Horror Host Icon: Baron Von Porkchop

Dayton, Ohio really does have its fair share of Horror Host history, with many of them being household names and each meaning something to their viewers. Names like Dr. Creep, The Creeper and A. Ghastlee Ghoul have graced the TV Screens of many late night viewers and each have inspired and entertained generations of Monster Kids and each of them helped shape my creative mind in their own ways. And in 2010 the Dayton market was pretty dry when it came to Horror Hosts as Iris & Retina of Mondo Smash A’Go-Go had slowed down and reruns of New Shock Theater and The Ghastlee Movie Show were hard to find on the access stations DATV and MVCC, and then that void was filled when Baron Von Porkchop and his Terrifying Tales of the Macabre hit DATV like a frightening freight train! And still to this day Baron Von Porkchop is the cities current King of late night viewing and a fan favorite to many. This Horror Host Icon update will be one that will not only talk about Baron Von Porkchop and his Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre, but will also give a little behind the scenes and facts that many do not know. So it’s with great honor and pride that I bring to you readers Horror Host Icon: Baron Von Porkchop. So let’s travel to Porkchop Manor and see what BVP has in store for us.

Baron Von Porkchop is a ghoul who originally died in the 1800’s after a wagon accident that also left his wife The Baroness dead! The couple was buried in two different locations when their enemy Count Van Lambchop paid for their burials as a fake act of kindness to impress the townspeople of New Burlington. Decades passed and in 2010 Baron and Baroness Von Porkchop where dug up and come back to life and while Ghouls they continue their lives at their now moved Manor as their old town of New Burlington was flooded and the town moved to a hidden location in Ohio. And while their pork meat empire slaughter houses are now closed they did generate money while they were dead and their bank account is well stocked with cash and making it very easy for them to continue on and have all types of adventures around the state of Ohio. Baron Von Porkchop dresses in a nice black coat, with a top hat, blue vest, glasses with a magnifier and has very pale grayish skin. While he is a ghoul he is not a flesh eater and has a very fun loving nature with a hint of an ego. He really enjoys hosting the movies and bringing his viewers his show as his “Piggies” as he calls them are like his close friends. Baron is very much in love with The Baroness as he would do anything to make her happy, and his best friend is the family butler Bean. Baron Von Porkchop besides his show has done lots of cool things in and around Dayton as he has hosted a Halloween Theme Dinner party at Lily’s Bistro, he has been a guest and attended conventions like HorrorHound Weekend, I.C.E. and Cinema Wasteland to name a few. He has hosted movies at theaters Englewood Cinema and Danbarry Huber Heights. He has hosted verity show “Dirty Little Secrets” at Wiley’s Comedy Club. At Gilly’s Jazz club an event called “Baron’s Ball” was held that had many great music acts play for Baron and his guests, not to mention he even hosted the freakshow event called “Captain Johnny’s Whiz Bang” at Gilly’s. He has attended Halloween Parties for fans and even has done charity events. Plus he has appeared in comic books namely “Shocking Macabre Theater” by Sparkle Comics. As you can see Baron does lots of great things for fans to enjoy, and he has no plans of slowing down anytime soon. Stephen Alexander II is the man who plays Baron Von Porkchop and is not only my cousin but also was a founding member of the “Gem City Gentlemen Of The Gilded Beard” a beard club that did events for charity, he also is a writer for comic book company Sparkle Comics and is a pretty creative guy who also makes custom Funko Pop! Figures, creates enamel pins and repairs old smoking pipes.

Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre began in 2010 and started airing on DATV, MVCC and The Monster Channel with host Baron Von Porkchop and took viewers by storm as the area of Dayton, Ohio was in need of an active Horror Host as many of the hosts had taken time away or retired. Out the gate Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre gained a great following with loyal viewers who enjoyed Baron Von Porkchop and the crazy world around him. The show is still going strong as of 2021 and has had a number of regular episodes as well as many specials, showing that BVP is here to stay! The show is one that takes Baron all around the city of Dayton as well as conventions and events and even has guests and story arches…it’s like a Horror Host sitcom wrapped around cheesy films. Baron on the show not only hosts classic public domain films but also hosts many independent films of all types of budgets. Baron has even hosted wrestling matches from Rockstar Pro Wrestling for a special. Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre is a staple of Dayton airwaves and still has many more episodes and specials to come.

But did you know that Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre was original going to be new episodes of Shock Theater and was slated to be the return of Dr. Creep as Dayton’s Horror Host? For years Dr. Creep and I talked about bringing his show back as while his health was on a decline he had the itch to get back to hosting movies and entertaining viewers. So to prepare for his return I wrote out several episode ideas and decided to film a Horror Host show that would be just seen by my friends in order to truly get ready for Dr. Creep’s return. So while chatting with my cousin Stephen we decided that he would act as the host and the name Baron Von Porkchop was created by me due to his sideburns. We came up with an idea of Baron going fishing to capture a Creature From The Black Lagoon type fish monster in order to serve him to dinner guests, Baron was more of a snarling sinister type Host with a toned down voice, in other words he was more played on fear and not laughs. We choose the movie Night Fright to host and once filmed I made generic opening credits for the show we were calling “Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre” and once edited I burnt it onto a DVD and gave copies to a few fiends including Rick Martin and Andy Copp both who brought back Dr. Creep with New Shock Theater back in the late 90’s, and the response we got from the episode and Baron Von Porkchop was overwhelming with everyone saying that we should do more episodes and turn him into an ongoing Horror Host! Andy Copp told me he thought I had something special with Baron and even said that he could get it aired on public access station DATV, and with those kind words among many others Stephen and I decided that we would indeed keep Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre as it’s own series and when Dr. Creep’s health would get better I would do both shows! Sadly Dr. Creep’s health only got worse and on January 14, 2011 the world lost this amazing man and host, and this was very sad for not only Dayton but for all who enjoyed Dr. Creep’s antics.

As the show grew I knew that I had to cast my friend and then co-worker Stephanie Stidham in the show so she became Baroness Von Porkchop, and the show just kept growing from there. While working on Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre BVP has had the pleasure of working with many of the Horror Hosts from Dayton’s past like A. Ghastlee Ghoul, Dr. Freak and Iris & Retina and this to me shows the bond that our area hosts have together. Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre has become a true Friday night tradition for many viewers as we have gotten fan snail mail and emails from viewers as even our home station of DATV has gotten mail about how much the shows means to our viewers and one amazing thing was a local retirement home have movie nights watching Baron! Heck even during the 2020 pandemic we even filmed a few Specials to help our viewers out and give them some laughs during the hard time. I truly love creating the show Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre alongside my cousin Stephen and we have more ideas and spooky, silly adventures planned for Baron coming up over the next few years.

As like all good Horror Hosted shows Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre has it’s fair share of amazing cohosts and sidekicks that live in and around the Porkchop Manor. The lovely Baroness Von Porkchop is the voice of reason when it comes to the decisions made in and around the Manor, she is elegant and stunning and was a former Miss Slaughterhouse Pageant winner and is one of New Burlington’s most beautiful women, The Baroness is played by Stephanie Stidham. Bean is the longtime hunchback butler for the Porkchop’s and is the one who for over a century took care of Porkchop Manor and is responsible for finding them and bringing them back to life, he is a silly goofy man who helps BVP get into all types of wacky adventures and always encourages his off the wall and lazy ways. Bean is played by Bruce Lerma who is the nephew of Horror Hosts Iris and Retina from Mondo Smash A’ Go-Go! Jenkins The Pigman was the first pigman experiment that BVP and Bean created and they decided not to kill him for his meat and keep him as a member of the manor, Jenkins is very strong and also has a darkside and will do whatever he can to protect Baron and Baroness. Jenkins The Pigman was played originally by Gary Wolf and later on by myself among others. The manors cook is JD The Meatman a loyal and skilled meat cutter who has worked for Baron in his old slaughterhouse and now works in his kitchen, JD is played by artist Eric Shonborn. Viola Poison was at one time the maid for Porkchop Manor and was skilled in not only cleaning but also using Poison, she also had a massive crush on the Baron and this is what lead to her leaving the Manor, Viola was played by Emily Marshall. And these are the main sidekick characters that make up Porkchop Manor!

The Baron also has some friends in and around town that includes his neighbors Sleazy Tom a laid back ladies man who while sleazy does have a good heart who was played by Max Ervin (who sadly passed away in 2013) and on the other side is Mr. G the lizard headed mascot form the closed down Renaissance Music Media store who is enjoying retirement and is still played by Geoff Burkman. The Son Of Hercules a strong man of myth and legend and is one of Barons best friends and is played by Mike Ritchie. Melvin is a monster-faced goofball who is the helper of Stephen Von Frankenstein and enjoys hanging out with Baron and is his Halloween buddy, Melvin is played by the legendary local actor Josh Weinberg! And this is just a drop in the hat of the townies that live in New Burlington as names like Oliver The Werewolf, Mr. Pepperton, Susie The DJ, Beerwolf, Wolf Hunter Duke, BK King, Reporter Ted The Fox, Mr. O and so many others make up the townies.

Also Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre has had some review hosts that make up one of the shows segments with the original being Reverend Zealot who brought back The Cult Corner that he use to do on New Shock Theater that was hosted by Dr. Creep! Filmmaker Andrew Copp played Reverend Zealot for the second season and sadly he passed away in 2013 making another loss for the show. Brett does video game reviews on his Bad Or Rad segment that started in the third season and he is blogger Brett Prescott. Both Zealot and Brett help make episodes of Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre more special for viewers and both are vital to making the show even more fun.

But while BVP has his fair share of friends he also has those in New Burlington who dislike him and the fact he hosts movies for viewers of Public Access, and these sticks in the mud want to end Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre…or even take it over! His main nemesis is Count Van Lambchop the poultry King played by Thomas Smith who is extremely competitive and is upset that he did not become the host of Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre as he and his wife the lovely Countess Van Lambchop played by Jaimie Mazzone were resurrected before the Von Porkchops. They also have a very loyal butler named Cornbread who dislikes Baron, but he truly cannot stand Bean! The three of them do whatever they can to annoy and be thorns in the side of Baron as they think they should be the center of attention. The next major hater of BVP is Baron Von Porkchop Jr. played by musician Todd The Fox is a crazy fraud he has the people of New Burlington believing that he is truly his son, he is manipulative as well as short tempered and dangerous! And this is just a drop in the hat of the villains of the show as names like Chicken Man, Fulci Zombie, Headless Horseman, The Sadness, Crazed Fan and David J. Getz also cause issues. Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre is like no other Horror Host show from the area as it truly does have a massive world and tons of characters that make it up.

When Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre started up as a full show I spent so much time building the world of New Burlington and knew that I wanted it to be filled with all types of townies from normal people, monsters, retired mascots and even movie characters from indie made films…and one other character that was planned was Baby Von Porkchop who was going to be The Baron and Baroness’s daughter that was going to be played by my friend KD Cyr, the character would have been stuck in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey and would have sent video messages to her parents about her adventures from the haunted woods. You see KD lived near the barrens and was a creative soul that I meet on social media and we hit it off as both of us loved Horror and cheesy movies, and when creating the character I had her 100% in mind and she as well helped create the attitude and storyline for Baby. I was so excited to have her on board for the show and at one point an episode was planned that would have had Baron, Baroness and Bean heading into the Pine Barrens to find her only to have a run in with the Jersey Devil of course! KD would do some trial run footage with a friend and make-up designs, but would never share as she always said that footage was bad as she was nervous in it, and I would encourage her and of course put no stress on her. We put off the characters debut so that she could find what worked for her with playing Baby, and all was going well. But sadly in 2015 the world lost a truly amazing person as KD passed away from a car accident when a reckless driver crashed into the back of her car. Truly heartbreaking news when I found out and even if she never made an appearance on the show she is still to all of us a part of our cast family, and I felt it was only right when writing about the show that she gets the respect she deserves. My deepest sympathy goes to her family and friends as she was an amazing and creative soul.

One thing that I love seeing is fan art done by our viewers as well as just fans of Horror Hosting and over the years we have gotten some pretty amazing pieces of art sent to us! Crazy even some of the artists have who sent us some of the art ended up being on the show! As a creator of Baron Von Porkchop and Sparkle Comics when anyone takes the time to make art for us it’s very appreciated and we love seeing them! Below is some art from many of the talented artists who have drawn BVP over the years. And I want to also send out a massive thank you to everyone who has ever sent us fan art or done art featuring Baron Von Porkchop or any of the cast of Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre. Artwork below features ones done by Brett Prescott, Eric Shonborn, MonkeyGoatBoy and Bradley Beard.

Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre has had many regular episodes as well as specials over the years and each of them I enjoyed making, being apart of and even watching, but one has always stood out as the most important episode to me and that was Episode 8 as it was the tribute to the late Dr. Creep who passed away before the episode was filmed. The original idea for the episode was it was suppose to be Baron Von Porkchop hosting a dinner party that the guest of honor was to be Dr. Creep who would have taken over the episode sharing stories of his years of being a Horror Host and they would have hosted a Bela Lugosi film. But sadly Dr. Creep who was in poor health passed away on January 14, 2011 at the age of 69, and this was a sad day for all of Ohio and those of use who grew up watching Dr. Creep and knew the man behind the grease paint. And the episode that was suppose to be his comeback to TV ended up being turned into a celebration of his life and memory. The episode was turned into The Baron and Baroness throwing a dinner party to honor Dr. Creep’s memory and had many of his friends on talk about his life and tell fun stories. Many names showed up like A. Ghastlee Ghoul, Dr. Freak, Jeff McClellan, Rick Martin, Geraldo The Hunchback, Reverend Zealot, Mr. G and even characters like Melvin, Duke The Wolf Hunter and Son Of Hercules showed up to pay respects. After the guests shared their stories we showed classic clips of Dr. Creep from Shock Theater. It was very magical hearing each of these guys sharing their stories of traveling, hanging out and working with Dr. Creep. Many also told stories of meeting him for the first time or shared stories he had told them…it was very magical and was something that I hope he would have been proud of. Below is a picture from that film shoot with all the people involved in one shot. Well I need to also say thanks to Juliet Fromholt, Emily Marshall, Maurice Smith, Josh Weinberg and Eric Shonborn all who helped makes the special possible but are not in the picture.

For me one of the greatest honors of doing and creating this show was when on September 11, 2021 when Baron Von Porkchop was inducted into the Horror Host Hall Of Fame as part of the 2020 class in Ohio! BVP took his place with the other Icons from Dayton that was placed in the Hall Of Fame like Dr. Creep, A. Ghastlee Ghoul and The Creeper! This introduction was well attended and BVP was inducted by “The Mummy and The Monkey” an amazing Horror Host duo from Cleveland, Ohio. It was really cool seeing Baron on stage getting the honor of being inducted in, as the years of hard work paid off and it was awesome to see the fans clap for him to get this honor. While the Hall Of Fame was very odd as it was a smaller event due to the on going pandemic and some audio issues plagued the start of the ceremony it was something very special for BVP and myself.

Baron Von Porkchop and his Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre as you can see is a show that has became a main stay in Dayton, Ohio and has expanded to the world thanks to the online stations like The Monster Channel and even the online viewing streams of DATV and MVCC. And really one of the biggest honors making this show is getting feedback from the fans as well as being inducted into the Horror Host Hall Of Fame thanks to fan votes as well as votes from his peers. And we are now at the point of this review to talk about the episodes and I decided to not cover all of the episodes of Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre as I will cover Baron Von Porkchop again in the future so I decided to cover seasons one and two as well as the specials that went along with those two seasons. The movies plots will be taken from our pals at IMDB with some being written by myself as well as all the hosts segments. So if you are ready lets spend sometime at Porkchop Manor and have some fun with BVP and his friends that make up New Burlington.

TTOTM: House On Haunted Hill
Starring – Vincent Price & Carol Ohmart         Not Rated       1959

Host: Earl The Gravedigger leads Baroness Von Porkchop and Bean to a dug up gravesite and when the coffin opens its Baron Von Porkchop! Once back at the manor that is located in New Burlington they get cleaning as the place is dusty and Baron even meets his neighbor Sleazy Tom for the first time that wants him to watch his 1900 # dating ad. In the end Baron informs the Piggies at home that we will be returning next week with a new spooky film to share with them.

Movie: Eccentric millionaire Fredrick Loren and his 4th wife, Annabelle, have invited 5 people to the house on Haunted Hill for a “haunted House” party. Whoever will stay in the house for one night will earn ten thousand dollars each. As the night progresses, all the guests are trapped inside the house with ghosts, murderers, and other terrors.

TTOTM: Driller Killer
Starring – Abel Ferrara & Carolyn Marz     Not Rated     1979

Host: Baron Von Porkchop and his friend and butler Bean are working in the manors garage on making a pig man in order to raise and then slaughter and sell his meat as Pig Man Sausage! Throughout the episode Baron and Bean work on the Pigman trying to give him life and add organs as well as use electricity to try and start his heart. In the end when all looks as if it has failed the Pigman rockets up to life and runs from the garage…Baron and Bean end the issue by shooting the Pigman dead so that he would not run amuck in New Burlington.

Movie: Reno is an artist struggling to survive in NYC. He draws inspiration from scenes of daily street life and occasional random violence. Under pressure to finish his oft-delayed grand masterpiece, his psychotic alter-ego takes over and he begins killing random vagrants to boost his creativity, not quite realizing that it is happening in reality. When an art dealer grimly rejects Reno’s finished masterpiece, Reno’s mental condition quickly deteriorates.

TTOTM: Frankenstein ‘80
Starring – Gordon Mitchell & Xiro Papas     Not Rated     1972

Host: While walking through the woods Baron Von Porkchop runs into a weird looking creature man named Melvin who informs him that Stephen Von Frankenstein needs his help! As Baron follows Melvin to Castle Frankenstein he is told by Stephen that his Monster is now free and wondering the woods! So Baron along with Melvin go looking for The Monster only to find him in a very bad mood!

Movie: A mad scientist creates a monster called “Mosaico,” who breaks out of the laboratory to hunt down and kill beautiful women.

TTOTM: Ulysses Against The Son Of Hercules
Starring – Mike Lane & Georges Marchal     Not Rated     1962

Host: Baron, Baroness and Bean get a call from The Son Of Hercules that he needs their help in order to get back a golden apple that is in the hands of an old witch that is inside a haunted collage! So brave Baron and Bean take the quest and leave Baroness behind, while on the quest the encounter a zombie and ghosts before coming face to face with the witch…the coward out and run away before getting the apple. On their way back to face The Son Of Hercules they are coming up with a story in why they failed in the quest only to be greeted by the Baroness who had went the quest along and retrieved the apple!

Movie: Ulysses offends the gods by blinding the Cyclops, so they send Hercules to capture him and bring him to them.

TTOTM: Five Minutes To Live
Starring – Johnny Cash & Ron Howard     Not Rated     1961

Host: Baron and Baroness head to grocery store Big Bear in Lebanon, Ohio in order to sell them his freshly made Pigman sausage as when he was alive that chain was very much into stocking his quality pork products. But to their horror Big Bear is out of business and hanging around was one of the stores old managers who tells them they should sell their meat by going door to door…and Baron and Baroness do just that and turn it into a computation on who can sell more! The split up and meet all types of strange people trying to sell them this meat…in the end The Baroness comes out the winner!

Movie: Fred narrates the film in flashback, detailing a suburban bank robbery that goes awry. In his simple plan, he hires a hard-up hood, Johnny Cabot to take the wife of the bank’s vice president hostage. Cabot will hold her until he gets a call alerting him that Fred has been successful in getting ransom money. Cabot waits, and watches the Wilson house as the husband leaves for the bank and their young son heads off to school. Posing as a door-to-door guitar instructor, he forces his way into the house and takes Nancy Wilson hostage. At the bank, Fred talks his way into Ken Wilson’s office, and presents his personal check for $70,000, intending that Wilson will withdraw the funds to cover the check as a ransom for his wife. He has Wilson call home to prove that Nancy is being held by the unstable Cabot, and gives Wilson 5 minutes to make his.

TTOTM: Fury Of The Wolfman
Starring – Paul Naschy & Perla Cristal     Rated PG     1972

Host: Baron Von Porkchop gets the invite of a lifetime as he is able to sit down and have a one of one interview with world famous werewolf hunter Duke! Duke The Wolf Hunter was seen in the second shot on video film “The Wolf Hunter II” and shares is secrets of hunting down werewolf scum. Also along for this amazing interview is Bean who is star struck by the hunter, as well as a heck of a lot of blood sucking Cicadas who are trying to ruin Baron’s show!

Movie: Waldimar Daninsky, a lone survivor of a Tibetian expedition, returns home to find his wife has been unfaithful to him. Carrying the curse of the pentagram (or pentagon, as stated by the monk who nursed him back to health), the fury of the wolfman is unleashed! After disposing of his cheating spouse, he finds himself captive in a castle by a female mad scientist conducting mind control experiments. In a vein attempt at escape, he discovers the freaks left over from past experiments dwelling in the dungeons.

TTOTM: Night Fright
Starring – John Agar & Dorothy Davis     Not Rated     1967

Host: Baron Von Porkchop is going fishing to try and snag a fish creature using Beans brain as bait! He is trying his hardest to capture this creature as he wants to serve his meat to his dinner guests that are gathering the next episode to honor the late great Dr. Creep! In the end Baron is able to snag the creature!

Movie: A government space experiment into the effects of cosmic rays on animal life goes horribly wrong, creating a mutant monster that terrorizes a rural community.

TTOTM: Dr. Creep Tribute
Starring – Dr. Creep & Dow Thomas     Not Rated     1970-1990

Host: Baron and Baroness Von Porkchop are throwing a dinner part to honor Dr. Creep the Dayton, Ohio iconic Horror Host. They have JD The Meatman cook up the Creature Meat and have snacks and treats for the guests as Bean escorts them to the dinner table. Guests include Rick Martin, A. Ghastlee Ghoul, Jeff McClellan American, Dr. Freak, Geraldo The Hunchback, Duke The Wolf Hunter, Son Of Hercules, Melvin, Mr. G and Reverend Zealot and they all share amazing and fun Dr. Creep stories and myths.

Movie: Clips of Dr. Creep over the ages from his shows Shock Theatre, Saturday Night Dead and New Shock Theater. As well as some of his public appearances over the years at events.

TTOTM: Independent Short Films
Starring – Dave Wean & Kipp Poe     Not Rated     1990’s-2000’s

Host: The Baroness wants Baron and Bean to clean up the garage as its getting out of hand with boxes that is filled with old media, toys and forgotten relics…but cleaning is no fun so they decide to dig out some independently made horror short films and share them with the Piggies at home! They also find out that Mr. G has moved in next-door and he as well shares a short film! And when all said and done Baron and Bean do nothing and the Baroness is not very happy!

Movie: Indie short films shown on this episode are “The Cask Amontillado”, “Dreadful”, “Callback”, “Songs In The Key Of Satan” and “Outpost 31”.

TTOTM: Phantom From 10,000 Leagues
Starring – Dave Wean & Kipp Poe     Not Rated     1955

Host: Baron Von Porkchop is very distracted from hosting the nights film as he has gotten himself a video game console and is playing the game Space Invaders as he thinks that by playing the game he is saving the Earth. He is so focused that he is ignoring the issues of the manor as well as his wife The Baroness and friends Sleazy Tom, Bean and Jenkins The Pigman!

Movie: An unusual radioactive rock on the sea bottom mutates the ocean life into a horrible monster. When charred, radioactive bodies begin to drift ashore a scientist and government agent investigate the phenomenon, and it’s connection to a local marine biology professor.

TTOTM: Quiet Nights Of Blood And Pain
Starring – Amanda DeLotelle & Loren Goins     Not Rated     2009

Host: Baron Von Porkchop has cult indie filmmaker Andy Copp over to the manor to chat about his legacy of making films, television shows as well as his work with Dr. Creep. And of course Bean is around to make sure their guest is uncomfortable or is that comfortable?

Movie: The movie deals with two soldiers home from the Iraq war suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but in vastly different ways. One see’s her life falling apart in night-terrors, flashbacks, insomnia, and a total lack of government support. The other still believes he is fighting the war now that he is back on American soil. Still convinced he is supposed to torture and kill any and everyone who can be viewed as Anti-American. Soon they will be at a crossroads and blood will be flooding the American streets.

TTOTM: White Pongo
Starring – Richard Fraser & Maris Wrixon     Not Rated     1945

Host: Baron Von Porkchop and Bean are on the hunt for a creature that broke into the manor and stole one of the Baronesses little figures! The two head to the woods and soon find that they are looking for a Were-Gorilla, and they try to get the item back as well as avoid its rage.

Movie: Suspecting that a safari guide is a wanted killer, undercover policeman Geoffrey Bishop joins a safari led by the suspect for a scientist that hopes to find and prove that a fabled white gorilla is a missing link.

TTOTM: I Eat Your Skin
Starring – William Joyce & Heather Hewitt     Rated PG     1971

Host: Baron and Baroness Von Porkchop get a visitor who claims he is their long lost son, but the thing is they never had a son! Baron Von Porkchop Jr. starts to be a menace around the manor as well as starts to interfere in the personal life and business life of Baron that causes him lots of issues. But it’s soon seen that BVP Jr. is not stable and Baron must find a way to get ride of him once and for all.

Movie: A cancer researcher on a remote Caribbean island discovers that by treating the natives with snake venom he can turn them into bug-eyed zombies. Uninterested in this information, the unfortunate man is forced by his evil employer to create an army of the creatures in order to conquer the world.

TTOTM: Atomic Age Vampire
Starring – Susanne Loret & Alberto Lupo     Not Rated     1960

Host: Baron Von Porkchop is forced to find a job as Baroness is sick of him just hanging around the manor so he gets hired to be a DJ at New Burlington’s radio station. And of course Baron has no clue what he is doing and causes all kinds of havoc on the air as well as broadcasting dead air!! And as fast as he is hired he hides so they can not fire him.

