Monster Memories

[horrorhunter]

Some of my earliest Monster memories...

Out to eat with my parents at the Ferndale Dairy Ice Cream Bar in Berlin Ct. - must have been close to Halloween because who should walk in but Frankenstein's Monster himself! Must have been about ten feet tall! This wasn't a kid in a costume! This was him & he was beautiful! 

*The $1 MONSTER-Size Frankenstein poster hung on my closet door-
*Drooling over the Don Post masks...with hands & feet! But damn, look at that price tag!
*A haircut meant a new issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland-
*My (Palmer) Gorgo went everywhere with me-
*I'll always remember the day I got my Pop-Top Horrors (all on one card) at the GEM department store-
*& my dad would always bring me home the latest Aurora Monster model (from Amato's of New Britain - which is still there)-
*Collecting Munsters & Addams Family cards bought at Jake's (which is just a vacant lot now)-

There's a vague memory of some great monster art in a Cracked magazine that I'd copy over & over...
I've really got to fine this again-

Cool stuff Street Worm. If it was great monster art in Cracked it was probably done by John Severin. Cracked was published by Robert Sproul who also published For Monsters Only. Both mags were full of awesome John Severin art. Ironically it was Sproul who was the undoing of possibly the greatest monster mag ever published....Web Of Horror. Wrightson, Jones, Reese...an all-star lineup of some of the best monster story talent in history filled the pages and covers of every issue of Web Of Horror for the entire run of...only three issues. Jim Warren hated it because he grudgingly realized that it was at least as good, if not better, than Creepy and Eerie. Sproul published Web Of Horror for those three issues and then skipped out on Wrightson and the others without paying them. He even stole some of the original art. Think of the greatness that would have followed if not for petty greed and pitiful stupidity. But I digress, John Severin is one of the greats. Dig up those For Monsters Only, too. They are big fun.

[neonnoodle]

I think that Creature Features was on channel 11-KTTV.  The rubber toys were gnomes, I had both of them at the time.  It was Saturday and around noon.  I remember seeing tuning in after I had moved from Chicago area and seeing that Creature Features was on in LA as well and a bit bummed that the beginning for the two shows were different.

Wow, another person who actually remembers seeing that intro!  Sorry it wasn't the Chicago Creature Features show, but I hope you found other monster distractions before long.  Like the  "SCI FI MOVIE" ...came on around 6 on a Sunday, I think?  Channel 9 or 11.  I saw "Monster from the Ocean Floor" on that show, as well as "Wild Wild Planet" and some others...

[Street Worm]

Thanks for that info horrorhunter, I'll be checking him out- 

[Hepcat]

Some of my earliest Monster memories...

*The $1 MONSTER-Size Frankenstein poster hung on my closet door-
*Drooling over the Don Post masks...with hands & feet! But damn, look at that price tag!
*A haircut meant a new issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland-
*My (Palmer) Gorgo went everywhere with me-
*I'll always remember the day I got my Pop-Top Horrors (all on one card) at the GEM department store-
*& my dad would always bring me home the latest Aurora Monster model (from Amato's of New Britain - which is still there)-
*Collecting Munsters & Addams Family cards bought at Jake's (which is just a vacant lot now)-

Great memories indeed!

There's a vague memory of some great monster art in a Cracked magazine that I'd copy over & over...
I've really got to fine this again-

If you could narrow this down to a year or two, someone might be able to identify the particular magazine for you.

[Street Worm]

Best guess would be '66 to '69
which doesn't really narrow it down all that much...

I looked at all the covers and none stood out.

Checked out John Severin & don't think it was his stuff which is far too good for what I'm (kinda) thinking of...
this art was more cartoony - almost like monster caricatures (for lack of a better term).

Thanks guys~

[Scary Terry]

Great topic indeed!

I remember trick or treating on Halloween in London, Ontario with two of my best buddies in 1963 or 1964 when I was given one card in a generic wrapper. Opening it up we discovered the "Hairy Fiend" card from the Mars Attacks set. We were awestruck since we'd never never seen any of the cards before and the card was absolutely wild! Without the wrapper, we failed to even figure out the name of the set despite the Mars Attacks title on the back!



