Universal Monster Army

I thought there was already a thread about this but I looked and couldn't find one.

Since we've all been posting old photos I came across this one of me as a robot. This was when we lived in Miami, Florida either 1976 or '77. The thing that I really liked about this costume was that the panel on the front of the box would open up and I had stapled a bag around the inside so that candy could just be thrown inside. I didn't have to carry around a bag.



(http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h206/johnfoam/Robot02.jpg)

Excellent!  Excellent photo and costume.  I like the bit about the slot with the bag stapled to the inside...it gives it extra coolness.

That is so cool!  I have some Halloween pictures but I'm having trouble finding them.  I love looking at these old pictures, keep 'em comin'!

You wore that again last year, didn't you?  ;D

(Mods, we had a healthy set of those over at the Old galleries - are they gone?)

Hmmm. Not sure Craig. I'll have to go look. Was it at the Reserve group? I'll check it out.

I regret not having more childhood pictures of me playing with my monster toys or wearing Halloween costumes.  I know I have a couple somewhere, but nothing spectacular enough to justify the hours of searching it would take to find them.

Here's one from me. It's probably '65 or '66, right out of my Dick Smith Monster Make Up book. My mom sewed the cloak.

(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c346/JimBertges/Miscellaneous/scan0001.jpg)

Man, Jim...that is a great make-up job!  What a great picture!  That should be an album cover or something.

Here is a picture of me as Dracula...and...an admission ticket  from 1969.
This was a Halloween "Scream in the Dark" haunted house put on in my home town from 1969 to 1974. Campus Life "Scream in the Dark" haunted houses were in other towns too, I believe.
I was Dracula in 1969, 1970, 1972 and Frankenstein monster in 1973.
Best,
Richard

(http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg232/mnroo/SITD1.jpg)

Jim, very cool and spooky!!

Richard, what a great vampire getup! I love it!! That ticket is really cool as well.

WOW Richard!!! The pic is great!!! Is a mix between Dracula and the Phanton of the Opera with blond hair. Is cool!!!!

Richard, that is the creepiest, most vicious looking kid vampire I've ever seen. Very nice!

It kind of reminds me of that one ghoul in "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things," the one that steps out from behind the tree and stalks towards Emerson.  The heavy eyeshadow is creepy!

That is 'Max Schreck" cool for sure, Richard!  Creepy enough to give me nightmares!

Halloween of '75, as The Wolf Man. The skull over my relative's shoulder is actually a cool skull hand puppet I loved for years, and I have no idea what happened to it!

(http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x21/Paaaaaaaah/monsters/Halloween76.jpg)

This next is from '76. I was The Fly, my brother Joe was a kind of generic ghoul/guard sorta fella. (He was wearing prosthetic nose/chin pieces, he didn't actually LOOK like that!):

(http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x21/Paaaaaaaah/monsters/Halloween78.jpg)


I'm still looking for old Halloween pics I KNOW I have somewhere. This is a great thread-


Mike C.

Well... no pics showing up. edit- Changed the host site, now they're up.

Mike C.

Thank you ALL for the nice comments!
Here are a few more pics from Halloweens past~
Best,
Richard

(http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg232/mnroo/Scream1970.jpg)

(http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg232/mnroo/Scream1972.jpg)

(http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg232/mnroo/Andrea_me1975.jpg)

My wife Andrea and me on Halloween 1975

(http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg232/mnroo/Halloween1978.jpg)

Causing mayhem amongst the clerks at Herberger's Department Store in Virginia, Minnesota in 1978

AWESOME, Richard!  I love the look on the clerk's face..."What the...???"

Richard you're the coolest! That photo of you and the Mummy is just incredible. Also love Drac and Friend. Your makeup looks so good in that photo it looks like you're wearing a mask. That Frankenstein photo is priceless. Scaring the squares!! Great stuff, thanks so much for sharing them.

Here's a picture of me in a old Ben Cooper costume at Halloween. I found another one of these on ebay a couple years back.

(http://www.chillercinema.com/larryskull.jpg)

Dear Richard, you are indeed the crem de la crem Monster Kid/Pal!

This one may be old news to some of ya'll -

(http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/6c325b0c47c17c89b16290ba76c1af87a1576e1.jpg)

Best,
-"Strange" Craig W.

GREAT monster kid photos, everyone!!! Keep 'em coming!
Thanks for the postings and comments!
Best,
Richard

Quote from: Wich2 on January 20, 2008, 07:55:46 PM

This one may be old news to some of ya'll -

Best,
-"Strange" Craig W.