Movie: A stripper is horribly disfigured in a car accident. A brilliant scientist develops a treatment that restores her beauty and falls in love with her. To preserve her appearance the doctor must give her additional treatments using glands taken from murdered women. His unexplained ability to turn into a hideous monster helps with this problem but does nothing to win her love. The doctor’s woes multiply as the police and the girl’s boyfriend begin to close in on him.

TTOTM: Wolf Hunter 1 & 2
Starring – Matt Hoffman & Jason Gilmore     Not Rated     2001/2006

Host: Baron Von Porkchop heads to the werewolf infested Malice’s Bridge in order to get an interview with the famous Wolf Hunter, but he soon finds out that the hero is not showing up but instead he is being stalked by many werewolves from Independent B Movie films like Scars, Red-Eye, Man-Beast and Oliver. But lucky for BVP his luck foils many of their attempts to make him dinner.

Movie: The Wolf Hunter: Malice king of all werewolves is rampaging in Ohio and a business owners daughter has been kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend who is now a werewolf and the states only hope is The Wolf Hunter. Wolf Hunter 2: Malice is still on the loose and now his biggest rival Ravenger has entered Ohio and a werewolf turf war is about to go down, and The Wolf Hunter who is trying to kill off the werewolves and keep order has his own issues when Duke another Wolf Hunter is called in. Can the two work together and stop this werewolf invasion?

TTOTM: Vampire
Starring – John Beal & Coleen Grey     Not Rated     1957

Host: Baron and Baroness Von Porkchop get sad news that their butler and friend Bean has to leave the manor as he has found a wife and plans on starting his own family. And now Baron and Baroness must hold interviews in order to find his replacement and all types of people show up in order to get the job and some of them are perfect fits while others are weirdoes. In the end BVP shoots them all down before hiring maid Viola Poison strictly on her good looks. Lots of cool cameos in this episode including Geraldo The Hunchback from New Shock Theater.

Movie: A kind, small-town doctor mistakenly ingests pills made from vampire bat blood and they turn him into a dangerous fanged creature.

TTOTM: Legend Of Bigfoot
Starring – Ivan Marx & Peggy Marx     Rated PG     1975

Host: Baron Von Porkchop gets fellow Dayton, Ohio Horror Hosts Iris & Retina to help him hunt down a Bigfoot as he needs the creatures meat in order to make his famous BigFoot Chili to enter into the New Burlington Chili Cook-Off! The Horror Hosts wonder around the woods and hear the yells of the creature as well as find the evidence that they need to know they are on the right track. And in the end Baron is able to take down one of the creatures.

Movie: A documentary about the legendary creature, Bigfoot, with emphasis on him being the missing link.

TTOTM: Undertaker And His Pals
Starring – Warrene Ott & James Westmoreland     Rated R     1966

Host: Baron Von Porkchop has brought his whole crew (Baroness Von Porkchop, Jenkins The Pigman, JD The Meatman and Viola Poison) to the New Burlington Chili Cook-Off as he has entered his famous Bigfoot Chili, but the compotation is heavy as rival Count Van Lambchop and his wife The Countess has also entered their chili in the contest. Viola and Jenkins try to help rig the voting by messing with others chili as Baron and the Count continue their life long feud. With a panel of guest judges that include musicians and comic book artists it’s a chili showdown for who takes first place. This episode also has a cameo from Bean!

Movie: An undertaker and his two friends, who are restaurant owners, drum up business by going out on the town and killing people; the restaurant owners use parts of the bodies for their menu, and the undertaker gets paid by the families to bury the remainder. Their racket goes awry when 2 detectives suspect that something isn’t quite kosher.

Now that we have taken a look at the first two seasons (season three and on will be for another future update) lets take a look at the special episodes that when along with these first two seasons.

Son Of Hercules Power Hours: Samson
Starring – Brad Harris & Mara Berni     Not Rated       1961

Host: The Son Of Hercules hosts his own show that was a failed TV Polit that he was trying to get TBS to air in the 1980’s. This special has Son Of Hercules giving work out tips, arm wrestling an alien as well as showing his love for heavy metal music. A silly fun time with the Mighty Son of Hercules!

Movie: While traveling through the kingdom of Sulom, Samson is arrested and finds that the queen no longer reigns and that a power-mad warlord and his army of mercenaries now controls the kingdom. Samson teams up with some of his one-time adversaries to battle the usurper and restore the rightful queen to power.

BVP Halloween Special 1: The Sadness
Starring – Jason Young & Garrison Kane     Not Rated       2006

Host: Baron Von Porkchop celebrates Halloween by going to the site of The Sadness Collage Murders, and once there he starts coming across bodies and thinks that the students are adding the spooky holiday festivities, but the Baron soon realizes that The Sadness has returned to the scene of the crime and that Baron might just be his next victim.

Movie: A young collage student witnesses the murder of her next door neighbor and makes the mistake of talking about it on her friends radio show, and now the killer knows as The Sadness has shown up to the collage and wants to silence her and her friends forever as he never leaves a witness behind.

BVP Charity Special: Abraham Lincoln
Starring – Walter Huston & Ian Keith   Not Rated       1930

Host: Baron Von Porkchop and Count Van Lambchop are having an argument about the location of Lambchop’s new poultry farm when the zombie of Abbe Lincoln and his subjects come back from the grave and are hungry for brains and both Barons and Counts look good to them, so now the two foes must survive together in order to escape the zombie version of America’s 16^th President. Done for the Gem City Gentlemen Of The Gilded Beard charity event.

Movie: Brief vignettes about Lincoln’s early life include his birth, early jobs, (unsubstantiated) affair with Ann Rutledge, courtship of Mary Todd, and the Lincoln-Douglas debates; his presidency and the Civil War are followed in somewhat more detail, though without actual battle scenes; film concludes with the assassination.

BVP Halloween Special 2: Werewolf Of Ohio
Starring – Josh Weinberg & Matt Hoffman     Not Rated       2001

Host: Baron Von Porkchop and his friend Melvin are going trick or treating and Baron is not following the safety rules and is making all kinds of mistakes, but they soon meet an old man who tells them the story of The Headless Horseman, and little does Baron know that The Headless Horseman is now in New Burlington and has his site on making this Halloween very fighting for our Horror Host.

Movie: Josh is a young man who’s family has been killed by a werewolf and has spent his life trying to track and kill the beast, now with a trusty Cameraman and the world famous Wolf Hunter he tracks down this killer beast for one final showdown.

BVP HorrorHound 2012 Special: Corpse Vanishes
Starring – Bela Lugosi & Luana Walters     Not Rated       1942

Host: Baron Von Porkchop is a guest at the HorrorHound 2012 convention and has decided to leave Viola Posion and Susie The DJ in charge of his table as he goes on a quest to find and win the heart of Horror Hostess Marlena Midnite of Midnite Mausileum. And while on his quest he stops along the way to talk to his fellow Horror Hosts as well as celeberties in attendance including Gunner Hansen and Doug Bradley. And when Baron finds her will he win her over or chicken out.

Movie: Dr. Lorenz, a mad scientist, wants to keep his elderly wife young. He does this by kidnapping young females and extracting fluid from them. He then injects this fluid into his wife.

BVP Arcade Special: Beast of Yucca Flats
Starring – Tor Johnson & Conrad Brooks     Not Rated       1961

Host: Baron Von Porkchop heads to the store Game Swap as they have just gotten in a new Pac Man Arcade Machine for play and he is annoyed that he has to wait in line as all he wants to do is play a game of Pac Man and even has brought his tip book as well as Jenkins The Pigman along for the experience. But will Baron be able to play a game before the store closes as the line is long and his anger is rising.

Movie: A defecting Soviet scientist is hit by a nuclear explosion near Yucca Flats and roams around as a beast.

BVP Halloween Special 3: Indie Short Films
Starring – Stephen Alexander & Zach Prater     Not Rated       1990’s-2000’s

Host: Baron Von Porkchop and Melvin are dared to stay the night in the haunted graveyard of Dr. Freak by JD The Meatman and with snack food in hand and shaky nerves the two hang out and tell each other ghost stories that are really short films from Indie Horror Film directors. But when Horror Host Dr. Freak shows up will be mad about his trespassing guests or will he join in on the spooky tales of terror this Halloween night.

Movie: Indie Films show are “El Toro 2”, “Hellraiser: Warehouse”, “Mummy vs. The Stalker”, “The Return Of Freddy”, “Bark At The Moon: Malice”, “Bark At The Moon: Scars”, “Nightmare” and “High Hopes”.

BVP Black Friday Special 1: Farmer Joe
Starring – Mike Ritchie & Henrique Couto     Not Rated       2001

Host: Baron Von Porkchop has made a half man and half chicken creature that was suppose to be for Thanksgiving but had pitty on the creature and let him live, but now the Chicken creature is a menace and is always on his cell phone and is just rude to everyone he comes across! Baron goes to get advice from the BK and learns that he must kill his creation with an ax, but can he do it?

Movie: Danny is a young kid who is being bullied and on a dare goes to a haunted farm and summons the spirit of the crazed Farmer Joe who is out for revenge on the man who sold him bad seeds and ruined his harvest many years ago, but he also has Danny and his bullies on his radar of death, can Danny’s Dad save his sons life and soul, or is all hope lost now that Farmer Joe has returned.

BVP Halloween Special 4: White Zombie
Starring – Bela Lugosi & Madge Bellamy     Not Rated       1932

Host: Baron Von Porkchop and Melvin this Halloween decided to rent a small cabin in the country to get away from all of the craziness that they have been through the past three years, but unlucky for them the Fulci Zombie an ax swinging undead serial killer is around and wants to make them both dead! But will Baron and Melvin figure out a way to stop this murdering rampage or will they just be more victims on his ever-growing list.

Movie: A young man turns to a witch doctor to lure the woman he loves away from her fiancé, but instead turns her into a zombie slave.

BVP Black Friday Special 2: Razor
Starring – Jason Gilmore & Josh Weinberg     Not Rated       2002

Host: Chicken Man is back and is running all around New Burlington causing issues for all the locals and making them all very angry, and they want to know who is the man behind this menace and many point the finger at Count Van Lambchop and Baron now must stop his creation before the town discovers the truth that this cell phone texting annoying chicken is his doing.

Movie: A young man is plagued with memories of a past he seems to have lived and a father who was pure evil, now Mike must unravel a mystery that all leads to a blood drinking killer that has been around for centuries and try and figure out how his life and past are tied to this psycho.

Baron Von Porkchop is a Horror Host that has brought Dayton, Ohio and beyond viewers laughs, scares and cheesy movies for over 10 years now and the cast of characters that make up New Burlington have all did their part to make this show special. And from the bottom of my heart I want to think every cast member and every fan that has made Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre must see TV and apart of your life, as well as make the dreams of this blogger come true as I have always wanted to create my own show and I cannot think of a better person to create this show with then my cousin Stephen. And like I have said this will not be the only Horror Host Icon update about Baron Von Porkchop so you fans, friends and readers will have more to look forward to in the future. But now lets talk about our next update that will be our Halloween update and will take us away from the world of Horror Hosts and into the world of SOV Horror as we look at a 1990’s gem called “Hatchet”! So until next time, read a comic or three, watch an indie film or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update for some VHS Horror Fun.

Halloween With The Magnetic Tape Undead

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! And welcome back to Rotten Ink’s annual All Hallows Eve update  I am sure you are as hyped as I am to find out what custom comic Eric made for me to read and review just for this update.  Will it be Night Of The Demon? How about Curse Of The Cannibal Confederates? Or even Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell? Well, it was none of the above as my artist friend delivered something more fun that would for sure make a great comic for this special update that only comes but once a year! So what film did he choose to make into a comic for me? I had to wait for about a year and did not know until October 26 2015 so you can wait a little longer, but while you wait, we will cover lots more great and spooky stuff including a visit to a haunted location in Ohio, 5 Questions with a Horror Host, a Creepypasta, a real life horror and other random spooky goodness! So light your Jack O’ Lantern and dim the lights, it’s time to have a spooky and creepy time with Rotten Ink…BOO! I got you this time right?….Right?

