"Monsterkid" Who is eligible for the term?

Jscareshock · November 21, 2011, 08:05:39 PM

Yeah, I am a Baby Boomer and I was told that only baby Boomers could be Monster Kids. I have to disagree with that. I think that if you're here you're a Monster Kid. You can quibble about first generation or second generation etc but, basically, if you're here you qualify.

marsattacks666 · November 21, 2011, 10:56:51 PM

I'm pretty sure we all QUALIFY as Monsterkid(s).
We are most definitely products of that, term. So...........

Tag!!!! You're a MONSTERKID. Boo-yahhhh!

Zombiology · November 21, 2011, 11:09:17 PM

Quote from: Jscareshock on November 21, 2011, 08:05:39 PM
Yeah, I am a Baby Boomer and I was told that only baby Boomers could be Monster Kids. I have to disagree with that. I think that if you're here you're a Monster Kid. You can quibble about first generation or second generation etc but, basically, if you're here you qualify.

I agree. It may have started out for one particular generation but we are growing bigger (..and will soon take over the world!!!)
In fact, baby boomer originally started out 1946-1956 when the school population started shrinking again but then included more and more years as time went on as it became to represent a lifestyle and a common thread of what it was believed to represent by a certain culture.

Count_Zirock · November 22, 2011, 12:10:59 AM

A "generation" is defined as 20 years. The Baby Boomers are '46-'66. My brother was born in '46, I was born in '62. We're both considered Boomers. My sister was born in '44; she's not.

toysoldierman2001 · November 27, 2011, 02:15:57 AM

I always thought a generation was 10yrs? But any hoot I'll be 63 in a few months and I've always been a monster kid! Bye the way I'm also called a 49er have been born in 1949.

Count_Zirock · November 27, 2011, 08:00:57 AM

A generation is actually defined as the average time between a woman's birth and her at age at the birth of her first child. So, the period actually fluctuates, depending on demographics. For Baby Boomers, I just read it's now considered 18 years: 1946-64. For the Greatest Generation (a.k.a. the Silent Generation), it's 20 years: 1925-45. For Generation X, it's 1965-1982. Generation Y is 1983-2000. 2001-present has been called the "Millennials." Thus endeth the lesson.

Fester · November 27, 2011, 07:55:27 PM

Your own mileage may vary.

In some trailer parks and much of Appalachia, a generation as defined by Count-Zirock might be as short as 12 or 13 years.

Count_Zirock · November 28, 2011, 01:01:40 AM

Or most 3rd world countries. As I said, it depends on demographics. In Germany, for instance, new data suggests the current median generation spans 30 years! Oh, and it's not my definition. I'm neither an anthropologist or a sociologist. I simply looked up the accepted definition. Generally speaking, the average is 18-20 years.

I think it's safe to say Boomers are certainly in the generally accepted "Monsterkid" range. But, there are cycles that seem to suggest spurts in monster popularity. The Dracula/vampire resurgance of the late-'70s and early-'90s, for instance.

Count_Zirock · November 28, 2011, 01:06:53 AM

In fact, the monster resurgance of the early 1990s spawned quite a few big-studio monster films. "Interview With the Vampire," "Bram Stoker's Dracula," "Wolf," and "Mary Shelly's Frankenstein," to name the major ones. This lead to new monster kits, toys, and a renewed interest in the old classics by new fans.

pylgrym · June 07, 2012, 04:59:40 PM

Born in 1950; check. Saw Disney FANTASIA Re Release in theater, 1956; check. Owned no TV until 1957; check. (St. Louis, MO TV station buys Universal Monster Movies package; check.) See FRANKENSTEIN an KING KONG in 1957; check. Bought FAMOUS MONSTERS of FILMLAND Issue No. 4, 1959 and the MONSTERKID was born! CHECK! Ordered SHOCK MONSTER mask from captain Co., 1959 - just in time for Fourth Grade in-school Halloween parade!! CCHHEECCKK!! . . . . Skip eleventh grade Track practice in high school to catch "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad" on TV; Check!
'
Was I a Monsterkid? One of millions!
'
pEEgEE

MissDrac · June 07, 2012, 10:40:45 PM

I consider any man or woman who grew up watching these movies and collects as a Monster Kid!

Dr. Jitters · June 07, 2012, 11:28:35 PM

David Colton (associated with the Classic Horror Film Board, and a great writer) coined the phrase.
His post archived at the link below says it all:
http://gammillustrations.bizland.com/mk_reg/colton_mk.html

Sean · June 08, 2012, 01:39:39 AM

Running home from school and blowing off a kickball game to watch Sci-Fi week at 4pm... Begging your dad to glue your Aurora models together the minute he gets home from work---but NOT to attach them to the bases because you want to PLAY with them... Getting that monster bucket of popcorn so you could store your trading cards in it... Getting mad everytime the shoot Kong off the Empire St Bldg---as if one of these times he'll win... getting the Slurpees fro 7-11 because they are monster souvenir cups... having your favorite L'il Rascals be the one with the Spook House... going to get your haircut at Terry's, then going to Steve's Soda Shop for an ice cream float and the latest FM... staring at the mirror making Wolf Man faces with your lower teeth jutting out... hating when it was cold on Halloween that your mom made you wear a coat, KILLING the 'realism' of your Ben Cooper Frankenstein costume----cus otherwise people would have thought you were really Frankenstein's monster even though you were 4 feet tall....

Yeah. I'm a monster kid.

Monster Bob · June 08, 2012, 02:01:57 AM

I consider myself a Monstuh Chile.

missdead13 · June 11, 2012, 01:17:26 AM

Quote from: Fester on November 20, 2011, 10:04:13 PM
Back in the fifties, during the Cold War, there was a period known as the "Red Scare." Almost everyone, it seems, was suspected of being a Communist infiltrator/sympathizer. This led to the HUAC (House UnAmerican Activities Committee) hearings in Congress. Thousands of people were subpoenaed to testify regarding their patriotism and/or political affiliations--and those of people they knew.

There was another 1950s Congressional committee. HUMAC (House Universal Monster Activities Committee).
Their hearings were part of the lesser known "Green Scare." a period where many people were suspected of being monsters and/or monster sympathizers.

These hearings included such interrogations as the following:

Were you ever--or are you now--a kid?

Did you ever--or do you now--like monsters?

Have you ever--or do you now attend--Horror movie conventions?

Have you owned--or do you now own-- any monster replicas as produced by Aurora; Revell; Polar Lights; or some garage-kit fellow-traveler?

Do you subscribe to--or have you read any periodicals such as: Fangoria; Rue Morgue; Famous Monsters of Filmland; Creepy; Eerie; Tales from the Crypt; or Scary Monsters?

Do you now--or have you ever-- stayed awake past 10:30 PM to watch horror movies on TV?

Are you now--or have you ever logged on to www.universalmonsterarmy.com?

Do you recognize any of the following names: Elvira; Penny Dreadful; John Stanley; Bob Wilkins; Count Gore DeVol; Count Floyd; Mr. Lobo; Dr Shocker; Zacherly; Dr Gangreen; Uncle Forry (4-E or 4ST); Ormsby; Svengoolie; Joe Bob Briggs; Ghoulardi; Chilly Billy Carlile; or Dan Roebuck?

So, If you answered "Yes" to more than two of the above questions, you would have been considered a Monster Kid by the HUMAC, a committee of the US Congress.

Guess that makes you official.

wow. are you spying on me through a small hole in the wall er sumthin'?? you just described me , in such utter detail, it almost scared me !!!