Oct 16 2010

Son of Horror Trivia

Originally, Godzilla foe King Ghidorah was supposed to have rainbow-colored wings. Although this idea was eventually abandoned, it did make its way into some early publicity pictures.

Back when 8mm horror master Nathan Schiff was shopping around his low budget epics to VHS companies, one wanted to release The Long Island Cannibal Massacre under the name “Cannibal Hookers 2: The Father’s Story.” Naturally, Schiff was less than pleased about the idea and the release never happened.

In 1978, an Italian film company made an unauthorized semi-sequel to the 70’s King Kong remake called Ciao Maschio (known as Bye Bye Monkey in America).

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Oct 15 2010

Swamp Angel

R.A. MacLean’s new band, proving that if you keep at it, there will always be another gig, another band and another song for you to play.

Oct 15 2010

It Came From Wikipedia III

The novel that inspired the once lost Karloff chiller The Ghoul was later adapted as a British comedy film called What a Carve Up! (aka No Place Like Homicide in the US)!

Speaking of unusual literary adaptations, the Great Old One Ghatanothoa appeared as the last enemy in the final episode of Ultraman Tiga, complete with the petrifying powers displayed in the short story it first appeared in. However, the Lovecraft reference went unnoticed by many American fans, as the distributor used the name “Gatanozoa” (which is the translation of “Ghatanothoa” into Japanese).

The band Coil once produced a soundtrack for the original Hellraiser in the 80’s. Although it was eventually rejected, their work was released as a separate album. On a similar note, here’s the original, unused concept art for Pinhead.

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Oct 14 2010

Revamping the Mission Statement

“Young Harry, propp’d up just as straight as he’s able,

Will soon lose his wig and slip under the table,

But fill up your goblets and pass ’em around

Better under the table than under the ground!

So revel and chaff

As ye thirstily quaff:

Under six feet of dirt ’tis less easy to laugh!”

-H.P. Lovecraft, The Tomb

Something I read today that seems fitting for our little organization.

Oct 14 2010

Tricks and Treats

It's all fun and games until you realize one of them is sitting on a severed head.

A Halloween How-To: Costumes, Parties, Decorations, and Destinations by Lesley Pratt Bannatyne has tons of easy tricks to pull during your next Halloween party or haunted house, with my favorites being the dropping spider and half man gags.

Here’s something to do when you’re bored while on Twitter: Tweet the phrase “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and wait for the fun to begin.

Remember the “giallo movie generator” from last year’s countdown? Well, here’s something similar devoted to Clive Barker’s love scenes. Is it NSFW? You’d better believe it!

Gravedigger’s Local 16 favorite Barrett’s Haunted Mansion put up a cool offer on their Facebook page: They’re giving free admission to the haunt (but not the “Buried Alive” attraction) to any customer who was born in October!

I highly recommend looking up haunted attractions in your area and then checking their Facebook/Twitter/etc. pages for discount coupons. I’ve found ones for the Factory of Terror in Fall River, MA and the Century Haunted Hayride in Auburn, MA so far and I bet you can find even more.

Have a bunch of walnuts and aren’t feeling hungry? Then make some hobgoblins using the notes from this 1943 issue of Popular Science.

Dryer lint. A worthless byproduct or an awesome free source of fake moss for Halloween displays? Read the Amazon preview for How To Haunt Your House by Shawn and Lynne Mitchell to decide for yourself.

Speaking of Amazon previews, the one for Halloween Crafts: Eerily Elegant Decor by Kasey Rogers and Mark Wood has creepy clip art and instructions on how to make things like fake candles.

Finally, the Google books preview for The Halloween Activity Book: Creepy, Crawly, Hairy, Scary Things to Do by Mymi Doinet and Benjamin Chaud shows you how to make monster mirrors and ghoulish garlands.

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 those sites (or constructing a project that’s detailed on them). Attempt at your own discretion.

Oct 13 2010

Monster Jokes

Ah, cheesy monster jokes. They are a staple of any young, growing horror fan’s reading diet and they’re impossible to escape during October. As I don’t know whether or not directly posting jokes falls under “fair use” rules, I’ll avoid any potential trouble by linking to several previews of spooky joke books. So if you’re feeling nostalgic or simply need a few jokes to use, check out:

Monster Jokes by Ima Laffin.

More Monster Jokes by Ima Laffin.

Beastly Laughs: A Book of Monster Jokes by Mark Moore.

Monster Laughs: Frightfully Funny Jokes About Monsters by Michael Dahl.

Jokes About Monsters by Judy A. Winter also offers interesting photographs rather than use cartoon drawings of monsters like other joke books often do.


Spooky Sillies: A Book of Ghost Jokes by Mark Moore.


