Voting for the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards has begun and we’re proud to say that Six Foot Plus got nominated as “Best Multi-Media Horror Site!” Since Monstermatt Patterson has also made contributions to the show, we hope you write in Monstermatt Patterson in the “Linda Miller Fan Artist Of The Year” category as well. So please make sure your ballot includes the following:
18. BEST MULTI-MEDIA HORROR SITE – Six Foot Plus
26. BEST FAN ARTIST OF 2017 (The Linda Miller Award) – Monstermatt Patterson
Don’t forget that you can vote for as many or as little categories as you want. As much as we want you to vote for us, we want you to vote in other categories whenever possible. Voting ends Sunday at midnight (April 8), so don’t delay! Just be sure that your ballot email includes your name. Otherwise it won’t get counted! Hopefully Gravedigger’s Local 16 will get a nomination for “Best Website or Blog” next year…
Do you want a jiangshi figure rather than a papercraft model of one? Well, you’re in luck! John Cafiero (of Osaka Popstar fame) designed an 8 inch vinyl figure of one, available in both the standard blue and special green coloration. It’s more than just a cool conversation starter. Each one comes with both a removable scroll and a free download card for its very own theme song called “Hopping Ghosts” (also by John Cafiero)! You can check it out, along with the “animated instrumental” version thanks tom Osaka Popstar – Topic:
Why does the second track say “animated” in its name? It’s because it’s from an animated promotional video from OsakaPopstar:
If you love the songs and can’t get your hands on a figure, they’re available separately as paid downloads. I mentioned the possibility of not being able to get the figure for a reason. As this is a limited edition figure that was released back in 2014, supplies are limited (and sometimes expensive). Amazon only has one left as of this writing, along with a single “Hopping Ghosts” sticker and a small handful of patches. The first patch listing offers a single patch and the other has a few more. Thankfully the glow-in-the-dark “Hopping Ghosts” shirt and pinback buttons are still in stock on Amazon. Other online retailers might have more of the other items in stock or even items Amazon doesn’t offer, such as the glow-in-the-dark “Hopping Ghosts” hoodie sold by the band’s label. Don’t forget to stop by the figure’s own official website while you’re roaming the net for more merchandise!
Sun Nien Fai Lok!
Xin Nian Kuai Le!
Gung Hay Fat Choy!
Kung Hei Fat Choi!
Happy Chinese New Year!
Did you wait until the last minute to get a card for Valentine’s Day? Or perhaps you’re waiting to celebrate until sometime later in February to take advantage of all the clearance sales and easier reservations. Whatever the case is, the special horror fan in your life is certain to appreciate a homemade bloody Valentine. Ghouls, Guts, and Gore! shows just how quick and easy it is to make one:
Not only does the end result look amazing, but its style helps disguise its less than punctual nature!
To quote the description given at the new listing:
“In celebration of Women In Horror Month 2018, it’s an episode full of female-powered tracks to brighten your day while darkening the skies with horror, doom and destruction. Get the party started with such soul-stealin’ rock n’ roll from DEAD BY DAWN, VILLAINZ, THE TRASWOMEN, MAD MONSTERZ, and more. Monstermatt Patterson will pop up for a MONSTERMATT MINUTE, and Kraig Khaos delivers another KILLER KUT!”
Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.
Last year I put together a little article called “What Gives?” where I shared various musings and openly wondered about missed opportunities. Looking back, the title made me seem more upset than confused and some of the answers to my questions would have been answered if I had put a little more thought into the matter. Remember how I expressed shock over how none of the scary story 1-900 numbers had been reissued as digital compilations? I think “They just haven’t thought of doing that” and “the master tapes are either of poor quality or long gone” explains why that hasn’t been done. But the new title and the following thoughts should better reflect my new direction:
How come I can’t find anyone else who saw The Dungeonmaster and interpreted the presence of Albert Einstein in a cave full of frozen villains as meaning Einstein had been challenged by Mestema in 1955 and died in said cave? All other reviews either question his presence or guess its a reference to his involvement with the Manhattan Project. I prefer my take on it, especially since it means Einstein fought and defeated Blackie Lawless! This is assuming he had to go through the exact same challenges (and in the exact same order) as the protagonist from the film.