Nonetheless, that "Hairy Fiend" card became the prize of our gum card collection which was soon to reach 6500 cards or so. It wasn't until about 25 years ago that I figured out that our "Hairy Fiend" card was part of the notorious Mars Attacks set. I've been pecking away at the elusive, and expensive, Mars Attacks cards ever since but I still don't have a "Hairy Fiend" card!

Hey Hepcat -- I must be some sort of opposite universe version of you.... "Hairy Fiend" is the one and only original issue Mars Attacks card I own!

[Hepcat]

Aggghhhhh!!!!

[Sleepyhollowstudios]

Since I was born in October of 1986 most of my monster memories deal with the monsters of the early '90s. I know a lot of people around here have a great disdain for monster related merchandise from this time period, but to me it was pure magic. One distinct memory I have is of my family going to Pizza Hut in (I guess) 1992, only to find these...





I was in love! I still have my Dracula cup topper from that fateful night.

Now, I'm sure everyone feels the same way, but whenever I see my beloved monsters I get a sort of chill. I can literally hear the night wind howling through the trees. I can see the full moon shining high in the sky, only to be covered by black clouds a moment later. I'm transported to that eternal October night that only exists in our collective memories. As I said, being a child of the '90s, to this day I can't look at that early '90s Universal Studios Monsters logo without getting those chills. Every time I see it it's Halloween all over again, with red and orange leaves skittering across the road, and what sounds like a howl emanating from the woods beside my house.

Like I said, I understand a lot of people here not caring much for the way our monsters were portrayed in the early '90s, but to me? Perfection.

Ahh! I get goosebumps just thinking about it!

-Andy

[The Batman]

'Watching Bob Wilkins hosting Creature Features and enjoying every minute of it, including is humor and the guests he interviewed.  I had a life size skull model with a candle so that I could light my skull candle when he did on the show. 'Having a best friend sleep over to watch Creature Features and enjoying popcorn & checking to make sure ALL the doors and windows were locked before we slept.
First show to have Night of the Living Dead on TV, eventually showing more than 99% of the film, just deleting the second the girl takes a bite out of the guy's forearm...good times...

[neonnoodle]

Sleepyhollowstudios, your entry has the ring of true monsterifficness.  We are born when we are, and each person's view of culture is a unique one.  However, despite the fact that a lot of monster fans may be older than 1986, I think you will find that a lot of folks really like those 90's depictions.  I do recall them fondly whenever I saw them in the grocery stores and such...

Well, I mean, when you saw that stuff, it meant that Halloween was near!  That time of year that is as important as Christmas to any monster fan (if not moreso).  One of my favorite monster memories, of any year, is that time when you start seeing the whole world put out the Halloween decorations and advertisements.  You guys know what I'm talking about!

[Sleepyhollowstudios]

Sleepyhollowstudios, your entry has the ring of true monsterifficness.  We are born when we are, and each person's view of culture is a unique one.  However, despite the fact that a lot of monster fans may be older than 1986, I think you will find that a lot of folks really like those 90's depictions.  I do recall them fondly whenever I saw them in the grocery stores and such...

Well, I mean, when you saw that stuff, it meant that Halloween was near!  That time of year that is as important as Christmas to any monster fan (if not moreso).  One of my favorite monster memories, of any year, is that time when you start seeing the whole world put out the Halloween decorations and advertisements.  You guys know what I'm talking about!

Well, that's great to know! Those '90s depictions, generic Dracula and all, are the epitome of monsterdom for me!

And I know EXACTLY what you're talking about! Halloween advertisements always get me jazzed.

-Andy

[Zackuth]

Wow, another person who actually remembers seeing that intro!  Sorry it wasn't the Chicago Creature Features show, but I hope you found other monster distractions before long.  Like the  "SCI FI MOVIE" ...came on around 6 on a Sunday, I think?  Channel 9 or 11.  I saw "Monster from the Ocean Floor" on that show, as well as "Wild Wild Planet" and some others...