I missed this photo if you showed it before, Craig. REALLY COOL Frankenstein Monster in a great setting!!!!
Thanks for sharing this, my friend!

Awesome photos everyone!  Richard...you are the ghouliest kid I know...(and I didn't even know you as a kid!)

Ok, here's some of mine...

(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/ProfGriffin/Griffinwolfmananddevil.jpg)

1978...4th grade...and I was the Invisible Man.  My Brother was The Wolf Man...and my youngest brother, a little devil.
This picture was taken pre-bandages...

Funny story about that costume...using Alan Ormsby's Monster Make-Up book, my mother actually made me a small dressing gown in that exact same pattern style (black, checkered lapel, pocket, tie,) that Griffin 'borrowed' from
Dr. Kemp.

I wrapped my head in bandages and my hands in gloves. I could never find those blinder shades (and man did I make my poor mother look) so I used some cool round sunglasses...an adequate replacement.

I was resplendent. I was confindent. I KNEW I was a shoe-in for the 1st place in the costume contest at St. Pius V Elementary school.
I did indeed win that precious illusive brass ring (it was actually a cheap ribbon) but as I was being presented for applause and envy, the announcer introduced me as....

Joseph Fotinos as 'The Mummy in Pajamas!!'

My heart sunk. "No!" I shouted, "I'm Dr. Griffin, the Invisible Man!" only since I was wrapped in bandages it weakly came out as...

"woo, um, doo-uu akkk-effn-de-woenibl an!!"

Oh well.  Moving On.

(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/ProfGriffin/deathmummyghoul.jpg)

Here I am as The Grim Reaper. 2nd Grade.

My mother again hand sewed a great black robe and hood for me and she painted my face into a living skull.  I can still smell the tempera paint.  (Indeed that smell of Tempera paint makes me think of Halloween!)

I got into costume for school and waited outside for my moring car pool to pick me up.  I stood out in the foggy early morning...a 7 year old Grim Reaper...not moving, barely breathing, really getting into character.  My ride pulled up and I got in (did they not realize whom they were letting into the car??? Did they not fear me?)  My car pool companion, a young girl whose name I honestly can't recall, was dressed as a princess, and I sat next to her in the back seat. 

"Who are you supposed to be?"

At this innocent question, I turned my head slowly toward her  and just stared.  I remember the thrill of that moment.  Feeling supremely powerful in my mind, but really just being that weird Fotinos boy again.

"Can't you talk?"

I slowly turned to stare out the window again....my thoughts on the dark deeds my station as Death compel me to perform.   
I remained dateless throughout my elementary years.

MORE to come.

(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/ProfGriffin/monsterkid.jpg)

Great photos Prof!  You guys had great costumes.  I bet that Wolf Man make-up job took some time and wig sacrificing! Too cool.

Here are a few of mine .. the youngest I was in any of these was 20 though.. That is still a kid right ? :)

(http://b1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/01075/18/72/1075472781_l.jpg)

Beast witches..
Tom

 

Wow Prof. great stuff. Love that Wolfman. I also did the grim reaper thing at school but I wore mirrored sunglasses under my skull mask so when you looked into the eyes of death all you saw was yourself. It worked really well.

Love that photobooth devil pic.

Wow, these are great photos from everyone. What memories they recall. Keep digging and let's see more.

And here's to all the Moms and Dads who helped in the construction and costuming of all these wonderful creatures.

Great stuff, all...

No sweat, Tom; I'm outa-college age* in that Monster rig, too.

(By the way, Richard, I'm in front of the Jefferson Market Library here in NYC - where a giant spider drops from the tower, during one of the best Halloween parades in the world!)

*NOW, if I can just find that much older pic, of my Dick Smith Handbook-inspired Hull Werewolf...

Best,
-Craig W.

A couple pics from 1991 and 1992, can't find any earlier yet.
(http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd71/actionplus/halloween91.jpg)
(http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd71/actionplus/halloween92.jpg)

Here are a few more from Prof. Griffin...(ah the long ago days of youth)

(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/ProfGriffin/graverobberandmummy.jpg)

Costume I put together on the fly...a grave robber.  That's my younger brother as a Mummy...and my mom, the master of the costumes!

(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/ProfGriffin/gomezclose.jpg)

It's Halloween 1992 and I'm Gomez Addams!

(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/ProfGriffin/morticia.jpg)

My then girlfriend, (now dear family friend) Carey McLeod as my Morticia.  Guess who made her dress?  Yup.  My mom.

