'A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF HORROR FILMS' - Denis Gifford

One of the first horror film books I bought was this seminal classic from film critic and writer Denis Gifford, this book bought many entertaining hours either reading or just staring at the wonderful stills featured inside, this is one of the attractions of this 216 page large hardback book, it has 350 black and white stills with a further 16 in colour, even the index featured stills.

The text is easy to understand and to take in, none of your analyzing and picking apart;this is just a great book telling the history of the horror film, from the very early silents, classics from Universal Studios, Hammer films, A.I.P., and also covering horror films from around the world. Many rare and forgotten films are also mentioned and illustrated throughout the book.

One of the attractions of the book is the fantastic cover art [see pictures above of front and back] by artist Chantrell [anyone know anything about this artist?] Certainly I think one of the best illustrated covers I have seen for a horror film book, I always prefer this sort of cover compared to a photo cover. The Pictorial History of Horror Movies was first published by Hamlyn in 1973 and reprinted a number of times throughout the 70's and an updated softcover version was published too. As well as the index, there is also an Appendix which lists 'H' certificate films, a filmography listing a range of Super 8 films, and a bibliography covering books and magazines.

Every horror film fan should have this on their shelf [preferably with cover showing]. Sorry my review is the bare bones, I'm not very good at reviewing books basically.

'MONSTER MUNCH' - Pop and Tape

Normally you associate Smiths Crisps with...well crisps, but here we have a couple of unusal 'Monster Munch' merchandise from smiths Crisps. First up is a Monster Munch inspired drink called 'Monster Fizz' which was Odd Orangeade flavor, can't remember if there were any other flavors or what the Odd Orangeade tasted like. Monster Fizz came out sometime during the 1980's as far as I'm aware. Anyone else remember this short lived pop drink?

The next item from Smiths Monster munch is a cassette tape called 'Monster Munch Tall Stories'. There is no date on the tape or case but I think this also will be probally from the 1980's. It does say that it was copiled by Nabisco Brands Smiths Division and was produced by the 'V' team for Vinyltone Productions Ltd. Could this tape of been a item that you sent for from packs of Monster Munch or something sold in the shops?

Here is the track listing:

Side 1

[Theme]

The Monster's Bounce

Saving the day

Being Purple

A Song for Space

Missing on the Moon

The TV Film

Side 2

Tall Stories [Theme]

Bounce

Easier said than done

Purple Safari

La, La

Echo

TV Queen

'MONSTERS COLOURING BOOK' Pictures

Just like the pictures from the Horror colouring book that I featured on May 14th 2008, there are no pictures that are the same that are featured on the cover. The Monsters colouring book features a Lovecraftian type monster whereas the contents although does feature some weird and strange creatures they are nothing like compared to the monsters on the cover. There are however some nice pictures of strange looking monsters, grisly scenes and a few that represent a monster or scene from a film such as the Mummy one above. How often do you get a child's colouring book that has such pictures in?

'HORROR GRIPPER' Free Gift in Whoopee Comic ad

Anyone know if the Horror Gripper that came free with an issue of Whoopee (March 29th 1976) is the same one that Smiths Horror Bags promoted in the above pictures? The picture in the comic ad sure looks like the 'Claws' Horror Gripper featured on the Claws packet. I am hoping to get a photo of one of the Horror Grippers soon from someone who had sent for it from Horror Bags, as soon as I do I'll get it posted here. The whoopee ad was featured in 'Monster Fun' no.43.

'NESQUIK GHOST KITE' Competition ad

Here we have an ad that I saw in an issue of 'Monster Fun' no.44 (1976), it is a competition from Nesquick the milk shake people, I remember having these milkshakes when I was a kid and I really loved them, quite a distinctive taste to them, you can still buy them too. Anyway back to the ad, as you can see from the above picture the Ghost Kite looks quite cool and it has 3 special air vents to help the kite to climb higher and higher in the breeze. I'd love to see an actual colour picture of the kite if anyone still has one. Original retail price was 99p.

'Monsters' Junior Observer

I came across these while looking through some clippings which I forgot I had, These were featured in the Junior Observer section of The Observer magazine. I thought that they were interesting enough to put on The Cobwebbed Room, especially the artwork you see here on these small peices about monsters, anyone know how many of these there were or does anyone have anymore they could share here? These are from 1977.

'MONSTERS' Colouring Book

Here is the 'Monsters' colouring book that I promised to put on awhile ago. This came out the same time as the Horror colouring book that I featured on the post of 8th November 2007. Hoping to get some pictures scanned of some of the inside.

'SHREDDIES SPOOKY SPOONS'

It wasn't too long ago that you could collect all sorts of wonderful items from boxes of breakfast cereal, usually found amongst the cereal itself, these free toys etc were probably one of the selling points of which cereal to buy, it certainly was for me. Now there is very rarely anything much you get free except maybe a free book or an offer of some sort. Why did they stop doing these free toys etc? Probably something to do with health and safety.

