'LITERARY HOUSES' - Rosalind Ashe - DRACULA

Here we have a non-genre book that is worth mentioning because of particular chapters on the genre. 'Literary Houses' by Rosalind Ashe is a beautiful illustrated book that describes 10 famous houses in fiction, describing a particular house and its interior from a classic novel and illustrated beautifully in colour. Some of these I will be including here in the Cobwebbed Room either because it is appropriate or because of the atmospheric illustration. Here as you can see above are the illustrations from the chapter on Dracula.These were illustrated by John Rose and I think really capture the creepy and sinister atmosphere as described in Bram Stoker's novel. The other books covered in 'Literary Houses' are 'Rebecca', 'Great Expectations', 'The Picture of Dorian Grey', 'The House of the seven gables', 'The Great Gatsby', 'Northanger Abby', 'Jane Eyre', 'Howards End', and 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. I shall only cover 'Hound of the Baskervilles' and 'Great Expectations' [Only because of the cobwebbed shrewn Miss.Haversham's house]. 'Literary Houses' was published in 1982 by Paper Tiger. As far as I am aware there was 2nd book of Literary Houses too, not sure what novels were covered in this edition.

'THE SPINECHILLER COLLECTION'

Throughout the years here in England, there have been hundreds of weekly or fortnightly magazines known as Partworks on any given subject. Of interest to readers of The Cobwebbed Room there have been a few with a supernatural/horror theme such as 'The Unexplained', 'Man, Myth and Magic', 'Fate and Fortune', 'The X Factor', and 'The Horror Collection'? 'The Spinechiller Collection' was another supernatural/horror themed publication which was aimed at a younger reading group. Published by Eaglemoss in 1998/1999. The first issue as with most partworks was sold for an introductory price of 75p, all issues thereafter would be priced at 1 pound 50 per issue. With the first issue which came in a card folder also contained a pack of 3 Spooky pop-ups [There were 30 of these pop-ups all in all to collect throughout the magazines run, these were intended to be used to play a game called 'Zap the Spook']. Issue 2 came with a free binder which would hold 15 issues and another spooky pop-up, other free gifts apart from the pop-ups were a skull hologram sticker with issue #5, a card Dracula bookmark with issue #6, and a small sheet of spooky tattoos in issue #11.

The Spinechiller Collection's contents were illustrated with artwork and photographs, and written work consisting short stories, supernatural factual accounts and Unexplained phenomena. Contents of each issue consisted of a Scary Story which were originally published in one of the following short story collection books:

'Super Scary stories for sleepovers' (1995)

'More Scary stories for sleepovers' (1992)

'Even more Scary stories for sleepovers' (1994)

'Mega Scary Stories for sleepovers' (1996)

'More Super Scary stories for sleepovers #6' (1995)

'Even more Super Scary stories for sleepovers #6' (1995)

'Still more Scary stories for sleepovers' (1993)

'Scary stories for sleepovers #8' (1997)

'Mega Scary stories for sleepovers #7' (1996)

'Bone chilling tales of fright' (1994)

'Still more Bone chilling tales of fright' (1995)

'More Scary stories for when you're home alone' (1996)

'Scary stories for stormy nights' (1995)

'Even more Scary stories for stormy nights' (1997)

'Scary stories from 1313 Wicked Way' (1996)

'Darkness Creeping' (1995)

'Our Haunted World' covered stange and spooky stories from around the world, I am not really sure what the next part was called but it contained a 2 page story in comicstrip format that were the sort of stories passed from a friend of a friend kind of like Urban Myths, 'Strange but True' covered case documents about srange phenominia, events etc, then we have the 'Creepy Puzzles', a 'Classic Serial' featured a condensed version of a classic horror or ghost story which each story ran over 2 to 3 issues, here are those stories that were featured:

'Phantom of the Opera' - Gaston Leroux

'The Portrait Painter' - Charles Dickens

'Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde' - Robert Louis Stevenson

'Squire Toby's Will' - Sheridan Le Fanu

'The Old Nurse's Story' - Elizabeth Gaskell

'The Real and the Conterfeit' - Mrs.Alfred Baldwin

'The Shadow' - E.Nesbit

'Croul's Ghost' - Sheridan La Fanu

'Wolverdon Tower' - Grant Allen

'The Ghost Chamber' - Charles Dickens

'The Dead Sexton' - Sheridan La Fanu

'Dracula's Guest' - Bram Stoker

'The Signal Man' - Charles Dickens

'The middle toe of the right foot' - Ambrose Bierce

'The Open Door' - Charlotte Riddell

'The Pit and the Pendulum' - Edgar Allan Poe

'The Canterville Ghost' - Oscar Wilde

'Frankenstein' - Mary Shelley

'A Christmas Carol' - Charles Dickens

'Dracula' - Bram Stoker

'The Violet Car' - E.Nesbit

'The Spectre of Doom' - Bram Stoker

'The Stranger' - Ambrose Bierce

Finally 'The Unexplained' looks into bizarre unsolved mysteries. Throughout the 60 issues of The Spinechiller Collection, a number of artists worked the covers, contents and free gifts. I would say that all the illustrations are stunning and often very creepy throughout. Here is a complete list of those artists:

