Sammy is standing by the window as lightning strikes and he laughs and says bye to a bat that is leaving. Sammy then talks about the curse of the vampire and how it effects it's victims and then George chimes in and tells Sammy to be quite as he is on the coffin with a small amount of rocks and says that the rocks are there for a rock concert. Next Sammy is out on the storm and talks about the vampire party from the film and makes a bat joke before back to the film. Sammy then talks about the risks for vampires when attacking as well as in general and does so over one of his cocktails, and then brags about his dead rose garden before back to the movie. Sammy talks about Halloween night and the yellow glowing eyes in the night, and does so with gruesome glee. In the end Sammy and George end the show by talking about vampires and George has a cure for boredom and that's to watch the next movie for next week and its "Night Of The Living Dead"!
Movie: Charley Brewster comes to terms with the freakishly improbable incident that scarred his adolescence. Still struggling to convince himself after countless sessions of therapy that the undead creatures of the night were only figments of his imagination, Charley carefully stays away from his former vampire-slaying companion, Peter Vincent. However, when the cryptic and mysteriously alluring actress, Regine Dandrige, and her motley crew of oddballs arrive in town, suddenly, Charley's past creeps up on him to haunt him. Is history repeating itself?
Nightmare Theater: Ghost Of Frankenstein
Starring – Bela Lugosi & Lon Chaney Jr. Not Rated 1942
Host: This is Sammy Terry's Birthday special and it opens with actor Vincent Price coming out of a coffin and wishing him a Happy Birthday, they dancing girls come out to entertain as the opening credits roll, and then our host TV Cool Guy greets Sammy Terry and Horace The Hunchback to the dungeon and he alerts Sammy that this is a Birthday Party for him and from here Sammy is treated to guests like R.K Skull, Dick The Bruiser, Tom Collins, Cowboy Bob and many more Indiana based celebrities. Plus Jeeves The Butler makes his return and even a crazed Superman appears. And they bring out Sammy a Birthday cake and ghouls sing him Happy Birthday. The final guest via a video is The Cool Ghoul the classic Ohio based Horror Host! In the end, Sammy Terry gets into his coffin and he is loaded into a hearse and is set for a weekend out at spooky places around town.
Movie: Ygor resurrects Frankenstein's monster and brings him to the original doctor's son, Ludwig, for help. Ludwig, obsessed with the idea of restoring the monster to full power, is unaware that his various associates all have different ideas about whose brain is to be transplanted into the monster's skull.
Note From Matt: This episode is a fan reproduction and does not include any commercials, but to be honest it was really cool to see all the footage of this episode.
Nightmare Theater: Godzilla 1985
Starring – Raymond Burr & Ken Tanaka PG 1985
Host: It's Halloween and Sammy is very happy as it's also his birthday and he is visited by the Ghosts Of Halloween Past who sing Happy Birthday to him as does Ghoulsby and a werewolf chef named Larry Battson who has brought live lizards for dinner! Sammy then talks a little about the bombs in Godzilla and as George and Ghoulsby bring Sammy Terry his gifts that are posters and shirts of himself and then Sammy tells the viewers how they can get their very own via mail order or at his appearances. Next Larry shows Sammy what is on the menu for dinner and it's such things as snake and spiders, Sammy's guests are playing tickle tag and this causes him to head to his patio graveyard for some peace but his guests follow and when a pretty blonde woman tickles him he decides he will play. In the end Sammy hopes the viewers had a good Halloween and then tells next weeks film before entering his coffin.
Movie: Thirty years after the original monster's rampage, a new Godzilla emerges and attacks Japan.
Nightmare Theater: Godzilla vs. Smog Monster
Starring – Keiko Mari & Haruo Nakajima PG 1971
Host: Sammy welcomes us to the show and talks about how he loves to bring fright, and that tonight right before a loving couple will make out he will free the vampire Count Yorga to cause mayhem and fear. He then says but before that he will unleash a lighter horror and says that man has created his own monsters with cars, TVs and rock n roll music among other things. He then ushers us into the first film of the night. We next join Sammy as he talks about loving a good cold winter as its gloomy, and how things like grass dies in this season. And then tells viewers that they are part responsible for pollution and that it will bring death, George then appears and reminds everyone that they can get a Sammy Terry poster and shirt to make the winder even worse. After the film Sammy gets a phone call and just keeps letting the phone ring as he tries to think of who might be calling him. After it keeps ringing and he keeps guessing voices from the graveyard behind him scream for him to just answer the phone as they are sick of hearing it ring. When he finally answers it the operator is on the other end and tells him that the phone company is disconnecting his services
Movie: An ever evolving alien life-form from the Dark Gaseous Nebula arrives to consume rampant pollution. Spewing mists of sulfuric acid and corrosive sludge, neither humanity or Godzilla may be able to defeat this toxic menace.
Note From Matt: This episode is missing some of the bumpers as well as commercials as the person who taped it off TV edited them all out when recording it. To be honest I am not sure that this isn't a fan reproduction.
Nightmare Theater: Horror Of Party Beach
Starring – John Lyon & Alice Lyon Not Rated 1964
Host: Sammy starts by telling us about the horrors that you might find in the ocean as well as at resort hotels and that you can find terror even at the beach while you are there to have fun, and monsters await in the waters. We next join Sammy as he enjoys a cocktail and talks to us about pollution and all the bad stuff that is happening to our Earth that is causing sickness and death, and how we dump toxic waste into our oceans. Next we see Sammy as he is sitting on his coffin and is giving football teams his idea of a new diet that would help them win more games, and that's to eat toxic seaweed salad that will turn them into monsters and makes a joke about jocks always chasing the ladies anyway just like monsters do. At the end of the movie Sammy Terry tells us about next weeks movie before getting into his coffin and wishing us unpleasant nightmares.
Movie: Sea creatures created from radioactive sludge terrorize a beach community.
Nightmare Theater: How To Make A Monster
Starring – Robert H. Harris & Heather Ames Not Rated 1958
Host: Sammy Terry starts talking about classic monsters and how to be prepared to face them and that's by making your own monsters that Sammy is going to teach you how with the nights movie. We next join Sammy, who is sitting by his coffin when George informs him that he wants to make a monster just like instant coffee, and they decided to use black magic in order to make one…but George drops a black magic marker and Sammy uses magic to make George into a big mean spider. But after talking Sammy brings George back and even the monster spider stays, but George is sad as he wishes the other spider was a female. Sammy then tells use that the world is filled with monsters like bankers, police officers, waitresses, politicians, cooks and bosses as he says they are the real monsters, and says your wife or girlfriend is the true monster! In the end Sammy says he hopes we learned how to make a monster, and then says his show will be delayed due to a football game but they will have fun watching a spooky dinosaur film. Sammy then enters his coffin for the night and wishes us unpleasant nightmares.
Movie: When a master monster make-up artist is sacked by the new bosses of American International studios, he uses his creations to exact revenge.
Nightmare Theater: King Kong
Starring – Fay Wray & Bruce Cabot Not Rated 1933
Host: It's Halloween and its Sammy Terry's birthday and we open the show with Ghoulsby sitting on Sammy's coffin playing with a whip, Sammy comes from his coffin and thanks the viewers for watching as this episode is live! George appears and tells Sammy that they have a surprise birthday gift for him and it's a new used coffin and Sammy loves it. He then sees the in studio live audience and insults them with love telling them they are truly horrific. He then tells them about the nights film that is King Kong.
Movie: Carl Denham needs to finish his movie and has the perfect location: Skull Island. But he still needs to find a leading lady. This 'soon-to-be-unfortunate' soul is Ann Darrow. No one knows what they will encounter on this island and why it is so mysterious, but once they reach it, they will soon find out. Living on this hidden island is a giant gorilla and this beast now has Ann in its grasps. Carl and Ann's new love, Jack Driscoll, must travel through the jungle looking for Kong and Ann, whilst avoiding all sorts of creatures and beasts.
Note From Matt: This was a live episode and sadly the original taper cut out all of Sammy's bumpers besides his opening. We get small clips throughout but nothing whole. It's also missing the end segment. While it only has the opening still a very cool and fun watch.
Nightmare Theater: King Kong Escape
Starring – Rhodes Reason & Mie Hama G 1967
Host: Sammy comes out of his coffin and starts talking about the fall weather and the amazing things that come with it like burning leaves as well as blisters on your hands from racking those said leaves. We next join Sammy who is with George and they talk about all the public appearances that Sammy has made this far, and Sammy even summons Ghoulsby as he tells more places he will be all through the fall, and plus his posters and shirts being for sale. Next Sammy is enjoying a cocktail and sits in his rocking chair as George tells him that things will be going crazy tomorrow and that's because of baseball as the World Series is starting. In the end Sammy tells you about next week's film before getting into his coffin and ending the show.
Movie: Inspired by the Rankin/Bass cartoon, the evil Dr. Who captures King Kong to dig for Element X when his mechanical doppelganger, Mechani-Kong, is unable to do the task. Kong escapes and soon confronts his mechanical double.
Nightmare Theater: King Kong vs. Godzilla
Starring – Rhodes Reason & Mie Hama Not Rated 1962
Host: Sammy exits his coffin and hopes we are all feeling terrible, he then starts talking about the cold winds of March and the sounds it makes at night! He then talks about the epic fight that we will see between King Kong and Godzilla but says next is the most scary thing…commercials! We next see Sammy who talks about epic boxing matches and how they do not compare to Kong and Zilla's brawl, George then shows up to remind everyone that you can get Sammy Terry shirts and posters. George then tells folks to run away from fights, so you can have more time making out with your partner! We next join Sammy who is bouncing a basketball and talks about the NCAA games coming up as it's that time of the year and he talks about records that can be broken this season. He then says that sports will change but some things will not, before he sends us to commercials. Next Sammy and George take a moment to try and sell you a wall crawling toy spider! We later join Sammy who is once more talking about the winds of March and the howls it makes and really talks about how spooky it sounds.
Movie: Eric Carter, a reporter for the United Nations, reports on a submarine which collides with an iceberg and frees Godzilla. The news of this soon leads to Mr. Tako, the chairman of a pharmaceutical company, to seek a monster of his own to generate publicity. He sends out an expedition to Farou Island where they discover the god of the island in the form of King Kong. The giant ape is capture and returned to Japan, upon which it escapes and heads off on a collision course straight towards Godzilla. The two rivals soon clash in a giant climatic battle.
Note From Matt: This is the first movie of the night with the second being The Terror, and with that this episode does not have the last segment.
Nightmare Theater: The Mummy
Starring – Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee Unrated 1959
Host: Sammy exits his coffin with his trademark laugh and welcomes us to the show and starts talking about fright can make you feel so good and then talks about voodoo and how it strikes fear and fright. But then starts talking about The Mummy and the rituals of there curses and then takes us to the first part of the nights film. We next join Sammy who is caring a box of strawberries and talks how much he likes them and digging them up is easier than digging up a Mummy, then George asks Sammy if he has ever seen a Mummy and they chat about it with George and him then talking about how to get a Sammy Terry shirt and poster to freshen up a tomb. Sammy next is hanging around and wants the viewers to help focus on seeing a image of Sammy Terry's mother so that she will appear, instead it's a beautiful woman's image that appears and then George introduces Sammy and the viewers to his Mommy a very large spider! Sammy is hanging around the cemetery and tells a spooky Mummy tale to frighten the viewers. After the movie he talks about being hugged to death before talking about next week's film and then the second film of the night.