There's more to come...so many costumes....so many memories.

Andy & Joseph, them Addams'es pics is da bomb!

   Fie and for Shame! I have no old photos of Halloweens long ago. Me Mum hated Halloween, and still does, so there are no photo ops from childhood. I can remember my Brother being dressed as a Vampire Bat(Ben Cooper or Collegeville costume) and Rattles the Snakeman another boxed costume. The reason why I remember them is because they were eventually handed down to me to wear the next year---our parents were trying to save money. On the chest of the Vampire Bat costume was a picture of a large bat flying out of a lava spewing volcano and Rattles the Snakeman's mask was one large coiled rattlesnake. The year I was Rattles the Snakeman I fell into a large hole that one of the neighbor kids had dug in their front yard for catching small Trick or Treaters like me---there I stood in the hole up to my armpits until my Father missed me and came back to pull me out.
    Somewhere there's a photo of me dressed as "Cardinal Biggles" from the Spanish Inquisition sktech on "Monty Python"---I was celebrating my 40th birthday at Chiller on Halloween.

    "Meek"(Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!)

Meek, find that pic!

I hate all these photos. They make me realize how lame I was (was?) as a kid. Not only do I not have pictures, I honestly can't even remember a single costume from my childhood. I know I went trick or treating. I must've worn something.....

As promised:

(http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/1da151c8c8c9b5282de08dd6d576114a3ae4caa.jpg)\

(http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/1a32553cb2c70c70b882b718eb75be339c9504e.jpg)

(Oops - wrong Phantom!)

Best,
-Craig W.

Great Henry Hull, Craig! 

Thanks, Andy!

(And thank YOU, Henry Hull, Jack Pierce, & Dick Smith!)

-Craig W.

     Here ya go, Craig----"NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!"

     I was sorry that I didn't have any of the proper instruments of torture like the Rack, or Soft Cushions or the most dreaded Comfy Chair but the airlines frown on people trying to transport such items. There was some fellow from the BBC who had been on "Dr. Who" countless times and was a guest at Chiller that year and I thought for sure that he'd be able to spot a member of the Spanish Inquisition but he thought I was the Red Baron Pizza mascot and turned very red in the face when he read my name tag which clearly spelled out "Cardinal Biggles, Spanish Inquisition".

     Hmmmn, with a  moustache I look a bit like Jerry Calonna.

     "Meek"(Confess! Confess!)
     



(http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/8862/bigglesyz4.jpg)

Meek, I did not know that the Vatican sponsored its own World War 1 flying ace!

Fun, thanks!

-Craig W.

Unfortuantely I didn't get to wear a monster costume at 3 years old, although this bunny costume is horrific!
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2047/2213744402_b927c987ff.jpg?v=0)

I did finally get to the Frankenstein Monster at age 5 or 6.  Like the jacket?  BTW, I wore the lion suit the year before.

(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2011/2212950043_8a67f434b3_m.jpg)

I got to be Spider-Man in the early 70's (2nd grade maybe?)  My brother Chris was the devil.  Might have been his first non-handmedown costume.  It didn't last.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2030/2212950225_37c102053f_m.jpg)

I got to be a skeleton, but the dagger throught the skull looked like a little hat to me.  Chris got the Spidey one.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2277/2213743986_93a8e6993b_m.jpg)

Here's one from my early college years going for a living corpse like Griffin Dunne's character from AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON.  That's supposed to be a maggot-like worm coming out of my face.

(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2356/2213744230_b6f64df4d9_m.jpg)

Here's one from my mid-20's.  The glow emanating from my hands was actually a random light leak/defect from the Polaroid camera.  I was working at a camera store at the time.

(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2272/2212950113_f9a6b44033_m.jpg)

I'm not sure what happened to the in between years when I was younger.  Maybe my mom didn't take pics those years.  I think I'll guilt trip her tomorrow.

I thought I'd toss in a couple of my two guys from a few Halloweens, they kinda fit in here.

Vampire Brendan with his vicious were-leopard brother, Justin.

(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c346/JimBertges/Miscellaneous/scan0035.jpg)

Brendan a Vampire Count once again and his brother, Justin has transformed into a pirate.

(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c346/JimBertges/Miscellaneous/scan0034.jpg)

Brendan once again in a cape, this time as the Phantom and Justin has his Werewolf on.

(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c346/JimBertges/Miscellaneous/scan0037.jpg)

Finally Brendan as a Ferengi and Justin is Stanley Ipkiss from The Mask.

