CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN -- IT'S OFFICIAL!

You may have noticed that my post narratives have been a little thin lately. That's because I've just finished and sent off my latest manuscript for the next issue of the venerable CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN (#37) magazine that has recently been resurrected by the publisher of SCARY MONSTERS. 

The article celebrates what is this year the 100th anniversary of Universal's THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, starring the legendary master of makeup and monsters, Lon Chaney. You can pre-order a copy HERE.

The cover is not yet finalized, but the B&W version is pictured above. Another cool addition is a free classifieds section where you can buy and sell your monster collectibles.

You can also order a copy of CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN #36 that includes two more of my centenary articles on NOSFERATU and HAXAN (aka WITCHCRAFT THROUGH THE AGES) HERE.

And here's the official document that trademarks the title, CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN. These guys are serious Monsterologist's, folks!

CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN RETURNS!

Attention villagers of Vasaria! It's time once more to light the torches and storm the castle -- the monster is loose again! Thanks to Don and Vicki Smeraldi, purveyors of the super monster mag, SCARY MONSTERS, the venerable CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN is back to thrill and chill readers with 100 pages of chewy monster goodness! This issue is packed with all sorts of great articles, including two from yours truly, covering the centennial of a pair of classic silent films, HAXAN (Witchcraft Through the Ages) and the first full-length vampire feature, NOSFERATU. It's all between a wrap-around cover by artist Scott Jackson in a nod to issue #21 of Calvin T. Beck's original CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN, with a painting of Sinbad by Marcus. And for all you CoF traditionalists, it's still published by the Methuselah of monster 'zines, Charles Foster Kane!

Beautifully designed with quality images throughout, you don't want to miss this, Monster Kids!

So, click HERE to order it already! And don't forget to browse the monster shop for all sorts of cool stuff like books, model kits, action figures and tons more.

Front cover by Scott Jackson.

Title page of my article on HAXAN.

Title page of my article on NOSFERATU.

CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN IS BACK!

The drawbridge is down and the rusty gates of CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN have once more opened. The folks who have treated you to the great 'zine, SCARY MONSTERS, are resurrecting the legendary title, originally conceived and published by Calvin T. Beck back in the days before video and when 8mm home monster movies were all the rage.

Here's the teaser, direct from the publisher:

Raise your pitchforks and reading glasses high and get ready to storm the castle ... 

The return of Castle of Frankenstein, from the publishers of Scary Monsters! The long wait is over for a regular issue continuing its original 35-issue run (plus 2 annuals) that began 60 years ago.

Castle of Frankenstein explores classic horror, sci-fi, and fantasy films in depth and without compromise. The cover story reveals "The Lost Voyages of Sinbad," a look at Ray Harryhausen's film that was never made. We'll also feature mini film reviews by Baron von Neck, a retro "Slaymate of the Month," and other regular monster-movie-macabre features loaded with phantastic photos.

When will it come out? Much like Beck's original, we can't say exactly, but definitely sometime this FALL, so stay alert villagers!

Color cover and 80 perfect-bound B&W pulp pages inside. You never know when The Castle will make its way to the newsstand, but rest assured, by the time the leaves are falling and the hearth is warmed during a dark, stormy night, it will crawl its way onto the shelves of Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million and throughout the countryside in independent book and comic stores through Diamond Comics. 

SYNOPSIS: The return of Castle of Frankenstein, from the publishers of Scary Monsters! After several years of special editions and an annual released in 2021, the long wait is over for a regular issue continuing its original 35-issue run that began 60 years ago. Castle of Frankenstein explores classic horror, sci-fi, and fantasy films in depth and without compromise. We’ll also feature mini film reviews, by Baron von Neck, a retro “Slaymate of the Month,” and other regular monster movie macabre features over 80 pages loaded with phantastic photos.

When will it come out, can't say exactly, but definitely sometime this FALL. Stay tuned. 80 perfect-bound pages. Color cover and B&W pulp pages inside. Raise your pitchforks and reading glasses and get ready to storm the castle ...

Collectors Note: Brand-new and uncirculated. Picked directly from the printer's cartons.

Pre-order your copy HERE.

SCARY MONSTERS NO. 126 PRE-ORDERS

The folks at SCARY MONSTERS magazine have just announced that pre-orders are now being taken for their upcoming issue, due in April.

Because of rising paper costs, the cover price of SM is going up to $14.99, but readers can save $2.00 by pre-ordering.

Pre-order your copy HERE.

Or, better yet, subscribe HERE.

