Ghost Town posters

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:
The poster art for Empire Studio's 1988 "Ghost Town."
(Click in images to view full-size.)

You've heard of the gunfighter called "The Man With No Name,"
now meet "The Man With No Flesh."

Something tells me that this town's Welcome Wagon is driven by the undertaker.

Awesome skele-centric artwork on these two posters! Worthy entries into the Sweet Skulls crypt of archives.

Earl Norem Skull

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:
Earl Norem's Skull Art
(Click on image to view large-size!)

Earl Norem, the artist responsible for so many memorable monster and comic book covers, as well card art on the legendary "Mars Attacks!" cards, also lent his considerable talent to the lesser-known "Dinosaurs Attack!" set from Topps that they put out in 1998. The panels picture above are from his art for the graphic novel adaptation of the card story. To find out what's happening in the scene above, and to see more eye-popping Norem art, as well as get the whole story on the unbelievable gory "Dinosaurs Attack!" bubblegum cards, go to my other blog "Monster Memories."

Cry Of The Banshee Posters

The skeletal spotlight shines today on:
The poster art for 1971's "Cry Of The Banshee"

You gotta love this one; a skull, busoms, a riding skeleton, torture; awesome graphic art of the title; and the coolest poetry you will ever read on a tombstone.

"Death Dives Deep" 3-D comic

The enchanting, dare I say "bewitching" bad-girl art by the late Dave Stevens adorns the cover of the 1985 issue of the "Seduction of the Innocent" comic. All of the stories are reprints from the "Adventures Into Darkness" comics originally published by Standard Comics between 1952 and 1954. The black-and-white art has been given a 3-D treatment that really adds depth to the stories, pardon the pun. The three "D's" in the title "Death Dives Deep," as well as the underwater setting, make it perfect to adapt to this format.

So, dig out those red-and-blue 3-D retro glasses, and really "get into" this simple story of deep sea death. After I did the scans I enhanced the art by adding more contrast, and the 3-D effect in the enlarged image is startlingly deep! The effect of the fish swimming through the skull's eye sockets is particularly neat. Take a deep breath and dive in, cause it's comin' at ya!

Click on the images to view full size.

Okay, as you blink and let your eyes adjust after taking off the dorky-looking glasses, let me know if you want more 3-D pages posted in the near future. A headache is a small price to pay for such coolness, and after all, that's why they made Tylenol!

The image above I clipped from a local TV guide in the year that the first "Treehouse of Terror" episode ran. The annual shows have been traditional viewing for me all through the month of October ever since. At this point I'm up to episode #4. Which one did you last watch? And which is your favorite?

For more art like this, check out my post on artist Den Beauvais over at Monster Memories!

"Inn Of The Damned" poster

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:

The "Inn of the Damned" poster
(Click on image to view full size.)

"O-o-o-o-owtch! Dang, that sucker's sharp!"

As I mentioned on my other blog "Monster Memories," I'll be out of town for a few days. A short vacation, if you will. So, as I feverishly try to get several days worth of work ahead, I'm squeezing in a little post here just to present something new. The skull-faced killer on the pretty-neat artwork qualifies it for a guest appearance here on Sweet Skulls.

But I wonder... Inn of the Damned what? "Damned leaky roof?" "Damned lumpy mattress?" "Damned toilets that won't flush all the way, leaving bits of corn and paper swirling around in it?" "Inn of the Damned Ice-Machine That Doesn't Work?" The title is a bit vague.

I scanned in the video-release promotional sheet for this movie, sent to video stores back in 1984. I've never seen the movie, released in 1975, but the line "in the tradition of Hitchcock" basically clues you in that it's a rip-off of... er, "homage" to The Rotund One's classic film "Psycho." If you've seen it, tell me what you thought of it in the comments.

Have a good weekend, and I'll see ya, in a manner of speaking, next week when I get back!

Oh, yeah, lumber over and visit my equally-perfunctory (but more entertaining) blog entry for today over at "Monster Memories." It's a scan of an article in a 1975 issue of Monsters Of The Movies featuring an interview with Elsa Lanchester.

If you don't know who that is, go whip yourself for not being educated about the classic monster movies. And don't enjoy it, it's punishment.

"Creepers" poster art

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:

The "Creepers" video release poster
(Click on image to enlarge.)

"Have some bugs, they're rich in protein... mostly mine!"

This is the 1986 promo poster advertising the VHS video debut of Dario Argento's "Creepers," which was the American name of the edited version of "Phenomena." Since I worked in radio, I was able to get on a couple of video release company lists as a reviewer... so they sent me promo material! That was sweet. Between that and getting in good with the local Entertainment Editor at the local newspaper, who gave me their no-longer-needed press kits, I was getting some good stuff. One of the best items was a specially-produced kit for James Cameron's "The Abyss," which was a notebook-bound slick book of stills, behind-the-scenes pics and info, all in a special slipcase. Classy.

I liked "Creepers," being as it was my first exposure to Argento's work, and the art is neat in this version of the poster. Another version (pictured to the right) has star Jennifer Connelly's face, but this one depicts half of it eaten away... which does not happen in the movie, but was probably done to make it appeal to the American gorehounds.

Sporting an atmospheric Goblins score, a sleep-walking psychic heroine, foreboding locations and scenery, bloody decapitations, detective work that involves tailing a fly, a dip in a maggot-and-corpse-filled pool, a Poe-inspired straight-razor-swinging chimp, flesh-eating insect swarms, a murderer stalking students in a female school with a staff featuring detachable blades, it has it all.

Here's a great review by a fellow blogger at the Tomb of the Headless Werewolf that renders any attempt I might make a redundant effort.