Movie: In the 1890s a team of British archaeologists discover the untouched tomb of Princess Ananka but accidentally bring the mummified body of her High Priest back to life. Three years later back in England a follower of the same Egyptian religion unleashes the mummy to exact grisly revenge on the despoilers of the sacred past.
Note From Matt: This is the first film of the night with the second being Devil's Own.
Nightmare Theater: Navy vs. Night Monsters
Starring – Mamie Van Doren & Billy Gray Not Rated 1966
Host: Sammy comes out of his coffin with his signature laugh and says we are just in time for a fright, he then starts talking about the night and how scary it can be and what evils await us in the darkness. Sammy then says he knows all about the things that go bump in the night and talks about them and then takes us into the nights movie. Next we join Sammy and George talking about May flowers blooming, but then start talking about some local sporting events as well as how to get Sammy Terry shirts and posters, and then tells them he will be a guest at the Indiana Indians baseball game. We later join Sammy in the graveyard as he is having a meal and Ghoulsby is behind him is digging up grave for some bones, and he talks about his salad before he go back to the movie. At the end of the episode Sammy tells us about next weeks movie before getting into his coffin and wishing us unpleasant nightmares.
Movie: Operation Deep Freeze, a scientific expedition to Antarctica discovers unusual tree specimens. When specimens are shipped out for further study, the trees are accidentally introduced to a south seas Navy base, soon revealing themselves to be killer, acid-secreting monsters that live by night.
Nightmare Theater: Phantasm
Starring – Angus Scrimm & Reggie Bannister R 1979
Host: Sammy exits his coffin with his legendary laugh and welcomes us to the show and talks about the mind and how it can go wrong and cause fear and figments of your imagination and how if can drive you mad, he then takes us to the movie. Sammy is talking to George and can not choose what color of his shirt to wear for the Pan American Games that is the following day his choice is blue or black, Ghoulsby shows up and models the shirts for Sammy who ends up reminding the viewers that they can get a shirt as well as posters from him. Sammy can not choose the color so decides to wear them both! Next Sammy is in the cemetery and talks about things that can rise from the cemeteries as well as ghosts and that no one has 100% proved that they are not real and that they could only be in your mind. Sammy ends the show talking about caskets going into the ground, and if that is truly what they will do at the graveyard with the bodies…he then tells us about next weeks movie before getting into his coffin and ending the show.
Movie: Mike, a young teenage boy who has just lost his parents, afraid to lose his brother follow him to a funeral, where Mike witnesses the Tall Man lifting a coffin on his own. Mike decides to investigate, and discovers that the Tall Man, protected by his flying spheres, is shrinking dead bodies down to half their normal size and reanimating them as slaves. It is then up to Mike, his brother, and Reggie the ice cream man to stop the Tall man.
Nightmare Theater: Re-Animator
Starring – Jeffrey Combs & Barbara Crampton R 1985
Host: Sammy as always comes out of his coffin with his laughter filling the air and chats about the unknowns of the world and how scientists still to this day learn about all types of things from earthquakes to the human bodies, and then promises how to show how to bring something back to life and even George says he will later as well. We next see Sammy who is hanging out in the dungeon with Ghoulsby and George who are hanging up Sammy Terry posters on the walls and then they talk about shirts and how the viewers can get their own…they even make a young lady appear out of thin air wearing one. The young lady ends up going over to George and given him a hug. We later join Sammy who is with Ghoulsby and George and on the coffin is some skull and bones and Sammy uses black magic to bring flesh back to the bones to revel that the bones belonged to a The Wolf Man and this scares George and Ghoulsby as Sammy is delighted! At the end of the show Sammy talks a little about the films sending and then talks about next week's film before getting into his coffin, as Ghoulsby walks around smacking a rubber chicken.
Movie: After an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue.
Nightmare Theater: Silent Running
Starring – Bruce Dern & Cliff Potts G 1972
Host: We start off with two radio guys by the coffin of Sammy Terry with one crying, but Sammy rises up and talks about how he is teaming with them for the 11 o'clock movie before going to the movie. Next time we join them Sammy is talking about Bruce Dern and one of the radio guys makes a cheesy joke about knowing them. Next up the two guys chat about buying cemetery plots as Sammy laughs that they are telling the truth. They end the show with the Dj's thanking Sammy for having them as guests, Sammy snaps his fingers and they are gone and he tells the viewers he will see them next week.
Movie: In a future Earth barren of all flora and fauna, the planet's ecosystems exist only in large pods attached to spacecraft. When word comes in that the pods are to be jettisoned into space and destroyed, most of the crew of the Valley Forge rejoice at the prospect of going home. Not so for botanist Freeman Lowell, who loves the forest and its creatures. He kills his colleagues taking the ship deep into space. Alone on the craft with his only companions being three small robots, Lowell revels in joys of nature. When colleagues appear to "rescue" him, he realizes he has only one option available to him.
Nightmare Theater: StarCrash
Starring – Caroline Munro & Marjoe Gortner PG 1978
Host: We first join Sammy in the cemetery and he is sitting with George and they are chatting about the stars and planets in the sky and how some of the planets are named after classic Gods and Goddesses, George then talks about a woman that he found beautiful that visited the dungeon and then it starts the talk of the shirts and posters that fan can buy. Next Sammy, George and Ghoulsby are in the dungeon and Sammy is confused as his friends are marching around with Ghoulsby waving a checker flag…he soon finds out that they are doing it for Flag Day and he tells them that this holiday is for the American Flag and Ghoulsby grabs one and with Magic they place it on the old witches castle.
Movie: An outlaw smuggler and her alien companion are recruited by the Emperor of the Galaxy to rescue his son and destroy a secret weapon by the evil Count Zarth Arn.
Note From Matt: Sadly the opening credits and segment are missing from this episode as are the end ones. But it contains the two middle ones as well as the commercials and bumpers.
Nightmare Theater: Swamp Thing
Starring – Dick Durock & Louis Jourdan PG 1982
Host: All we get is a get seconds of Sammy's bumpers taking us in and out of the nights film, sadly this one is very edited.
Movie: Dr. Alec Holland, hidden away in the depths of a murky swamp, is trying to create a new species – a combination of animal and plant capable of adapting and thriving in the harshest conditions. Unfortunately he becomes subject of his own creation and is transformed . . . Arcane, desperate for the formula attempts to capture the Swamp Thing. An explosive chase ensues that ultimately ends with a confrontation between Holland and a changed Arcane.
Note From Matt: This episode is a mess as the opening and closing segments are gone and who ever taped it off TV edited out the commercials and the breaks and what you get is just a few small clip moments. I hate when people cut out the commercials and host segments!
Nightmare Theater: Terror In The Crypt
Starring – Christopher Lee & Ursula Davis Not Rated 1964
Host: Sammy comes out of his coffin with his laugh and welcomes us to the nights film and starts talking about torture and all the different kinds, but is quickly cut off. We next see Sammy who is talking to George and Ghoulsby who tell him what they want for Christmas this year and they are making their list, they were joined by a talking Skull for a moment…but then they all say that what makes great gifts are Sammy Terry shirts and posters! We then join Sammy who before getting into his coffin tells us what he has in store for us next week.
Movie: Count Karnstein sends for a doctor to help his sick daughter Laura. Her nurse believes she is possessed by the spirit of a dead ancestor, Carmilla. A young woman becomes intrigued by the mysterious deaths surrounding Laura after a carriage accident outside the castle forces her to stay. They become close friends until Laura becomes convinced the spirit of Carmilla is forcing her to kill.
Note From Matt: It looks like some of the host segments were cut short by the original recorder, but most of them are there.
Nightmare Theater: Terror Of Mechagodzilla
Starring – Tomoko Ai & Akihiko Hirata G 1975
Host: Sammy as always comes from his coffin and lets out his iconic laugh and welcomes us to his show and introduces himself. Sammy then talks about his coffin and how comfortable about when George comes down for a visit as they talk about basketball as George says that he plans that turns out to be we wants to go to Florida for spring break…as he wants to see the ladies in bikinis! Sammy then starts talking about the true horrors that await in the ocean for people that include sharks and monsters. We next join Sammy as he watches as George and Ghoulsby packing for spring break and this of course includes Sammy Terry posters and shirts along with towels and bandages. A little later Sammy is in the cemetery and talks about technology as well as space and the horrors that could await for us, as who knows what aliens have as weapons. This one is a little dark as Sammy tells us all that we will all end up in a cemetery someday!
Movie: Attempts to salvage Mechagodzilla are thwarted, causing an INTERPOL investigation that uncovers the work of a shunned biologist and his daughter, who's life becomes entwined with the resurrected machine.
Note From Matt: Sadly this episode is missing the end segment.
Nightmare Theater: Theatre Of Blood
Starring – Vincent Price & Diana Rigg R 1973
Host: This episode is not really a Sammy Terry episode and only starts with a clip of the ending of his show, so in other words this one is not what it seems on many trade lists.
Movie: A Shakespearean actor takes poetic revenge on the critics who denied him recognition.
Note From Matt: This one is a total scam when grey marker dealers as well as tape traders try and pass it off as an episode of Sammy Terry…I for one was burnt with this one as it has nothing to do with the classic Horror Host show.
Nightmare Theater: The Thing
Starring – Kenneth Tobey & James Arness Not Rated 1951
Host: Sammy once out of his coffin delivers his laugh and welcomes us to the show and tells us that we are unlucky tonight as horrible things are happing as winter is here and making dark and cold. He then talks about the horrors of the nights film The Thing that comes from another world and has super human strength that can kill you with its bare hands! Later Sammy talks about the strange things that can be found on Earth and how much land that is still unknown, George then shows up to listen about the spookiness of the arctic ice and waters. George then starts talking about Christmas and Santa Claus and what makes great gifts are Sammy Terry posters and shirts. Sammy returns this time a head that is his Head Cook and him are talking about ideas that have for Thanksgiving dinner and the main item will be turkey of course as it's a joke to say George is a turkey! When Sammy returns he talks about a lost seaman that was found frozen in ice and this makes him wonder if more will be found and why they were that far into frozen waters for him to get lost. At the end of the show Sammy makes you think that if the jell-o in your refrigerator is real or is it a thing, he then speaks about life in space before he then tells us what is in store for us next week.
Movie: Scientists and American Air Force officials fend off a bloodthirsty alien organism while at a remote arctic outpost.
Nightmare Theater: Tower Of London
Starring – Vincent Price & Joan Camden Not Rated 1963
Host: Sammy comes out of his coffin and starts talking about all the ways to torture someone including being tickled! And talks about how some are just so bad they will drive you insane including water torture and being buried up to your neck. And this ties into the night's film as it is said to have the worst torture! Sammy and George are talking about the nights film and George starts talking about Pizza when one is thrown at Sammy who barely catches it and the two start chatting about the Sammy Terry shirts as the pizza sauce will blend in with the color if the blood red ones, they also talk about the posters as well as a public appearance. Sammy Terry next is hanging out in his cemetery and talks about the leaning tower in Italy and how terrible it would be if it was used as a place of torture. Sammy closes the show by getting into his coffin and talking about real tower of London and they talk about the next film they will be showing next weak.