Full Moon has been playing around with new ways to put out old material in recent years. I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve seen them reissuing a movie multiple times under new names (and sometimes new cover artwork) or the times they’ve edited down a few films into a “new” anthology. So why not try reworking footage from Kraa! The Sea Monster in order to cash in on the popularity of found footage movies and the Cloverfield franchise? They could even pull the Kraa costume out of storage to film just enough new material to entice those who’ve already seen the original version. They wouldn’t even have to spend money on miniatures, since these could just be quick shots of Kraa filmed with a black background. Alternately, cardboard buildings with holes cut in them look surprisingly decent when lit from the inside and filmed in darkness. The rest of the film would just be people running around and screaming, so it’s not like a big budget would be necessary.
Come to think of it, you’d think Full Moon would have tried to cash in on the popularity of The Disaster Artist by reissuing Retro Puppet Master with the tagline “The film that helped inspireThe Room” But I suppose this is to be expected since they failed to play up how Totem beat Cabin In The Woods to the punch on certain plot aspects.
Okay, okay…one last Full Moon thought before I move on to another subject. How on Earth did Charles Band not use the tagline “Deth Becomes Her” for Trancers 6, a movie in which Jack Deth winds up inside the body of his own daughter? Talk about missed opportunities!
Am I the only one who’s surprised there hasn’t been more of an effort by fans to get Marc Cerasini’s Godzilla and the Lost Continent released in some form? I’d even accept a version with all the Toho kaiju replaced with original creations at this point. Alternately, it’d be great if Graphic Audio got the license from Toho (and Random House) to produced audio adaptations of all the Cerasini Godzilla novels.
Why have the works of William Hope Hodgson been so neglected as fodder for film and television adaptations? Although some of his Carnacki stories have been adapted for television and “The Voice in the Night” inspiring both a TV movie and Attack of the Mushroom People, so many of his other works have yet to be touched. The closest we’ve gotten to a movie version of The Boats of the “Glen Carrig” was Hammer’s The Lost Continent and that was actually based on a Dennis Wheatley novel! But maybe I should count it since said novel was influenced by Hodgson. In any case, the cost of digital effects has gotten to a point where even the most epic of his stories shouldn’t be much of an obstacle for low budget productions.
It’s amazing how I have yet to see any haunt owners discuss tactical\hunting strobe flashlights. One would think battery powered strobe lights would be high demand, especially for haunted trails and hayrides. But despite my knowing for a fact that several haunters enjoy hunting, nobody seems to have made the connection to haunting!
It’s odd how not even the lowest budgeted “prehistoric” film has ever tried passing off a woodlouse as a trilobite. Come to think of it, triops had the potential for use as cheap prehistoric (or alien) effects as well. Whip spiders are just begging to be used in an Alien rip-off and we can only imagine what would have happened if Bert I. Gordon had gotten his hands on a few giant wetas for Beginning of the End.
It’s truly amazing how mole people don’t turn up that much in horror. Not the ones from the old Universal movie, mind you, but the homeless people who are said to live in sewer tunnels deep below major cities. C.H.U.D and the novel Reliquary are the only examples I can name. The idea of people living in an area that can’t easily be escaped and that isn’t easily accessed by law enforcement officials or paramedics is perfect for horror. Mutated animals and vampires are only two of the countless possibilities for monsters which can menace the mole people.
To quote the description given at the new listing:
“Surf’s up, even when the temperature is 13-below. It’s an all surf episode, featuring tracks from THE PHANTOM OPERATORS, BANZAI HAWAII, THE TERRORSURFS, THE TIKICREEPS and more! Monstermatt Patterson plays Beach Blanket Bingo and goes bust in the MONSTERMATT MINUTE!”
Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.
I wish I could think of a better title for this than “Making a Magic Potion”, since there’s blessedly little potion swilling in “Call of Cthulhu”. Putting that aside, this is a quick and easy technique for creating a swirling, iridescent liquid that looks great as a potion, bound spirit, or fuel inside the reaction chamber of some infernal mechanism. Just shaking the bottle produces a wonderful pearlescent turbulence, and the effect is considerably enhanced if you can illuminate the liquid.
You’ll need a bottle or container of some kind, regular kitchen food coloring, water, and the magic ingredient- mica powder. Have you ever seen an iridescent paint job on a car? Where the color shifts as it drives past you? That’s the same effect produced by mica powder.
For this project I’m using “Pearl Ex Powdered Pigment”, a very fine grained mica powder available at your local craft store. A single small jar runs $3-$4, but you can pick up a twelve pack for around $1 a jar if you take advantage of the ubiquitous 40% off coupons offered by craft retailers. If you don’t happen to have a craft store nearby you can order the powders through Amazon. You’ll only need a small amount, so a single jar should be good for a number of bottles.
Here’s what the gold powder looks like inside the jar:
Fill your bottle with water and add a few drops of food coloring. You won’t need much, since the mica powder will add more color to the liquid.
Then use a coffee stirrer or straw to scoop up a small amount of the powder and dump it into the bottle. Put on the cap, either a screw top or cork depending on what kind of container you’re using, and give it a shake. Tada! You’re done.
Turbulence in the water causes the mica fragments to swirl around. As they spin light is reflected from the short and long faces of the particles, producing two bands of color as the phase of the wavelength is alternately reinforced and damped.
Here’s a bottle without any food coloring, just mica. The red and gold coloring is produced solely by light reflected from the powdered pigment.
Here’s a short video clip demonstrating the swirling effect in motion:
Sadly, the iridescence will slowly disappear as the mica particles settle to the bottom of the container under the pull of gravity. You can delay that by using a more viscous fluid like glycerin or mineral oil instead of water, or by providing an outside source of energy.
Ideally, you could mimic the technique used in some novelty lights with a glass container filled with mica impregnated fluid suspended over an incandescent lamp. The direct illumination will produce a more intense swirling effect because more light is being reflected, and the heat from the lamp will set up eddy currents that keep the particles suspended. My sensitivity to legal liability compels me to remind you that such a project could easily set your home on fire and cause a massive explosion if you’re not careful, so use your head and assume I’m a bloodthirsty maniac hell-bent on leading you into misfortune.
Gravedigger’s Local 16 is not to be held responsible for the content on or anything that may occur (be it good or bad) as a result of visiting any links (or constructing a project that’s detailed on them). Attempt at your own discretion.
To quote the description given at the new listing:
“It’s time to say ‘Rest In Peace’ to 2017, but not before celebrating some of the best music that came out in the back half of the year. With tracks from THE LONG LOSTS, MUMMULA, HIGH HEELS, TOTAL DEATH MECHANICS, and more. Plus, Monstermatt Patterson makes and breaks his New Year’s resolution all within THE MONSTERMATT MINUTE.”
Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.
I would have ranked it higher than TNT’s classic “Godzillabash ’94” promo if this had a higher budget and used a costume that wasn’t intentionally ridiculous. El Rey is running its fourth annual “Kaiju Christmas” marathon today, so you can tune in for some Toho goodness if that promo made you want to see more Godzilla action.
To quote the description given at the new listing:
“Happy Holidays! After the Naughty, it’s the Nice’s turn to celebrate this wonderful time of the year. Get into the spirit with songs from LOS STRAITJACKETS, PAUL MAULED AND THE FURIOUS ELVES, TOMB DRAGOMIR, DARKMOOD and more. Monstermatt Patterson replaces the Elf on the Shelf and hilarity follows on THE MONSTERMATT MINUTE, plus a special gift reveals the TRUE meaning of Christmas.”
Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.
To quote the description given at the new listing:
“Bah Humbug! During this time of year, it’s so tempting to be naughty…so here’s an episode with naughty music from THE ANGRY SNOWMANS, CIRCUS PIG!, MISGIFTS, CANDY CORN FOR BREAKFAST and more. Monstermatt Patterson’s 30+ year-streak of being on the Naughty List is unbroken, thanks to another installment of the MONSTERMATT MINUTE.”
Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.
Finding Chanukkah-related horror stuff is hard. Thankfully we managed to come up with enough material on the subject to match up with each day of the Festival of Lights! So think of this article as the 9th candle (also known as the shamash candle) on the menorah formed by these eight crazy frights:
But this doesn’t mean we won’t ever do any more updates on the subject. If we ever find more material, you had better believe we’ll post more installments. But you can still enjoy the Chanukkah music in each year’s holiday episode(s) of our podcast until that time comes!
To quote the description given at the new listing:
“Lights…give me some Christmas lights! Here’s a whole eyeful of colorful glittering sparklers, as we have some hued tunes from THEE TSUNAMIS, THE SPASTIKS, ANGRY SNOWMANS, WOLFMEN OF MARS, and so much more. Monstermatt Patterson isn’t color blind, but he’s tone deaf on a MONSTERMATT MINUTE, and Kraig Khaos works blue on another KILLER CUT.”
Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.
The photograph illustrating this article is the work of Jessie Tarbox Beals, who also created the image used in last year’s installment of “Christma(dnes)s.” It was fascinating to read up on her career in photography. I had no idea she was the very first woman to be hired as a staff photographer by an American newspaper! You can learn more at her Wikipedia entry. I personally feel that visiting Wikipedia is a good first step to get an outline before you seek out more reliable sources of information to verify how much of what you learned is correct. I used this method to make sure the Christmas carol “In dulci jubilo” was really written by a mystic and to confirm that the reference to telling ghost stories in “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” is a reference to the old British tradition (and not my ears playing tricks on me).
Fans of Gravedigger’s Local 16 should recall my looking at said tradition in 2010,2011 and 2012. More specifically, how it stemmed from the success of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol all the way back in 1843. But what I didn’t know until recently was how it wasn’t the first time Dickens had wrote a Christmas story about an encounter with the supernatural! That honor goes to his 1836 short story “The Story of the Goblins who stole a Sexton.” Robert Louis Stevenson wrote his own tale of Christmas redemption through spirits in 1885 called “Markheim.” But don’t expect something as cheery as A Christmas Carol. This is the work of the man who created Mr. Hyde, after all.
The lack of a similar mainstream “ghost stories at Christmas” tradition in the USA owes much to Dickens’ iconic tale having been published long after American independence. But why did it take so long for the Krampus and company to reach their current level of popularity in America? The answer involves a surprising amount of alcohol and orgies! Speaking of weird historical facts, “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” was once used as the soundtrack of an ancestor of the modern haunted attraction as we know it! Its being played on the glass armonica (and being heard by an intoxicated audience) probably helped up the scare factor. You can hear Tchaikovsky’s classic being played on that particular instrument if you want to get a better idea of what the experience was like.
Although Stubbys House of Christmas usually focuses on Christmas music, they also have a Halloween section!Zombie Christmas! is another website which mixes the two holidays. Those who appreciate its selection of projects might enjoy the following tutorial on making a talking ghost prop using a Douglas Fir singing tree.