Screaming With Laughter: Jokes About Ghosts, Ghouls, Zombies, Dinosaurs, Bugs, and Other Scary Creatures by Michael Dahl is a bit of a cheat, as it’s padded out with several pages worth of animal jokes.

Giggle Fit: Spooky Jokes by Joseph Rosenbloom and Steve Harpster.

For those of you who want a steady supply of new horror jokes, just follow 1monstermatt, author of the upcoming Monstermatt’s Bad Monster Jokes Vol. 1, on Twitter.

Oct 13 2010

Memphis Morticians

We talked about Memphis Morticians back when Von Erickson’s work was featured in a Tuesday uEtsy (which I’m told are on vacation for October as we do the daily countdown.) Being that it’s Psychobilly Wednesday, what better band to feature than the Memphis Morticians?

I saw them place down in Stanford a few years ago back when Surf Night was held down that way. I had heard of The Memphis Morticians but I had no idea what I was in for. They were an explosive swagger of evil and cool.

I wanted to get a studded cuff that lead singer Trash Only had on that night in some sense of tribute for the show that they put on. Even though it was some small part of a state some time before Halloween, the Morticians gave such a damn captivating performance it felt that if they would, they’d have no problem bleeding up on stage so long as they were still playing.

Really, a great band. This is straight up rock and roll that is meant to get the body moving and the heart pumping. If Stevie Wonder is music that will get you laid, The Memphis Morticians write music that will get you through a fight. They don’t have any upcoming shows at the moment, but you can find them online at Facebook, Twitter and back on MySpace (if you still do that jazz.) High recommendations and I hope you dig them.

Oct 12 2010

You’re no better than Puppetose Street

Longtime readers of the site know it’s no secret that that we love puppets. Especially the inventive use of a low budget and twisted humor from the warped world of Puppetose.

Given the Halloween season, I thought it would be good to share one of my favorite episodes of PuppeTose Street, wherein the gang visits a haunted mansion. It’s filled with loads of horror movie references and very NSFW humor and situations. So, without further ado:

Dedicated PuppeTose fans will undoubtedly notice the cameo by the hypno-priest from the show’s second episode. Also, be sure to check out the new season of PuppeTose Street on the official PuppeTose Youtube channel.

Oct 12 2010

Grove Street Cemetery

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Oct 11 2010

Head-Shrinking Made E-Z

This puts a new spin on the phrase "Deads Heads"
Although associated with African jungles and voodoo in American popular culture, shrunken heads are actually a product of select South American and Melanesian tribes. Most reference material on the matter focuses on the Jivaro, a collective term for the Shuar, Achuar, Huambisa and Aguaruna groups. The purpose of the shrunken heads is simple: When an enemy is slain (especially one that has killed a family member), their head is removed and shrunken in order to keep the spirit trapped inside. That way, the ghost could not seek revenge and any fallen family members were both avenged and honored. Despite the importance of their creation, many of them were discarded after they had been completed and their purpose had been served.

How were the heads shrunk? Obviously the head gets cut off after the initial ceremony, but then the skull (and muscles, fat etc.) are removed after the skin has been split via a cut made starting at the back of the neck. After objects have been inserted in order help the head keep its basic shape during the shrinking process, the eyelids and mouth are sealed shut. Once fully sealed, the head is boiled in water mixed with special herbs. The head is then dried and further shrunken in hot sand. After any final molding of the face, the shrunken head is rubbed in ashes and sometimes decorations are even added. As the person preparing it had to fast during the process, a big feast was held after completion and the head was displayed there.

Although shrunken heads were relatively rare at first, the interest generated by travelers to those areas resulted in a huge increase in the number of shrunken heads being produced. Apparently killings increased and bodies were stolen to meet the initial demand, but later monkeys and animal skins were used to manufacture artificial ones.

If you want a shrunken head and the store-bought rubber ones just aren’t enough, there is another (and legal) way to get one. All you need is an apple, a few household items and at least two and a half weeks (don’t worry, you won’t have to work for that long). You can find all of necessary directions here. For those of you who don’t have that much time, this site has and alternate method that can yield faster results at the cost of the head’s quality. But hopefully my posting this information early on in the Halloween countdown will give you all more than enough time to have your shrunken head(s) ready in time for the big day.

Oct 11 2010

Zombie Pumpkins: The Interview!