(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c346/JimBertges/Miscellaneous/scan0036.jpg)

Quote from: Wich2 on January 22, 2008, 08:33:39 PM
Meek, I did not know that the Vatican sponsored its own World War 1 flying ace!

Fun, thanks!

-Craig W.

   Craig: So where do you think the phrase "God is my co-pilot." came from? Biggles is a popular fictional character in Britain and sort of an inside joke to the English. James Bigglesworth was featured in over 14 wartime flying novels.

    "Meek"(Stick a Fokker in it)

Man, I LOVE this thread!
So many great costumes...and the expressions on the faces...the pride.  I love all of them.

Craig...your Phantom is ...well, words can't describe.  (No smoking in the Skull Cave)

Ok, here are a few more.

(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/ProfGriffin/Zach.jpg)

1994 as Zacherley.  It was THIS costume that convinced me to put together my own show and pitch to local Austin stations.  In fact, the frock coat I got for Zach...(found at a Goodwill!) is Griffin's coat to this day.

(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/ProfGriffin/AsZach.jpg)


(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/ProfGriffin/littlephantom2.jpg)

Back in time and I'm the Phantom of the Opera!
(Mom made me that cape...and I still have it to this day.  My son wears it now.)

(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/ProfGriffin/phantomunmasked.jpg)

Phantom Unmasked!

Finally, here are some pics of a costume I put together for the Premiere of Batman in 1989.
I was assistant manager at a movie theatre and we staged a show were the Joker and his goons take the theatre hostage...and of course Batman saves the day.

(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/ProfGriffin/ParadeJoker.jpg)
Test make Up

(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/ProfGriffin/Jokerintheatre.jpg)
Final result in theatre.

Awesome pics!!! 

But that photo as 'fester' is PERFECT!
So cool.

(snap-snap)

OK I was at my folks place this past weekend and I took the UMA down time to dig through their old photos and found these.

Yes I'm the cat
(http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g75/GaryDMacabre/Halloween1.jpg)

And the bandit
(http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g75/GaryDMacabre/Costumes-2.jpg)

Here's my gorilla/ King Kong costume (I was was afraid to hold the Barbie as Fay Wray because it was a girl's doll in retrospect it would have been so cool, but what are you gonna tell a 5? year old)
(http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g75/GaryDMacabre/halloween3.jpg)

the classic pirate
(http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g75/GaryDMacabre/costumes3.jpg)

OK here's one of my creative best, the Japanese B-movie alien bad guy
(http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g75/GaryDMacabre/costumes5.jpg)

OK I remember my wolfman costume the best of all of them.  The hair was dr.scholls wool adhered to my face with corn syrup.  I got the idea from a kids costume book mid to late70's, but I have no Idea which one (Not Ormsby's)  Anyone have any ideas ??
(http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g75/GaryDMacabre/costumes6.jpg)

The classic Drac is one I think we all were at some point or another.  OK the effort obviously wasn't the same here, but at least I wasn't in the same creativity drought that my sister seemed to be facing for the better part of the decade.
(http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g75/GaryDMacabre/costumes7.jpg)

Gary I love the Kong and Wolfman. Thanks for digging 'em out!!

Those pics are great, Gary!  I love the Wolfman costume.  I bet that was a mess to make AND to take it off!  Definitely worth the effort, though.  Very cool.

Hey Gary!
I believe this is the make up book you used for that werewolf:

http://monsterama.blogspot.com/2006/07/back-from-abyss.html

If it is, I had that one too! I found it funny that the site even shows a few pics of the Werewolf make up in progress!

By the way, I also had the same monkey mask you are wearing as Kong... the jaw moved as you talked, it was one of my favorite masks ever... it was hollow, blow mold plastic, right? It was kinda like having a catcher's mask on your face but you looked much cooler.
Hadn't seen one, or even thought about it, in a VERY long time. Your great pics really shocked me back to it.
At any rate, I hope that was the book you were thinking of... the moment I saw your picture I thought 'Man, that's the lamb's hair werewolf from that old book I used to have!', haha!

The book Make Up Monsters was written by Marcia Lynn Cox, and was published in 1976. She followed it up in 1977 with Creature Costumes, which I also had. I think in 1980 or so, the publisher combined them into one book with the Make Up Monsters cover, but the title was simply changed to 'Make Up Monsters & Creature Costumes' (I know,genius...).
I bring all of that up to mention that copies of all versions are available used at Amazon and of course, on eBay, for very low $$$.