Speaking of Lovecraft, the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society released a new, two disc installment of their Dark Adventure Radio Theatre audio drama series! It’s called A Solstice Carol and uses a Christmas framing story to link audio adaptations of “The Festival,” “Pickman’s Model” and “The Outsider” together. As always, there’s plenty of props thrown in for good measure! They’re also offering their famous tentacle stockings for individual sale as well! But the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society isn’t the only one out there with horror holiday offerings on independent web stores. Remember the cover art for the Krampusnacht single by Valentine Wolfe from earlier in this article? It was created for that release by Egregore Design and you can order it as a stationary card, print and many other options! Last but not least, Tweeterhead has a line of official Elvira ornaments!
Gravedigger’s Local 16 is not to be held responsible for the content on or anything that may occur (be it good or bad) as a result of visiting any links on the above sites, downloading from them or constructing a project that’s detailed on them. This also applies to any suggestions made here. Attempt at your own discretion.
To quote the description given at the new listing:
“Save your fork…there’s pie! Unwrap the foil and take a bite, because this episode is full of some delicious leftovers. BLACK WIDOWS, CULT OF THE PSYCHIC FETUS, HORROR SECTION, SATAN’S PILGRIMS and more will fill your belly. Monstermatt Patterson will talk turkey on the MONSTERMATT MINUTE while Kraig Khaos serves up pie with a KILLER CUT.”
Remember to email 6′+ (contact at 6ftplus.com) or leave a comment below about the show, whether you liked it or not. Tell your friends, leave a review on iTunes, but above all – enjoy.
As I noted last year, several Halloween traditions were once associated with Thanksgiving in America. I first noticed this when I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn back in high school and was completely mystified by the part where children were clearly trick or treating in November. When I noticed how several old magazine articles about Halloween were published in November while working on “More Vintage Halloween Insanity” in 2009, I was even inspired to write about my old high school memory for Thanksgiving that same year.
As the years passed, my research on various Halloween subjects would frequently lead back to Thanksgiving. The Dennison Manufacturing Company (which later merged with Avery International to become the Avery Dennison Corporation) once published “Bogie Books” filled with ideas for activities for Halloween…and Thanksgiving. Sometimes this was noted on the cover but often it would only become obvious after reading the contents. Judging from the various preview images, most of the Thanksgiving material seemed to be the normal sort of thing people today would associate with the holiday. So was this just a case of bundling Thanksgiving stuff into a Halloween guide since they’re both autumn holidays? Perhaps. But seeing turkey decorations and what appears to be a turkey costume shown in the Halloween suggestions hinted that something else could be going on.
Slowly but surely, more information about the matter trickled in while I was looking up other things. A 1912 issue of The Frances Shimer Record noted a “Junior Hop” Halloween party being held in November. This wasn’t conclusive, seeing as it could have originally been planned for October and then delayed, but was still interesting. The costuming guide for a children’s play about holidays suggested reusing an artificial Halloween pumpkin as part of a costume for the character representing Thanksgiving (although Halloween is strangely missing from the play) briefly made me think there was no real connection between the two holidays and that those Halloween articles were probably just the victims of poor scheduling. But it was what I found next which made me realize there might have been another reason. It was a note in a British book about poetry from 1875 which said Robert Burns’ “Halloween” “is always about the first days of November.” Attempting to learn more about this strange revelation led me to an entry from the journal of Queen Victoria! In an entry labeled “Halloween, October 31, 1866-1867” she noted how Protestants “generally keep Halloween on the old day, November 12.” Those who wish to learn more about the once traditional celebration of Halloween in November should pick up Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History by Lesley Bannatyne. Things only got more surprising when I came across an issue of Country Life In America from 1904. In addition to the pumpkin game and carved pumpkin chandelier, that’s also where I found the image illustrating this post! Considering how it came from an article about decorating suggestions for Thanksgiving, this makes the previously discussed costuming guide’s advice about keeping the face of the Halloween pumpkin concealed seem rather unnecessary. But since said guide was published in 1921, more investigation was needed.
To quote the description given at the 
You’ll only need a small amount, so a single jar should be good for a number of bottles.