A Creepypasta that has recently caught my eye is one called “Abandoned By Disney,” a great story that could send shivers down the spines of those who live around abandoned amusement parks. A young man remembers a Disney amusement park in North Carolina called Mowgli’s Palace, based around The Jungle Book that was made sometime in the late 1990’s and was met with hostile reactions from the locals. Disney is said to have put lots of money into the park and spread flyers and advertisements in the local paper to try and get locals to come. The main attraction was the palace itself as people could stay at the park and enjoy its jungle nature and theme. The story goes that a young man decided to do some research on Mowgli’s Palace as he remembers all the drama it caused, and armed with a promotional map he got sent when he was a kid, he heads to the park and is greeted by a overgrown area with tall wooden gates that had a hand painted sign that read “Abandoned By Disney.”  Upon entering he noticed that inside was also over grown, and it was clear time and the weather had not been good to the place.  Vandals had taken down many of the small buildings and spray paint was present on walls with the phrase “Abandoned By Disney” on the Palace walls. He also noticed a large statue of the character Baloo outside it what used to be the courtyard that was now just overgrown with weeds and mushrooms. Entering the palace, he noticed that it was a shell of its former glory as people had stolen much of the inside and also noticed that it smelled of pee and heard faint voices in the hallways coming from the guest rooms.  But he got a good scare when he found a 8 foot python that he thought was fake move and slither away into the near by woods.  He is in shock and thinks that Disney had set all the animals free in that very park! While sitting on some metal stairs to catch his breath he notices a metal sign that once more has the phrase “Abandoned By Disney” on it.  He also notices a door for mascot staff only that is locked with a pad lock and decides to break the lock and enter the area. Once inside he notices that the hallways still had dim lights and finds a break room area with a time clock and cards filled out by employees.  He thought he hit a jackpot for pictures when he got to a door that read Character Prep, but the door would not open with force and then seemed to slowly open on its own! Once inside he saw the twisted remains of mascot costumes like a Mickey Mouse that was rotten on the floor, its colors off as it seemed like a photo negative in color, a sight that made him feel very uneasy. As he picked up the head of the Donald Duck costume he claims he got the shock of his life as a human skull fell out of it to his feet.  He starts to leave the room when he says the Mickey Mouse Costume sat up on it’s own and began to look at him and stand up and said in a hushed creepy Mickey voice “Hey…wanna see my head come off” and Mickey began to rip his head off, the sounds he said was that of flesh and cloth ripping and yellow thick blood began coming from the wound it was making around its own neck and pop…his head came off! The young man says he seen a message scratched into the metal in the room that read “Abandoned By God” he got so scared he ran from Mowgli’s Palace and claims that he never developed the photos and knows now that Disney didn’t want that twisted Mickey to ever get out! This is a cool story and while it’s 99% fake for sure, I would say the idea of a theme park in the USA that Disney just let rot away that houses a demon-like twisted version of a Mickey Mouse that’s a walk around costume is a cool and creepy thing to imagine. If you want to hear the whole story in grand detail make sure to look it up on Youtube as the story is read by user CreepsMcPasta is a good way to really learn the story. It’s cool to think that Creepypasta stories are this generation’s campfire tales. So next time you go to Disney World, if you see a strange colored Mickey Mouse coming your way you better run, run for your life!

Imagine sitting in your backyard here in America with a cup of coffee in your hand enjoying the break from a rain storm that came down heavy when off in a distance you spot something big moving around.  You strain your eyes to see what it is, and to your horror and shock, what you see in a young male African lion! A situation like this happened in Milwaukee on July 20^th 2015 when Bill & Annie Nolen spotted a lion in their neighbor’s backyard wandering around.  Lucky for them, they were able to get proof thanks to their daughter who captured it on cellphone video! The local cops as well as rangers went on a hunt for the beast but came up empty handed.  More reports came in claiming to see a lion roaming around the streets, but the animal has not been captured as of yet! Many theories have been suggested on what and where the lion came from that include an escaped pet, a ghost cat and even that it escaped the zoo or circus but none have been proven yet to be the cause of the lion’s laid back rampage yet. But one thing’s for sure, if you live in Milwaukee, please be safe as a predator large cat could be around any corner.

Another real life creepy thing from 2015 is happening in North Carolina around a local playground and apartment complex called Hudson Woods. A black-cloaked figure with pale white skin is walking around in the woods and near the playground, leaving bags of raw meat and disappearing back into the woods from which they came. At this point no one knows if the hooded figure is male or female, why they are dressed that way and more importantly why they leave raw meat at locations. What is known is that photos of the cloaked figure taken at the apartment complex were posted to social media on August 24, 2015 and news outlets and the police began looking into it but have not found the person as of yet.  The police are looking at this as being a possible hoax or prank being played by locals, and those who live in the apartment complex with kids are a little on edge as they are not sure what the motives are of this person with the raw meat and odd way of acting. Rumors of who this person is are all over the board from being a witch/warlock all the way to being a nerd playing a role playing game with friends, but one thing’s for sure, they are out there in the woods with raw meat and wanting to share with you!

I wanted to do something creepy for this update so I called on my cousin Stephen and my friend Josh to look into the legend of Candlewood Park in Kettering Ohio! The story of this park is that the ghost of a young boy who was depressed and hung himself in the restroom can be seen roaming around the park and you can hear the screams of three youngsters who were murdered.  The ghost of their killer is said to roam around as well. The first thing I should point out is that this park is kind of a pain to find as no location can be pinpointed on Google Maps, and it seems as if the park is so small that it does not even have its own website or Facebook. Also before we went to investigate this location, none of us had ever heard the legends and only stumbled upon it when looking up locations we could visit for this update making us all question the truth of this haunted location.  Upon doing more research on the location and supposed hauntings, we came to the conclusion that it was all fake and not worth out time to investigate. With the last update being about Mr. Hyde, we decided to look at a Crybaby Bridge in Yellow Springs that is on Hyde Road.  The legend goes that a mother killed her baby and herself on the bridge at midnight, and if you park your car footprints can be found on your hood from the ghost mother trying to get in! We picked Friday September 4^th 2015 to be the night we looked into this legend, and we all met up at Game Swap in Kettering and got ourselves a good meal from Applebee’s before hitting the ghost-hunting trail. We arrived on Hyde Road at about 10:00pm, and we noticed that the area is surrounded by woods, fields and some houses.  The light rain, lightning and fog made for a great mood as we drove on the bridge.  The first impression from all of us was that the bridge was very cool, but none of us got a haunted vibe from it. We made a u-turn down the road and parked near some mail boxes and got out to take some pictures.  The digital camera we brought did a terrible job, but our iPhones took some half way decent pictures. The one cool thing I noticed and really liked about the bridge is that above it is a sign that read “Hyde Road” and had the date 2014, the year it was rebuilt after being torn down due to poor support beams. While standing there looking at the bridge as well as the woods that were at my back, the image of Mr. Hyde roaming this road out night crept into my head and made me smile. We hung around the bridge for a few minutes and then hit the road to drive around and see what awaited us at the other end of the road. Below are some pictures of the inside of the bridge as well as a really dark one I took on my phone of the front of the bridge.

As we drove down the road, we hit the end of the street, and the air started to smell of rotten eggs.  It was strong and burned your nostrils, and we joked about it being Bigfoot watching us but we soon found out the smell was coming from the water treatment planet a little distance away down the side road. As we continued our quest of waiting for midnight, we drove around Yellow Springs and took in the small town at night.  We even drove past WYSO and great comic/book store Dark Star Comics. We drove down near John Bryan State Park, hoping to catch a peek at The Twilight Man, but we didn’t see a soul besides lots of people walking dogs really late at night. One funny “Twilight Zone” type moment is many times just driving around we would end back up at Hyde Road! Stephen made the joke that “All Roads Lead to Hyde” and we all chuckled about how right he was as we kept ending up at the haunted bridge. While on Hyde near a horse training farm, a giant owl dropped from the sky and caused Stephen to have to swerve to avoid hitting it.  Needless to say it, was very odd and a little creepy as the owl was very large and gave Josh, Stephen and I a good scare. As the midnight hour drew closer, we noticed on Hyde Road near the wood, an SUV was parked at the side of the road with no lights on and no one inside it.  We all thought this was odd because the car was parked where there was nothing around for a person to be doing besides being out in the woods. As we drove past it, we all really did get a weird vibe from it, but we continued to the end of Hyde Road and made a U-Turn and headed back down Hyde as it was very close to midnight and we wanted to be at the bridge to see if we could hear the ghost baby’s cries and if the mother’s hand prints would be on the car…but as we drove to the bridge, we had to pass that SUV again but this time they had their headlights on high beams and would not dim them even as we drove by them.  As we drove past them we all got a even more creepy vibe from it but shook it off as we had a date at midnight with a ghost mother…but this was not to be as the SUV made a quick u-turn and was speeding up to catch up with us! As Stephen drove he took a quick turn off a small road just before the bridge as the SUV flew past us and stopped and waited for us to drive through the bridge from the other side….and once more they turned off their lights and was trying to rope a dope us into being trapped by them…dealing with this creeper in the SUV, we missed the stroke of midnight as we did not fall for this set up. As we left we all kept an eye behind us to make sure this SUV didn’t follow us and so began the talks of what this person was up to! Many theories on the way home were thrown out by the three of us as the situation just didn’t feel right, things like Twilight Man being behind the wheel all the way to a killer like the Phantom Killer from The Town That Dreaded Sundown all were talked about and dissected. So while we didn’t get to sit on the bridge at midnight, we were stalked by a dark SUV driven by an unknown driver.  One day Josh, Stephen and I will venture back and see if we can spot this SUV again as who or what it was gave us a good creepy moment in early September gearing us up for Halloween. Below is a cool picture of the Bridge Stephen took that night, and I should also say beware if you get the nerve to drive that road at night as owls and an SUV with unknown intentions might just be waiting for you!

On September 27^th 2015 I held a Horror Movie Marathon over at my cousin Stephen Alexander’s house and invited the likes of Josh Weinberg, Garrison Kane, Todd The Fox, Queen Victoria, Jason Young, Maurice Smith, Jeremy Hoyt, Mike Ritchie, and Juliet Fromholt all over to enjoy some films to gear up for the coming Halloween season. As always, we had lots of good sodas, snacks and beer for everyone to enjoy and just like always Stephen, Josh, Garrison and I had a pre-show on the 26^th where we watched such films as “Visions of Horror” that was some short films hosted by Tiffany Shepis, “Dead of Knight” about a evil spirit of a crusader knight returning for revenge and the Independent B Movie bad movie classic “The Vampire Peeper Of Greene County”. The next Morning Stephen, Jason and myself were ready for the day of horror at 7am, and as the day went on, more and more horror fan friends poured into the house and enjoyed the terrors on the TV Screen. The first film was “The Mole People,” a Universal Sci-Fi classic that follows a group who becomes trapped deep inside the world that’s ruled by a race of sun hating people. The 2^nd film was “New Years Evil” about a new wave VJ who is being called while on the air by a killer who is audio recording his murders! The 3^rd twisted feature was “Frankenstein’s Hungry Dead” about some youths breaking into a wax museum that is owned by a relative of Dr. Frankenstein. “Frankenfish” swam its way into the 4^th film time slot and was about giant mutated fish killing in the bayou. The fifth film was the Matt Hoffman’s classic shot on video werewolf film “The Wolf Hunter”! The sinister 6^th film was a Paul Naschy crime/horror film called “Crimson” about a group of thieves whose leader is shot in the head and his only way of recovering is taking part of his rival’s brain! “Toolbox Murders 2” was the 7^th film and followed a poor young woman who is captured by the TBK. The 8^th film was “100 Tears” and was about a killer clown and his giant meat cleaver killing any and all that got in his way, all the while some tabloid reporters are trying to crack the case. Another killer clown followed in the 9^th spot called “Stitches” about a clown returning from the dead and trying to get revenge on the kids who lead to his death. “Skull Heads” by Full Moon Entertainment shocked as it followed a strange family with a sinister secret and was the 10^th horror flick. “Krampus: The Christmas Devil” was the 11^th film and it was about a cop on the hunt for Krampus who is kidnapping evil kids on orders from Santa Claus. The 12^th film was “Redwood Massacre” a slasher film about a hooded killer who kill anyone who stumbles on the ruins of his old home that he murdered his family at. Unlucky number 13 was a film called “Aunt Rose” about a sick old witch woman who protects her family from a bunch of home invasion thugs. The final film of the night and number 14 was the remake of “Evil Night” done by Chris Seaver about a nerd who gains powers and gets revenge on all those who tormented him. This all day fun time was packed with good friends, great food from Sub House and Pizza Factory, tons of snack foods, the new Baron’s Brew Beer made by horror host Baron Von Porkchop and a total of 4 films that feature slashers from the upcoming comic We Kill The Dead! Besides myself, the man who made it from start to finish was Stephen so on this one we both picked out top three films as well as our worst of the night aka The Golden Turkey! I’ll go first as I am the veteran of the event and my # 1 film of the night goes to Evil Night. This remake was a fun goofy slasher filled with some great humor and cheesy backyard kills! # 2 is Stitches, another fun horror comedy that mixed horror and humor really well.  The start of the film and what leads to the accidental death of Stiches is funny as hell! My # 3 spot was a tough one as I enjoyed many films that night but I would have to go with 100 Tears.  This film is a splatter film with a cool killer clown and effects that are over the top and in your face! Crimson and New Years Evil almost made my # 3 spot as I also enjoyed them quite a bit. My Golden Turkey of the night was Krampus as it was just boring and poorly scripted, but Tool Box Murders 2 almost made that spot for me as it was a huge disappointment and was a gore film with no story or direction. Stephen’s top three go as follows # 1 Stitches, # 2 The Mole People and # 3 Evil Night! His Golden Turkey as well went to Krampus. Another horror movie marathon in the history books and here is hoping that many more will be coming my way in 2016!