Movie: The twisted Richard III is haunted by the ghosts of those he has murdered in his attempt to become the King of England.
Nightmare Theater: Track Of The Vampire
Starring – William Campbell & Marissa Mathes Not Rated 1966
Host: Sammy is sitting on the coffin and wraps up the last film and says he hopes that we are truly scared as the next movie is something that could happen to you even in the cold nights of winter and how monsters and killers like to stalk their prey late at night, and that vampires are truly dangerous as they can appear normal and get you this night. Sammy is looking out his window and then starts talking about collage basketball in Indiana and how that fever is spreading to everyone and how the sport has grown over the years. The next time we see Sammy he is still talking about winter and show and how animals leave tracks in the snow, and wonder have you ever seen tracks that you can not trace nor identify of a man and realize that he could be stalking prey and if you ever seen human prints that disappear those are of a vampire! Sammy ends the show by talking about the vampire of the film and how it's a shame he could not get his prey, he then talks about the next week's film before entering his coffin and ending the show.
Movie: A crazed artist who believes himself to be the reincarnation of a murderous vampire kills young women, then boils their bodies in a vat.
Nightmare Theater: Valley Of Gwangi
Starring –Gila Golan & James Franciscus G 1969
Host: Sammy Terry comes out of his coffin and introduces himself and it's very late at night as he talks about mangled bodies, wars and big bombs that would strike fear into hearts of the people. He then chats about the start of time and dinosaurs before ushering us into the film. Sammy looks out his window and sees fireworks as George says that he is the one that set them off as he is running a test for the fourth of July and talks about the food he will be fixing for that holiday and its all gross spider food, they both then talk about the posters and shirts of Sammy Terry that you can buy. Later the fireworks are still going off and Sammy and George watch them and this time they do now know who is setting them off as the fireworks are now going off in the dungeon and it was the old witch that is doing that to them. Later Sammy uses a black magic spell to force the fireworks out of the castle and the battle goes on until he finally is able to make them go back outside, and George says that he spied on the witch and she plans up her attack as she wants to stop the night's show! Sammy fights back by creating a thunderstorm with lots of rain that stops the fireworks.
Movie: Cowboy James Franciscus seeks fame and fortune by capturing an Allosaurus living in the Forbidden Valley and putting it in a Mexican circus. His victim, called the Gwangi, turns out to have an aversion to being shown in public.
Note From Matt: This is the first film of the night and is missing the opening credits but not segment and sadly there is no end segment either.
Nightmare Theater: Vampire Lovers
Starring –Ingrid Pitt & Peter Cushing R 1970
Host: Once out of his coffin Sammy welcomes the viewers as a monster man comes out of the shadows and crawls into his coffin, Sammy is confused but keeps going as he talks about the weather, lovers and vampires all the while the blonde ghost woman can be seen during his talk. When Sammy comes back he talks about his love of the fall and the month of October and talks about some of his pubic appearances coming up throughout the month. Later in the show George and Ghoulsby want to leave the dungeon as Ghoulsby wants to find a woman to kiss and hug and George as well wants to do the same, Sammy warns them that love can also be very dangerous as they all lust over the blonde ghost woman.
Movie: Seductive vampire Carmilla Karnstein and her family target the beautiful and the rich in a remote area of late eighteenth-century Germany.
Note From Matt: This is missing the end segment, and that stinks as this was a fun episode.
Sammy Terry is really one of my favorite Horror Hosts of all time and his style of hosting is a lost art as he is both creepy and also funny when he needs to be, and I love that his son has stepped into the role and is keeping the legend and character alive for the next generation of viewers. I also want to say that for those wondering, I also do have the official released DVD's of Sammy Terry, but for this update wanted to focus on the original broadcast ones I have. For me the Halloween season is a time that I look back at the Horror Host of my past that helped make me into the monster kid I am today. Well as you can see, this update is coming to an end as is our Halloween 2022, but before we part and head out into the dark for that one last trick or treat I would like to tell you our next update will be about that 1960's kid show Diver Dan! So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Film or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you next time for a deep-sea adventure complete with a sexy mermaid!
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From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Plague Of The Zombies
It's almost Halloween and what better way to spend this spooky time of the year than with Hammer Horror and their 1966 undead romp Plague Of The Zombies! Hammer is much like Universal. They both brought the world classic movie monsters, and each did it with their own touch and style that entertained and scared moviegoers for decades. With Titan Comics dropping the ball on their Hammer Horror comic line, I have decided to go back to and make a custom comic taken from the Hammer House Of Horror Magazine in order to cover a classic Hammer Horror for a From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update this Halloween season. So if you're ready to enter the world of gothic horror, lets take a look at Plague Of The Zombies and all the horrors of voodoo it brings with it.
Before we travel to deep into the undead voodoo cursed world of Plague Of The Zombies, we should take a look at the killers that roam this film and comic. The main villain is the voodoo priest Squire Clive Hamilton who once lived in Haiti and learned the black art of voodoo and has used it on the villagers of his new hometown in England. He is able to use his evil ways and make the deaths seem like sickness and later make the dead rise and become his zombie slaves who will do his bidding. Hamilton himself uses his voodoo power to deal out death as well as fear to his targeted victims; he also has a short temper and lashes out when angry showing he is a man who can also use his hands to cause damage. Besides his zombies, Hamilton also has a batch of humans who also do his bidding. But Hamilton is just a man and this makes him have weakness like any other man as he can die by any means of violence and his temper and ego also leaves him open to mistakes. The zombies are slow moving grim messengers of terror who do not have a mind of their own leaving them to do the bidding of their master who mostly has them work for him in the mines near his house. But while they are mostly workers, they will also attack the living if given the commands to and can easily strike fear into the hearts of victims with their grey/greenish skin, white eyes, twisted cold faces and weird noises! They also move very quietly giving them the element of surprise and use their bare hands to choke the life out of the living. They can attack in packs or by themselves and when together they can over whelm their victims for an easy kill. Being undead does not mean they cannot be killed again as they can die by beheading, fire and damage to the voodoo dolls that made them into controllable zombies. While Hamilton and his zombies are not as brutal or bloodthirsty as some of the other killers we have looked at in a From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update, they still are a very deadly combo who have made their mark on those they crossed their paths.
So now that we have taken a look at Squire Clive Hamilton and his voodoo zombies we should take a look at the film they come from, Plague Of The Zombies, that was released at the peak of Hammer Horrors popularity before the 70's and a change in the world of Horror Movies closed the company's doors. The film's plot will be taken from our pals at IMDB with me writing after a little about the films production and my connection and memories of the film. So if you're ready to dive into the world of zombies powered by voodoo lets get to it.
Plague Of The Zombies (1966)
"Young workers are dying because of a mysterious epidemic in a little village in Cornwall. Doctor Thompson is helpless and asks professor James Forbes for help. The professor and his daughter Sylvia travel to Thomson. Terrible things happen soon, beyond imagination or reality. Dead people are seen near an old, unused mine. Late people seem to live suddenly. Professor Forbes presumes that black magic is involved and someone has extraordinary power. He doesn't know how close he is: the dead become alive because of a magic voodoo-ritual, and so they must serve their master as mindless zombies…"
Plague Of The Zombies was released in 1966 as part of a double feature alongside "Dracula: Prince Of Darkness" and was a popular double feature at the cinemas. Peter Bryan handled the script with director John Gilling and James Bernard handling the score. The film went into production on July 28, 1965 and was filmed on the same sets as The Reptile and was a pretty normal shoot for Hammer. They also brought in such actors as Andre Morell, Diane Clare and Michael Ripper to lend their talents to the characters. The film was released to theaters in the U.K. on January 9, 1966 with the US release being only three days later. When released and still to this day, the film was well reviewed by fans and critics with many even going as far as saying this movie is the best Hammer has made. I know that many of my friends who really love classic Horror Movies have said that this is one of their favorites. The film was joined in 1966 by these selected other fright flicks Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter, Queen Of Blood, Manos: Hands Of Fate and Billy the Kid Versus Dracula showing it was a fun year for fans who enjoyed spooky films at the cinema and drive-ins. Plague Of The Zombies is a great film and those who enjoy classic or British horror should give it a watch.
The first time I got to see this classic Hammer Horror movie was when it came out on VHS, rereleased by Anchor Bay. My brother Bryan bought it and we watched on one of our many all night Horror Movie marathons. I can remember that while the film was very slow much like most of Hammer's films (wouldn't have them any other way) it had a great atmosphere and over all creepy vibe that made me enjoy it and go and get the film on DVD when released. And over the years I have watched the film a handful of times on my own as well as with friends who were major fans of Hammer Horror like Chris Workman. This is also one of those films that I have recommended to friends of mine who have gotten into classic horror as I find that it's a good one to introduce to fans of modern zombie films as this is one that pre-dates the godfather of all zombie films Night Of The Living Dead (1968) and was after the underrated White Zombie from 1932. So while Plague Of The Zombies is not the most popular film among the releases of Hammer, it is one that is a solid and creepy film that is sure to please fans of 60's and early 70's gothic horror films. If you have not seen it, do yourself a favor and track it down on VHS, DVD or Blu-Ray and give it a watch. I want to also say that this film is in my top 10 best Hammer Horror films! Plus need to say that the score done by James Bernard is great and well sounding and fits so well for this film.
So as you can see this aging Monster Kid has lots of respect for Plague Of The Zombies and Hammer Horror in general as I found it a great source of classic style monsters done with more blood, busty female cleavage, color and gothic atmosphere then before, plus they picked up vampires, werewolves, zombies and Frankenstein's Monster after Universal had drifted away from that type of Horror and was more into the atomic age horror and giant insects. But before we get into this custom comic book I want to thank Juliet Fromholt for formatting the pages while we were on vacation at Monster Bash and Eric Shonborn for putting it all together to be printed! I also want to thank Amanda for printing this comic making this update possible. I want to also let you all know that I read and reviewed this comic while sitting in Calvary Cemetery to help add to the over all spooky mood of this comic experience. And now I need to remind you readers that I am grading this comic on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you're ready, lets travel to the cemetery and see why voodoo and zombies do mix!
