Happy Halloween From Frankenstein Jr.

The big day is finally here. You may receive a stale popcorn ball, a rotten apple or even (if you are Charlie Brown) a rock in your goodie bag...but will you get nuts (not the edible kind) and bolts? That's what Hanna-Barbera's mighty robotic (and very Halloween appropriate) superhero, Frankenstein Jr., got in his Trick or Treat bag in the rare publicity art created especially for the October holiday below—and he couldn't be happier with his Halloween haul. (It looks like boy scientist Buzz Conroy has more traditional treats.)  Frankenstein Jr. brings our 2014 Countdown to Halloween to a close. Thanks for ringing the doorbell in your cool costumes. I hope that veteran visitors and new guests alike enjoyed their Halloween treats—and I hope everyone will visit Tulgey Wood throughout November for some Mickey Mouse madness, Muppet mania, a Thanksgiving feast, and a special look at Walt Disney's Cinderella. And be sure and skate on over for the annual Tulgey Wood Christmas Extravaganza. But for now... Happy Halloween!  

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-BOO!

In something of a sequel to the 2002 Halloween Disney Catalog Gus and Jaq (costumed as zany ghosts) are back to help Cinderella celebrate the spooky season on this 2005 cover art. (And speaking of Cinderella, be sure and visit Tulgey Wood in November for more about Walt Disney's enchanting animated feature.) The princess, her pals and their pumpkin are here to remind us that the 2014 Countdown to Halloween blogathon is almost over. Stop by tomorrow for one more Halloween surprise. 

Monster Cereal Mania

As reported on many other blogs, the General Mills ("Big G") Monster Cereals are back in a retro-stled box as a Target exclusive for Halloween 2014. (The standard boxes bear new designs by DC Comics artists.) These monstrous breakfast foods have been feuding since they were introduced in 1971. (Boo Berry was introduced in 1972.) These retro boxes are styled as if from 1979, complete with an illustrative-type child who looks a little too enthusiastic about the "Free Mask" on the back of the box. ( I love how it says, "Fool Your Friends!"—especially as I don't think that mask would really fit on anyone's head.) The boxes this year include a fun story on the side of the box in which the monsters do what they do best: argue about whose cereal is best. You can dig up some more fun-but-frightful facts about the Monster Cereals at Dinosaur Dracula and the official General Mills site. These "super sweet" cereals are all part of the 2014 Countdown to Halloween blogathon.  

Great Pumpkin Fan Club

What would the spooky season be without Linus and his annual pumpkin-patch wait for the Great Pumpkin? That television classic It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown debuted on this date, October 27, in 1966, and Halloween has never been the same. This wonderful Schulz art below (as always click on the image for a larger view) ran in TV Guide to promote the 1971 telecast of this October favorite, only the 6th time it had been broadcast. This animated special has been run (at least once) every Halloween season since 1966. This is another post in the Countdown to Halloween blogathon of which Tulgey Wood is a proud "cryptkeeper."

Halloween ComicFest 2014

Did you know that today, October 25, 2014, is Halloween ComicFest day? You can visit your local (participating) comic book shop today and get a free comic book! Such funny-book favorites as Batman, Scooby Doo, Archie and My Little Pony are participating in free special-edition comic books. Below is the cover of the Scooby-Doo Team-Up issue that's available, a special edition of the first issue (featuring Batman and Robin) of that title. If you are not familiar with this hard-to-believe-they're-publishing-this-and-I-mean-that-in-the-best-possible-way comic, check out Joe Torcivia's blog for a fun overview. And for more info on Halloween Comicfest click here. This post is part of the 2014 Countdown to Halloween blogathon. Stop by right through October 31st for more spooky silliness.

Always A Bride, Never A Bridesmaid

Miss Piggy isn't the only character to appear on a comic-book cover costumed as the famous Bride of Frankenstein. Daisy Duck takes a backseat to no one when it comes to glamor and so is wearing a version of the classic Bride costume herself.  Of course, this particular party monster has to put up with the indignity of dealing with a mummy who is coming unraveled. This cover (Pencils by Francisco Rodriguez Peinado, inks by Enriqueta Perea) haunted the October 2008 issue (#695) of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories. It's all part of the 2014 Countdown to Halloween blogathon. If you like what you see, please don't be as quiet as the mummy's tomb—please leave a comment or two!