Speaking of horror films, one movie that I really think should have been a comic and in fact is a comic in the movie is Cellar Dweller! Come on, you know you love that title Cellar Dweller; it just rolls off the tongue and is a great title for a cheesy film and comic. The film was directed by John Carl Buechler for Empire Pictures and stars Yvonne De Carlo, Jeffrey Combs and Debrah Mullowney.  It’s about a comic artist who dies when his own comic creations kill him in the 1950’s and then in the 80’s an artist tries to bring the comic series back and unleashes Cellar Dweller once more. When I was teen, I owned Cellar Dweller on VHS and can remember watching it many times and having fun cheering on the title monster, a big werewolf/troll/bigfoot pentagram carved in chest beast who enjoys a good kill. If this was to be a comic book series, I would like to see it set during modern times and feature a small comic company who wants to make an impact in the battle for retail space at comic shops so they decide to bring back the comic series Cellar Dweller amongst all the controversy of the past.  This is a terrible mistake as they unleash him in their office and he is killing the staff one by one as well as those around the building and even those connected to them. The only hope they have is a bounty hunter who’s son was killed back in the 80’s by Cellar Dweller, and now he wants revenge and thinks he has the key to send him back to Hell forever. The artist who gets the task of redoing the Cellar Dweller comic should also be a major focus as he should be a veteran in the comic industry who can’t get work from the major companies because they feel he is too old to keep up with what kids want now in the digital age.  He should be a good spirited man who loves to draw even when his peers say his style is outdated. The comic could be filled with extreme gore as Cellar Dweller rips humans apart and goes on a rampage! I would see it only being a mini series, and it could have fit in perfect with IDW’s MGM Midnight Movies line as MGM is the film’s rights owner.  So my pick would be IDW or Action Lab, who are now doing comics based on Full Moon Entertainment movies, and if one of my friends made it I would pick Justin Wasson or Bruce O’Hughes as their styles would fit this twisted comic tale! While not a super popular movie that doesn’t even really have cult status, I still stick by the idea that it would make one killer comic mini series. For those who want to see this film, you can find it on VHS as well as on DVD and now Blu-Ray thanks to Shout Factory.

Halloween is a time that is filled with tricks and treats, and also is the time for kids to be scared by the ghouls and ghosts of the night as parents worry about stranger danger and the safety of the treats their kids are eating. An urban legend that every kid I knew at the school playground heard was that evil people were trying to kill kids with objects placed in the candy like razors and needles. Even the film Halloween II had a scene of a kid who ate an apple that was given to him that had a razor blade in it as did Night Of The Demons that had a old man character who was placing razors in apples to hand out. Scenes like these in films fueled the fire for this to scare parents into thinking that people in the world were out to get their kids. When I was growing up, my Mom would always tell me and my brother Bryan to check the candy for staples, razor blades and needles because the local news would sell the fear of this happening to kids. I always wondered as an adult about how this legend started and thanks to a cool documentary called “Killer Legends” by Joshua Zeman, I found out about the case that this legend was born from. In Deer Park, Texas in 1974 on Halloween night, 8 year old Timothy O’Bryan died from eating a pixy stix that was laced with poison.  His father Ronald tried his best to save his son, but it was too late as the young man passed away that night. They pinpointed that the child was poisoned by the pixy stix, and scary enough, Ronald’s daughter as well as two other kids had the poison candy but were lucky and did not eat them! Ronald pointed the finger at a neighbor claiming he thinks he got them from his house.  The police investigated and found that to be untrue as he was at work that night and was not home handing out candy. The police ended up finding who did poison the candy, and it turned out to be Ronald.  That sick son of a gun killed his own child for insurance money and tried to murder three others to cover his tracks and build his story of some crazed person handing out poisoned treats. Ronald was dubbed The Candyman by the press and was credited for killing the spirit of Halloween with his selfish terrible deed, that he claimed he did not do even though the evidence was stacked against him. Ronald was convicted for murder as well as attempted murder and was sentenced to death by a jury that only took 46 minutes to reach his fate. On March 31^st 1984 just after midnight Ronald “Candyman” O’Bryan was executed by lethal injection, ending his life and grip on Halloween. So if you have any young kids who are trick or treating do as my Mom did and check the treats, as being safe is better than being sorry. But I also want to say, whatever you do don’t take the fun out of Halloween for the kids as it should be a very magical and fun time of the year for them!

So that is depressing, so let’s move onto something fun and horror host related! Growing up I watched a lot of public access and was into horror hosts.  At a young age I discovered A. Ghastlee Ghoul, who hosted A. Ghastlee Movie Show on MVCC and became hooked, catching it every time it aired.  I even found myself setting my VCR to record it! Many years later I am proud to call A. Ghastlee Ghoul a friend as well as my second Dad as he has been a great influence on me as a media maker, and I even played his fake son on a episode of the show when I was 18! Ghastlee is a icon of Dayton horror hosting and while his show has been inactive for many years, he still can been seen touring around with his band Spattertude as well as heard on his radio show, Wackadoo Wax Radio on Oldies 97.3 FM. So it’s my honor to bring to you readers this Halloween update 5 Questions with the one and only A. Ghastlee Ghoul.

Me: Welcome, Ghastlee, to Rotten Ink! Tell my readers about your show The Ghastlee Movie Show as well as your band Splattertude.

Ghastlee: Well, the TV show has really been out of production for a few years, other than the occasional special. Twenty-two years was a good run, I think. Of course I still do live stage shows and hostings, as well as cohosting the weekly Wackadoo Wax Radio, which can be heard on Dayton’s Oldies 97.3FM and online at daytonoldies.org, with Comrade X Munson. The shows are also archived, albeit slowly, at mixcloud.com/wackadoowax. The band is still cranking right along! We’ve been playing some fun shows and are gearing up to make some new recordings. We have tons of new material that needs to get out there.

Me: From TV all the way to radio, Ghastlee, you never fail to amaze and entertain! So what horror hosts of the past have influenced you as a host?

Ghastlee: Oh wow. That’s a big question because I have so many friends who are also hosts and have touched my life in different ways. The hosts I grew up with though were Dr. Creep, Baron Von Wolfstein and The Cool Ghoul (from Cinci). There are aspects of all three in Ghastlee, as well as a little Count Floyd. Though not exactly a horror host, I always loved Cincinnati all-night-movie host Bob Shreve too.

Me: All classic horror hosts, and I owe it all to you for getting to meet and become friends with Baron Von Wolfstein! So being an undead Ghastlee Ghoul, do you ever get urges to eat human flesh or brains?

Ghastlee: That’s actually a common mistake. Zombies are undead and dig on brains. Ghouls eat the flesh of the dead. So, yeah, I have gotten the munchies on occasion while watching Romero films.

Me: Glad to hear human flesh is not on your list for lunch! Baron Von Porkchop as well said he does not crave eating humans so that will make Horrorhound Weekends much safer! So you have been to quite a few conventions, during these travels, what celebrity were you most happy to meet? As well as what other horror host?

Ghastlee: I’d have to say the ones who I can call friends. Tom Sullivan, Kyra Schon, Sid Haig. Bill Forsythe is a really cool cat. Always fun seeing him. As far as hosts, again, so many are great friends of mine. Outside that group though, John Zacherley, Elvira and Joe Bob Briggs were all fun to meet and talk with.

Me: Haig and Forsythe have always been fantastic people to chat with and that’s awesome you can call all those people friends. Joe Bob Briggs was for sure on my list of horror hosts I was most happy to meet. What horror themed comics do you enjoy reading?

Ghastlee: It’s honestly been years since I’ve sat down and read comics of any kind, but if I did it would be old EC books, The Witching Hour, Vault of Evil, stuff like that. I still have all mine from when I was a wee Ghoul!

Me: Classic EC Comics are always great, and I have great memories of reading my brother Bryan’s Gladstone Reprints of Tales From The Crypt when I was a youngster. Thanks Ghastlee for taking your time to talk to me and my readers and letting us take a peek at what makes Ghastlee ghastly.

Ghastlee: Thank you! I always enjoy reading your work! Happy Halloween everyone!

As always, it’s a great time chatting with A. Ghastlee Ghoul as he is unpredictable and is always guaranteed to entertain! Make sure to check out his radio show and catch some of his classic episodes of Ghastlee Movie show on DATV and on the online horror host station The Kreepy Kastle. Thanks again Ghastlee, your friendship means a lot to me and thanks for always believing in me.

Speaking of horror hosts, Baron Von Porkchop is gearing up for his 5^th Halloween Special! It’s crazy to think that Baron has been on a total of 5 Halloween adventures after this year’s, and more are planned for the years to come! This year Baron has found the Halloween spirit again after losing it as the result of many past mishaps from Headless Horsemen to The Sadness Killer. This year he has created a club called The Midnight Halloween Society that includes Melvin, Susie The DJ, Stephen Frankenstein and Duke The Wolf Hunter, and they sit around a campfire and exchange spooky stories! The stories will be short films from such directors as Andy Copp, Chris Seaver, John D. Leonard and Henrique Couto! So if you live in the Dayton, Ohio area tune into DATV or MVCC or watch via online stream at www.datv.org! I really do love filming the Baron Halloween specials as they are super fun to not only write but also plan out.  This year’s will be a lead in to next year’s so make sure to tune in. Below is the soon to be released DVD cover art by Damien Brunk.

Now I should talk a little about my friend and artist for the mystery Halloween update comic, Eric Shonborn.  I met Eric many years back while working for Mavericks Cards And Comics when he used to come into the shop with Bruce O’Hughes.  After chatting with them and getting their pull files, I soon found out that they were comic book creators and had a company called NoBody Comics.  This added to the already cool factor of both of these guys as I found them both to be friendly and interesting people. Also around this time, I moved out of an apartment I was sharing with Patrick Neeley and moved in with Jason Young, Doogie and Zippy.  This is when I became even closer friends with Eric as he would come over to hang out with Jason for what they called “Drawing Night” that had them staying up late listening to music or a podcast and drawing comics and pictures.  During this time Eric and I found out we had a lot in common, and a great friendship was born. Plus getting to see his art firsthand made me a fan of his work and to this day I highly respect that man’s talents. Over the years, Eric has worked on DVD covers for not only Independent B Movie films like Werewolf of Ohio and Vampire Peeper Of Greene County but also has done several for Baron Von Porkchop’s Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre! And over the years I have been asked to be a guest on his podcast Gutter Trash that he does alongside Jason Young that covers topics like movies, comics and life. Eric is also a weekly guest at my work as he comes in and chats it up with not only me but also my co-workers about all types of fun stuff.  Recently we had a big store talk about Superman films and comics, and it was so much fun! Eric is a friend for life, and I am glad that I know him.  If you have not checked out his website, you should at this link www.shonborn.net and see his wonderful work and maybe even hire him to do a commission or two! So once more thanks, Eric, for making this Halloween update special.  Below is some artwork by Eric including a self portrait.

So are you ready to find out what Eric Shonborn has chosen to make into a custom comic just for this Halloween Day blog update? I gave him a long list with over 20 horror movies to choose from, each of the films on the list didn’t have a comic series about it all ready making this a first! After looking the list over for many months, he made his choice and began to work on it.  It wasn’t until late October did I find out what he picked, and I must say I was very pleased upon seeing the finished printed comic in my hand! That’s one thing I will say about my friends, they are all cool talented people and Eric took the reigns and became the first to make a comic just for me and you, the readers, to enjoy on one of the best holidays! So let me present what we will be taking a look at on this special update……..

I first saw The Video Dead when I was a youngster on USA Network as part of USA Saturday Nightmares late at night with my brother Bryan.  The film was one that I remembered over the years, and for some reason I can remember that this horror film mixed with dark comedy scared me a little as the woods from the film reminded me of the woods that were right by our house in Waynesville and visions of the Video Dead stalking them looking for fresh victims filled my imagination. The Zombie Bride was always the most creepy to me, and her image gave me nightmares and also fueled ideas for short horror stories I was writing. As I grew up and began collecting horror films on VHS, I can remember being so hyped when I found of copy of The Video Dead on the shelf at a local secondhand store called Second Time Around and it was proudly displayed alongside so many other B-movie classics. The funny thing is that like a goof when DVD first came out, I traded in most of my VHS thinking that I would upgrade them all to this new disc based format, and to my shock Video Dead was not released on DVD till 2013 when Shout Factory released it on a double feature with Terrorvision.  However, at Game Swap this very month that I am bringing you this review, we had Video Dead traded in on VHS and I of course had to buy it…it had to be fate as this was also the film Eric chose to turn into a comic! The Video Dead was directed/produced/written by Robert Clark in 1987 and was a direct-to-video film that was released by Embassy Home Entertainment. Robert Clark only ever directed one other film called Ratdog in 1990 that has very little information about it out in the world. The film’s plot is about a cursed TV Set that is sent to a writer by a unknown person that unleashes an army of zombies who all come out of the TV from a movie called “Zombie Blood Nightmare.”  They brutally murder him and go into the woods near the home. Months later Zoe and her younger brother Jeff are at the house that’s been bought by their parents sight unseen as they are overseas, and the kids are trying to make the home ready for their comeback. But when Jeff finds the TV and makes friends with the girl next door, April, all hell breaks loose as the zombies are on a rampage and only Jeff, Zoe and a Texan named Joshua Daniels can put a stop to the madness. In order to kill the zombies, you first must use mirrors and even cover the TV set with a mirror, trap them in a small space and pray they kill each other when they become bored! The film ends with a twist and left itself open for a Video Dead 2 that sadly never came. This film is crazy, goofy, scary and just plain fun! The acting is over the top, and the oneliners and cheesy dialogue flow like spray canned cheese.  It stars Roxanna Augesen as Zoe Blair, Rocky Duvall as Jeff Blair, Sam David McClelland as Joshua Daniels and Vickie Bastel as April Ellison. The looks of the zombies in the film are well done, and there are a total of four styles of them that each look different and each have their own twisted personalities, and oddly enough some even have a sense of humor! The film is by no means a bloodbath, but the effects are well done and watching a zombie pop out of a TV Screen is pretty cool stuff. If you have not seen The Video Dead and like B-movies and are a fan of zombie films, give it a watch as it will surely entertain you with some good gore and zombie special effects as well as the zombie who looks like singer David Bowie!