Plague Of The Zombies # 1 ***
Released in 1978 Cover Price 35p. Top Sellers # 1 of 1
Dr. Sir James Forbes and his daughter Sylvia are headed toward the small own of Tarleton on the request of one of his former students Peter who is the town's acting doctor and is puzzled by the rash of unexplained deaths. While the father and daughter travel, they pass a fox hunting party and Sylvia gives them the wrong direction on purpose, causing the hunters to make a scene in town when they all arrive during a funeral even knocking over the casket and causing the body to roll out! The townspeople are not pleased and this of course angers the dead man's brother who blames the young woman for causing the scene. Once at the home of Peter, they also see that his wife Alice seems to not be feeling well and Peter explains that for some reason people just keep dying and the cause is unknown and the townspeople will not help in finding out the reason. That night James and Peter hit up the local cemetery and find that the grave of the young man buried that morning is empty! Sylvia follows Alice into the woods as her friend is acting weird and is heading toward the old tin mine shafts, but before she can catch up with her friend Sylvia is kidnapped by the hunters she tricked and they take her back to the mansion home of Clive Hamilton the town's squire who is not pleased at the behavior of his hired hands. Once back on the dark roads, Sylvia finds the body of her friend Alice as well as sees the zombie of the young man buried that morning! Peter is heartbroken over the death of his wife and even feels worse when he and James witness her rise from her grave and they are forced to chop off her head. Meanwhile Sylvia is visited by Clive who by "accident" scratches the young woman with his ring and this causes her to think about him all the time. James and Peter soon find out that Clive is a voodoo priest who is causing the deaths as he is making zombies to work for him in the tin mine shafts, and they go to his mansion to stop him. While inside the mansion, James fights with one of the hunters and during the fight a fire breaks out, meanwhile Sylvia in a trance is now in the grip of Clive who is going to sacrifice her to please his dark lords! But all ends well when the fire sets the voodoo dolls on fire that causes the zombie to be ablaze. They turn on Clive who is eaten and burnt to death at the same time. In the end the town is safe, and James, Sylvia and Peter all walk away heroes.
I need to first start off by saying that Plague Of The Zombies is one of the Hammer Horror movies that lends itself really well to be a comic book adaptation and series, and Titan Comics really dropped the ball on not choosing this title to be a part of their very short lived Hammer Horror Comics line. The plot of this Horror Comic has a father and daughter going to a small town to try and help figure out why people are dying, only to uncover a sinister plot that involves voodoo and zombies! Our main hero is James Forbes, an old medical surgeon who wants nothing more than to solve why people are dying and why their graves are empty so close after being buried. He is strong minded and willed and even if he is old, he still will never give up until he solves it. Peter is a doctor who is also a former student of James and is baffled by the mystery of this town he now serves. He is a helpful hand but also is dealing with some bad stuff as his wife has fallen victim to death and being brought back from the dead. Sylvia Forbes is a good hearted person who cares about both humans and animals and becomes a sick pawn in this game of life and undead. And our villain is Clive Hamilton who acts as a caring member of the town even acting as the squire when in reality he is a voodoo priest who is using the town to mine tin in order to become rich and powerful and is killing people to bring back as zombies to do it. I think the fact he is a soulless murderer who allows greed to be his motivation behind taking a human life makes him a real bad guy. I do like the fact he gets what's coming to him in the end as tons of zombies who are on fire swarm him ending his reign of terror once and for all. The comic has very little blood in it, but does have some gruesome deaths like a beheading and being burned alive. This comic adaptation while a quick read does capture the mood and spooky atmosphere of the film very well and brings a none-gory yet scary Horror Comic to readers who enjoy a classic style fright. The interior artwork is done by the team of Trevor Goring and Brian Bolland and is top-notch stuff and will remind you of artwork used in the Warren horror magazines. While this is a custom comic book, you can find this comic adaptation in the pages of "Hammer's House Of Horror" and its worth tracking down if you like the film or just enjoy classic horror zombies. Check out the artwork below to see what the art style is and bask in its creepiness.
Hammer Horror will always be the bar just behind Universal Monsters when it comes to classic movie monsters, and they, just like Universal, deserve more comics based on their characters. I mean in a prefect Horror Comic world, we would have ongoing series based on Dracula, Frankenstein, Werewolves, Mummy and Creatures from both companies and would be must reads for old school Monster Kids. Well I hope that Plague Of The Zombies helped add to your countdown to Halloween as it was a fun one for me to cover for sure. For our next update we will take a look at another "From Horror Movie To Horror Comic" update about the 2003 monster movie Darkness Falls! So this dark night make sure you stay clear of your local abandoned mine as who knows what kind of zombies are lurking around looking for a new victim to become just like them. So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a horror movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you readers and friend's next update for a creepy good time with the Tooth Fairy.
Posted in Comics, Top Sellers LTD. | Tagged 1966, Alice Mary Tompson, Anchor Bay, Andre Morell, Bray Studios, British Horror Movie, Custom Comic, Diane Clare, Doctor Thompson, Dr. Peter Tompson, DVD, England, Eric Shonborn, Fox, From Horror Movie To Horror Comic, Hammer Horror, Hammer Studios, Horror Movie, IMDB, John Gilling, Juliet Fromholt, Matt Brassfield, Michael Ripper, Monster Bash Convention, Office Depot, Professor James Forbes, Squire Clive Hamilton, Sylvia Forbes, Tarleton, The House Of Hammer Magazine, Top Sellers LTD., Undead, VHS, Voodoo, Zombies | Leave a reply
Hammer Horror Halloween Hootenanny!
Posted on November 2, 2013 by bloodlinematt
It's Halloween, and I hope you have a bellyful of sweet treats and are ready to have some spooky fun with me here at Rotten Ink. Halloween has always been special to me, and I can remember looking forward to this holiday more than any other and loving the cool fall weather with the leaves on the ground and a chill in the air as my brother and I would dress up and have our pillow cases ready for some door to door begging for candy. In the early years, our Mom would of course go with us as our Dad would pass out candy at our house. Then as we got older, we went on our own or with a group of friends. Those of you who grew up in a small town or even fellow Waynesville kids that grew up with me know how magical this holiday felt back in the day before all the rules and Stranger Danger took full effect…but wait we did have the Satanic Panic at that time but even that could not stop us from having a good time. One thing that I would love to do some Halloween soon is what I spoke about before, have friends like Josh Weinberg, Stephen Alexander, Garrison Kane, Dave Wean, Maurice Blurton, Henrique Couto, Juliet Fromholt and a few others and sit around a fire in the middle of the woods on a cold fall night and exchange spooky stories and real legends. Now that would be a real fun time. So for the first Halloween day update, I decided that I would go all out and have a spooky kooky packed house of things to talk about from horror host Count Gregula who answered 5 Questions, all the way to a scary trip to old amusement park Fantasy Farm! But the main attraction will be my look at Hammer Films. I will talk about some of the films and actors that made this English company an icon of horror. I will also be reading comics based on Hammer films at real haunted locations in and around Dayton. But enough with this introduction, let's get to the scary and weird stuff, shall we?
To start things off, I figured we would take a look at Chicago horror host Count Gregula. In 1998, a Vampire attended a Halloween party held by horror host icon Svengoolie, and this inspired this cool ghoul into becoming a host himself. After centuries being undead the option of showing cheesy horror films seemed like a great idea. In 2005 his first show called "Count Gregula's Crypt" aired as he hosted the film Night Of The Living Dead. After two episodes, the show took a break and came back on the air in 2007 when he hosted Missile To The Moon and would again take a small break until 2010 when he scared viewers once more by coming back to TV/DVD with the hosting of the films Grave Of The Vampire and Eegah. Count Gregula would go on to also interview celebrities on his Youtube account as well as guest on many other horror host shows. In 2011 he also starred in a film called The Giant Rubber Monster Movie where he was able to show his acting fangs. On his show Gregula is joined by his wife Countess Gregula, the Daughter of Satan, and The Children of The Night. The Gregula's were also some of the first none Ohio hosts to fully support and stand beside Baron Von Porkchop as he started hosting movies with his show Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre. So now that you know a little about Gregula, let's get to what I call " 5 Questions With Count Gregula"!
Me: So tell me about your show, and that wicked cool theater you host your movies from in your crypt?
Gregula: Vell, ve host the good old classic horror movies that all of us grew up vith as little monsters. Only thing is that ve don't have access to that theater anymore, but ve are planning on doing a live stage show version of COUNT GREGULA'S CRYPT in the near future! Keep checking my sites for further details.
Me: Very cool, live hosting is always fun. I have seen Dr. Creep and A. Ghastlee Ghoul host movies live and it's been a real treat if your a horror host fan. So what horror hosts of the past inspired you to become a host yourself?
Gregula: Son of Svengoolie (a.k.a. Svengoolie) & Elvira!
Me: Both are so great and both are in the Horror Host Hall of Fame, proving how inspiring they were to viewers. So this is something I have always wanted to know: does drinking blood ever get old? And if the artificial blood like True Blood (from the HBO show of the same name) was real, would you drink it or stay with the fresh stuff?
Gregula: Drinking blood never gets old! Only the people I drink from get old. *vink* Oh, it has to be the fresh stuff! Nothing beats tapping a vein!
Me: No fake stuff for you. I guess nothing does beat fresh on whatever your choice of drink is, well besides wine, the older the better. You travel around to many conventions of all types. Who has been the one movie star you have been most hyped to meet and interview and what horror host as well?
Gregula: Finally interviewing Pat Priest (Marilyn Munster) of THE MUNSTERS made me the most hyped because I missed meeting her several years ago vhen I made the trip all the vay to Texas for a special Munster Masquerade that I vas invited to attend. I heard she vas too sick to make the trip there herself. I even mention about vaiting all these years to meet and interview her in my video and she seemed very pleased. Interviewing horror host Svengoolie vas my nightmare come true vithout a doubt!
Me: It's always nice to meet a star you always have wanted to. Sadly we are on our fifth question so I will ask something that my readers and I must know: who is the better Dracula: Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee?
Gregula: Bela Lugosi of corpse! He is the BEAST claws down!
Me: I am a Lugosi man myself, but I still have a hard time picking. Both are so great as that character. So once more thanks for answering these five questions for us.
Gregula is such a fun undead ghoul to be around and at one Horrorhound Baron Von Porkchop, Juliet and I went out to eat with him and the Countess and he was in his full vampire gear and made for one fun dinner. Also in the Dayton market on DATV during the HHU (Horror Host Underground) showcase that plays when Baron is off filming a new season, we from time to time show an episode or two of his show. If you want to learn more about Count Gregula and his Crypt you can also always check out his website www.count-gregula.com. I would also like to show off a cool piece of artwork that was done by my talented friend Justin Wasson of Count Gregula that was made for the upcoming comic idea I had called "Who's Who of Late Night Horror Hosting".
Speaking of artwork, while listening to my friends Jason and Eric's podcast Gutter Trash, I found out about some cool projects that could have been made into a comic book series and a TV show based on the classic Vincent Price Horror Film "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" done by comic book icon Jack Kirby that looks like it would have been called "The Sinister Dr. Phibes"! Yeah, so think about that, a comic drawn by Kirby that would have been a companion piece to a weekly TV show based around Phibes who according to gossip would have had him as a detective working for the good of mankind and not for his quest of revenge. Phibes is said to have use his masks and traps to capture criminals, and the issues were rumored to have came out via DC Comics. I can't tell you how amazing this comic series would have been, and I for one would have gotten them and for sure they would have been used as an update on this very blog! Test artwork came to light when the original art went up for sale on Ebay and many say that it was Kirby's nephew that was selling off much of the artwork. With this Ebay auction also came questions and the guessing game to what it was drawn for and this is one big puzzle that has many internet "answers." What ever the reason it was drawn, it's a sweet piece of artwork that I wish would have gotten a full comic series. Below is the original artwork as well as a colored version done by a fan and of course of pic of Price as Phibes.
