TERROR TEE-VEE: A Countdown to Halloween (Day 22)

TALES FROM THE CRYPT

Dust off those old pre-code comics full of macabre murder and supernatural terror, dig up the bones of a genuine horror host, put your show on a network known for it's relaxed “standards and practices” and, if you did your job right you’ve got HBO’s Tales from the Crypt!

For seven years and 93 episodes the campy antics adapted straight from EC Comics issues written by William Gaines and Al Feldstein were broadcast from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s—all of which were introduced by that lovable corpse, The Crypt Keeper voiced by John Kassir and puppeted by Van Snowden.

The comic book art used in the series was created by Mike Vosburg and Shawn McManus—two fine modern artists who would have fit in well in the pre-code days at EC.

ABC enjoyed the show so much, they produced a Saturday morning cartoon in 1993 called Tales from the Cryptkeeper.  Here, a kinder, gentler Cryptkeeper introduced tales and other EC mascots The VaultKeeper and The Old Witch made frequent appearances.  It lasted two seasons and 26 episodes and was resurrected in 1999 by CBS for 13 more episodes.

Nonetheless, Tales from the Crypt kept up the hardcore commitment to twist endings and gore galore! Wait a minute, can’t you just hear that invitingly gloomy theme by Danny Elfman now…

And for your selection of the best of the Tales from the Crypt vault, check out the links below for the choice cuts:

Bloody Disgusting

Fangoria

The Robots Voice

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!

THE COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN: DAY 25

(Dracula & Vampires in the Comics)

I know I mentioned my favorite portrayal of Dracula outside of the novel, and perhaps Christopher Lee's near silent performance in a couple of the Hammer films, was Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan's Count from THE TOMB OF DRACULA.  It's probably more Gene than Marv that guides my opinion in this, the fact that Colan's shadowy, foggy, dreamy lines and shades add such a gothic feel to the whole book.  That he is able to portray emotion more realistically than nearly any artist of any era is probably another good reason.

That's still to come.

Tonight we focus on other portrayals of the Prince of Darkness and his ilk within the panels on a comic book page.  There are legion, but we'll see how many pics blogger will allow me to throw up here to show you the diversity...

 

From this sampling alone, the face of the vampire is as hard to pin down as the tail of a squirrel on nut patrol!

And now, the music for tonight's episode is from the album She Hangs Brightly, it's Mazzy Star's "Taste of Blood"...