The Video Dead left itself open for a sequel, and while a movie version has never seen the light of the moon, a comic one has on this day as Eric decided not to do a comic adaptation of the film but to make his own version of a sequel.  I am sure I will be in store for not only horror but also a few laughs. I can’t wait to see if he used the zombies from the movie or if he created his own new ones or even if there will be a mix of old and new! I also can’t wait to see who the lead character is and how he or she stumbled onto the cursed TV set! And I can’t wait to see the blood and gore if any presents itself in his story! But I also must remind all of you that I will not be grading this comic on my 1 to 4 scale as the comic was made for me to share with you here at Rotten Ink and to make all our Halloween a little better off. I want to thank once more Eric Shonborn for making this all possible and even coming through with this after having a rough year.  He is truly a good friend who is super talented and super cool. So if you’re ready grab a mirror and let’s turn on the TV and see what undead ghouls pop out as we take a look at Bloodline Comics Presents The Video Dead!

Revenge Of The Video Dead # 1
Created in 2015    Cover Price $0.00    Bloodline Comics    # 1 of 1

Darla is a young girl who is watching as her family is being killed by zombies that have popped out of an old TV that her brother bought to use in a project.  Just as the undead turn to get her, a mirror and a machete come down, and they are taken down. Darla’s savior is Zoe Blair, who is decked out with all things needed to fight The Video Dead! Zoe tapes a mirror to the TV and escorts Darla from the house and gives her a ride to the site where she is disposing of the TV.  In the van they chat, and Darla spots a severed Video Dead head that Zoe keeps as an alarm to warn her when others are around! Zoe opens up to Darla who has no place to go and speaks of her brother Jeff who made the mistake of turning on the TV and unleashing these zombies into their neighborhood, and how she learned ways to fight them from Joshua.  She also speaks of how Jeff and Joshua died and she alone had to trick The Video Dead back into the TV. The pair pull into the woods and bury the TV, and Zoe tells Darla that after her brother died and she had to face The Video Dead, she was locked up in an asylum.  Her parents brought her a TV and zombies dragged her into their world where she was saved by a man named The Garbageman who trained her in self defense and ways to kill the dead. She also tells of how Garbageman was finally caught and eaten by The Video Dead and that she escaped their world one day via a TV Portal is spending her life hunting down all 113 cursed TV sets to rid the world of this plague. Darla decides to join Zoe on her mission to Televonstar, the company making these cursed TV’s and finds that the owner of the company has found a way to not only tap into the world of “Zombie Blood Nightmare” but many more sinister worlds and he can hide them under the guise of cheesy horror films allowing all types of monsters into our world! Zoe and Darla fight off a horde of monsters; the Owner shoots and kills Darla with a single bullet to her head and explains that their next move it to make streaming services that will allow these portals to not only open on TVs but also cellphones, tablets and computers.  This enrages Zoe who kills the Owner and makes a promise to shoot every portal…and our story ends!

Eric did a fantastic job of making a comic sequel to The Video Dead and mixed new folklore with the classic stuff of the movie! The plot is very simple and very well thought out as Zoe is now a one woman zombie killing machine as she wants to stop every Video Dead as well as bust all the TVs that are being used to bring them to our world! Throw in a young female sidekick, some zombies and a big business suit type, and you have one great comic based around the universe of this B-movie classic. The use of characters like Zoe Blair and The Garbageman from the film gave this comic a “cult classic” feel and made me want to see how the story would unfold. It was very cool to see that Zoe is now the Garbageman as the story needed a strong hero who the reader could get behind, and she is 100% it. Zoe Blair in this comic has changed a lot from her movie counterpart as she is no longer a scared young woman and is now a short haired badass who has no fear of the unknown. I was really glad to see her as the main character as she deserves to stomp some undead ass. Darla is a poor young teenage girl who gets caught up in the video dead thanks to her brother who bought a cursed TV from a flea market.  With no place to go and no loved ones left, it’s only natural that Zoe takes her under her wing as a sidekick. Her death is shocking and well played as I figured that in the end Zoe and Darla would have been the last two standing. The Televonstar Owner is slimy and is the perfect example of a sleazy guy who would want to bring down the world, not to mention the way he wants to no longer use old TVs as the gateways and pushes for the new hip streaming is perfect to further the plot and bring new life to this story. The Garbageman is a character who appears in the film for one scene when he kills a blonde woman (who’s a Video Dead) who comes from the TV to seduce Jeff.  He tries his best to warn Jeff and tells him to place a mirror over the TV so that no more zombies can escape. In the comic Garbageman comes to the rescue of Zoe who’s been pulled into their world and trains her into becoming a female Rambo! He has very cool cameo and serves a great purpose in the overall story. The Video Dead are not over used and pop up when needed to add that horror element to the comic.  Like in the film, they shuffle around and look for people to murder in cold blood. Their looks are all unique and while none from the film 100% appear, you still get the feeling that they are the same ones that appear in the background of the film “Zombie Blood Nightmare” that plays in the film. This comic is pretty gory as Zoe uses her trusty machete to chop up zombies, monsters and that scumbag Televonstar Owner, adding in the blood factor and help feeding the horror action element. Eric, who wrote the story as well as did the art, did a fantastic job of bringing this into modern times and tying in modern technology as well as adding more dimensions with more monsters and even threw in a werewolf as he knows that’s my favorite classic monster! The art is fun and has a 90’s independent horror comic look and feel to it.  When needed, the zombies and characters have detail; when more details is not needed, the use of shadows is well done. The comic also has some pinups done by Bruce O’Hughes, Pat Kain and Jason Young, the latter of which drew a picture of that creepy Bride Zombie from the film! Over all, this was an amazing fun custom comic that added so much creepy, and action to my Halloween and I hoped it added to yours as well! Below is some art from this comic to show you the style of the issue.

The Video Dead might not be a household name when it comes to cult horror films like The Evil Dead, Phantasm or Silent Night Deadly Night, but for me it was always one of the coolest, most memorable ones. While those woods in Waynesville are no longer there as they made room for houses and kids that live on Royston Drive will never have to wonder if The Video Dead stalk them after seeing this film, one things for sure, those memories will live with me forever. I must say that I do really wish those woods were still around as I would have loved to have read this comic in them! I hope you enjoyed this spooky update.  I was really happy to share another one with you all. If you’re going out to Trick Or Treat or to a Halloween party, I want you all to stay safe as who knows what ghouls or ghosts are roaming this night. Our next update will take a look at a Marvel character known as 3-D Man, so make sure to come back for that one. Once more a big thanks to Eric Shonborn for making this one of a kind comic sequel – really cool work, my friend. So Happy Halloween, and as always, watch a horror film or two, support your local horror host and read a horror comic or three….BOO!

Spend Halloween With Universal’s Frankenstein’s Monster!

Happy Halloween! I hope you’re having a spooky and chilling good time today. I can hear all the little ghouls and goblins running around outside looking for some free candy. I can also hear all the loud parties and mayhem going on in and around 5^th Street. This year for Rotten Ink’s Halloween update we are going to be taking a look at comics based on Frankenstein by Universal that include a very cool Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man one that was translated and put together to be a comic via stickers just for this update! Plus I will be reading these comics alone in an abandoned science lab that’s still filled with lots of odd machines and glass bottles. Not to mention we will also be talking about other fun scary and Halloween related things.  So with the chill in the air and the Jack-O-Lantern lit, let’s open the door to Dr. Frankenstein’s lab and see what’s on the slab!

I’m going to start this update by taking a brief look at Manuel Oritz Partida, a luchador who goes by the ring name Halloween.  So I figured we should at least mention him on an update that goes up on the holiday he is named after! Halloween started his wrestling career in 1990 working for independents in and around Mexico, but he got his big break in 1996 when he signed with WCW and changed his name to Ciclope.  He was a mid-card wrestler for them and had some great matches against the likes of Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio Jr. and Dean Malenko. Once he left WCW, he returned to Mexico and worked for AAA as well as a few independents. Halloween has had many Mask vs. Hair matches and has lost many of them including losing his mask to Super Parka in 1999. After losing the mask, he began painting his face like a Jack-O-Lantern! Throughout his career he has also had many allies that include Damien 666, Super Nova, Extreme Tiger and Mari Apache. At the age of 43 in 2014 he has slowed down some, but Halloween still haunts the rings of Mexico. When I was a teenager I was lucky enough to see Halloween wrestle during a taping of WCW Saturday Night that was at Hara Arena.  If memory serves I think he took on Dean Malenko and lost!

One creepy internet story aka Creepypasta that has been floating around for some years now is called “Squidward’s Suicide,” a truly disturbing story that should be talked about this Halloween season here at Rotten Ink. The story goes that an intern at Nickelodeon had the duty to watch an episode of Spongebob Squarepants with some fellow workers that would have kicked off the new season and when they started to watch, the title card read Squidward’s Suicide.  They thought it was a joke title card, and they all chuckled it off. As they continued to watch, it was nothing special at first and was about Squidward preparing for a clarinet concert when Spongebob’s annoying laughing echoes into his house and Squidward runs him off to keep practicing, but when things get really strange is when at the concert all the fish people in the crowd start booing Squidward with malice and even Spongebob joins in the booing! Squidward goes home and starts to cry sadly to himself as sounds of wind and white noise echoed from the speakers, and then laughing started up as Squidward’s crying became louder and louder and more heartbreaking. While all this was disturbing what the workers found in frames mixed in is what caused them some chills and distress as pictures of freashley murdered children (three in total) would flash for small frames across the screen! These pictures would come inbetween Squidward still crying at the edge of his bed with all the weird sounds going on in the back ground.  It got so bad that they called the creator of Spongebob to watch the remaining episode that ended with Squidward pulling out a shotgun and committing suicide as the image remained on his dead body and then ended. The creator was mad and demanded that they watch the episode again, and he was horrified at what he saw and called the FBI, according to the intern none of the children in the clips were ever identified and no one knew who made the cartoon as the time stamp said it was made just minutes before they watched it! I saved you many of the gory details of what the kids bodies looked like as I didn’t think that this fun blast from the past blog was the right place for it, but if you’re looking for the full well written story search the net and you’ll find it. Another Creepypasta by the name of “Red Mist” is based on Squidward killing himself and has a salesmen fish coming to his door and telling him the red mist is coming…the red mist of course being the blood from his wound…when he shoots himself…man this is some depressing stuff! The major differences between the two stories besides the salesmen and title is that in Red Mist many of the characters sport realistic eyes and also the cartoonist of the episode was said to be a serial killer who had worked for Nickelodeon and was on the run. Fan made animated versions of the episode can be found on youtube, and the story while most likely fake, it still makes me wonder did Squidward really kill himself?

It’s 1976, and the film crew for the TV Show “The Six Million Dollar Man” had rented out the haunted house from the Nu-Pike Amusement Park in Long Beach California.  As they were moving and dressing the “set” they moved the hanging mummy man prop and by accident they broke off the mummy’s arm and to their horror a human bone was poking out! The crew, along with the police, took the mummy to a coroner who verified that the mummy was in fact a human body…the haunted house for years had a real dead body on display. It took some time but they were able to figure out who the body was and when and how he died, and the identity of the mummy was that of criminal Elmer McCurdy who was killed in 1911 in a shootout while trying to rob a train. The undertaker in 1911 decided that since no one claimed his body, he would go ahead and embalmed him and place it on display as “The Bandit Who Wouldn’t Give Up” and would have people place nickels in the corpse’s mouth that at the end of the day he would collect.  At some point a carnival owner tricked the undertaker into thinking he was Elmer’s brother and he took the body and placed it on display for years. After his worth was used up at the carnival, the corpse was sold many times to several haunted houses, wax museums and carnivals making it the traveling mummy! Elmer’s corpse even was shown in the 1933 film Narcotic directed by Dwain Esper and at one point the owner of a haunted house in South Dakota refused to buy the corpses as he felt it was a fake and nothing more then a mannequin. Elmer finally was sold to Nu-Pike Amusement Park and sometime later was discovered again to be a real corpse by a shocked crew member who broke his arm off! In 1977 Elmer McCurdy was finally laid to rest in Summit View Cemetery in the Boot Hill section in Oklahoma ending the traveling mummy’s long and strange trip around the USA. Many joke that Elmer made way more money in death then in life, and for years this story was thought to be an urban legend but was proven to be true. So the next time you go to a haunted house, take a closer look at that corpse hanging or in the coffin cause who knows you might just be looking at the real thing!

