From Zombos' Closet

Shock Vol. 2 Issue 3 September 1972

What's really terrifying in this issue of Shock: Chilling Tales of Horror and Suspense are the sizes of the word balloons. Now those are monstrous!

Terrors of Dracula Vol. 2 Issue 3 August 1980

This heaping serving of horror noir bursts with bosoms, bad men, worse women, and devilish mayhem. Claws of Horror does it for me, how about you? 

The Monster Times Issue 38 January 1975

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad gets the filmbook treatment in issue 38 of The Monster Times. At least it adds a few pre-production sketches of Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion effects for the models. Marvel's handling of Conan the Barbarian is examined (thank the lord for those black and white magazines that escaped the dreaded comics code, especially here), and Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. blabs about The Blob in a great interview. Interestingly, he relates how the blob's color was dyed deeper shades of red as the film progressed. "Since the creature devours some fifty people by the end of the film, it was a logical thing to do." Yeaworth also confirms the multiple titles for the movie before release: The Molten Meteor, The Glob, and Night of the Creeping Dread. He notes Steve McQueen suggest using "The Blob" one day during shooting. Bless you, Steve. Last but not least for this issue, TMT praises The Mad Ghoul for B-ing a movie above the rest.

Psycho Issue 15, November 1973 All Ghoul Horror Issue

The cover art by Vincent Segrelles is fantastic, but doesn't seem to have much to do with this special all ghoul issue of Skywald's Psycho, issue 15. The stories are ghoulish enough, though. My favorite is The 13 Dead Things. The editor, Al Hewetson, is quoted as saying the glut of Marvel black and white magazines forced Skywald off the newsstands, otherwise their horror-mood brand of illustrated terror was selling well. (I came across this complete checklist of Skywald magazines on the Wayback Machine website. I converted the information to PDF, so you can Download Complete-Skywald-Checklist.)

The Monster Times Issue 7 April 26, 1972

In this issue 7 of The Monster Times, Gary Gerani's Hot Prints Anyone? explains "how you  too can own and show your favorite monster movie in your own home!" Imagine that. Viewing a complete feature film in the privacy of your own home, with or without buttered popcorn, any time you like. Wild. At the end of the article, Gerani peers into the future: "We of The Monster Times see a day when the studios change the law, allowing distribution of their product to private homes..." Quite a blast from the past for monster kids, right? How many of you remember scouting around at conventions and other places for illegal full-length prints of your favorite horror films? If it wasn't for VHS, we'd all be in jail by now. Oh, wait, some of us did go to jail over VHS. Nevermind that. Anyway, other notable articles in this issue include the Would you buy a used car from this Gorilla?, which wonders why the monster-sized Volkswagen 411 car model television spot featuring King Kong came and went in the blink of an eye, and The Monster Market's Godzilla Aurora Kit review (costing a whopping $1.94 in U.S. currency). The reviewer wasn't too happy with its glow in the dark parts, the King of Monsters claws looking like Mickey Mouse gloves, and the weak stickiness of the model glue used for assembly because of too many snifflers getting cheap highs back then. Now, of course, you can just go to Colorado. 

The Dinosaur Times Issue 1 Summer 1993

The publishers of The Monster Times tried their hand at The Dinosaur Times in the 1990s, using the same format. It lasted for a few issues before going extinct. This first issue covers Jurassic Park, Godzilla movies, dinosaurs in the movies, and even The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in-between the more fact-based and academic stuff. And, of course, there's the centerfold poster to leave tape marks up on your walls with, too. Parents everywhere hated those centerfolds, I'm sure.

Weird Vol. 12 No. 3 September 1979

What's more frightening than driving through Memorial Day traffic? Reading this issue of Weird, of course! A real treat are the illustrations on the inside cover instead of advertisements.

Monster Times Issue 15 September 6, 1972

An underwhelming writing exercise for The Valley of Gwangi (a storyline for the movie, not a review or analysis), but an informative article on Vampires in the Comics, takes over issue 15 of The Monster Times. By now it's obvious that TMT is stronger when discussing comic books than classic movies. While comic book articles receive more devoted attention, genre movies were given the usual let's write out the movie's story for you to read brush-offs. While I didn't much notice this when I originally read TMT, now--and of course given the Internet's glut of information, and the easy availability of movies today--it's irksome to read. Yes, it was a different take on covering the movies, but not anywhere near fun to read as the other, more lively, articles in TMT. Alfred Hitchcock is also interviewed, and Gary Brown gives love to HLP. The Roots of Evil: The Carrot That Conquered the World by Jim Winoroski, and Joe Kane's article on Blacula, shows how much more TMT could do with writing about genre movies when given a mind to.

Horror Tales Vol. 5 Issue 5 October 1973

According to the Weird Indexes of Eerie Publications by Mike Howlett, this volume 5, issue 5 of Horror Tales is the second volume 5, issue 5 to hit the newsstands in 1973. The first one is dated June 1973, and appears to be actually isssue 3, but was given the right volume but wrong issue number. As you get later into the issues, more and more stories from earlier issues reappear. Some wonderful artwork in this issue.

Horror Tales Vol. 3 Issue 5 Sept 1971

Here's a cool chiller for your Friday reading, Horror Tales for September 1971. Notice the Barnabas Collins look-alike on the front cover. My favorite story is Cadaver's Revenge. Short, sweet, and crunchy. What's yours?

The Monster Times Catalog No. 2

The Monster Times was probably more adept at selling books, posters, and comic-related merchandise to horror, science fiction, and fantasy fans than any other related magazine. Here's The Monster Catalog Number 2 for a nostalgic treat.

The Monster Times Issue 14 July 1972

Issue 14 of The Monster Times is the last one to be published bi-weekly (although it actually hit the newsstands a week later than scheduled). Starting with issue 15, TMT would hit the newsstands monthly, then eventually go bi-monthly, then eventually go whenever, until its final 48th issue. In this issue, Godzilla becomes "the Rona Barrett of Monsterdom," The Wolf Man receives the "complete filmbook" treatment, and Peter Cushing talks about Tales From the Crypt. The Phantom gets beat up as "a mercenary running-dog lackey with license to kill" by one Ms. M. J. Blowemup Weatherperson, and The Dead Are Alive and Frogs get roasted.