Anyway here is the front and back of a Shreddies box which came out during the 1990's in which inside each box contained a free plastic spooky spoon which would change colour when put into a hot or cold drink. There was Ghoulish Green which when put into a hot drink would change into Molten Yellow. The Green spoons were Frankenstein and Cyclops. The last two to collect were the Blood-Curdling Blue spoons which turn Spine-Chilling Purple when put into a cold drink. The Blue spoons were Dracula and Skeleton. These were a nice novelty and nice artwork on the back of the box. I used to have all 4 of the Spooky Spoons but I lost one somehow, I'll put the 3 I have on sometime.

'SHOCKING LAFFS' Bubble Gum Cards

Similiar to the American 'You'll Die Laughing' bubble gum cards that came out during the 1960's/70's. 'Shocking Laffs' a.k.a.Shock Theatre was a set of 50 cards released in 1976 by Topps Chewing Gum Inc. and printed in the U.S.A. The set would feature wonderful colour photos from mainly Hammer Dracula films. The 'You'll Die Laughing' cards would feature black and white photos from mainly Universal Monster films, many of these photos were altered and would feature mystery faces in place of the non-monster characters featured in the photos. Films that were covered in the Shocking Laffs cards were 'Dracula a.d.1972', 'Frankenstein must be destroyed', 'The Satanic rites of Dracula', 'Dracula has risen from the grave', and 'Taste the Blood of Dracula'. Also Like the You'll die Laughing cards the photos would have a corny caption underneath and on the back an equally corny joke usually between 2 monsters, ghosts, witch doctors etc. Underneath these were a little description about the film scene featured on the front. The jokes and description were framed by cartoon monsters, the same on each card. Shocking Laffs background colour on the backs of the cards were either light red or dark red, strangely the set of 50 cards did not have a number 17 but instead had 2 number 47 cards, not sure the reason behind this. Apprently there is also 2 number 40 cards both have the same photo on the front but a different joke on the back, there is also a rare American test set that features some cards with different photos on the front.

The pictures above show an original box that the cards would of been sold in, this was featured on ebay a few years ago, I have no idea what it sold for, but I am pleased that I saved the picture as I have never seen another anywhere. The other pictures show examples of cards-No.5 showing a scene from 'Frankenstein must be Destroyed' and No.15 with a scene from 'Taste the Blood of Dracula', next is a the back of card No.45, and the last picture shows both No.47s.

St.Ivel's 'FIENDISH FEET'

Anyone remember these and still have any?

These Fiendish Feet Yogurt pots are great fun and featured 8 different designs of which you can see on the top picture on the left hand side of the comicstrip. These all came out during the early 1990's. As well as the comicstrip you see above, there is a Fiendish Feet competion in which you could win some Halloween goodies and also send for a wonderful Fiendish feet cup, the other picture shows an advertisement for Buster comic which contained The fiendish feet 101 Fiendish Facts as well as a poster.

Thanks to Peter

Frankenstein Monster 'NERDS' comic ad

I really love this ad for 'Nerds' sweets with Frankenstein's Monster, a really stunning peice of art, full of atmosphere and great colours. Electrifying. From a 1988 Buster Comic.

Thanks to Peter at http://petergraycartoonsandcomics.blogspot.com/search/label/welcome

HORROR BAGS - 'BATS' Packet

Here at last is the 'Bats' packet from the Horror Bags range. These scans were from an ebay seller just recently. As usual a nice looking wrapper, not sure what year this will be from but Bats was the last of the range of Horror Bags. I would guess that it will be late 70's early 80's. I should think that this shade of gray used on the packet was probally the first time this colour was used on any crisp packets.

Thanks to darren

The post I did on the Horror Bags T-Shirt transfer and the Horror Bags offer in which I said that I wasn't sure where the pictures came from...well I came across a page I printed from ebay back in 2004 and the T-shirt transfer also came with the Horror Bags offer page, also the instructions on how to do the iron-on transfer. The seller explains that the transfer measures 9 inches by 7 inches and arrived folded from the suppliers.

'LEGEND HORROR CLASSICS' Poster magazine

The short lived and unusual title of 'Legend Horror Classics' (1974/75) only lasted for 13 issues was similar in format to the more well known title 'Monster Mag'. Legend Horror Classics contained a comic adaptation usually of a classic Horror story. The first issue would feature Dracula, the second issue Frankenstein...These comicstrip stories were drawn by Kevin O'Neil and were usually in 3 colours [see scan above]. The magazine of course contained a wonderful colour horror poster of a still from a British horror film. These posters were usually about 4 A4 page size. It was a little unusual to have a comic adaptation in a poster magazine format, which I suppose sets it apart from other similar formats. The Comics would be dropped from issue 11 when Legend Horror Classics format was revamped and now would contain colour features on a particular monster from films, issue 11 would concentrate on Vampires, issue 12 Werewolves, and issue 13 on Frankenstein. this change of format would now give it a closer feel to 'Monster Mag' although Legend Horror Classics's features and posters were not so gory and as big as those covered in Monster Mag. Legend would also contain a portrait of a classic film star such as Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchecster, Peter Cushing etc in a famous characterisation. These wonderful peices of artwork were created using the dotting process, I forget what this process is called, but it is very effective [see scan above]. All in all Legend Horror Classics although short lived was a nice addition to British horror collectables and the posters sure would look great on the wall.