Mike C.

Bang On Mike!  Awesome, I'll be looking for it now I know what it was.  And your dead on with the mask too.  My mom made a fuzzy brown hood to make it a full head mask.  I remember they produced a version with light and dark stripes that I recall didn't look as good, but seemed to be quite plentiful. 

Yeah, I remember the striped one too, and it was more common, but I had the non striped. I'm not even sure of the circumstances surrounding how I came by it, as it was a LONG time ago... but it was a favorite for many years.
I know I have a bunch more old Halloween pics, and that mask figured in at least one Halloween. The moment I find them, I'll post.

Mike C.

Awesome photos Gary!

LOVE that Werewolf...and the fact that he's about to go prowling around on Halloween night...on his bike...makes it even better.

Those were the days...when Monsters rode bikes...long into the night.

Quote from: ProfGriffin on January 30, 2008, 01:36:56 PM
Those were the days...when Monsters rode bikes...long into the night.

Would you mind terribly, Professor, if I used that line (or variant thereof) in a short piece I'm writing? I'm serious! It's so Bradbury, so evocative in its simplicity. I'd love to use it.

I wrote a poem about our youthful Halloweens, which I submitted to one of the better fantasy lit mags some years back; they didn't accept it but sent the usual "Not what we're looking for this time, but keep submitting' letter! Oh well! I'll find it and post it here, if nobody objects? It might be a nice addition to a thread on Halloweens past.


Mike C.

Thanks prof.  I was stoked to see that there were a good number of my elementary school days as those were the days that mean the most and lasted the longest.  In our memories there had to be a hundred Halloweens during that time of our lives, but the cold reality of an aging monster Kid there seems to be all too few.

The Ben Cooper years prior to Kong I wish I could recall what my costume was, but instead what I remember the most is the little breathing hole in the mouth.  I just had to stick the tip of my tongue through it,  It was this scratchy sharp feeling that wasn't enough to actually cut, and thus caused this bizarre compulsion.  I can only imagine how it looked as I went door to door.  There before them as they doled out hand fulls of candy was this monster/skeleton/whatever standing there before them sticking out its tongue.

Great pics...and the Fester is absolutely AWESOME!

Quote from: mike c on January 30, 2008, 02:54:02 AM
Hey Gary!
I believe this is the make up book you used for that werewolf:

http://monsterama.blogspot.com/2006/07/back-from-abyss.html

By the way, I also had the same monkey mask you are wearing as Kong... the jaw moved as you talked, it was one of my favorite masks ever... it was hollow, blow mold plastic, right? It was kinda like having a catcher's mask on your face but you looked much cooler.  Hadn't seen one, or even thought about it, in a VERY long time. Your great pics really shocked me back to it.

It is rare that I get taken back by surprise like that, mostly because I either still have almost everything I got as a kid (or had it into my collecting years), but Gary's monkey mask and your description of it zapped me.  That thing is still in a box somewhere at my parents house.  Now I've got to ask my mother not only for old Halloween photos, but to find my monkey mask too!

QuoteThe book Make Up Monsters was written by Marcia Lynn Cox, and was published in 1976. She followed it up in 1977 with Creature Costumes, which I also had. I think in 1980 or so, the publisher combined them into one book with the Make Up Monsters cover, but the title was simply changed to 'Make Up Monsters & Creature Costumes' (I know,genius...).
I bring all of that up to mention that copies of all versions are available used at Amazon and of course, on eBay, for very low $$$.

I checked that book out of my local library over and over.  Still don't have a personal copy of Make Up Monsters, and keep meaning to pick it up in hard cover (library binding, donch know).


Mike C.
[/quote]

Quote from: mike c on January 30, 2008, 10:13:11 PM
Would you mind terribly, Professor, if I used that line (or variant thereof) in a short piece I'm writing? I'm serious! It's so Bradbury, so evocative in its simplicity. I'd love to use it.

Feel free....

And thanks for the compliment...Bradbury is one of my heros...obviously.

Quote from: neonnoodle on January 18, 2008, 05:28:20 PMExcellent!

I agree! This whole thread is excellent!

8)

Quote from: Meek on January 21, 2008, 07:36:48 PMThe year I was Rattles the Snakeman I fell into a large hole that one of the neighbor kids had dug in their front yard for catching small Trick or Treaters like me---there I stood in the hole up to my armpits until my Father missed me and came back to pull me out.

Ahhhhh, the good old days!

;D