In the 1960's and 70's, a Bigfoot like creature frozen in a block of ice traveled around state fairs, carnivals, sideshows and shopping malls as an attraction of the macabre, and the creature was called The Minnesota Iceman. People all over America and Canada paid money to see this creature in the ice who had a back story told by the body's owner Frank Hansen. He said the Iceman was shot and killed in Siberia and that it's true owner was a rich man who allowed him to travel around showing the creature off to all who want to pay and see it. Some people at the time thought that the Iceman could be a caveman, a person that time forgot who was shot and killed, while others thought it was a murder victim who was dressed up to look like a creature so that the killer could hide the body in plain sight. Bigfoot researchers back then have even examined the body and claimed that some of the creatures flesh could be touched via some melted ice and that it was 100% real and was proof that Bigfoot is real! The body even caused some panic at the Canadian border when officials would not allow it to cross because it was a cadaver, but after some smooth words Hansen was able to get it across. But in the late 1970's the Iceman just vanished from the public eye and as quickly as it hit the sideshow scene it disappeared, causing many people to wonder what had happened to the evidence that Bigfoot was real. But like all things, not everyone believed that The Minnesota Iceman was real and many labeled it as a hoax claiming that it was nothing more than a prop to con people out of their money. Eyewitnesses and some photos of the creature showed it to be a hairy humanoid that stood about 6 feet tall and had a bullet wound to its eye, and many say that its arm appeared to be broken. For many this sight was horrifying and chilled the bones of many customers. For years the Iceman was missing until this year (2013) when The Minnesota Iceman showed up….on… Ebay for sale! The listing blew the top off what the creature was and stated it was in fact a hoax and was crafted by a team that later went on to work for Disney. The Minnesota Iceman sold for an accepted offer to a man who plans on putting it on display in Texas. This marks the end of what the Iceman was, fact or fiction and thanks to Ebay it's been proven as a hoax. But while the body and freezer sold online, many think that the Ebay listing was the true hoax and that the real body of the iceman is still out there. Only time will tell what the true fate of the Iceman is and rest assured, I will be waiting to discover the truth. I should also say that I learned about the Iceman from a old book I checked out from the library in Waynesville and after seeing the creature's picture I became obsessed with finding out all I could about it and spent many days reading about it. Once the internet hit I would spend time trying to find info on where it was….sadly though the image and wonder of the Iceman is now shattered over an online auction for me.
Wow, we have just gotten started and thus far we have talked about horror host Count Gregula, Jack Kirby's could have been Dr. Phibes comic and hoax of The Minnesota Iceman, and yet we have so much more to come! So now I would like to talk to you about a moment in my life that scared that crap out of me. While it was not a near death experience or a Halloween prank gone bad, it was a moment that has stuck with me for years. I was about 8 or 9 years old, and for summer vacation my parents took me and my brother to Fantasy Farm, an amusement park and petting zoo in Middletown, Ohio, a place that we would go every summer (that or Americana) to ride all the rides and pet and feed all the animals. Two events at Fantasy Farm always stick with me, and one is more traumatic for me than the other so let's get to the less scary one first. As you long time readers know, I grew up as a monster kid and loved everything horror. At Fantasy Farm, they had a haunted house ride with the side of the building was painted with images of Dracula, The Wolfman and Frankenstein's Monster and I can remember taking my old camera out and snapping a picture (that I still have to this day and that I will post on here for you all to see) and before we went in I remember my brother Bryan teasing me about how scary the ride was going to be and how Frankenstein's Monster was going to grab me. I acted like I was not scared, but to be honest I was terrified. Back then I believed what my brother said and didn't understand he was just teasing and having fun and adding to the horror of the haunted house ride. Bryan and my Dad were in one car, and my Mom and I were in the other. I still was acting tough and as if the horrors that awaited me in the ride were nothing but pure cheese and nothing to be scared of. All the while I was waiting for Frankenstein's Monster to jump out and get me! As the ride started I had this idea that I would close my eyes, making it so that he could not find me in the dark. I missed the ride but heard all the spooky sounds, and it just added to the fear that was building up in me. At one point my Mom, not knowing that my brother said anything about him, said look it's Frankenstein as the attraction had a cardboard version of The Monster and this triggerd the "this is the end" moment for me, but in seconds nothing happened and I opened my eyes as we approached the end of the ride and I remember a skeleton. After the ride my Dad and brother made fun of me for having my eyes closed but deep inside I was just happy to have not been taken away by The Monster! But the scare of Frankenstein's Monster getting me was nothing compared to the terror that awaited me in the petting zoo! Besides monsters, I also love animals and one of the highlights of Fantasy Farm was always petting and feeding the animals. It was always cool feeding goats corn that they would eat from your hand. But this one time we went into one of the barns that held the animals, and I spent time petting cows and other barn yard animals and in the last stall in the barn was a giant bison. I mean he was huge and as I walked up to this massive animal he started to make this weird snorting and throat noise and he locked on staring at me. I was scared yet I still walked forward and stuck my hand out to pet him, as my hand touched his face he let out a load snort and I jumped back at least 4 feet and was scared as this giant animal kept making noises. Needless to say I got they hell out of dodge. The moment when that Bison snorted could have been one of the biggest scares I had ever gotten in my life. Sadly Fantasy Farm is gone, and it's a shame as it was a place I would have loved to taken my future kids to. I blame Kings Island for it's departure.
By 1955 with the Universal Comedy film "Abbott and Costello Meet The Mummy," the end of the classic monster movies based on Dracula, Wolfman, Frankenstein and The Mummy had came to an end. By this time the classic monsters were not treated as scary but as jokes as the horrors of the real world and the coming atomic age seemed much scarier. But by 1958 with the release of Horror of Dracula, classic monsters were making a comeback and this time they were laced with blood and large breasted women. The company responsible was English company Hammer who up to this point were known more for film noir movies. With the success of the film they found that making horror films was more profitable than noir and drama and started turning out films based on many classic monster to the delight of monster kids of the time. Hammer became so popular in in the UK that USA companies took notice as Paramount, Warner Brothers and even Universal started to release their films in theaters across America exposing even more fans to the blood soaked monster mayhem. Hammer was getting so popular in its home country that in 1976 a magazine called "House of Hammer" was released by Top Sellers. The issue showcased Hammer stars and films as well as had comic book adaptations of their popular films. But like all good things, the classic monster film ride came to an end again as Hammer's box office draw dwindled in 1979, and the company closed the production doors until 2007 when a new group came in and breathed life into the company once more and started making films again like Let Me In, The Woman in Black and The Resident. I grew up watching many of the Hammer Horror films, seeing many of them on Commander USA'S Groovie Movies and Super Scary Saturday and then later on VHS tapes. While I liked the Hammer versions of the classic monsters, I still feel Universal did them better, but that said, Hammer was and still is one of my favorite studios to make classic monster movies. They added just the right amount of blood and sleaze to make the viewer think they are watching something they shouldn't be, but at the same time they do so with such class you feel as if the budgets on these films were bigger than they were. I credit a lot of Hammer's early film success to a director named Terrance Fisher who seemed to get the gothic feel and tones of these movies really well and was able to bring that dark and brooding feeling to the movie screens. My friend Chris Workman is a huge Fisher fan and could teach a class at a college about the impact of Hammer films on the horror genre. If you love classic monster and have never seen a Hammer film, do yourself a favor and go watch one. I am sure you'll become a fan just like I did.
The biggest series in all of Hammers classic monster films was its Dracula series that had a total of 9 films that are as follows Horror of Dracula (1958), The Brides of Dracula (1960), Dracula: Price of Darkness (1966), Dracula Has Risen From The Grave (1968), Taste The Blood Of Dracula (1970), Scars of Dracula (1970), Dracula AD 1972 (1972), The Satanic Rites Of Dracula (1973) and ending with The Legend Of The 7 Golden Vampires (1974). In all but two of the films Count Dracula was played by Christopher Lee who grew to dislike and despise the character and films Hammer was making. The rumor goes that he was forced to play the part when studio higher ups said basically that if he did not act as Dracula then a lot of people would be put out of work. As the films went on and Lee grew more bored with the scripts, rumors say that he refused to do the lines because he felt that they were all just so poorly written. But Christopher Lee made for an amazing Dracula and in moments he comes off super scary and in control whenever he's on screen, making for the perfect vampire king.The two films that Lee did not play Dracula were Brides of Dracula, that in fact didn't have Dracula at all in it, and The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires where actor John Forbes-Robertson played Dracula. While Lee might have grown tired of his character, actor Peter Cushing seemed to enjoy playing the hero Van Helsing and played him a total of five times. In this series Dracula has been killed by stake in the heart, frozen in ice, sunlight and even captured in thorns, but after every death by the next film he would come back to life with the help of some numbskull or freak accident. My favorite film in the series has to be Horror of Dracula and my least would be Satanic Rites of Dracula as I feel by that time they were running out of ideas and putting Dracula again in modern times like they did in Dracula AD 1972 and it just lost its charm. Over all while Hammer's Dracula films were great, the next series was my favorite!
Before Dracula Hammer gave Frankenstein and his monster a try and made The Curse of Frankenstein in 1957 that was followed by a total of 6 sequels. Unlike the classic Universal series their Frankenstein series focused on the Doctor and not the monster, as each movie had a new monster and the same Doctor almost always played by the amazing Peter Cushing, with Ralph Bates playing him in Horror of Frankenstein. The films in that series are as follows: The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), The Evil of Frankenstein (1964), Frankenstein Created Woman (1967), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969), The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) and Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell (1974). Baron Von Frankenstein in the Hammer films was a selfish man who did whatever he wanted in order to make his creations work, from murder to rape! Changing the focus of the movies and taking away the likable element of the Doctor allowed Hammer to make the characters their own. These are by far my favorite series done by Hammer with my favorite film being Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell and my lest favorite being Revenge of Frankenstein. While a good film the "monster" in this film is the weakest. I recommend watching these films if you're in the mood to watch some classic gothic horror with that touch of sleaze and blood.
Besides Dracula and Frankenstein, Hammer did lots of other creatures of the night films! They have done films on vampires, mummies, a werewolf, zombies, devils and so much more, and each of them were well done on lower budgets and had just the right amount of horror to make them chill your blood on late night viewings. As the years passed, Hammer also added in more gore and nudity to try and spice up their films and compete with the boom of Grindhouse and shlock films that were filling up the theaters and drive-ins, and while it made the films more R-rated, the charm of the classic monsters had once more lost it's appeal to movie going audiences. This lead Hammer into trying many different monsters and ideas to stay on top of the growing horror market. I for one am glad that Hammer has risen out of the ashes in the past years and are backing making horror films that are solid shockers with time and passion put into each production. My favorite none Dracula/Frankenstein film has to be Curse of the Werewolf, and my lest favorite is, well, I can't really think of one really! I know that one I have not seen that I really want to is The Gorgon, and I look forward to watching it on DVD or even VHS very soon.