Simoni Boni

Kev Walker

G.Coppola

Darren Pattenden

Lee Gibbons

Will Simpson

John Higgins

Tony Smith

Paul Johnson

Una Fricker

David Millgate

Leo Hartas

Jerry Paris

David Burtchum

Steve White

Ian Atchinson

David Wyatt

Christyan Fox

Kev Hopgood

Carol Kemp

Robin Smith

Baz Rowell

Christine Hock

Justin Wyatt

Garry Leach

Harvey Parker

John Lupton

Luis Rey

Douglas Carrel

Ken Stott

Luigi Galante

Julian Gibson

Andrew Wheatcroft

Barry Jones

Alwyn Talbot

Al Davison

Stephen Player

Bob Harvey

The last issue contained an index covering all issues, there were no puzzles or 'The Unexplained' in this issue. A subscription would include a free Spinechiller Collection T-Shirt.

'HELIX HORROR STATIONARY RANGE' - Mid 1980's?

My other post which featured horror themed Helix pencil cases, 3 of which were in the range of pencil cases known as 'Horror Bag',the vinyl coffin shaped pencil case and the plastic coffin shaped pencil case which I have added here again in this post, because this is where it should of gone being part of the Horror vampire range by Helix. Another of Helix's horror themed stationary which came out sometime during the 1980's featured a green faced vampire on the products [see above] and the word Horror and what that particular item was, here as you can see is the Horror Case [Vinyl pencil case], and the Horror exercise book which also came with ruler, pencil sharpener and rubber. The black spider was also part of the Horror range released by Helix at the same time. This plastic spider had a number of functions; the spiny back was a pencils/pens holder, the eyes a rubber, and the mouth doubled as a pencil sharpener. I don't remember if there were other products in the Horror range, but as far as I am aware these 4 were the only ones, unless anyone else knows of anything else in this Helix range.

'HORROR MAKE-UP KIT' - Dekker Toys

Dekker Toys 'Horror Make-up kit first came out during the 1970's and was created by world renown make-up artist Dick Smith who created the make-up for 'The Exorcist', 'Little Big Man', 'The Hunger' etc. This wondeful kit was perfect for those wanting to turn themselves into grisley creations for Halloween, amateur horror films or just for freaking out people with bloody gashes, cuts and scars. The kit came with Flex Flesh which is a powered substance you mixed with water and poured into any of the several moulds contained within, these were of cuts, gashes, swollen eye sockets and noses etc. The Flex Flesh when set was supposed to turn into a flexible latex wound etc. A lot of the time I tried it my flex flesh just went too hard to be able to use as a flexible wound to stick onto the skin, it was like trying to stick un-cooked pasta to yourself, not sure what went wrong with the mixture. If it did turn out ok you could then stick it on to yourself or any willing person, and then blend in the grease paint stick to give it a more realistic colour, and of course adding blood to the wound etc. I never got round to creating a full make-up with the kit, just the odd scars, cuts or gashes which if did right could look quite realistic. The Instruction manual illustrated a number of creations that could be tried out on yourself or on another person. As well as the moulds, blood, Flex Flesh and glue, the kit also had several different size spoons for measuring the flex flesh, some plastic teeth and I think some false hair too. I don't have everything that was in the kit as I think I may of got it secondhand. I did get the smaller later version of the kit which was called 'Scary Faces' [see pic above] new, but this kit is now un-complete.

I would love to hear of your experiances with the Horror Make-Up kit and especially to see any photos of your efforts.

'GHOST TRAIN' Denys Fisher game

The 1970's was I think a great decade for spooky board games, especially for the box art of a lot of them; 'Ghost Train' is no exception. I really love the graphics, the box art is second to none and what is great is that the box art matches the actual game too really well. It is this kind of creepy artwork that used to grace some of the best horror comics of the 50's, 60's, & 70's and even some horror film posters of the time. The box art is really atmospheric and certainly more atmospheric than any actual Ghost Train rides, although some of these Ghost Trains have some really amazing graphics and spooky effects. The game itself as you can see from the above picture also is decorated with nice creepy artwork even around the sides of the raised gameboard. There are some really nice touches such has the waiting room on the back wall of 3 skeletons sat down, the Ghosts, Skeleton and Bat attached to some of the turning wheels of the board, the big green spider hanging over one of the entrances/exits. I love that domed skull headed ghoul looking over the top of the building, whom also appears on the reverse of the back wall [See above]. I won't go into how the Ghost Train game is played [Maybe at a later date] but I just thought it was more special to show the actual images of the game.