More TV Monsters Next Door

As mentioned, both The Addams Family and The Munsters debuted in 1964. These two monster-family comedies are often lumped together but The Munsters differed in that they were actually a traditional sit-com family with everyday values—they just happened to be monsters. And since this series came from Universal the producers were actually able to use copyrighted designs such as the classic famed Karloff Frankenstein monster (square head, neck bolts, etc.). The Munsters inspired much merchandise and below is an example. Happy Golden Anniversary to The Munsters!  

McHalloween

For some a Halloween tradition are the McDonald's treat buckets given away at  the eatery. These Halloween Pails, as they are called, have traditionally been given away as Happy Meal premiums. I collected Happy Meal prizes but never these. The Book of Life-themed Halloween Pails offered this year (see below) are the first I have ever obtained myself. For a lot more background on these unique Halloween premium please pay a visit to the Euclid Boo blog—it's one of 200-plus blogs (including Tulgey Wood) participating in the 2014 Countdown to Halloween blogathon.

Marvel Merry Marcher Monster Society

In the 1970s, Marvel had their own version of the Frankenstein monster (Dracula and Wolf Man too) and in this issue of Marvel Team-Up from 1972, "Patches" (as Spider-Man, always the wiseguy, calls the Monster) is paired with the web-crawler. As is so often the case with comic books, the cover below (by Mike Esposito, inks, and Ed Hannigan, pencils) is a come-on, as the Monster doesn't want to kill Spider-Man in the actual story within but only tries to help.

Halloween Hijinx With Archie

Archie Comics marches on with this World of Archie comic digest for 2014. Here, Archie is neither dead nor undead (as he is in some of the recent alternate universe Archie comics)—he's just his same old lovable self, and (as you can see in the cover below) so is Jughead. 

A Hallmark Muppet Halloween

Long-time Muppet licensee Hallmark has issued some fun Halloween items over the years. Here is a wall decoration, featuring Kermit apparently as a vampire and Miss Piggy as a witch concocting a love potion.

A Lulu Of A Halloween

Halloween was a favorite subject of the classic Little Lulu comic books. The spooky-season stories took the form of Lulu spinning tales of Witch Hazel and her niece Little Itch for little Alvin.  Another Witch Hazel?  That certainly was a popular name for a witchy woman, for both Disney and Warner Bros. had their own Witch Hazels. Here is a cool and ghoul-ish gallery of some Little Lulu Halloween-esque covers.  

Lost In Space Monster-Palooza

As noted during last year's Halloween blogathon, October 16 is Lost in Space Day—that is, it was on that date in 1997 (in the first episode of the classic TV, broadcast on CBS on September 15, 1965) that the Robinson family (plus one robot and one “reluctant stowaway”) blasted off and were almost immediately lost…in space.  To tie in this October event with Halloween, here’s a ghastly gallery of eerie entities and alien atrocities confronted by Will Robinson, the Robot and Dr. Smith. It’s all part of the 2014 Countdown to Halloween 2014. Please keep knocking on Tulgey Wood’s door—there’s plenty of the good candy in the days ahead. (And don’t soap the windows—please leave comments instead!)

WHOOO Goes There?

Think poor Snow White was fearful during her frightening flight through the forest? Her friends the Seven Dwarfs seem pretty spooked here—and they have lanterns! This wonderful art was published on the cover of the Walt Disney Studios in-house newsletter, Disney Newsreel. This issue was published on October 29, 1982, just in time for Halloween that year. It's the latest treat in the 2014 Countdown to Halloween blogathon, all month here at Tulgey Wood.

Bride Of Frogenstein

On this seriously spooky cover of The Muppet Show comic book (drawn by Roger Langridge), Kermit is confronted by Muppet versions of some famous monsters—including Miss Piggy as (who else?) the Bride of Frankenstein. This Halloween-appropriate issue (no. 8) was published in 2010.

Addams Art

1964 was a good year for monsters on TV. That year brought two monster hits—The Munsters on CBS and The Addams Family on ABC. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Addams side of the street, here's a Halloween-worthy cover (published for Halloween 1964, as a matter of fact) of TV Guide, combining a Charles Addams drawing with the live-action version of the characters portrayed by John Astin and Carolyn Jones. The characters shown didn't receive their famous names of Gomez and Morticia until the TV show was created. The family that came to be known as Addams first appeared in The New Yorker in 1938 as cartoons drawn by the comically creepy Addams.

Don't Be Scared Of Stamps!