Here's a sneak peek at the partial contents of issue #126:

• Reviews and analysis of the film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings novels 
• Top-20 Creatures from Middle-Earth 
• Golden Age Stars Who Gave Horror a Try 
• Trilogy of Terror: Lady Vampires of The Karnstein Trilogy 
• The Scene that Screams are Made Of: An American Werewolf in London 
• Gulliver's Many Travels 
• Medieval Weird: Arthurian Horror and the Green Knight 
• Kaiju Korner: Grievous Gorath and Unbelievable Varan! 
• Strange Days: Faith Domergue 
• Fiction: The MM Girl 
• Oh No! It's the Ogopogo! 
• Those Lucky Gorillas and Their Jungle Girls 
• Friends of Larry Talbot, Part 2: The Return of the Vampire and Cry of the Werewolf 
• Horror Goes West, Part 2: Grim West

SCARY MONSTERS NO. 123 DUE IN SEPTEMBER

From the publisher:

SYNOPSIS: #123 features profiles and memories of classic spooky films involving hauntings, including The Uninvited, The Innocents, The Haunting, The Amityville Horror, and Poltergeist; more recent movies such as The Conjuring/Annabelle series; as well as comedies like Hillbillys in a Haunted House and The Time of Their Lives. In addition, we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Scary Monsters, first published in October 1991. Our scary columnists will also provide some Halloween creepiness, and there’s much more over 146 fantastic foto-filled pages.

When first "charged up" in the sun (or with bright lights) and then brought into a dark room with lights off, hidden ghostly images will be revealed on the glow-in-the-dark cover art!

Pre-order HERE.

SCARY MONSTERS NO. 122 SNEAK PEEK

The "Never Say Die" issue of SCARY MONSTERS is now available for pre-order!

Description of contents:

Our 122nd Never Say Die! Issue will be here by the end of June! Multiple Rondo Award-winning Monster Man Scott Jackson (MonsterManGraphic.com) brings you a cover to die for (almost)! Get your preorders in now! This issue explores the mad scientists of cinema who aimed to cheat death by discovering their own versions of the fountain of youth. We revisit Karloff’s The Man They Could Not Hang, Lugosi’s The Corpse Vanishes, Carradine’s The Unearthly, Twilight Zone episodes on immortality, and others. Plus, we put Universal’s House of Dracula under the microscope, take a look back at The Six Million Dollar Man Bigfoot Trilogy, and much more over 146 fantastic foto-filled pages.

Pre-order your issue HERE!

PLEASE BUY SCARY MONSTERS NO. 121!

There's more than one reason to pre-order issue #121 of SCARY MONSTERS. Besides being one of the best monster mags around, this next issue contains an article by yours truly!

The feature, co-written with my colleague, Douglas Brown, compares the talents of Lon Chaney and Jack Pierce and who was the best at the art of monster makeup.

This Special Mummy Issue of SM is now available for pre-order HERE.

From the publisher:

Scary Monsters 121st Monstrously Memorable Mummy Movies Issue unravels the mystery of many classic films starring a creepy cast of cadaverous characters, including Ardath Bey, Imhotep, Kharis, Klaris, Popoca the Aztec Mummy, Princess Ananka, and Princess Anck-su-namum, among others. Revive your longing for these vintage motion pictures of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s over 146 fantastic foto-filled pages.

SCARY MONSTERS UPDATE

Having just received a Rondo Award for best monster magazine, SCARY MONSTERS #117 is now finishing up at the printer.

From the publisher:
CORONAVIRUS IMPACT (MONDAY, MARCH 30 UPDATE): Good news! Our printer will be completing the binding of Scary Monsters #117 and will be shipping our copies to us within a couple weeks. We will start mailing out copies to preorder customers and subscribers no later than mid April, which is right on time! However, bookstores, comic shops, and newsstands WILL NOT have copies until later on as all of our distributors' operations are still shut down. We will update this information when and if it changes.

SCARY MONSTERS DELAYED BY CORONAVIRUS

SCARY MONSTERS #117 almost made it out the door, but instead got hung up by the printer, who has bailed (and rightly so) in the wake of COVID-19. Here is the message from publishers Don and Vicki Smeraldi:

Scary Monsters 117th Hideous Horticultural Horrors Issue has been printed but not bound as our printer's plant has been closed due to COVID-19. Once the plant re-opens and finishes producing #117 -- and our distributors resume their transportation operations -- we will receive our copies and begin filling preorders and subscriptions. Soon after that, bookstores, comic shops, and newsstands that carry Scary Monsters will have copies of #117 available for purchase. We will make another announcement when this occurs.