Few more JUNE BOOK OF STRANGE STORIES scans

Hope you like these Ross.

'GHOST SPECIAL' - No.2

If anyone can shed any light on this book I would really appreciate it, I would especially like to know whether it was a spin off of a comic or suchlike and know if there were any other editions after No.2. I have never seen 'Ghost Special' No.1, so that would be really great to see if anyone has a copy they would like to share a few pics from it or even just some information about it would be ok too.

This slightly larger size annual 'Ghost Special' No.2 is a real mixbag of spooky content, containing comicstrips, short stories, crossword, jokes, film reviews, quiz, true stories, game, and spooky reports. The comicstrips are aimed at the younger readers especially the funny ghost strips which are similar to the ones that were featured in many Fleetway comics. The jokes are pictures with the joke underneath, film reviews cover such films as 'The Amazing Mr.Blunden', 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' etc, the true story features include The Grey Lady of St.Thomas, Borley Rectory, The Spirits of Windsor etc. All in all Ghost Special No.2 is a nicely put together book. The inside front cover has a nice illustration of a spooky carriage and horses. As regards to the date of the book I am not sure because there is no date, the only clue is one of the spooky reports is dated 1974, so I would guess 1975/76.

Contents:

CS = Comicstrip

Jimmy's Genie [CS]

The Regimental Ghost

Aladdan's Wonderful Lamp

Ghost Crossword

Spoofer the Spineless Ghost [CS]

House on Moonlight Hill

Ghostly Giggles

Sammy Spook [CS]

The Amazing Mr.Blunden

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Now you see him, Now you don't

That's the Spirit

The Grey Lady of St.Thomas

Ben Macdhui - The Haunted Mountain

Some Mysterious Worlds

{Note: A comicstrip is here but seems to no title}

The spirits of Windsor

Ghostly Giggles

The spookiest House in England [Borley Rectory]

The remains of Borley Rectory

Game

Ghostly Guardians [CS]

Witches, Wizards and warlocks

The Civilisation which became a ghostly legend...

Grubby the Greedy Ghoul [CS]

Flying Saucers - Fact or Fiction

Spooky Reports

Ghostly Giggles

Spoofer the Spineless Spook [CS]

Ghosts of the road

Grubby the Greedy Ghoul [CS]

Ghostly Giggles

The Ghost Light

Ghostly Giggles

What would you do if..?

The Ghost who returned

Published by Panda Publishing

'THE VALIANT BOOK OF MYSTERY AND MAGIC' (1976)

Here is another annual special this time from Valiant comic. The cover pictured above features the main charactor Sylvester [aka The Spellbinder] an alchemist from centuries ago. Sylvester is featured in most of the comicstrips in the book. Besides the comicstrips there are short stories, a monster movie quiz [see above], a feature on Dracula and his guises, weird facts from around the world told in a comicstrip type format, feature on Houdini, Chung Ling Soo, Lafayette, etc, I really like some of the atmospheric illustrations featured throughout the book, especially the one featured above by Geoff Campion, other ones by Joe Colquhoun, Eric Bradbury are equally as nice and atmospheric. I have never really seen any issues of Valiant so I am not sure if any of the characters such as The Spellbinder were one of the regular characters featured in the comic.

Contents:

CS = Comicstrip

SB = Spellbinder

The Hand of Tuthoon [CS SB]

This Evil Place

The Great movie Monster Quiz

The Final Victim [CS]

The Dracula Dynasty

Creature from Nowhere [CS SB]

The Red House

It's a Weird World

The Spellbinder [Part 1] [CS SB]

Screaming Skulls

The Magic Spectacles [SB]

The Horrors of Turville Hall [CS SB]

Stranger than Fiction

The Passing of Gallantyne Gox [CS]

The Spellbinder [Part 2] [CS SB]

Nightmare

The Fugitive from the Future [SB]

The Terror in the Fog [CS]

The Laughter from Beyond

The Night of the Gargoyle [CS SB]

They Mystified Millions

The Man on the Road [CS]

The Spellbinder [Part 3] [CS SB]

"Of Thee She'll Sing..."

The Strange Old House by the Churchyard [CS]

Published by Fleetway

'JUNE BOOK OF STRANGE STORIES' 1972

The majority of the comicstrips which form most of this annual are hosted by a suave man known simply has the storyteller whom travels the world seeking strange tales [see above]. Short stories, a game, true mysteries, a creepy quiz, and a poem by Walter La Mare. Most of the comicstrips as you would imagine for a annual aimed at female readers usually is a young female as the hero/heroine. I really like the cover of this annual which contains the typical iconic images of a spooky setting, The Creepy castle, bats, Witch and in the foreground a scared looking girl reading an old book by candlelight and of course the black cat. I wonder if The June book of Strange Stories was an inspiration to the later supernatural themed girls comic 'Misty'?