Those Universal Monsters really get around--especially when they were showcased on official United States postage stamps. One of the greatest (and most visible) honors ever accorded these iconic screen figures, the United States Postal Service released these spooky stamps in 1997. The USPS offered a complete set of the Classic Movie Monsters releases in this specially designed folder, in order to appeal to both stamp collectors (otherwise known as philatelists) and fans of the frightening film stars. Painted by artist Thomas Blackshear, who has painted a number of other US stamps, these particular stamps feature the creatures that everyone loves to fear.  

Casper And UNICEF: A Frighteningly Friendly Team

Once upon another Halloweentime I mentioned that Casper the Friendly Ghost served as the mascot for the Trick or Treat for UNICEF campaign.  Here is the cover (featuring a lot of kids costumed as Wndy the Good Little witch) of a full-fledged comic book in which Casper, the friendly host of the event in 1976, cashes in on his comic-book cachet to spread the word about raising funds for needy children throughout the world through Halloween fun. Did you know that YOU can participate in Trick or Treat for UNICEF this Halloween? You can sign up as a group, family or individual. Check out the details here. 

Hot Stuff For Halloween

If Harvey Comics could make cute 'n' cuddly comic characters out of a ghost and a witch, why not a devil? The lovable little demon Hot Stuff made his first appearance in Harvey Comics in 1957 and soon "the little devil" (as he was billed) was appearing in a number of Harvey titles. As part of the 2014 Countdown to Halloween blogathon in which Tulgey Wood is a "cryptkeeper" (participant), here is some Halloween deliciousness for your trick-or-treat bucket in the form of a gallery of some red-hot Hot Stuff covers. 

Tricking And Treating With Princess Aurora

Sleeping Beauty: Diamond Edition (2-Disc Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD) was released yesterday on Diamond Edition Blu-ray. To tie-in with the release of one of Walt Disney's most visually striking animated feature, here is a Halloween-themed piece of eye-candy for your treat bag: a charming Disney Catalog cover featuring Briar Rose's woodland friends trick-or-treating. There's no reason why these forest animals shouldn't dress up for some treats from Princess Aurora (who is a masquerade-type outfit of her own)—after all, they came up with this very costume in Sleeping Beauty. Many thanks to Disney collector Dan Alexander for supplying this delightful Halloween cover for display here in Tulgey Wood. I have a Disney Catalog collection but somehow I could not find this particular issue so Dan came to the rescue to keep our Halloween spirits high. Be sure and visit Dan's fascinating blog.

Bewitching Witchery For October

Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks is an apt subject for Halloween, what with the witchcraft and all.   But October is Bedknobs month, as the superspectacular musical fantasy (with those marvelous Sherman Brothers songs) premiered on October 7, 1971. In honor of that date, here's the View-Master reel set of the film. This is one of the best live-action sets View-Master released. If you ever have a chance to check it out—and read the excellent booklet, also shown below—be sure and gaze in wonder in some Disney magic in "stereo pictures." Want more Bedknobs? this Academy Award-winning film was recently released on Blu-ray as the Bedknobs & Broomsticks [Blu-ray]. (Unfortunately, the new Blu-ray release includes the original theatrical release with the restored sequences from Disney's extensive 1996 restoration effort—including complete songs and extended musical numbers—included only as bonus features.) And be sure and take a look at the article I wrote for D23.com featuring 13 fascinating facts about this musical, magical motion picture. It's all part of the Countdown to Halloween, bobbing along here at Tulgey Wood right through October 31, 2014.

Tuff Guy

Spooky the Tuff Little Ghost was the inverse of his fellow Harvey comics star, Casper the Friendly Ghost—equally cute as Casper, Spooky had no use for "friendliness," he wanted nothing more than to scare people (or anything else). Though Spooky often succeeded the joke often was that he ended up scared himself. Here is a ghostly gallery of some classic Spooky covers (like Casper and all the Harvey comic-book stars, the Tuff Little Ghost appeared in a bewildering number of titles). Note the first cover, which is from 1966, features the classic Monsters emerging from the TV (where the Universal Monsters were incredibly popular), in yet another reference to the Monster phenomenon. Spooky's frights will take us one day closer to October 31st as the 2014 Countdown to Halloween scares up some more fright-time fun here at Tulgey Wood.

Everyone Hail To The Pumpkin Song

The 2014 Countdown to Halloween blogathon continues at Tulgey Wood. Here to add some macabre merriment are Lock, Shock and Barrel from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).  This illustrated version of these silly-yet-sinsiter stop-motion characters (by Disney artist par excellence John Loter) haunted the cover of the Disney Catalog during Halloween-time 20015. Hope you enjoy this art as much as that terrible trio are enjoying their Halloween treats.