'NASTIES' Collecter's Sticker Album

Most sticker albums are usually published by Panini or Merlin, but the one featured here was published by a company called 'FKS Publishers Ltd' of London. At a guess judging by the cover price this sticker album most likely came out during the 1970's. Anybody heard of it before or know when it did come out?

The 'Nasties' stickers are colour cartoons of an assorted range of monster/creature characters such as The Murks, Beastlies, Grizzlies, Creepies, Hairies, etc. these Nasties are featured on there own page/s and show the Nasties in funny situations and with the one line joke underneath the sticker [see The Murks page above]. The stickers are basically a comic picture joke like what you used to get in comics such as Monster Fun, Shiver and shake, etc.

The Pictures above feature example page of stickers, the front cover, inside front cover, inside back cover, and back cover.

'HORROR BAGS OFFER ADVERTISEMENT'

This is the 3rd picture I found from my discs. I really have no idea where I got this picture originally but I'm pleased that I kept a copy of it. Looks to be from a comic or an issue of Look-in.

As you can see from the ad, there was an offer for the 70's game 'Scream Inn' which I believe was based on the comicstrip of the same name. I have never seen the game myself but from pictures I have seen of it, it looks great. The second offer we have a Horror Bags T-shirt which is a different and probally better design than the Iron on transfer as featured in the earlier post. Fangtastic image, I wonder if any of these T-shirts have survived. Its a shame that the ad isn't a lot more clearer as you can't read the small text, maybe another better pic will turn up sometime.

'HORROR BAGS T-SHIRT IRON ON TRANSFER"

Here is another picture that I came across while looking through my pictures on disc. This time its what looks to be the same transfer that you could send for from packs of Horror Bags [see pic of pack in an earlier post]. Looks great, this is probally another ebay item the picture came from.

'EAT HORROR BAGS' now there's a demand, I wouldn't advice it now though if you have any 30 plus year old packs of Bones etc. Urrgghh.

'ALPHABETTI SPAGETTI SPOOKY OLD HOUSE GAME'

I was having a look through some discs I have of pictures I have saved over the years from the internet and came across 3 pictures that I totally forgot I had. The first picture we have here is a photo of the Alphabetti Spagetti 'Spooky Old House' game and the original envelope that it came with. I've been wondering what this game looked like and all a long I had a picture already. Looks like it was probally an ebay item.

'PAPERMATE HAUNTED HOUSE PEN'

I remember buying the Papermate 'Haunted House' pen sometime during the 1980's, but somehow the actual pen was either lost or mis-placed somehow and I can't for the life of me remember what the pen looked like, not even sure if it had a graphics on it as such. I love the images on the box its just a shame that it got crushed over the years, empty boxes are not the easiest of items to keep. I have never seen one since, mind you if it is just a plain pen it wouldn't be really worth it. Anyone else remember these or still have one?

'ACTION SPOOKY'

I mentioned this briefly before to see if 'Action Spookys' would jog anyone else's memory, my mate Sean who does remember them and did the drawing above wrote a little about what he remembers about them:

Back in 1970/71, when I was 7 or 8 you could buy plastic Skulls called 'Action spooky' with chewing gum at the sweet counter of your local newsagents. they came in both red and black in a spookily illustrated cardboard box. The thing I remember most about them is that when you pressed a button, the eyes popped in and out of their sockets and the mouth opended and its tongue shot out. I have done a crude drawing from memory, but bare in mind I have not seen one for 37 years. Its strange but I have mentioned 'Action Spookys' to others the same age as myself but nobody can remember them.

Thanks to Sean

'TARGET' magazine for boys

The weekly 'Target' magazine began in the early 1970's and was aimed at boys with a varied range of interests. Published by New English Library, the issues would cover what you probally would expect of a boys magazine such as: Sport, the natural world, stories of war and bravery, cars etc. Other subjects included Pop music, boys fashion, profiles of film stars and films etc. Two regular comic strips were 'Bovver Boy' basically a boy skinhead, and Carrington- Crimebuster.

Dave Lee Travis hosted a regular colemn about pop music and would you belive the actor Christopher Lee also had a regular colemn called World of Cinema and TV, which was basically a platform to talk about his current activities in the film and TV world. Target would also do features on horror films and effects in horror films as well as profiles on their stars. An average issue would run to about 32 pages, a lot of which were in colour, sometimes a double spread poster was also included. I am not sure how many issues were published, certainly into the 50s.

As you can see above are 2 issues that have a horror themed cover and the Christopher lee colemn from those issues.

'WEETABIX' - Free Scary Sticker

These scary stickers, one of which you see here, came free in boxes of Weetabix, I believe in the late 1980's. There was I think about 5 or 6 in the set and they all glowed - in - the dark. I have another 2 somewhere which I'll try and dig out. The stickers came in a cardfold out which also showed the others in the set. The two pictures of the Vampire and The Werewolf short comicstrips were featured on the backs of the Weetabix boxes. There may of been others in these 'The Weetabix and the...' short comicstrips. You could get some really cool free gifts with packs of cereals, shame that is longer the case.