2010 marks eight years of ZombiePumpkins.com bringing its collection of over 200 frightfully artful designs to your holiday decoration.  Patchmaster General Ryan Wickstrand, a freelance art design maestro, applied his craft to the holiday tradition of pumpkin carving and struck some orange gold. As people asked for his designs, he heeded the calling and started up ZombiePumpkins.com

The official story is that the neglected pumpkins, left behind to rot and decay in pumpkin patches, have risen up to seek their revenge. The only way to prevent a pumpkin zombie uprising is to carve! carve! carve! them all.  Thankfully, Ryan adds new designs to the site, giving you plenty to chose from each year. There are multiple levels of membership, for those who just want a few designs to those who utilize Ryan’s work year round.

ZombiePumpkins.com was generous to donate a membership to our 2010 Halloween Contest. For those who win, they’ll have a bunch of new designs to pick from—recently added were Zombie Hello Kitty, Killer Klowns from Outer Space and Dr. Frank-N-Furter from Rocky Horror. The site also houses a forum for all your pumpkin, spooky art and general horror interests.

Ryan was kind enough to answer a few questions as he gears up during this busy 2010 Halloween season

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The common sentiment about the holidays seems to be “they come earlier ever year.” When do you usually start gearing up for Halloween?

The more appropriate question might be, when am I NOT planning for Halloween.  The answer to that is probably, just at Christmas.  No wait, that’s not true either, there are skulls on my Christmas tree and my door wreath has eyes and sharp teeth.

People always ask me what I do the rest of the year, and my answer is: plan for next Halloween!  There’s always something that can be done. Generally though, I take a break from Halloween during the winter months, start planning in the spring, and work full force during the summer to prepare new patterns and products.

What do you usually do with what I can only imagine is a metric-ton of pumpkin guts? Have you gotten to a master skill at making pies?

I’m pretty good at eating pumpkin pie, but not making them.  You can’t really make much out of the gooey, stringy guts of a pumpkin.  You can eat the seeds, which I’ve done on occasion.  But 99% of the time, it all goes in the trash.  Luckily I have a dumpster nearby that just so happens to hold a metric-ton of pumpkin guts.

What’s the best advice you can give to someone picking out a pumpkin?

Pretty common sense tips, really.  For an easy carving experience, make sure it has a nice flat, smooth face.  And look it over thoroughly to make sure there are no soft rotting spots, or nicks and scrapes that expose the pumpkin flesh to germs.  I’m always surprised when I see people at pumpkin patches just grab the first pumpkin they see and walk away with it.  Turn it over, feel for bad spots.  Or you’ll be sad when your prize pumpkin is mush before the big night.

Your summer patterns bring up the idea that carving shouldn’t be regulated to just one night in October. How did the idea of carving watermelons come about?

Can’t say I invited it, watermelons have been discovered to be a good carving canvas for a while.  From fruit bowls made of the melon itself, to melon-lanterns, their structure is well suited for it.  The “Summer Spirits” collection of patterns on my site allows me to try designs other than the usual spooky stuff.  And the timing of summer couldn’t be better.  It leads right into the fall Halloween season so it’s a great way to get the buzz going for carving.

You have a wide range of tiki designs available. Are you a big fan of tiki/exotica music?

I’m a big fan of all sorts of music, and often I’ll listen to the matching genre while I’m designing a pattern, to get me in the right frame of mind.  So you can be sure I’ve listened to my share of groovy exotica, tiki tunes and swinging surf while designing and carving my tiki patterns.

With all the characters on your site, do you have someone who you haven’t yet been able to capture in pumpkin form, a ‘great orange whale,’ so to speak?

Many of my patterns have gone through several rough drafts before I was happy enough to release them.  Pinhead from Hellraiser is one example, which took me a few years of attempting before I “nailed” it. Currently, Lily Munster and Darth Vader are characters that are still playing hard to get.

Oct 10 2010

2010 Contest Page Update – LAST WEEK!

This Saturday is the deadline for the 2010 Halloween Contest here at Gravediggers Local 16. We’ve been caught up in getting ready for the holiday that we’ve missed a prize announcement (or two.) We apologize, and figure today and tomorrow should be the best time to announce the final two additions to our grand prize packs.

If you’ve been following us on Twitter or on Facebook, you’ve known that the ART Contest wins the PAIN IN THE NECK prize pack, while the LIMERICK competition winner will be awarded the OUT OF YOUR GOURD package.

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Oct 10 2010

From Shock Theater to Svengoolie

Chicago TV Horror Movie Shows: From Shock Theater to Svengoolie
By Ted Okuda and Mark Yurkiw

I like Chicago. It’s a nice place that has developed its own style – CHICAGO STYLE – and attitudes. A lot of great music has come out of that city, along with great comedy and in this case, great horror hosts.

‘Chicago TV Horror Movie Shows: From Shock Theater to Svengoolie’ details the line of horror hosts and horror shows that have been on Chicago airways from inception. It details those shows hosted by personalities (Mad Marvin, Svengoolie and Son of Svengoolie) and those that ran the movies by themselves (Chillerama, Creature Feature, etc.)