This delay will impact our release schedule for subsequent issues this year, but it is too soon to know just how much. We sincerely appreciate your patience! Please keep in mind that our online store MyMovieMonsters.com is still open for business and shipping orders daily.

Free Digital E-Version of #117 Available!
Until the printed version of Scary Monsters #117 is available, we are offering a free download digital e-version. It's a $5 value. This is restricted to purchases made today through a date to be determined only for: new subscriptions starting with #117 or subscription renewals that start with #117 or preorders for #117. A customer email address is required. Once one of these specific purchases is completed at ScaryMonstersMagazine.com, the customer will receive an email that will include instructions on how to obtain one-time personal access to the digital pdf version.

BRAINS GONE BAD!

SCARY MONSTERS isn't done scaring us yet. Issue #116 is nigh, on pre-orders are now being taken at My Movie Monsters.

From the publisher:
The Scary Monsters 116th "Brains Gone Mad" issue is our Annual Monster Memories edition for 2020, highlighting favorite memories of classic monster and sci-fi films that feature brains on the loose and mad scientist transplantation experiments, including Dr. Frankenstein's work in several Hammer Films. We also interview "The Chin" Bruce Campbell and Roger Davis of Dark Shadows fame. And, much more over 144 photo-packed pages!

SCARY MONSTERS NO. 115 READY FOR PRE-ORDER

The 115th issue of SCARY MONSTERS can be pre-ordered HERE. This issue is a special on robots.

From the publisher:
Scary Monsters highlights classic monster and sci-fi films of the 1940s to 1980s. It's the return of the revolting robots, angry automatons, and malicious mechanical men that threatened our world, as well as the rambunctious yet reliable robots that served mankind to ward off evil. They're all here, including Gort, Robby the Robot, Lost in Space's B-9, Gog, Tobor the Great, Mechagodzilla, Terminator, and more! We talk to writer/director Aldo Lado of The Humanoid and profile screenwriter Jay Simms of The Creation of the Humanoids. Plus, Dr. Gangrene's Mad Interviews, Trilogy of Terror, Kaiju Korner, Strange Days, Weird USA, and much more!

Early cover design.

Full page ad.

SCARY MONSTERS SPECIAL SEA CREATURES ISSUE

What's not to like about sea monsters? I love 'em -- from the Monster of Piedras Blancas to the Creature from the Black Lagoon, I'm a dyed-in-the scales fan of ocean critters. Now, the folks at SCARY MONSTERS magazine have put together a special issue deadicated to our fishy fiends of the deep. Surf on over and buy it HERE.

From the publisher:
We venture into the depths of rivers, seas, and oceans to confront the amazing sea creatures and monsters that battered ships and crawled onto the creekbeds and shorelines to shock movie theater audiences in the 1950s and '60s! We compare the classic Creature from the Black Lagoon to Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water and take a closer look at the Creature after a forced transformation into a more human-like being in The Creature Walks Among Us. We also launch a new "filmbook" column, Forgotten Fiends of Fandom, starting with The Colossus of New York, feature an interview with writer and filmmaker Don Glut, and highlight sea creature features galore! A whopping 144 pages.

MONSTER MEMORIES NO. 27 DUE THIS MONTH

The folks at SCARY MONSTERS say: "the Monster Memories tradition at Scary Monsters magazine continues in this epic tribute to dragons, dinosaurs, daring do-gooders, and damsels in distress, with a focus on Ray Harryhausen films."

Order your copy HERE.

Monster Memories #27 wraparound cover.

SCARY MONSTERS NO. 111 COMING IN JANUARY

The next issue of the venerable SCARY MONSTERS mag is coming your way in January. SM has been a monster 'zine mainstay for a long time and is one of the best at capturing the Monster Kid "vibe".

From the publisher:

SPECIAL SURPRISE MAKES THE PAGES OF 111 COME ALIVE:

This issue is our second issue that is Augmented Reality-capable when reader uses a free app for their smartphone to bring art and some images alive! See our Scare-Blog! above for instructions.

SYNOPSIS: We go to the moon and beyond ... to far scarier places amid the stars and twilight, where time and space link to form new dimensions, but from an early filmmaking perspective! We highlight George Pal's The Time Machine; we look forward into the past with A Brief Cinematic History of the Future; we revisit The First Men in the Moon; we hear from Luigi Cozzi about his Starcrash and other films; and we take a look at Larry Buchanan's Mars Needs Women and Toho's Golden Age Spaceships. We also take a trip to the lighter side with The Three Stooges as they travel by rocketship and go into orbit; we talk with Dark Shadows star Kathryn Leigh Scott; we visit the Mothman Museum; and much, much more!