Hammer is also a studio that helped create stars that almost every horror, sci-fi and just movie fans will know! First, we have Christopher Lee, an actor who for Hammer has played Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster and even Sir Henry Baskerville (Hounds of Baskerville) and is known also to me for playing Count Dooku in Star Wars Episode II and III, Stefan Crosscoe in The Howling II, and Doctor Catheter in Gremlins 2: The New Batch among many other roles. Lee, who is 91 years old as of this year (2013) and has also been knighted, is the last remaining true icon of the the classic horror era. Peter Cushing was the true face of Hammer for me and during his amazing career with Hammer stared as Dr. Frankenstein, Van Helsing and even the Sheriff of Nottingham and is also know to me for playing Grand Moff Tarkin is Star Wars Episode IV, Arthur Grimsdyke in Tales From the Crypt, Professor Paul in Legend of the Werewolf and Baron Corofax in Land of the Minotaur. Cushing truly is one of my favorite actors, and sadly he passed away in 1994 at the age of 81. Oliver Reed is another great actor who got his acting chops sharpened in Hammer films with roles like the werewolf Leon Corledo in Curse of the Werewolf, Lord Melton in Sword of Sherwood Forest and a bouncer in The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll to name a few and is also know to me for roles Dr. Hal Raglan in The Brood and Antonius Proximo in Gladiator. Reed was an actor who just seemed to have it and could play any role that he was given. Sadly Reed passed away in 1999 at the age of 61. Lastly I would also like to mention David Prowse, who in the 70's and 80's was the Kane Hodder of his time and could rock a monster suit like it was his job..wait it was his job for Hammer. He played The Monster in Horror of Frankenstein and The Monster from Hell in Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell, and even a Strongman in Vampire Circus. I also know him for Julian The Body Guard in A Clockwork Orange and Darth Vader in Star Wars Episodes IV-VI! Prowse is the man, and don't let George Lucas tell you any different as the two seem to have had a falling out that has lead to Prowse being banned from official Star Wars gatherings. These are also only a drop in the hat of the talented actors, actresses and directors that worked for Hammer!
Besides the blood and monsters, Hammer was also known for its lovely large chested actress who helped add to the gothic and gritty new legends being told about classic monsters. By this time films in the horror genre were changing, but they were still not using females as full eye candy. Hammer figured a way out to get sexy yet talented actresses to star in films and have them showcase their acting talents as well as their massive cleavage! I remember growing up and seeing Hammer movies on TV or VHS and crushing on Hammer starlettes Madeline Smith and Yvonne Romain and being taken by their beauty. Smith drew me in with her amazing eyes and girl next door looks while Romain has the exotic beauty to her. Two of the most popular actresses that worked for them are Raquel Welch and Caroline Munro who both went on to be in bigger Hollywood productions. The women of Hammer are so popular and have made such a mark on fans that many books, magazine articles and conventions showcase them. Now I could spend all Halloween update talking about Madeline Smith and how sexy she is, but you are here to be spooked so let's move on! And for those wonder Smith is the first picture and Romain is second.
So before I dive into the spooky world of Hammer Comics, I would also like to talk about a brief two-day long mini horror movie marathon I had at my apartment with Juliet that consisted of a handful of films and one horror host Halloween special! The first film of the night was the new Child's Play movie called "The Curse of Chucky" where the killer doll comes back one last time to torment a wheelchair bound young lady and her family in a giant mansion. The film was a little slow paced but it was nice to see Chucky back. The second film was "Frankenstein's Army," a neat found footage film about Russian soldiers during World War II that stumble on Dr. Frankenstein who is making an army of monsters! Really cool creature designs, great gore effects and an original plot made this one a good watch. Juliet than wanted to watch "Baron Von Porkchop's Terrifying Tales of the Macabre: Halloween 2012" episode were Baron and Melvin go trick or treating and have a run in with New Burlington's Headless Horseman. The film he is hosting is Werewolf of Ohio! I will say out of all of the specials we shot, this could be one of my favorites. "Razorback" was next, an Australian film based on a giant Razorback hog that is killing people in the outback and has to be stopped by an American who lost his wife to the beast. I waited along time to see this film, and Warner Brothers put it out via their on demand disc burn service and I will say the film is fun. The next day of film watching started with "Wrong Turn 5" that follows a group of collage kids going to a music festival that has a deadly run-in with the inbreed hillbillys. This one was a bloodbath and not as bad as I had heard it was, it was filled with blood, boobs and killers and was just ok. Then we went into "World War Z" about a zombie outbreak that leaves the world at the mercy of the undead and one man must find a way to stop them. I saw this in theaters as well and I must say I liked it, a good PG-13 horror film and nice to see Paramount make a bigger budget horror picture. The next film I went for a Universal Classic with the 1935 film "The Raven" were a mad doctor played by Bela Lugosi sets his sight on a young female he has saved the life of and wants to use torture to get ride of those who stand in his way. The film stars Boris Karloff as well as a disfigured brute who is used as a tool. It's a very fun old black and white horror filmed based very loosely on the work by Edgar Allen Poe that's worth the watch! Next up was the underrated film "Waxworks" about a wax museum that kills people by having them meet the monsters of wax. If enough souls are taken, the horrors of the past and classic monsters are set loose in the world. It's a very cool film that I have loved since I was young, filled with lots of great effects. October horror movie-thons are the best.
So let's get to the comic reviews, and this first Halloween update I have gotten some comics based on Hammer films and I read them at haunted locations in and around the Southwestern Ohio area. Almost all the comics came from a U.K Magazine called House of Hammer and were then made into normal modern sized comics complete with custom covers and numbering! So how this update will go is I will tell you about and share picture of the haunted location and then get into the comic review of the issue I read at the location, and will share the mood and such of the location and if it helped add to the horror of the issue. And as always I want to remind you readers I grade these comics on a 1-4 star ranking and am looking at how well the comic keeps to the source material, its entertainment value, and its art and story. So with this, let's get into some creepy reviews and places!
Carpenters Road in Beavercreek Ohio is the area's most haunted road, and stories of what has happened there have been around for generations. My Dad and his friends use to travel that road to scare dates and each other as the road use to be filled with woods, fields, swamp lands and hardly any lights. When I was a teenager, my friends and I use to go up and down this road late at night hoping to be scared silly, and a few times I am sure our imagination got the best of us. The road has many legends that range from super natural to real life horrors, and many people swear that they have been scared by something on this road. A ghost farmer on a tractor is said to chase off anyone who is parked on the road during the fall months and is said to be very aggressive and mean. A hooked hand killer is said to have once roamed the swamp lands in the area and looked for young couples making out to make them his next victim. A car on prom night is said to have crashed on the street's sharp turn killing the young couple, and it's said on late nights you can see the car crash and watch as the ghosts of the two killed teens climb out of the ditch. This is said to work if you turn your car lights on and off three times than exit the car and watch the horrific event unfold before your eyes. The most popular ghost on the road is that of a man who hung himself from one of the roads large trees in the 1970's. It's said if you park your car under the tree at midnight and turn off your head lights, you can hear the mans feet drag across your roof top and hear him moan and gasp for air! So on this road I have one legend killer, one mean farmer ghost and three sad case spirits who left this world before they should have! Some scary stuff happens here, and it still remains a popular destination for teens around Halloween.
So with that let's get into our first comic as at Carpenters Road I read "Curse Of The Werewolf"!
Curse of the Werewolf # 1 ***
Released in 1978 Cover Price 35p Top Sellers # 1 of 1
An old beggar makes the mistake of wandering into the castle of a lord who has just gotten married, and after he is made into a fool, he is locked into a dungeon where he grows into a savage man that attacks a maid some years later who has been locked up for not making out with the now old and creepy lord of the manor. She is raped, and once she is let out, she kills the lord and escapes into the night where she is found by writer Alfredo and his sister Teresa who nurse her back to health. Sadly she dies in child birth, and they raise the woman's son Leon as their own nephew. But young Leon has something very wrong with him as he is struck with the curse of the werewolf and kills the locals farmers sheep, and while a werewolf he is shot by the local hunter and returns home were his uncle discovers his dark secret. Years pass and Leon grows up and leaves home and takes a job at a winery where he meets the owners lovely yet soon to be married daughter Cristina who he falls madly in love with. Leon can't control his sinister curse and kills his co-worker and some female bargoers and roams the land as a werewolf. This murder leads to him going to jail where he transforms once more at the full moon and runs wild in the village and Alfredo uses a silver bullet and kills him as sadness rushes over him as well as Cristina and Teresa for the loss of a man they all truly loved.
Curse of The Werewolf transfers to a comic really well, even if major plot changes happen from the lack of Cristina's fiance to the rush death of his co-worker this short comic adaptation does it right and makes you almost forget about the elements that are missing. The one thing that doesn't work as well is how fast and out of nowhere it seems that Leon and Cristina fall in love. The werewolf murders are all done fast paced, and all the blood is left out making this a bloodless horror comic. While it would have been nice to see the red stuff, it doesn't effect the well written story line or the likeable characters. Leon is a sad case and is a man who really just wants to live a normal life, hold a job and find true love and once he leaves his hometown this all goes to hell when his curse of being a werewolf runs wild. The town hunter in the comic plays a smaller role, but it's still his silver bullet that brings down the blood thirsty beast. Cristina is used in the comic as both a love interest and a trigger as her first rejection of Leon is what sets the curse back off. The story is simple a baby is born out of rape on Christmas Day, and this is a bad omen and causes him to have a curse of being a werewolf. The love of his adoptive family keeps the curse at bay for years until he grows older and moves away and the rejection of a woman he falls for triggers the curse back up and in the end love is what has to kill the beast once and for all. The artwork is amazing, and I truly wish more comics would have been made about Leon so artist John Bolton could have worked on them and made them looked as stylish and artistic as this issue. The cover is also very eye catching and would have been a perfect match on comic shelves with the likes of Werewolf By Night and Tombs Of Dracula. Over all this is an amazing good creepy comic that should be read by fans of the Hammer film and fans of horror comics.
The day I read this, Carpenters Road was covered with fog and the sky was grey. I parked near the swamp where the hook handed killer was said to have prowled and began the trip into werewolf madness. The fog helped add to the creepy feel, and I was very much getting into the over all feeling of the comic. The downside is that many cars passed and this broke the brooding danger feel of the location. The area has changed for the worse as many new houses and even the back of a giant high school are now around. The curve where the wreck was to have taken place is now gone and has given way to a new housing neighborhood. The hanging tree has been cut down and even the stump removed! The only things left is the swamp of the hook handed killer and the field of the ghost farmer. Nothing happened this evening of reading and while the fog and swamp made the reading more fun, it's a shame that what use to be a kick butt haunted road is now just a shell of what it once was.