The book is divided, with the greater half going to the history of Chicago’s horror television. The latter part is a series of appendixes – “100 Horror Movies,” “Collector’s Corner” and others that offer a great start to get further into the world of classic (and not so classic) horror.  It’s really expansive, showing both Ted Okuda and Mark’s Yurkiw’s dedication to the subject and their respective research prowess.

It’s really neat to read about Mad Marvin, played by Terry Bennett. Sadly, at this time, there is no video footage of the Marvin character online, only that of Terry Bennett hosting ‘Jobblewocky Place,’ the children’s television show that he also hosted. As Marvin, Bennett hosted with his wife, Joy, who was known to horror fans as ‘Dear.’ Never showing her face and speaking only in grunts, Dear often was ‘dismembered’ or murdered in odd fashion every week. In addition, Mad Marvin added a group of local jazzmen –“Mad Marvin’s Dead Beats” –to play during an ‘after show’ program called ‘The Shocktail Party.’

The characters of Svengoolie and Son of Svengoolie, both Jerry Bishop and Rich Koz respectively, could fill an entire book. This book offers good deal of bits and comedy, effectively conveying what made both Son of and the original Svengoolie so appealing. With Rich Koz recently celebrating thirty(!) years in broadcasting, perhaps he’ll get a book of his own. Until then, though, ‘Shock Theater to Svengoolie’ is a great entry.

Overall, it’s a great book for those who want to learn about Chicago-based horror and have a valuable guide all in one book.

Oct 10 2010

The Onion News Network: Halloween Edition

Although I’m more partial to its AV Club spin-off, I do enjoy the occasional Youtube video by The Onion every now and again. Don’t let the quality of The Onion Movie fool you, the writers are capable of some hilarious stuff when they don’t need to fill out a feature film’s running time. So when I saw these Halloween “news stories,” I knew I had to share them for the countdown. So, straight from the Onion’s official Youtube channel, please enjoy:

Oct 09 2010

The Howling

Not ‘Bowling’ but ‘Howling.’

I hate the idea that becoming a monster is like gaining a superpower.

Lately, this idea is perpetuated by Twilight. Yes, it’s a severe offender but let’s face it – the idea has been brewing for decades. We’ve been close to what, thirty? thirty-five years of the idea that being bitten by a werewolf or turned into a vampire could possibly be a step-up in the world, that it’s a positive career choice.

Have we reached total saturation of that point now? Can we go back to the time where getting caught by a werewolf or turned into bloodsucker is a bad thing? That there’s an actual CURSE to this shit? People who look forward to turning into animals are called furries and those who want to drink blood and never see the sunlight are basement goths. Let’s put this into perspective, people.

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Oct 09 2010

Toho vs. Zilla

Go Go Godzilla!

Despite authorizing the changes made to the character in the American Godzilla movie from 1998, Toho has never been shy about indulging the majority of Godzilla fandom’s desire to see the original Godzilla battle (and destroy) the American version. That same year, Toho’s video game division released Godzilla Trading Battle for the original PlayStation. Despite the game featuring most of the studio’s stable of giant monsters (including several created just for the game), the game’s cover focused instead on the battle between the two Godzillas. I’m not 100% sure of what the gameplay is like, but the title makes me suspect that card games are involved somehow.

In what may or may not be a coincidence, the next year’s release of Godzilla 2000 featured a scene where a character notes that the monster Orga is trying to become a “Godzilla clone” by assimilating Godzilla’s DNA. Immediately after this is said, there’s a scene where the mutating creature’s face bears a strong resemblance to the star of Tristar’s movie. In 2001, there was a definite jab at the movie in Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. During a conversation about giant monster attacks, there’s a reference to a monster attacking New York in 1998 that Americans claimed was Godzilla. The tone of the speaker makes it very clear that they doubt it was really the Japanese Godzilla.

Then in 2004, Toho did something that the fans had never thought would ever happen: They put both Godzillas in the same film, Godzilla: Final Wars. However, the American creation was renamed “Zilla” (replacing fan-made names like “Fraudzilla” and “GINO”-Godzilla In Name Only) as it was felt that there was nothing “God”-like in the creature. First sent out to attack cities by invading aliens, Zilla is then sent after Godzilla with predictable results (with the alien leader making an amusing comment on the events). I won’t spoil things by telling exactly what happened, but I will say that it probably shocked the heck out of anyone who stumbled across the scene while channel-surfing and initially assumed it was from the Tristar film (or one of the Doritos commercials using stock footage from said movie)…

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