COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN (Day -10): EXPIRED CANDY PART 1

(Three of the four Jack 'O Lanterns at The Goods this year.)

As is usually the case on the big Countdown to Halloween, I'm brimming with more ideas than I can shake a broomstick at.  These are all items that I nearly got to, might have attempted to go into or pursue had I more time, the inkling of how to work it all out.  So I usually take a few days to gather a lot of this leftover candy and construct a kind of Frankenstein Monster post of these items all sewn together in one big messy massive post (and this year it'll be at least two posts).  

So here goes...

Was going to talk a bit about how Horror Hosting was something that went as far back as the art of storytelling.  How cavemen would have invented it to entertain his fellow cave dwellers through the long nights.  Hell, these stories are how the gods and monsters were all really created.  How herders would later tell stories of the big bad wolf, how norsemen would tell of storm giants and how traders in the arid deserts would tell rapt fellow travelers about djinn tricking a naive fool.

Would've gone into how Hosting was a kind of narration, a way of preparing a listener or viewer for what was to come next.  A way to let them know you're on their side while also introducing and distracting the audience--letting the tension out of a situation.  And how Horror Hosting thrived on the radio as listeners tuned in to macabre stories involving murder and monsters.

And that radio hosts led to the Horror Hosts of the comics--those dark figures standing outside of the comic panels taking glee in introducing horror tale after ironic horror tale taking place in those jagged panels full of axes, beady eyes, fanged mouths and murderous intentions!

The Old Witch, The Crypt Keeper, The Vault-Keeper were EC Comics' hosts and they are the most enduring of the bunch with the decrepit Crypt Keeper having gone on to a career in both television and movies.  But let's not forget several others that are a bit more obscure and a few that are a bit derivative...

(Click to Monster-Size)

First up is Boris Karloff, of course, Horror Host in film, television, on records and in comic books--first in the comic THRILLER and then in the long-running BORIS KARLOFF: TALES OF MYSTERY!

(Click to Enlargify)

Above we have "Digger" from Marvel Comics title CHAMBER OF DARKNESS, a charming gravedigger and storyteller.  A younger, more cheerful Crypt-Keeper.

(Click to Big John Bucema-fy)

Before "Digger" there was Lee and Buscema's "Headstone P. Gravely", an older gent who seemed more funeral home director.

"Uncle Creepy" was the host of Warren's CREEPY Magazine, very much in the EC mold of, well, creepy dudes hosting these things.

And since Warren had a creepy Uncle, then why not a "Cousin Eerie" to host it's twisted sibling publication EERIE Magazine.  The family resemblance is certainly there!

Host as well as a participant, "Doctor Spektor" looked more Doctor Strange than Old Witch, but performed both duties for Gold Key!

DC's Dark Mansion had "Charity" as a hostess, more a TV host in the vein of Vampira than the traditionally creepy character host of comics.  

This short-timed host of DC's GHOSTS, "Squire Shade" is nearly an identical copy of the Gentleman Ghost.

Probably the most distracting of all hosts was "Winnie the Witch" of Charlton's GHOST MANOR.  Not only would Winnie provide the intros and final word to the tales offered in her mag, she would dance and comment from just outside the panels in the middle of the story.  Clearly an attempt to bring a touch of counter-culture to the book that didn't work out.

Before Winnie, Charlton had it's own "Old Witch", an eye patch sporting, hooded old lass who seemed to get a special glee from the tales of terror told within the pages of GHOST MANOR.

"Mr. Bones" came after the Old Witch as host of GHOST MANOR for Charlton--a ghoul of a guy, he had the suit and tails working spiffily!

You've reached the end of this particular post,

but not the end of the comic book horror host run-down.

Stick around for more left-overs!

Autumn Cleaning

Just a sampling of more sketches completed in the month of October...

click on any one image to see it embiggened.

THE COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN: DAY 14

(But getting back to ME!)

I'm a member of a group of comic book fans and aspiring artists called OUTCAST STUDIOS, it has branches that extend over to deviantART and Google+ and even Facebook and perhaps even Twitter--I'm unsure about Tumbler, but I think we'd be perfect for that.  It's a group that has seen better days, frankly.  But then again haven't we all?

EC Comics' the CRYPT-KEEPER, but this is what he became at HBO years later.

All month long we're doing horror and Halloween themed sketches for our Daily Sketch and Weekend Sketch Challenges--I call it "MONSTER MONTH".  It's been an ambition of mine to do this for the group for a while, so I'm glad to finally see it pan out.

Now I used to be a regular, every-day sketcher when it came to the DSC--for a few straight years I rarely missed a day of it and it really helped me get back into drawing again after about a five year hiatus from taking the skill seriously--but these days I'm stop-and-start about it.  I'll do a few here and there but can rarely keep up the pace for even a week.

Nonetheless, it's been fun to contribute to the subjects day-to-day, especially in this month of October.

Here are some examples from the month so far:

(These are all ballpoint pen on cardboard, except the monster, who was pencil on cardboard)

Above is Mephisto with his evil giggle as he watches some poor soul suffer in the Marvel Universe as he seems to be in charge of that reality's Hell.

Jack Kirby's Demon from Hell, Etrigan!  Doomed to battle the forces of evil by being bound to the human Jason Blood by the wizard Merlin.

Lilith, the Daughter of Dracula, was made a vampire through the magic of a Gypsy witch so that she would torture her father for all eternity!

This redesign of Frankenstein's monster was a hard one to resist and yet a hard one to get very creative with, so I tried to simplify it a bit.

Gossamer is the name of the huge hairy beast that chases Bugs Bunny around an old castle until Bugs outsmarts him and does his hair and nails.  He's fun to draw.

Well, there you have it!

MONSTER MONTH continues all month over at OUTCAST

And now a nifty Halloween greeting card:

THE COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN: DAY 5

(SHEDDING LIGHT)

As the year gets closer to Halloween, I tend to peel my eyes and take long scrolls down the internet via google and deep plunges into the listings at eBay for all items that relate to the eve in question.

They say that if you want to know if something exists, simply check eBay and you'll find out.  And I find that to be fairly true--it's rare to stump eBay completely.  If it exists, someone is selling it or something similar.  Besides, I find the neatest pictures there even if I don't find the actual thing I'm looking for.

Tonight we're taking a break from Dracula to take a closer look at some spiffy Halloween themed lamps.  Why?  Well, three reasons actually; first, I found a bunch of neat ones listed over on eBay--that's right, some of these are still listed ; secondly, it's mighty late and this is a fast way to get something posted; and lastly, because I said so.

And so, let there be light:

The two pictures above are of the same lamp, but it's my favorite.

On that note, see you back here tomorrow for more funky features on this most frightening of holidays...