Pre-order your copy HERE.

SCARY MONSTERS MAG INTRODUCES "AUGMENTED REALITY"

One of the premier nostalgia monster mags, SCARY MONSTERS has announced their first-ever, "Spiritacular" Halloween issue, available for preorder.

According to the My Movie Monsters website, "Scary Monsters magazine's #110 They're Alive Again Issue coming the first week of October 2018 is not only its First Annual Halloween Spiritacular, but it's the first to be Augmented Reality-capable!

Check out their blog for the all the details.

Dr. Gangrene previews SCARY MONSTERS #110 on YouTube...

SCARY SUMMER SPECIAL RISES FROM THE DEAD

Yet another 'zine that's been locked up in the tomb, this time for 3 years, is again being unleashed upon the unsuspecting world of humans. The folks at MY MOVIE MONSTERS are waiting for you to pre-order a copy right now.

CONTENTS:

This Summer Special is for you, whether you are a Scary Monsters reader or are new to our scary corner of the world. We're celebrating the classic horror and sci-fi motion pictures, directors, actors, writers, and monster makers responsible for giving us thrills and chills for generations.

Every issue of SCARY pays homage to vintage monster magazines that featured the trailers of favorite fright films, brief reviews, and current and ghoulden age comics with a ca-coffin-y of images that are both fearsome and fun.

In this issue we highlight some of the motion pictures, movie stars, and guests on the scary schedule for Monster Bash 2018, including Brandy Gorcey, daughter of Leo from Spooks Run Wild and Ghosts on the Loose, Janina Faye of The Day of the Triffids, Sharyn Moffett of The Body Snatcher, and Victoria Price, daughter of Vincent.

We also introduce a scary tale from Kevin Glover's Monster Smash-Ups #1 from his line of comics by Fractured Scary Tales Publishing. We have issues 1-4 of Fractured Scary Tales and more to come available for order on this website.

Scary Monsters readers will recognize Rick "Spine" Mountfort's crazy and silly Frankenbilly, whose high-powered hooch leads to a whole new level of arachnophobia for Beaver, Granny, and the backwater gang.

And, finally, we turn the scary pages back to December 1954 with the devilishly spooky story "Payment in Full!" from the classic comic Amazing Ghost Stories.

So, get your 10-gallon drum of pennies out that you've been saving up as it's just 2,000 cents!

Also includes Scary Word Search, movie trailers ... and much more!

Perfect-bound, glossy soft-cover book. Color cover and 80 B&W inside pages.Published June 2018 by MyMovieMonsters.com.

Collectors Note: Each copy is new, uncirculated and picked directly from the printer's shipping carton.

SCARY MONSTERS NO. 107 PREVIEW

Just announced, here's a look at the latest SCARY MONSTERS, a special giant bug issue... on video!

SCARY MONSTERS NO. 106 NOW AVAILABLE

Another giant-size issue of SCARY MONSTERS is now available from the folks at MYMOVIEMONSTERS.COM. Since being acquired by new owners a few issues ago, SM hasn't skipped a step, or changed a beat -- which is a good thing.

In a spectacular, simian-inspired tribute to the 50th anniversary of the original Planet of the Apes film, our Scary Monsters 106th APE-ocalypse Issue includes "The Apes of Wrath," an in-depth look back at the landmark film series, and "Planet of Primates," which is a "behind the cages" analysis of the science underlying the films.

This 146-pulp-page APE-idemic issue also includes: an exclusive sneak peek and "making of" article on the stunning stop-motion short film Denham's Giant Monster. Actor and film producer Patrick Curtis tells the true tale of trick-or-treating at Bela Lugosi's house in "Count Dracula vs. The 'Little" Wild Bunch." The scary spotlight returns to a long line of Northeast Ohio horror hosts, including Ghoulardi, Big Chuck & Lil John, The Ghoul and Son of Ghoul.

In addition to many other scary articles, this issue will also include our regular features:

Weird USA: a visit to "UFO central" Roswell, New Mexico
Kaiju Korner: a review of King Kong's "career" since 1933
Strange Days: surviving San Diego Comic-Con International
Dr. Gangrene's Mad Interview: Scary Monsters cover artist Scott Jackson
Collecting Classic Monsters: debut column for classic horror and sci-fi collectors of all ages
... as well as Scare Mail, Scareviews, Scare-News, Scary Stuff catalog, and much more!
Full color wraparound cover art by Scott Jackson and vintage B&W content with 144 vintage pulp pages for Monster Kids of all ages!