I don't remember Sci Fi Movie, but I'm sure I saw it; if it was a horror or sci-fi movie, I was watching it!!!  I remember Saturdays having a lot of movies, and sometimes overlapping.  I remember my best friend and I planning sleepovers depending upon what horror movies were being shown. 
My dad started crumpling his empty cigarette packs up--very quietly by the way--and tossing it into the lap of either my brother or I as we would be watching horror movies and not expecting anything.  Yeah, we would jump.  He once did that to my aunt when she was staying with us one summer.  And I know it was because us kids were around that he did not hear exactly just how much she liked that.

[RedKing]

Well I was born in 1971 so my earliest monster memories start around 1975. I saw King Kong vs Godzilla on TV and it changed me forever. I still vividly remember being scared afterwards when I was supposed to taking my nap that Kong and Godzilla were going to trample our house.Another life changer happened when I was in first grade. I was home from school sick and my mom brought the little portable black and white TV in my room so I could watch TV, which meant I had it on PBS. Well in the afternoon after Sesame Street and Mr Rogers what should come on but Nosferatu! I was terrified yet I couldn't stop watching.  I had a steady diet of cool late 70s AIP flicks, Godzilla and Harryhausens at the drive in and theater and the 1976 Kong was a huge event for me as was seeing the original Kong on TV the same year. Whenever we'd go to town I'd get a new issue of FM or a horror comic-usually one from Charlton, or best of all to me an issue of Marvel's Godzilla comic! On late night TV in the late 70s I saw the Thing,Monster That Challenged the World, Godzilla vs the Smog Monster,Monster Zero, War of the Gargantuas, Rodan, Gorgo, Godzilla's Revenge,Mysterious Island,Yog and several more. On TV Star Trek reruns and the animated series hooked me onto Trek and Planet of the Apes movies were on all the time and I was a big fan of that series too. And the toys of the late 70s were kick-ass- Mego figures and especially Shogun Warriors which included Godzilla and Rodan!Then there was the 18 inch Kenner Alien! Shogun Godzilla unfortunately knocked Alien's head off with a vicious uppercut to the chin! By the early 80s Remco was on the scene with the awesome 8 inch Universal monster toys! Also by that time the local CBS channel started their own version of Chiller Theater which introduced me to the sublime terrors of Vincent Price! They showed alot of AIP greats like Pit and the Pendulum, Reptilicus, Blacula,Goliath and the Vampires,Frankenstein Conquers the World and Black Sabbath which was terrifying. In 1982 we got our first independent UHF station WXXA 23 which aired Theater Bizarre on Friday nights. ch 23 showed an amazing variety of films-everything from Universal classics, Hammer, AIP,Toho, Daiei,Paul Naschy, Allied Artists and lots of other stuff. I grew up with ch 23-Theater Bizarre ran until 1989 when I went to college. The Remco mini monsters from 1982 or so are still my favorite Universal monster toys, they were a huge part of my tween years as were the Monogram Aurora reissue kits. In 1984 when i was 13 we got a second UHF station WUSV 45 which showed alot of Toho movies, Gorgo and other wacky drive in style flicks including my favorite Bigfoot movies-Legend of Boggy Creek and Creature From Black Lake. Even though I didn't grow up in the 60s like Monster Boomers, I still think I had a great monster filled childhood.

[neonnoodle]

Yeah--I saw King Kong versus Godzilla on TV when I was pretty small, too.  And--all the kid got together on the school playground the next day and were talking about it excitedly.  Now that I remember, there was a whole week of Godzilla films, and they were on the 3:30 movie, which was cool after you got home from school.  So every day that week there was anticipation and discussion about all the different Godzilla films.  Star Wars did not exist yet and we hadn't seen 2001 or Flash Gordon, so Godzilla (and the various monsters he fought) seemed pretty important!  I may have seen the 1933 Kong by that time, but I don't remember for sure.

[Hepcat]

Buying Dick Smith's monster makeup book at a garage sale for $1.00, and repeatedly asking my mom to buy me some Leggs pantyhose so I could use the eggshell for zombie eyes...which she never did.

She must have been afraid of enabling her son to take up cross dressing.