Here is the contents:

[CS = Comicstrip]

'The Prince of Lightning' [CS]

'Doomsday for St.Denny's' [Short story]

'Legend of the Bell' [CS]

'Aztec Gold' [CS]

'To save sammy' [CS]

'The Gay Dolphin' [CS]

'Mirage in the Desert' [CS]

'The Ghostly Guide' [CS]

'Escape from the Haunted House' [Maze game]

'The swing of the Pendulum' [Short Story]

'The Magic Violin' [CS]

'Mysteries of time and space' [True mysteries]

'Creepy Quiz'

'The Haunted Museum' [CS]

'Song without words' [CS]

'The Farmyard Judges' [CS]

'Rogue Elephant' [CS]

'The Siamese Cat mystery' [CS]

'Where did they come from...and go to?' [True Mysteries]

'The Rain Goblins' [CS]

'The Friendly Ghost' [CS]

'The Magic Spectacles' [CS]

'The Listeners' by Walter De La Mare [Poem]

'Who was she really?' [CS]

'At the Rainbow's end...' [CS]

'Fantastic but true' [True Mystery]

'The Green Rose' [CS]

'Loom of fate' [CS]

'The Doomed Classroom' [CS]

Published by IPC Magazines Ltd.

'HORROR BAGS GHASTLY GIFTS OFFER'

Just look at these wonderful Horror Bags gifts that could be ordered for free, well apart from sending so many empty packets, not bad at all eh? 3 of these gifts have already been featured here in The Cobwebbed Room, Creepy Clutchers, Serpents and Stairs game and the Fungames pack. Still yet to see the Dracula hand puppet. I wonder if these offers came out during the end of the Horror Bag range? Its almost as though Smiths were having a clear out of their remaining stock of promotional items so therefore offering them for as little has a few empty packets.

'HORROR BAGS' - Fungames pack

When I first became interested in promotional items from Smith's Horror Bags, I was amazed at how many horror themed items that were released from the crisp/snack company back in the 1970's. For so many years I was only aware of the duffel/swimming bag that you could send away for with so many empty packs of Horror Bags. Now the past few years several items have come to light that I of course never knew about and the latest in this line is what you see here - The Horror Bags Fungames pack. In side this wonderful colourful illustrated pack is a selection of monster themed games, a glow-in-the -dark haunted castle poster, a spooky mobile, and 2 card masks of the Horror Bags Vampire and the Frankenstein Monster. All items are printed on either thin card or paper. The Haunted Castle poster is in 2 sections, the castle picture goes over a picture of various monsters etc and when they are together the doors and windows of the castle can be opened up to reveal the monsters underneath. The games consist of puzzle games, counting games, counting quizzes and the like. The mobile consists of a Bat, Witch, and a Ghost. The 2 masks are printed on thin card and I am guessing that the Vampire mask is not the same that could be sent for from promotional packs, it just seems too flimsy for something that you would post off for. Now I wonder what other promotional items will come to light, I just wish there were some kind of Smith's archive that contained all of the promotional items that were released and press information, adverts, empty packs and boxes etc. I am sure there must be some form of archive as I would imagine that most highly established companies would keep a record of previous products. Its an important part of our cultural heritage surely.

'COUNT THE CASH' - Scratch Card

This was nice to see last year or was it the year before?, a nice change amoung all the usual scratch cards that you see in the shops. Although there are a number of themed cards that come out especially when a new film comes out, but certainly not many horror themed cards apart from the ones that usually come out about Halloween time. The 'Count the Cash' card's image used in the design is from the main image of the poster from Hammer's 'Taste the Blood of Dracula', shame that they didn't design some other Hammer Horror themed cards like 'Mummy Money', 'Frankenstein Fortune' etc.

'MONSTER MUNCH' - Classic design re-launch

First of all for those that have been visiting The Cobwebbed Room, I am really sorry for the lack of posts lately, I was off the internet for about 3 weeks due to a change of modem that wouldn't let me on the net, anyway its ok now. So hopefully I will try and start to get more regular posts up here now. Please continue to visit this cobwebbed strewn room.

I have been meaning to put this post up since last year when the new re-launched Monster Munch classic designs first came out. I think it was a wise move getting rid of those awful boring designs of the more modern Monster Munch range, and I am sure you will agree that the old designs are much more pleasing. Some of the differences between the new and old packs is now the new packs are bigger hence the 'Mega' above Monster Munch and the flavor Flamin Hot. As well as the 3 new packs that you see here, the 3 Monster Munch toys were available free from a number of shops after buying 3 packs of Monster Munch, 3 packs for each toy. These are about 2 inches tall.