Have you ever wanted to buy a mask just because something about
its name piqued your imagination? I can recall thirteen instances.
About half are masks currently in my collection, the remainder
having long since moved on to others.
What monsterkid wouldn't be drawn like a magnet to UNCLE CREEPY
and COUSIN EERIE? I scored my first pair in the mid 1970s with
multiples to follow >
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q70/827/diskrenta291822.jpg)
Another early score on my list was MUMMY 5,000 B.C. One of the
creepiest Don Post masks ever, I got mine in January 1976. It has
since hardened with age; you might even say "mummified" ...
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q70/337/savegroupcrop.png)
I can't remember exactly when I scored either of my two CARLISLE masks
(pronounce kar`-lie-ull) but the character was a staple in DPS catalogues
from the 1960s onward >
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q70/923/8KOixo.jpg)
The original mold on SARGOTH THE COBRA was a hand-me-down from the
producers of 1973's Sssssss. Five years later, it slithered into the DPS
catalog and immediately charmed me into taking one home >
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q70/534/sargothgrab.jpg)
The 1980 DPS catalog introduced SINESTRE (pronounce sin-ess`-tray) to the
mask world, adapted from an earlier version of their "Calendar" Phantom >
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q70/43/scan1222500001.jpg)
By this time, I was branching out to independent maskmakers. The Ayres Studio
offered me a casting of an Outer Limits alien evocatively called KEEPER OF
THE PURPLE TWILIGHT. Has anyone ever figured out what that title refers to?
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q70/98/ikarzw8.png)
I have a fondness for blue masks. Don't ask why; I'm not even a "Smurfs" fan.
When the WIZENED MASTER came along in 1981, I merrily ordered a copy
from Imaginative Creations. 'A nifty concept and name that deserves better
treatment someday >
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q70/123/icmlwizenedmasteres8.png)
Along those same lines, Crypt Creations catalogued the MAD GENIUS in 1982.
Looking rather more like a frenzied dope fiend, mine was actually a half mask with
fabric fur hood >
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q70/845/scan120430000.jpg)
The idea of a vampire that sucks salt from your body is enough to make anyone's skin crawl!
I've had a few copies of this Star Trek alien over the years. The SALT VAMPIRE I scored
in 2003 is a reissue by Rubies Costumes >
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q70/853/saltvamplatest.png)
FANTASMAGORIA ... one can't help but marvel over that name. It's a Distortions Unlimited
character from the late 1980s but I didn't score one until years later. Is it an alien, a dinosaur,
or just a dark fantasy as its name suggests?
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q70/923/8as47i.jpg)
There's menace to spare in the ZOMBIE ISLAND WITCHDOCTOR, leading off a
jungle-themed line of scary masks from Retro Rubber. I got mine in 2004 along
with several shrunken head props and had great fun masquerading with them >
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q70/924/X8MzZU.jpg) (https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q70/924/YZvgOy.jpg)
I don't know the full concept behind Bill Malone's SHADOW HILL DEMON. It was
previously known as "The Pit Monster" before he licensed it to Trick or Treat Studios
for production. My copy shadowed me home from a convention in 2012 >
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q70/266/1001200s.jpg) (https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q70/594/18277636.jpg)
Well, that's my thirteen. Keep the list going with your favorite entries for masks with great names.