Woodland Cemetery in Dayton is the area's most haunted site, hosts many spooky stories, and is one of the oldest graveyards in the area. The cemetery is the final resting place for many famous people such as Wilbur & Orville Wright, inventors and first humans to fly in a flying machine, Loren M. Berry the inventor of the Yellow Pages, James Ritty inventor of the cash register, Leslie Carter silent film actress in movies like Rocky Mountain Mystery and The Heart of Maryland, not to mention the King and Queen of the Gypsies Levi and Matilda Stanley are also buried there. But while it's a peaceful and lovely place, it also is a source of many haunts that include a blonde college teenage girl who wears jeans, a stripped shirt and white shoes who talks to those she comes in contact with. It's also said the gravestone she hangs out around glows blue/green at night. She is said to haunt the area because she is mad that she is buried so far away from her father and this is her way at getting back at those she thinks did this as well as fill her loneliness. The cemetery is also said be haunted by many other ghosts from all ages and decades and many "orbs" have been seen in the area. The most famous ghosts are that of Johnny Morehouse, a five year old boy who drowned in a canal and his dog who died at his gravesite when it refused to leave its deceased master's side. Johnny and his dog's ghost can be seen walking in the cemetery after close through the gates and his dog's bark can be heard at night. His tombstone also has a statue of him and his dog that was put up in 1861 to honor their bond. This is a perfect place to read issue's one and two in the Hammer Dracula series so I will be covering Horror of Dracula and Brides of Dracula at this amazing and creepy place!
Now let's get spooky and take a read of the first two issues of Hammers Dracula.
Horror of Dracula # 1 ***1/2
Johnathon Harker is an invited guest to Castle Dracula to look over some papers, but that first night you see that he is not just there to look at papers but to try and find the real secret of who and what Dracula is. He hides his journal in the woods near the castle and finds that he is in the mist of vampires as Dracula and his bride show him their true nature. The next nigh,t Harker kills the bride but in return is killed by Dracula himself who is now on his way to the Harker home to seduce and turn his soon to be wife Lucy into a vampire. Van Helsing, a long time friend of Harker's, has found the journal and is on a quest to kill Dracula and save Lucy, but sadly he is too late as Lucy becomes one of the vampire brides. Her brother Arthur is the one to end her blood sucking ways, but this death also angers Dracula who now has sights set on Arthur's wife Mina! Van Helsing and Arthur are tricked, and Mina becomes a slave to the vampire king. The two vampire hunters track him down at his castle, and it's Van Helsing that uses sun light and a cross to burn the vampire to death and free Mina's soul.
This comic book is AMAZING! I enjoyed every second of it and found it to be very close to the film that it's based on. Van Helsing is a great hero, and this first issue shows that while he is smart, he is not yet the vampire killer he soon will be in many other issues and films. The artwork also makes the character look like actor Peter Cushing, who played him in the film, and this helped add to the mood and vibe of the comic that sucked me in. Dracula is a pimp in this comic and truly loves the ladies as he jumps from bride to would-be bride with the drop of a stake in the heart. Plus when he is mad in this comic, his rage comes out and his fangs are flashed. The rest of the supporting characters in this little vampire romp are all well written and each serves a purpose. The death of Dracula looks great and seeing his face being burnt by the sun is stuff of nightmares. The comic takes its time and builds the story and captures the true soul of a Hammer film. This is why I think that this issue will be hard to beat for any of the following Dracula issues, and I for one wish that this would have been made into a comic series that would have 100% truly followed each film. I could not find the artist who drew this comic but I must say he did a fantastic job, and each character looks like the actor who played them on film. His Lee Dracula is stunning and made the horror kid in me very happy to see. The cover is okay and the use of Yellow makes it very eye catching, but the cover art does not do the comic justice as the work inside is so much better.
Well let's move onto Brides of Dracula and see how well issue 2 compares to the first.
Brides of Dracula # 2 **1/2
Marianne Danielle is a young woman who is left by her coach driver near an inn where she meets and befriends an older woman named Baroness Meinster who invites her to stay at her castle. Marianne, while in her room, looks out her window and sees a man standing on the balcony below. She finds out that he is Count Meinster, the Baroness' son who is supposed to be a mad man. When she sees him again, it looks as if he is going to jump off the balcony to kill himself, and Marianne rushes to stop him to find that he is chained to the wall. She is shocked by his treatment as he seems real sweet to her and cons her into getting the key to free him and she does just that. Count Meinster is in fact a vampire and turns his own mother into one setting his site to make Marianne his bride. Enter Van Helsing, who gets wind of the vampire and sets out to stop him and save Marianne from his evil grip. Along the way Count Meinster turns a friend of Marianne's into a vampire and she tries to trick her one time friend into following her so that Count Meinster can turn her too! Van Helsing has a final battle with Count Meinster at a mill and uses holy water and the blades of the windmill as a cross and kills the vampire.
This second issue is a fun quick read, but the quickness of it is also its down fall. It's only 13 pages long, and the story moves so quickly that I didn't get an attachment to or fear any of the characters. That's a shame as I feel that the story line was really well done. The comic does follow the film but as one would guess, large chunks have been cut out. Count Meinster is a smooth talking vampire whose reign of terror could have been avoided if Marianne just left the blood sucker alone like his mother told her to. Marianne, while sweet in nature, does not fully get to shine in the comic like she does in the film. I did find myself trying to get behind her in the comic. Van Helsing is once more back as the hero, and in this issue he is more than ready to kick some vampire butt and even when things go south for him, when he looses his cross, he makes due with what he has and gets the job done. The story is simple girl enters house, helps a stranger who in turn is a crazed vampire and she spends time trying not to become his next meal while a hero comes to her aid and rids the area of his curse. The art work is well done like all of these comics thus far ,and once more I could not find the artist's name who did this cool short comic. The cover is good but not great and is a take on the official movie poster. Over all it's a good follow up but not in the same league as issue one.
On the day I went to read these comics, Woodland Cemetery was quiet and a cool slight breeze was in the air. I was pretty relaxed to read these, and the lack of sounds around me made the mood just right. I read them both pretty fast and had very little interruption making the time nice and not very spooky. I wish I could have gotten into the cemetery at night as I feel that this would have been the prime time to get the true spooky feel, imagine sitting around the grave of Johnny Morehouse with a flashlight reading about Count Dracula and Count Meinster while the moon is full and the air chilled, and as you turn a page you hear a dog bark….now that would have been amazing! Over all not much to report on the reading of these two besides Woodland is a beautiful place to relax and read a comic.
To finish out Hammer's Dracula series of "Dracula Prince of Darkness" and "Legend of The 7 Golden Vampires," we will be reading them at Yellow Springs, a place filled with many ghost and ghouls, a perfect small town to read these spooky comics. The town is the home of many ghosts like the "Thunderstorm Ghost," who is a woman who was stuck and killed my lightning durning a thunderstorm at the turn of the century near an oak tree. It's said when she was found, her face was stuck in a half scream and her arms were outright, and it's said that durning thunderstorms if you go and sit under that oak tree that when lighting flashes you can see the woman's ghost looking the same twisted way she was found. "The Jersey Angel" is the ghost of a 1870's cattle rancher named Joseph S. Saberton who was the first rancher to bring Jersey Cows to the area and was land owner of what would be now John Bryan State Park. Joseph was a good man who loved his cows so much he gave them all names and treated them not just as livestock but as pets. Joseph passed away from an infection and asked to be buried in his pasture next to his cows, and it's said after his death and even after his cows had been sold off, late at night you can hear Joseph call for his cattle. The ghost of Helen Birch Barlett, for whom The Glen Helen Nature Preserve is named, is said to haunt the woods around the area. In life Helen was said to have been a spoiled brat who died at a young age of cancer. "Woman in Blue" is an angry ghost that brings down the vibe at The Olde Trail Traven and knocks things off the walls and counters an is always in a foul mood. "The Twilight Man" is one of the towns biggest legends. He is a ghost who walks the roads at night wearing a blue shirt, overalls and a red handkerchief around his neck and always has his left hand in his pocket he just walks the road and disappears before he reaches Meredith Road. Other takes on Twilight Man have him being a man in a car who watches and does sinister things, almost like a small town serial killer! Besides these, many other ghosts and orbs have been seen all over town and on the Antioch College campus. So with that, I am going to kick back and read these two comics outside near John Bryan Park, Near Town and Near the Collage wish me luck that the Twilight Man doesn't get me!
I should note that I am a dork and didn't bring a camera to all these locations, so I would like to send a big thank you to all the people who took these pics! I did take two of the pictures at Carpenters Road with my crappy cell phone…go me! Well, let's get back to the creepy and Dracula.
Dracula Prince of Darkness # 3 **1/2
A group of travelers are stuck at the side of a road and speak of how while in town no one would give them a ride near the old castle at night. The travelers are Alan, his wife Helen, his brother Charles and his wife Diana, and they are shocked when an un-maned stage coach comes for them and takes them to the castle where they meet Klove, the servant of the dead Count Dracula who has rooms and a meal waiting for them. That night Klove tricks Alan into following him into the basement where he kills him and drains his blood into the coffin of Dracula's ashes. The blood brings him back to life! Kove then tricks Helen into the basement and she becomes the first new bride of Dracula as her husband's body hangs from the ceiling with his neck slit. As Diana and Charles wake up the next morning, they see that their family members are gone and that something is not right with the castle so they flee. But Charles can't leave his brother behind and after returning he finds that his sister in law is now a vampire and that his brother is dead! Klove tricks Diana to return to the castle and after a run in with Dracula and vampire Helen, the couple barely escape and have a terrible coach wreck and are rescued by Father Shandor who takes them to the church for safety. But they are only safe for a short time as Dracula, Klove and vampire Helen come for Diana, and a battle breaks out that leaves Klove and Helen dead and Diana kidnapped by Dracula! In the end Dracula tries to escape with Diana over a frozen river and meets his doom when they break the ice from under his feet and he falls into the moving water below.
The third issue in the Hammer Dracula series is pretty good but does lack the charm of the film as a 90 minute movie got squeezed into a 16 page comic book. The story has Charles and Helen's battle to survive from the grip of Dracula and meeting their only hope Father Shandor who teaches them how to out smart and kill the vampire king with nothing more than running water. Sadly, you don't get a full attachment to either Helen or Charles as they are not fleshed out enough for me to truly care about. Helen is given less than Charles who kind of is a laughable hero in this comic because he kind of just in a round about way manhandles Dracula with lame stuff like makeshift crosses and ice covered water. Dracula is as always bad ass, but man is his death in this comic as well as the movie lame. Ice is shot from under his feet and he falls into the running water below and dies…yep, I know that could be the worst death of a vampire ever. In the issue Dracula kills zero people and transforms only one person into a vampire. Dracula seems more into scoring Diana than killing and feeding in this comic. Klove, the strange servant of Dracula, is one sadistic son of a gun and tries to kill a few and at least has the body count of one. Vampire Helen seems like a second thought in this comic and is killed off pretty fast. While an extra threat to the heros, she is wasted. Father Shandor takes the place of Van Helsing, and while he is interesting, he is not as cool. In fact I feel that he comes off a little preachy with his advice on how to kill vampires. The art in this comic is done by John Bolton, who is known for his work on such comics as Kull, X-Men Classics, Man-Bat and The Book of Magic, and it looks amazing! His drawings of Christopher Lee's Dracula is very well done and makes this all right comic adaptation a little better. Bolton's style has an almost solid pencil look to it, and his shading is well done and makes his work pop. The cover on this issue is also pretty eye catching, and I am sure caught the eye of horror kids of 1977! Over all this issue is just okay with a rushed storyline, cheesy Dracula death, great artwork and some creepy classic monster moments.