In 1999, my friends and I use to run the roads at all times of the night.  We would drive around with the windows down while blaring music and being just rowdy late teens who were out to have a good time. Most of these nights would just lead to us going to a friend’s house where we would spend the rest of the night playing Goldeneye 007 on N64 and listening to music and all crashing at the same home very late in the night. Brandon Womeldorff drove most nights as he had a red convertible, and on this particular night it was just Brandon, David Wean, Rion Neeley and myself driving through Patterson Park or as it’s also called Hills And Dales.  It was around 11:00pm, and we had no real reason to be in the area besides driving fast on the dark roads near Frankenstein’s Tower and enjoying the cool night air. Rion was telling us that one night when he was driving alone near these two stone pillars on the opposite sides of the road and that he could have sworn that he saw what appeared to be a shadow man that was watching him on top of a wooded hill near the pillar.  Of course this made the rest of us to want to go to the spot and see if we could spot this strange man/shadow for ourselves.  As we pulled off the road near said spot Brandon killed the engine, and we all just sat and listened and waited, the sounds of the night filled our ears and then we heard something that sounded like a person running down the hill crunching fallen leaves as it moved fast towards us, Brandon turned the car back on and sped away as we could hear this thing keeping up with us…odd thing being all we could make out was a shadow. We all went back to Rion’s house where Brandon was also living, and we all sat around and talked about what we thought it was, and myself and Brandon went back that night and didn’t see anything. Whatever it was stuck with us as Brandon even wrote a song called “The Man In Black” for a short lived band we were in called X-Mortis. For many years after I would go back to that spot with many of my friends like Andrea Seay, Kevin Kinsley, Matt Hoffman, Jason Gilmore, Misty Altick and Josh Weinberg and almost everytime we would hear or see something…sometimes we would drive away only to return in minutes to find a dead animal propped in the middle of the road, most the time the necks were twisted so the head was facing backwards. This Shadow Man became a spooky icon to us, and we would even play pranks on each other out in the woods near the pillars and hill.  The best one is where Dave Wean, Linda Webb’s boyfriend and I all hid in the woods and made noises as Josh Weinberg dressed in a WWE Kane Mask and a hooded robe stood by a tree near the small road and scared the crap out of Matt Hoffman who was being driven around by Brandon who was in on the prank, but one thing I must say is as we waited in those woods, we all did hear many odd things. Josh and I many nights would go back to that place and like clockwork we would hear and slightly see the Shadow Man.  One night we really pissed it off as we got out of the car and challenged it to a fight, while from the car stereo we played the battle music from the Star Trek episode “Amock Time” and carried ball bats ready to knock it’s block off. For a short time it did not respond but once we heard it come running down the hill full blast we left before the “battle” could happen. Over the years I went less and less to hear and see The Shadow Man, and the park got lots of remodeling and the last handful of times me and Josh went there had been no sign or noise of the Shadow making us wonder what and where did it go. We never could figure out just what and why it was and what would have happened to us if it would have caught us, but one things for sure Shadow Man will forever live on as one of my favorite unknown things I have witnessed. Bellow is a drawing by me of what it looked like.

On October 6^th and 7^th Juliet and I decided to have our own Horror Movie Marathon, an event that I used to hold all the time that would have all my friends over to watch horror flicks all day and eat junk food. On Monday the 6^th we had what I would call the pre-show where we watch a few Horror films to gear up for the next day, and the films selected were the made for TV cheese-fest “Werewolf of Woodstock”, smart and artistic 80’s slasher “Curtains” and low budget succubus flick “Dreamaniac.”  We both agreed that Curtains was the best film of the pre-show.  It was about actresses meeting at a film director’s mansion in the woods on a snow filled weekend, and someone is killing them off one by one. And we both agreed that the worst turkey of the night was Dreamaniac that was about some goofball song writer who allows his girlfriend and her sister to party at a house he is watching as a succubus is killing off the guests. On the 7^th we started our marathon at 8 am and kicked it off with the Universal Horror film “Black Friday” that stars Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi and is about a mobster’s brain being transplanted into that of a professor and the doctor who did so wants to get his hands of some of the mobsters’ hidden money. The 1957 low budget film “From Hell It Came” was next and is about a tree monster and the battle between USA doctors and the natives of an island. The original 1980 “Prom Night” was next about a killer on the loose at a High School prom. 1989’s own low budget camping slasher film “Moonstalker” was next followed by “Legend of The Werewolf” a 1975 film starring Peter Cushing that follows a young man who is cursed to become a werewolf. Evil Dead inspired film “Demon Wind” was next and follows a group of friends stuck in an old house as demons want to take their souls. 1971 Hammer Film “Hands of The Ripper” was the next shocker to be shown and was about the daughter of Jack The Ripper and that was followed by Universal Sci-Fi giant spider film “Tarantula!” that shows man should not mess with mother nature. Next was Fullmoon Entertainment’s 11^th film in the series “Puppet Master X: Axis Rising” where the puppets must stop Nazi’s and evil puppets from harming America. The next film shown is a pure cheesy guilty pleasure for me, 1995’s “Project: Metalbeast” starring Kane Hodder as Metalbeast and is about a metal skinned werewolf running wild in a military lab. As we headed into the late night we ended it with two vampire films, the first being “Dawn Of Dracula,” a low budget film made by the cool cats who make the horror host show Midnite Mausoleum and follows Victoria Van Helsing played by the lovely Marlena Midnite as she looks for missing people.  Then we watched “ Dinner With A Vampire” where a group of actors are stuck in a mansion with a real life vampire! The evening was super fun, and we snacked on Peanut M&M’s, Mike-Sells Beer Can Chicken Potato Chips as well as homemade Hot Wings and had a great spooky time just hanging out and enjoying all the horrors of the movies. My top three films of the day would have to be as follows: # 1 Hands of The Ripper, a film I think was well done and added a spin of the Jack The Ripper tale, # 2 Project: Metalbeast for some reason I have been a fan of this film for a long time and use to watch it on VHS when I was younger and feel it stills holds that charm till this day! And # 3 would have to be Legend of The Werewolf a great classic style horror film that has a simple plot and holds such a Hammer Horror feel that I have always found it to be entertaining. I would also like to note that this top three was really hard to pick as I also really enjoyed Dinner With A Vampire, Prom Night and Demon Wind allot! My Golden Turkey of the night would have to go to Moonstalker, while not a bad movie it was just really slow paced with moments that really seemed to drag. Juliet’s top three were # 1 Hands of The Ripper, # 2 Dinner With A Vampire and # 3 Legend of The Werewolf, she had a hard time as well as she truly enjoyed Tarantula! that almost made her list. Her Golden Turkey was Moonstalker for the same reasons I stated. This was a fun event that I look forward to doing again soon as well as maybe one update I will give a history of the event and how the Horror Movie Marathon tradition started with me and my friends.

 

So what would Halloween be without having another 5 Questions with a Horror Host, and this time I think we are going to talk to Dayton, Ohio’s own Baron Von Porkchop! If you remember last year we chatted with Chicago Horror Host Count Gregula of Count Gregula’s Crypt.  So I figured that this year I wanted to do a Dayton Original Host who I also consider a very dear friend and that’s the good old Baron. Baron Von Porkchop started his show Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre in late 2010 and would air on DATV with his first episode where he hosted the Vincent Price classic House On Haunted Hill.  After this he has shown no signs of slowing down as he is working on his 3^rd season as well as a number of Holiday and other type of specials. I traveled to Porkchop Manor and met with Baron Von Porkchop on a chilly night, and here are my 5 Questions with Baron Von Porkchop.

Me: So Baron tell me about your show Terrifying Tales of The Macabre, as well as about Porkchop manor?

Baron: Well my show is about… me. I’m just trying to live my life as an undead ghoul the best I know how, but it seems like everyone and everything wants to try and ruin it! My manor is a little run down, but I love the place. It has all the comforts of home with a little added creepy.

Me: I always have a good creepy time here at the Manor! So what Horror Hosts of the past have influenced you as a host yourself?

Baron: I would have to say since the day I was dug up, I have seen many different horror host icons and most of them have influenced me a little bit, but I would say The Crypt Keeper and Mike and Joel from Mystery Science Theater 3000 would be the most influential.

Me: Great choices, and Crypt Keeper is even in the Horror Host Hall of Fame. So being an undead ghoul and all, do you ever get urges to eat human flesh or brains?

Baron: NO, NO SILLY! That’s zombies, we ghouls just try to get by from day to day we don’t need anything as far as sustenance goes… well except a terrible movie from time to time.

Me: That’s a relief that no flesh eating is in your future! So you have been to quite a bit of conventions and during these travels, what celebrity were you most happy to meet? As well as what other Horror Host?

Baron: Well I did get to meet the Hellraiser himself Doug Bradly and that was kind of a dream come true. As far as horror hosts goes, I did get to meet The Crypt Keeper and that was pretty exciting. But all and all I have to say that all of the horror hosts I have met I have liked in different ways.

Me: Bradley is such an icon of Horror. Well sadly we are at the final question so with my topic for this years Halloween update being about Universal Frankenstein, what other actor besides Boris Karloff would you say is your favorite actor to play the Monster?

Baron: Wow there are so many to chose from…. let me think….. Aaron Eckhart I think from “I, Frankenstein”, I believe would be the best for sure! HAHAHAHAHA! No, no I kid, I kid. This is kind of a hard one though because so many great actors have played the creature. Like Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., Peter Boyle and so many more. Honestly I have to say that David Prowse is probably my favorite portrayal, because Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell is a great movie and a pure scare fest.

Me: Agreed, choosing who is the best actor who has played The Monster is a very tough question, but I would agree that Prowse would be high on my list as well as Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell is one of my favorite Hammer Horror films. Well thanks for spending some time with us here on Rotten Ink and thanks for doing what you do and keeping Horror Hosting alive in Dayton, Ohio. Anything you wanna say to the readers before we go?

Baron: I will see you soon on the Terrifying Tales of the Macabre, until then have a spooky time piggies, HAHAHAHAHA!!

Airing the day this goes up, October 31^st 2014 Baron Von Porkchop will be hosting the Bela Lugosi classic White Zombie for his fourth Halloween Special! I don’t wanna spoil to much but Baron alongside his pal Melvin (Butler to Stephen Von Frankenstein) come face to face with a zombie who has an ax to grind. The special will air on DATV in Dayton on Channel 5 via Time Warner Cable and should be a very fun and spooky episode. I must also say that I am VERY proud of Baron Von Porkchop and Terrifying Tales Of The Macabre, and I am very thankful that I am able to do the show along side a very talented host, cast and crew. If you’re looking for a little more on Baron check out his website at www.terrifyingtalesofthemacabre.com or look him up on Facebook. Man, Horror Hosts are so much fun, and I will continue to have 5 Questions with one every Halloween update so that’s something you readers can always look forward to.

October 24^th 2014 marked the 18^th year of Horrorama, and I was happy to once more be a part of the event that showed four great films “Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell”, “Rawhead Rex”, “Hell of The Living Dead” and “Bride Of Re-Animator” and once more was held at the great local theater the Englewood Cinema. Juliet and I, on our way to the theater early to check the prints of the films as well as eat at the chinese restaurant across the street that has become a tradition, also came across a truck with a propped up coffin with a life size mummy in it on Highway 70…this was a great way to kick off a very long night of film watching and mayhem. The event was hosted by A. Ghastlee Ghoul, the legendary horror host of Dayton, and he helped keep the night moving and filled with laughs.  Rick Martin this year co-hosted and with him being the remaining original event creator, it’s always nice to hear him keep the spirit of the event alive and honor what he started with Andy Copp and Dr. Creep. This year thanks to theater owner Mike, I was able to be the projectionist and wow, that was a lot of fun.  I think one of the coolest things for me that night was being able to peer out the projection window standing next the very old 35mm projector and watch my favorite Hammer Horror film, Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell, a very cool moment for me. Plus at the event were many of my family and friends as besides Juliet, my brother Bryan along with his wife Bel and daughter Abby were there as well as my cousin Stephen. Lots of my friends as well like Josh Weinberg, Mike Ritchie, Garrison Kane, Todd The Fox, Victoria Harper, Nick Williams and Mandie Brown were watching the flicks and having fun. Another great event done and I must say a big thank you for everyone who came and supported this event as well as everyone who helped. Below is a pic of the mummy truck, the event’s poster, and a picture taken from the projection room of the Monster From Hell.