Published October 2017 by Rondo Award Winners and Monster Kids of the Year, Don and Vicki Smeraldi of MyMovieMonsters.com.

SCARY MONSTERS NO. 106 SNEAK PEEK

The fearsome folks at My Movie Monsters have just released a look at their latest, upcoming issue of SCARY MONSTERS, a special tribute issue to the PLANET OF THE APES franchise. The spectacular wrap-around cover is by Scott Jackson.

You can pre-order your very own copy right HERE.

In a spectacular, simian-inspired tribute to the 50th anniversary of the original Planet of the Apes film, our Scary Monsters 106th APE-ocalypse Issue includes "The Apes of Wrath," an in-depth look back at the landmark film series, and "Planet of Primates," which is a "behind the cages" analysis of the science underlying the films.

This 146-pulp-page APE-idemic issue also includes: an exclusive sneak peek and "making of" article on the stunning stop-motion short film Denham's Giant Monster. Actor and film producer Patrick Curtis tells the true tale of trick-or-treating at Bela Lugosi's house in "Count Dracula vs. The 'Little" Wild Bunch." The scary spotlight returns to a long line of Northeast Ohio horror hosts from Ghoulardi to Son of Ghoul.

In addition to many other scary articles, this issue will also include our regular features:

• Weird USA: a visit to "UFO central" Roswell, New Mexico
• Kaiju Korner: a review of King Kong's "career" since 1933
• Strange Days: surviving San Diego Comic-Con International
• Dr. Gangrene's Mad Interview: Scary Monsters cover artist Scott Jackson
• Collecting Classic Monsters: debut column for classic horror and sci-fi collectors of all ages

... as well as Scare Mail, Scareviews, Scare-News, Scary Stuff catalog, and much more!
Full color wraparound cover art by Scott Jackson and vintage B&W content with 144 vintage pulp pages for Monster Kids of all ages!

SCARY MONSTERS NO. 104 NOW ON SALE!

The latest issue of SCARY MONSTERS (#104) is now available. Order HERE. You can also track it down at your local Barnes & Noble, but you have to look closely because the "Entertainment" rack where all the monster 'zines are is packed and lots of titles are hidden by other mags.

Here's the 411 from MyMovieMonsters.com, the new publisher of SM:

In #104 we highlight the quintessential creator of monsters for B movies in the 1950s. Paul Blaisdell was a one-of-a-kind monster maker who literally stepped inside his own creations, bringing them to life before the cameras and movie-goers worldwide. We also ask, "Can You Tame the Tingler?" in a review of the William Castle-Vincent Price shock-fest from a scientific perspective. Then there's our music-monster mash up with "Gravesy Gravesem's American Chop 40 Monster Hits Edition." Godzilla fans will appreciate a convenient guide to the 29 G films released by Toho. We also visit with Dark Shadows alumna Marie Wallace and Vincent Price protege David Frankham of Return of the Fly, Tales of Terror, The Outer Limits, and Star Trek. And there's much, much more in 144 vintage pulp pages for Monster Kids of all ages!

"The ghoulish guts of Issue #104 includes:

• Scare Mail
• You May Be a Monster If...
• Strange Days: Thoughts on The Twilight Zone, Ray Bradbury & More
• Can You Tame the Tingler?
• Gravesy Gravesem's American Chop 40 Monster Hits Edition
• Tiny Tales of Terror: Dead Man's Float
• Big E's Bad Movies that Hurt So Good: It! The Terror from Beyond Space
• COVER STORY: Paul Blaisdell: The Strange Creature of Topanga Canyon, Part One
• Raising Hell: Curse of the Demon Revisited
• The Marie Wallace Chronicles
• Alice Cooper and Us Middle-Aged Frankensteins
• Kaiju Korner: The Showa Era's Breakout Year of 1967, Part One
• Irwin Allen's Visions of the Future - Part Two: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Alpha Centauri
• A Thousand Ways the Desert Can Kill
• Dr. Gangrene's Mad Interviews: David Frankham
• Frankenbilly: Granny's Chair
• Scareviews
• The Latest Classic Horror and Sci-Fi on DVD & Blu-ray
• Mazza's Scary Stills
• Scare-News
• Scary Photo Captions Reader Submissions
• Advertisers and Catalog of Scary Stuff!
• An Artist's Tribute to Paul Blaisdell

Full color cover and vintage B&W content. 144 pages plus cover. Published April 2017 by MyMovieMonsters.com."