After this issues 4-8 have been M.I.A. for decades. Many think they were never made, while others say they are lost in a haunted crypt. This brings us to our next issue, "7 Golden Vampires." So let's chill our blood some more here in Yellow Springs, test our luck against Twilight Man, and read the last issue in the Hammer Dracula series.
7 Golden Vampires ***
Dracula kills a man who is in charge of guarding the legendary 7 Golden Vampires, and after killing him Dracula takes his appearance. Meanwhile across the world, Van Helsing is giving a lecture about the legend of the golden vampires when he gets a visit from a man named Hsi Ching, who tells him that the legend is true and that he comes from that village and needs his help to stop the remaining 6 Golden Vampires who wish to avenge the death of the 7th on the seventh moon! Leyland Van Helsing, his son, and a rich young widow Vanessa Buren are attacked by a warlord, and his men and are saved by Ching's brothers. This act and the money of Vanessa send the Van Helsings, The Chings and Vanessa on a quest to stop the 6 Golden Vampires who attack along the way. The battles are filled with lots of death, and both sides lose many. Once more Van Helsing tricks the overly cocky Dracula into showing himself to be staked,and as the vampire king dies so do the remaining golden vampires. Once more peace is brought to the small village.
This final issue in the Hammer Dracula comic series is well done and is a comic adaptation of a film done right. The down side of the comic is the fact it is very talkie and the action seems like the second thought and is crammed into only a few panels while the long talks of legend and fears seem to take up pages. In the issue Dracula is not in his true image for most of it nor is his taken image….in fact Dracula is barely in the comic at all! Dracula in the issue is just not a threat at all and is almost forgotten about. Not to mention Van Helsing kicks his butt quickly in the end, and this makes the supposed vampire King look like a cheap fool. The 7 Golden Vampires while spoken about being complete evil killing machines, they don't kill as many of the brothers as the reader would think and makes them more of a threat than Dracula but still not totally challenging. Van Helsing is the main hero of the story, and he is once more filled with the knowledge and the means to kill some vampires. His son Leyland seems to be thrown into the mix only to fall in love with the Chings' only sister. This is the drama that was needed to make the film have some "oh no" moments as his love is kidnapped by the vampires. The Ching brothers are cool and have an almost Shaw Brothers feel to them that comes out even on the comic pages. They are bad asses, and they know it. Vanessa Buren seems like a background character until she turns into a vampire and is killed by her crush Tsi Ching who also kills himself in freeing his would-be lover's soul. Over all the comic is well done and got three stars for sticking pretty close to the movie and making the pages they had very enjoyable. Thoough this is a sad way to end the Hammer Dracula comics and not to mention the film series with a weak lame Dracula who does not look like nor is played by Christopher Lee. Sadly I could not find who did the artwork in this issue, but I will say that its well done and captures the feel of the film. The cover is also well done and is very eye catching! Over all I would say a good issue with a cool story that has the worst payout for any iconic bad guy character, but is totally worth a read.
While reading these comics in Yellow Springs, the sun was going down and a slight breeze was in the air making it a little chilly. Noises of birds and squirrels in the trees filled the air as well as the thuds of walnuts falling from the trees echoed like sounds of heavy footsteps pounding the ground. Fall was in full effect this day and the atmosphere was just right. Bugs were all over the air flying around in large groups and landing on my arms making me have to swat at them to knock them away. As I sat on a old park bench in the middle of a field that had trees all around me making almost a perfect circle that I was trapped in, I waited to hear a whistle or a ghostly noise from something from beyond the grave! After Dracula Prince of Darkness, I heard and saw nothing besides normal nature sounds. So for 7 Golden Vampires I decided to walk around and read, as the sun was fading fast the air got a little cooler and helped add to the spooky nature of the Golden Vampires. But sadly after reading this comic and being in Yellow Spring,s I can 100% say that while the atmosphere was right the evening of reading, these comics just was not scary. So here is to hoping I can get a creepy charge from Frankenstein's Castle!
Frankenstein's Castle/Witches Tower is a haunted tower in Kettering that is the source of many haunts and strange things. The "Castle" is the source of many orb spottings all around it that interfere with people taking pictures and video of the area. A ghostly blacked cloak figure can be seen at the top peering over and watching people below late nights. It's said that the cloaked figure is a witch who curses those who get to close. A shadow man roams the woods near by and has been known to kill animals and chase cars of those who cross its path. The ghosts of four teens who were killed inside the tower during a thunderstorm that had lightning hitting the metal rail as they climbed down, are also said to haunt around the tower. The giant metal monument of Henry Patterson is also said to be haunted and that the book he carries is said to have occult writings in it, and the head of the horse he is riding is said to follow you. The tower itself seems to be a mystery as no one can find why it was built and by whom. I have been to this location and the woods around it many times late at night and have in fact had some odd things happen mostly having to do with the shadow man, I have also had camera issues around the tower that at one point locked up a camera that we were using to film an episode of Terrifying Tales of the Macabre. I very much look forward to reading Curse of Frankenstein in this area and wish that Eric and Kurt could have gotten "Frankenstein and The Monster From Hell" comic adaption done in time. But like all good things, these things take time ,and I will review it and do a whole write up on that film and comic when it's done. Well with that, let's get scared and have some spooky times at Frankenstein's Castle.
Yep, just look at it….I know its creepy and yet super cool!
The Curse Of Frankenstein # 1 ***
Baron Victor Frankenstein along with his good friend Paul are robbing bodies from graves and hangmen nooses to try and build a new super being and to give life to the dead. Paul is getting cold feet and is backing out of helping, and to make things worse Elizabeth, Frankenstein's fiance, has come to live at the castle and he has very strong feelings for her. Frankenstein continues his experiment and even hides the fact he has been sleeping with his maid from everyone. His obsession gets worse as he kills an old Professor friend for his brain that is damaged when Paul and him have a fight over what he is doing. The Monster awakens and is out of control and escapes, and this leaves Paul and Frankenstein having to shoot and kill the Monster and bury its body in the woods. But as days pass Frankenstein can't let his creation go that easily and digs it up and brings it to life once more. This time he fixes the damaged brain, and the Monster acts more like a dumb dog than a raged-filled monster. This doesn't last long as The Monster kills the maid and tries to kill Elizabeth, leaving Frankenstein to have to torch his monster with an oil lamp and knock it into acid. But it's not a happy ending for Frankenstein as he loses Elizabeth to Paul who also does not come to his friends aid, and he is hung for the murder of his maid.
This comic adaption is super fun, even if the first six pages are super fuzzy and are hard to read. The comic is filled with sinister deeds and paints Victor Frankenstein to be an evil man who does what he wants when he wants and will take a life if it benefits his needs. That's what makes Victor one of the best bad guys of any of these comics; while Dracula and Leon are monsters, Victor is a real man who does not feel bad for his deeds. Paul plays the good guy who for the most part is also kind of a scum bag as he had helped Victor up to a point and only started to get odd about it once it came close to the monster getting life. The Monster, while a killer, doesn't do much in this comic and is more of a tool to show the evils of its creator. I like the fact that Frankenstein has a lovely woman in his life, but also likes to slum it and get some of his maid who he kind of treats like a no good whore. The fact that Frankenstein dies in the end of this issue just like in the film is shocking and helps add to the message that being an evil doctor with a bad heart leads to death. The comic captures the mood and terror of the film, and right behind "Horror Of Dracula" this could be one of the better comics we looked at this Halloween. It's crazy to think that no other Hammer Frankenstein comics were made because this series of films were perfect for comics. The art work is well done and once more no artist name was given. The cover is one of the better in the Hammer comic series. Over all this is a great read and I recommend finding this one.
Frankenstein's Tower was in full effect when I went to read this comic, and the leaves were falling from the trees all around. The sounds of people in the park filled the air, and the air was chilled and that perfect temperature to read a horror comic in. Sounds of leaves blowing around and animals running about filled the air as The Monster came alive in the comic. After reading the issue, I drove around the park at night and waited for The Shadow Man who didn't come this night, but I could kind of see The Black Cloaked Witch at the top of the tower. I am sure it was all in my head, right?
What would Halloween be without a fantasy warfare? So in this one we will pit Hammer's heavy hitters Count Dracula, Leon The Werewolf and Victor Frankenstein against each other at a haunted Ohio location known as Prospect Place that is filled with many hauntings and ghost. The day the battle will take place is Halloween Night, and the moon is full. A storm is coming, but for now the stars are bright. So let's get into this epic battle of Hammer Horror icons!
The moon is full and is shinning and a storm is blowing in at the old mansion that is known as Prospect Place. Inside near one of the windows is an oil lamp, and a man sitting at a makeshift desk writing down notes of the morning's failed experiment. The man is none other than Baron Victor Frankenstein! The air is so cold he warms his gloved burnt hands over the lamp and is deciding if he should try and get some sleep. Meanwhile in one of the second story rooms, a coffin sits. Inside is Count Dracula sleeping in the box filled with his home land's soil, and he his now getting up and looking for a blood snack. The coffin door creaks and this noise alerts Frankenstein who now knows he is not alone in this creepy old place. He makes a decision to leave the old house and hold up in the barn until morning for he knows he can't be seen because he is a wanted man for all his crimes against God. The Baron turns off the lamp and grabs his top hat and slips out the front door. As he looks back he sees that a man is watching him leave the house. Unbeknownst to him, that man is Dracula who has just found his next victim. Victor rushes to the barn to fetch his horse. He has been seen, and he knows it's time for him to leave and not look back. As he enters the barn, he finds that his horse has been killed, and a werewolf is the killer. As the beast is drinking the blood from an open wound on the dead animal's neck, Victor backs up slowly and right into Dracula who lets out an unearthly hiss. This noise alerts the werewolf who now is up and ready for a fight! The Werewolf lunges toward Victor who just in time side steps, and the werewolf tackles Dracula instead. This enrages the vampire king who in turn grabs the beast by the neck and starts to squeeze. As Dracula's death grip tightens Victor runs to the house and grabs the oil lamp. Meanwhile the werewolf scratches at Dracula's face ripping chunks of flesh off, but this does not phase the vampire as he gives one more powerful squeeze and ends werewolf Leon's life and torment. As Dracula turns, Victor throws the oil lamp at him and it explodes covering him in oil. Victor strikes a match as quickly as he can and as he is about to flick it at Dracula, the rain starts to poor down. Victor looks at the wet match as Dracula moves closer. The wind blows and the last scream of a evil yet brilliant Baron fills the air.
Winner: Dracula
So there you have it. While both Werewolf Leon and Victor Frankenstein tried, they just could not beat Dracula on this haunted battlefield. But make it near running water, and they stand a chance. This was a fun Halloween, and the month was filled with lots of good times as well as sad times but I hope you all enjoyed yourself and hope your bellies are filled with candy. Next update we will take a look at Wally The Wizard, one of Star Comics' original characters. So until then, stay spooky and read some comics!
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