So let’s see so far we have covered wrestler Halloween, Creepypasta about a cartoon suicide, the traveling corpse of outlaw Elmer McCurdy, The Shadow Man of Hills and Dales Park that used to chase me and friends, a Horror Movie Marathon that Juliet and I had as well as Dayton Ohio Horror Host Baron Von Porkchop.  So now I think it’s time we talk a little about Universal’s longest classic monster series Frankenstein. In 1931, after the success of Dracula starring Bela Lugosi Universal was quickly looking for another classic horror novel to turn into a film.  That novel was Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, and the first choice to play the Monster was Bela Lugosi! The story goes that Lugosi didn’t want the role because he thought it was no real acting as the Monster only grunted and was not too keen in the fact his face would be covered in makeup so the part ended up going to Boris Korloff, a character actor that the director James Whale liked. The film had a budget of $262,007.00 and made the studio $12,000,000.00 opening many studios eyes that horror films can make money. Universal made a sequel, Bride of Frankenstein, in 1935 and it was followed by Son of Frankenstein in 1939, and for these three films Karloff played The Monster but for the remaining films in the series many other actors stepped into the role including Lon Chaney Jr., Glenn Strange and even Bela Lugosi in such films as Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943), House Of Frankenstein (1944), House Of Dracula (1945) and Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) making The Frankenstein Monster the first franchise horror character to have so many sequels. Growing up I loved watching the old Frankenstein films from Universal and in fact the first ever VHS I ever owned was Frankenstein! So with this I am really ready to tell you about the Lab I will be reading these comics at so that I can head that way and read some comic adaptations of the classic Universal films!

The place I will be reading these comics is an old science labs that was used for plant experiments and is located in Yellow Springs.  I promised I would not tell the exact location but let’s just say it’s near downtown. The Labs are still filled with all types of odd machines as well as old racks and trays that use to hold the planets. The sight was also used for animal testing and has cages frozen in time as well! I chose this location due to the nature of the Frankenstein story being so heavily science based and what better way to read these comics then an old lab with poor lighting and not a soul around as well as glass pipes that running over head that use to hold acid used in experiments. Below are some pics of the location just so you can get a feel of what the atmosphere for me will be like.

The night I choose to read these comics was a very dark one with clouds in the sky, it had a nice chill in the air and the labs upstairs were a little cold. So let’s find a nice spot among the dust and old equipment and read these adaptations under the flickering lights, Remember that I rate the issues on the 1-4 scale and base it on art, story, how close it stays to the source material and over all entertainment value. I want to thank Bell, Book And Comic for having Dark Horses Frankenstein in stock and Juliet and Eric for helping with the other two. So the thunderstorm is coming in, so let’s prepare for the Monster to come alive!

Frankenstein # 1 ****
Released in 1993   Cover Price $3.95   Dark Horse   #1 of 1

Henry Frankenstein and his assistant Fritz are stealing dead bodies and stitching them together.  Fritz even breaks into a lab and steals an abnormal brain after dropping that of a normal man, and this is all for Henry who wants to create a new life with his own hands in a dusty old tower. During a terrible thunderstorm Henry wants to use the lightning to jolt his creation to life but is interrupted by his fiance Elizabeth, his best friend Victor and his old medical teacher Dr. Waldman who all witness the experiment that works! Victor and Elizabeth return home and try to keep Baron Frankenstein from visiting his son as Waldman begs his former student to kill his Monster before it’s too late. The Monster at first seems to listen and understand commands but when Fritz comes in with a torch the Monster goes crazy, and they must knock it out and put it in the cellar, where Fritz continues to bully it with a whip and a torch.  Finally the Monster snaps and kills Fritz by hanging him. Henry and Waldman knock out the Monster and with the help of Victor, they hide it from his father and Elizabeth. Henry goes home with his father as Waldman is going to dissect and kill the Monster who wakes up and instead kills Waldman! On Henry and Elizabeth’s wedding day, the Monster breaks free of the tower and kills a little girl on accident and even attacks Elizabeth! The townspeople and Henry form a posse and hunt the Monster down.  Henry comes face to face with his Monster who knocks his creator out and takes him to a windmill and throws him off it hurting him badly, as the towns people rush Henry home for medical care they also set the windmill on fire and the Monster is believed to be burnt alive. In the end Henry is getting better at Frankenstein Manor and Elizabeth is at his side while the Monster’s region of terror has came to an end….for now!

This is a great adaptation that captures the mood and story of the classic Universal film and was a great way to start the reviews off! The plot follows a scientist who wants to play God and creates a monster who has a bad brain that does bad things but don’t really understand that it’s doing so.  In the end creator and creation must come face to face with only one making it out alive! Henry Frankenstein is not a bad man, and while he does get wrapped up in his experiment and does create a monster, he had good intentions. It’s clear that Henry loves his girlfriend Elizabeth as well as hid friends and father but that he really wants to be known in the world of science. Dr. Waldman is a wise scientist who sees the dangers in playing God and wants to try and help his student by talking sense into him. Fritz is just a troublemaker and a screw up who seems to take joy in tormenting the Monster.  His worse blunder is stealing the wrong brain and not even telling his boss of the mishap. Victor is a loyal friend who don’t understand why his best friend is acting this way but stands by him when the chips are down and it’s clear Henry needs help. Elizabeth is a loving fiance who understands her man and tries her best to allow him to balance his work and social life with her.  She is the kind of woman who is always by the side of her loved one. Baron Frankenstein is a ass who is more stuck on himself then anything else.  The way he speaks down to others makes him not a very nice person and a character that this reader kind of hated. The Monster is pretty one dimensional in this comic and it’s clear to see that Boris Karloff in the movie is who gave the Monster a personality and made him sympathetic.  In the comic you just don’t pick up on any of its emotions, and The Monster really just comes off as a lumbering brute But that’s the only minor flaw to this amazing comic that I really enjoyed. The art by Den Beauvais (who also adapted the story) is fantastic and it really makes the comic pop as The Monster looks just like Karloff in the movie and in fact most the characters look like the actors who played them in the Universal film. If you’re a fan of the movie or a Universal Monster collector this comic is made for you.  Pick it up you won’t regret it. Check out some of Den’s amazing artwork below.

So the second film in the series is “Bride Of Frankenstein” and sadly no official film adaptation has been made…yet. I am proud to say that talented artist and friend of mine Jeff Potter will be doing a exclusive Bride of Frankenstein just for me to review here on Rotten Ink! So look for that sometime in 2015. But our next comic in the Universal Frankenstein series is a photo comic made by National Periodical that was part of a comic that had several adaptations of movies.  This comic I will be reading in this cold science lab is a custom one that takes just the Son of Frankenstein part and made it into a issue of its own! So let’s get into it shall we?

Son Of Frankenstein  # 1  **1/2
Released in 1939   Cover Price .10   National Periodical   #1 of 1

Wolf Frankenstein, the son of Henry returns to his family’s castle after being away from it for over 20 years and finds that his wife and young son Peter are only warmly greeted by the hired help as the villagers look at them with hate over his father’s Monster. Inspector Crogh visits the castle and tells Wolf that he and his family are not welcome and that he thinks the Monster is alive and killing.  This sparks Wolf’s interest in his father’s old lab where Wolf meets a twisted shepherd named Ygor who shows him that the Monster is indeed alive but very weak. Wolf becomes obsessed with trying to make the Monster better as he believes that this will clear his family’s name, but when more deaths happen, Crogh goes to arrest Wolf as he himself finds that Ygor is using the Monster to kill a jury that convicted him some years back.  This leads to Wolf shooting and killing Ygor. The Monster ends up finding the body of his friend Ygor and this sets him into a rage and he kidnaps Peter.  Crogh tries to help save Peter but is tossed to the side by The Monster! The Monster becomes scared by the villagers who now have become an angry mob, and Wolf kicks him into a lava pit saving his son and causing him to leave the castle for good.

First I have to say I love the movie and that’s why it breaks my heart to read this half butted attempted at a photo comic that tries to cram a 99 minute movie into 8 pages, but then again at least in 1939, they tried to give readers the chills with this comic. The comic changes the plot of the movie in many ways and even how it ends is different.  While some changes, like the fact Inspector Crogh is a very angry and unfriendly man, are interesting other changes like The Monster being frozen with fear by just the sounds of a mob is silly. Wolf Frankenstein is a likeable hero who in this comic really just wanted to return home and clear his family’s name. Young Peter Frankenstein is less annoying in the comic but is just used as bait for the end of the story. Ygor is just kind of around, and while he orders The Monster around he really isn’t given much to do. The Monster also spends most the issue with nothing to do and spends much time just standing to on the slab. I wish the Monster would have had a little more to do and would not be defeated like he was a coward. Plus how brutal is it that Wolf kicks The Monster into lava and watches him burn to death! The art in the comic is mostly photo comic style but does have slight art work added to the photos, and the dialogue is hard to read as the person who did lettering has pretty sloppy hand writing at times. To be honest, this is a nice throwback comic but doesn’t really offer much besides slight old school horror chills. So I think it’s time to move on and will just sum it up as okay but pretty disappointing.

So next in the film world would be “Ghost of Frankenstein” and once more a comic adaptation was never made so I went to my friend Eric Shonborn, and he will be making Rotten Ink one to review along side Jeff Potters Bride of Frankenstein! So let’s move onto the next comic in the series “Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man,” one of my favorite in the Universal Frankenstein series.  The movie is gracing my t-shirt as I sit and write this in the lab. This comic is a custom comic that was put together and translated by Juliet from an old Spanish sticker book based on the movie! So let’s jump into this one as the lab area is given off some odd nosies that sound like keys jiggling!

Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man  # 1  ***
Released in 1946   Cover Price .10   Bloodline Comics   #1 of 1

Two grave robbers go into the crypt of Larry Talbot on a full moon night allowing him to turn into The Wolf Man and escape his tomb and once more set out for blood! Larry wakes up in a hospital in the care of Dr. Mannering and is being watched by cops who don’t believe that he is Larry Talbot as all records say he is dead. That night Larry transforms into The Wolf Man again and kills a cop.  In the morning when the medical staff look at him as if he is crazy, Larry escapes and finds his friend the old gypsy woman Maleva, and they set out to find the diary of Doctor Frankenstein as they think it will hold the answers of finding a cure for Larry’s curse. As they travel, they stop at an inn and are run off by the locals all who hate the name Frankenstein.  After leaving night falls on them and Larry becomes The Wolf Man once more and kills a woman and is hunted down by locals and falls into a hole knocking itself out. Larry awakens in the frozen cave and finds the body of The Monster in ice and frees it, and the pair become unlikely friends. Larry even tries to convince Elsa Frankenstein to help him find her grandfather’s diary, and she wants nothing to do with it. But when The Monster and Larry make a big scary scene at the town’s festival after being confronted by Dr. Mannering, the pair escape to the ruins of the old castle. Elsa, Maleva and Mannering come to the castle and all together they work along side Larry and The Monster and find the diary and set up to cure him of his curse and even drain all the energy from The Monster. This does not go as planned as Mannering makes a mistake that leaves The Monster in a rage and Larry turning into The Wolf Man.  The monsters fight in the old castle ruins as the villagers blow up the near by dame, drowning the two monsters and ending the terror.

When two monsters collide, I the reader won in this fun cheesy comic adaptation that’s packed with so much cheese that it was busting at the seams. The story follows the film for the most part and follows Larry who wants to find a cure for his werewolf curse and gets the help of the remaining Frankenstein as well as befriends The Monster, but when he changes into a beast his urge to kill comes through and he fights his monster friend until they both go swim with the fishes. Larry Talbot is a man who you as the reader feel bad for, but you also find yourself very happy when he turns into The Wolf Man and stalks around and kills whatever he can find. The Monster for the most part just lumbers around and shows he has zero tolerance for people. Dr. Mannering, Maleva the Gypsy and Elsa Frankenstein are good supporting characters who add to the story in their own way but none are really flushed out. The comic has zero blood and gore and is truly a classic horror thriller comic that relies on the fact that monsters are scary, and I love that about this comic. The artwork is done by an unknown artist but I really dig the almost cartoon style, with the Wolf Man looking pretty good and The Monster looking like a skinny kid dressed up for Halloween. While the comic follows the film pretty well, it as well suffers from the fact they tried to rush the plot and rushed way too much character development. With all that said I must say I really enjoyed this comic and wish that some day Dark Horse will get into gear and make Official Universal Monster Movie adaptation comics! Check out the artwork below.

 

So with the lab being the perfect place to read these comics and with all the spooky sounds and the chill in the air, I think it’s time for me to leave this area…never to return again…well that’s until maybe next time I read Universal Frankenstein comics for Rotten Ink. I really enjoy horror comics and love the Halloween season, and this update has just really made me look forward to doing next year’s countdown to the spookiest holiday. So once more I want to thank Eric and Juliet for their help on this update, and I want to also remind all you Horror Host fans that Baron Von Porkchop’s Halloween Special airs tonight on DATV (Time Warner Channel 5) or can be watched via stream at www.datv.org! So I am sure your all wondering what’s the next update, and I must confess that it’s a Debbie Downer as we take a look at the death of the Spider-Man villain The Tarantula! So until next time, read a horror comic or three, support your local Horror Host and watch the skies for its Halloween and the ghosts and goblins are on the loose…you have been warned….Happy Halloween!