Wednesday, 14 October 2020
Tuesday, 13 October 2020
The Man Who Bribed Death!
Back to the dusty depths of the Digital Comic Museum for more creepy comic fun today! And today's tale is of yet another man trying to bargain his way out of inevitable consequences...
It's from Avon Comic's Witchcraft Issue 4, dated Sept/Oct 1952....
(Again, as always, click to go big!)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
More spooky shenanigans tomorrow, but why not go check out what else is going on in the countdown by visiting the hub by clicking the badge below!
Monday, 12 October 2020
Cinema Of Stuff Presents - Tombs Of The Blind Dead!
This is a cult classic that I'd never seen until I watched it yesterday, but I was happy to discover it on Youtube so I could share it with all with you as part of the countdown!
Written & Directed by Amando de Ossorio,
Starring...
Lone Fleming as Betty Turner
César Burner as Roger Whelan
María Elena Arpón as Virginia White
José Thelman as Professor Pedro Candal
Rufino Inglés as Inspector Oliveira
Verónica Llimera as Nina
-----------------------------------
There are apparently a lot of sequels to this film, so I'll need to keep an eye out for those! Anyway, hope you enjoyed that! Tomorrow we'll probably be heading off to the Digital Comic Museum again, but don't forget you can also check out all the other bloggers taking part in the countdown by clicking the badge below!
Sunday, 11 October 2020
Saturday, 10 October 2020
Vintage Halloween Catalogues (Part 2)
More of these old Vintage Halloween Catalogues today! These are all from the Beistle catalogues, except the last one...not sure where that one came from.
1948
I like all the cat stuff in the one above!
1948
We need more radioactive glow-in-the-dark decorations these days! Back in 1948 they were all the rage! Also, where can I get a nut-basket in 2020?
1948
Some of those pumpkins are genuinly terrifying! Would love some silhouette lanterns though...
1948
Hmm...some of those hats look suspiciously like they might just be re-coloured variations on Christmas/New Year hats...the table decorations are the most Halloweeny things on that page...
1948
Yep! More Orange and Black coloured hats that could just as easily be for any other celebration! C'mon Beistle, you're not even trying now.....
1948
Okay, good save! I'm liking the giant hands and feet...not so sure about the 'authentic' Tramp beard though...or the 'Farmer's Chin Beard'.....
1949
It looks like quit a few of the decorations were becoming classics and starting to appear every year. Lots of very similar things appearing now...
1953
Is it a mask? Is it a hat? No, it's a mask hat! For when you need to cover all of the head spaces!!
This last one is going back in time a bit again, probably the late 20s because there's that fortune wheel again, but I love how Felix seemed to be a popular Halloween character because of the fact he happened to be a black cat!
Hope you enjoyed those! Things will get a bit more colourful in the next catalogue post later in the month, as we're jumping forward to the 60s to take a look at all the weird and wacky kids costumes from Collegeville!
I'll be back tomorrow with more Halloweeny horrors, but in the meantime why not go and check out what the other creepy Countdown crowd are up to by clicking the badge below!?
Friday, 9 October 2020
Spook Sightings of Yester Year - No. 17 - Strange Beasts!
Taking another look at some odd old newspaper reports today...and these ones might make you a bit wary to go wandering off in the dark by yourselves!
(From the Luther Register, dated Friday, August 24th 1923)
STRANGE BEAST IS SEEN AT WAUKOMIS
WAUKOMIS - Tales of a strange beast which chased Art Baker, a farmer living a few miles west of here from his pasture, are being told here and many persons have gone out to have a look at the animal.
According to Baker he had gone to his pasture to bring in his cows when the strange beast made its appearance. He said he was chased away and had to get his horse to round up the cattle.
Baker describes the animal as something like an elk-cow, being nearly as large as an elk but hairy as a buffalo. Some persons say the animal has escaped from a show and wandered into the pastures.
-----------------------
(From The Dothan Eagle, dated Saturday Afternoon, February 19th 1927)
Three Strange Beasts Worry Bungalow City Inhabintants
NEW YORK, Feb.19. - When the night wind blew up over Gravesend Bay Wednesday night, Bungalow City was wide awake and the hunt for the Three Strange Beasts was on.
Old Cap'n Sam bought raw red meat for his traps and set them just before sundown. Andrew Peterson, who owns the bungalows and the little shipyard and most of the land thereabouts, took the late watch in the crow's nest of his office shack with a forty-five in his fingers and a searchlight for action on the window rail.
Children and dogs were kept behind doors, for none could tell what the Three Strange Beasts might do if they got real mad.
Wolves or mountain lions, hyenas or ocelots, coyotes or spotted leopards - no one knows. But there are three of them, a small one, a middle-sized one and one that is enormous; they make tracks in the sand like nothing anybody has ever seen, and they killed a dog and sucked his blood just six nights ago.
May Be Lordknowswhat
And Peter Romanoff, an expert from the Bronx Zoo, saw the tracks yesterday that the enormous one made the night before when Mrs. Kate Barene glimpsed him from her kitchen window - and Mr. Romanoff told Cap'n Sam, in effect, that the beast might be - well, almost anything!
It started two weeks ago. Mrs. Jensen, who'd rather not appear in full print, saw the three of them traipesing across the sand back of the cottages.
"I guess I know dogs when I see 'em," said Mrs. Jensen yesterday. "And these wern't dogs, or I'm a panther! They didn't trot, they didn't gallop - they slung. And leaped."
Dog Murder Clinches
But with the murder of Mr. Dutton's daschund the feeling reached what might be called a peak.
"Coming up from the yard," relates the grave, ponderous Mr. Dutton, "and here ten feet from my doorstep lies the dog. He didn't have any name - I never like him much - But here he was - dead. And I looked around, and there, in the dark was three eyes, burnin' and borin' away like lights on the water.
"I thought - dogs. I edged up 'till I could see the big thing faint in the moonlight, and I picked up this half-brick and heaved it at him. It hit him, but he didn't yelp. Right then I knew t'was no dog. Dogs yelp when hit - cats slink away.
"I go in and get ready to bury the dead dog and I light a lantern. 'Bout twenty minutes later I come out - and the dead dog's been dragged ten feet further away. And I see where they've chewed his throat from ear to ear and sucked the blood."
Desolate Spot For Prowlers
The section wherein the three strange beasts are roaming is in summer time better know as Ulmer's Park, near the foot of Bay 37th Street in Brooklyn. This time of year the pavilions are deserted and the whole section desolate except for the dozen families, mostly fishermen and ship workers, who live in the row of Bungalows that is called Bungalow City.
------------------------------------------------
(From The Morning Leader, dated Tuesday, September 27th 1927)
STRANGE BEAST CHASES YOUNG BOY IN OAT FIELD NEAR TRUAX
(Special to The Leader)
TRUAX, Sept. 26 - Has the strange beast reported at Killaley recently reached the Truax district? The recital of Eldin Bannert, 11-year-old boy, of a blood curdling tale last Thursday night, after reaching his parents' home, lends color to the belief that the monster is in the environs, or at least, was last Thursday evening. Eldin will not soon forget last Thursday evening, September 22nd, because a wrenched and badly bruised shoulder is a reminder of what nearly scared him out of a few years growth, also his hands and knees are still tender from his "crawl" of more than a hundred yards, in his efforts to get away from an animal, the likes of which he never saw before, and never wants to see again.
Eldin was stooking oats about dusk at one end of the field and his father was at the other end finishing the cutting. Eldin noticed that his dog was acting strangely, keeping so close to him that he trod on it. As he was setting up the last stook he noticed something moving in the flax nearby.
Thinking it was his dog, that had wandered into the field, he called to it, and a strange beast jumped out and leaped at him.
Eldin took to his heels and cleared the ground fast, but the beast followed him, leaping about six feet at a time. After he had covered about a hundred yards, Eldin fell down and wrenched his shoulder badly. By this time the beast had given up the chase, but Eldin did not know this and he crawled on his hands and knees, hiding behind stooks at times, then trying to get up, to run to the house. When he reached there, he told his mother what had happened. Medical aid was summoned and his shoulder attended to.
Describing the animal, Eldin said it was about six feet long, about a foot high, brown in color, with a black ring around the neck, and with long pointed ears. Its most peculiar characteristic was the growl it emitted, something of a mixture between the bellow of a cow and the growl of a dog.
Friday a search of the fields was made but no trace of the strange beast was found, except where it had trodden the flax. A neighbor also reported that his dogs acted strangely Thursday. He could hardly keep them off the binder while he was cutting his grain.
-------------------------------------------
Hmm...might have to look into the Killaley report mentioned at the start of that last story, but some interesting 'strange beast' reports there...hope you enjoyed them!
Check back tomorrow for more Halloween weirdness and in the meantime, click the badge below to see what the other bloggers taking part in the countdown are up to!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)