Where The Skeletons Roam

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:

"The Devil's Tramping Ground"

Link: http://www.geocities.com/trampingground

I don't ordinarily feature sites on this blog... I link to them, maybe even mention them. However, this one I'd like to bring your attention to. And don't just click on it and view it at work or casually during the day. To get the full experience, you really need to do it at night, the later the better.

As you navigate through the eerie landscapes, and click on various interactive parts of the image, you will feel a little of the uneasiness you might experience should you be in the woods at the real Devil's Tramping Ground in North Carolina... a mysterious dead spot in the woods steeped in local folklore.

The artist behind the site, Ed Blain, operates Dark Arts Media to showcase his unique Flash creations. The art, combined with original music, really does impart a sense of foreboding... reminding me of the way I felt when watching a spooky movie as a kid, a feeling hard to come by now, as jaded as I am by unrelenting gore effects and shocking images. There is no screaming terror in these artistic expressions, only a visual recreation of some traditional ghost stories, and original material. I think it's the fact that you are made to feel that you are there, and are alone in the dark as you explore. And if you were to be doing that and see some of the sights for real, you would definitely be unsettled.

http://www.darkartsmedia.com/Banshee.html

So, tonight, when you are all alone, and the lights are all out, draw close to your computer, turn on your speakers, and take a walk in the haunted woods. Leave no trail untried, and see where you end up. Also participate in "The Banshee" story, which is quite eerie. You will feel once again that you are six, sitting around the campfire surrounded by the dark, a delicious shiver tickling your spine as you listen to a "true" ghost story.

Here is a list of Ed's pages you will enjoy!

The Tramping Ground
The Maco Lights
The Banshee
The FeeJee Mermaid
Hell's Kitchen Haunted Hallway Cam
The UFO Cam
The Windermere
The Ghost Trick
Stranger Pilgrims
The Lost Magic of Franklin Love
Ventriloquest
Preview Gargamoth the Monster
The Google Trick

Skeletal Pirates

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:

The Pirates of the Caribbean Skeleton art

(Image source)

The cool skeleton pirate artwork by Anne Stokes pictured above nicely kicks off this post on the Disney "Pirates of the Caribbean" hobby kit ads. I was going through some of my old comics the other day when I ran across this 4-page ad for the launch of the then-new hobby kits based on Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean," which wasn't even a movie at the time. I scanned them in a high resolution so you can enjoy the details.

(Click for large versions)

Although the actual "zap" action sound was more like a faint "click," we won't fault the marketers. The skeletons were pretty cool.

Before video games, the "whoosh" and "zap" were pretty exciting for kids of the day.

Although I never owned one of the Pirates kits (I was content just to have the Forgotten Prisoner), I always thought they were neat and liked the ads. They weren't ones that you quickly skipped over to finish the rest of the comic story... no, these were worthy of being read and each detail soaked in. This particular comic I remember reading when I was sick once. I had opened my small suitcase where I stored all my comics, and spread them out all around me on the bed. Then I read all day, and being sick wasn't so bad. I still wish I had the suitcase, just for the memories associated with it. I can still hear the particular "clunks" that the lock clasps made as I popped them open, and the scent of the old paper within as the top went up. I do have the comics, though, and nothing takes me back to being a kid faster than taking them out of the bookcase now and going through them again.

Here's a picture of one built that I found on an eBay page...


"Avast, ye scoundral! Leggo me leg bone a'fore I makes a suitcase outta ye."

The Famous Monsters ad so many kids were familiar with.

And below are some box art images for your enjoyment. The artwork was really the best part about the whole thing, and I think it would be neat to have these enlarged and framed on my wall... if said wall wasn't already taken up with my framed Halloween LP covers. The last two were apparently added later after the success of the first five.

For some reason, "Fate of the Mutineers" was my favorite by a small margin, and if I had bought one it would have most likely been it. The idea of one trying to help another out of the quicksand, only to yank his arm bones off, appealed to my twisted sense of humor.

Below are some images of the Pirates models and toy figures available now. Much nicer, and better. But, they don't have the memories that the original kits do!

(Image Source)

And to wrap this post up in the same manner as it was begun, here is a superlative skull and crossbones by Anne Stokes. I will be featuring her incredible artwork in a post soon!

The Skull Chair

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:
Bob the Angry Flower's Skull Chair
(click on images to enlarge)

http://angryflower.com/archive.html

Bob the Angry Flower, always honing his world-domination plans, hangs out with his long-suffering pals; the jaded and cynical Stumpy and the innocent and optimistic Freddie the Flying Fetus. Don't look for explanations... don't question. Just accept that it's Bob's world and you are a boot-trodden yard muffin in it. Check out the archives. And take a ham sandwich, you'll be there awhile.

Since he brought up the subject of skull chairs, here are a few more to consider adding to your collection. They will complement my skull-shaped commode quite nicely.

Designed more for looks than comfort, it just never caught on for a TV easy chair.
Image source and more info



The chair to use when mixing a Flaming Skull. And also when preparing a drink.
Image source

Before The Phantom got his Skull Throne, he had to make do with the Skull Chair.
Image Source Tom Spina Designs

Presenting The Sensory Deprivation Skull Chair!

"Okay, guys, the shot you gave me is starting to kick in. What happens now?"
(Image source)

Useful more as a torture device/solitary confinement than a relaxation/meditation aid, this was designed by the same wacky, way-out-there "artiste" Atelier van Lie Shout (sic) who made the Skull Sauna, posted on earlier.

In the Skull Chair, no-one can hear you scream...

Yes, it might be cool to sit in it for a few minutes, even in the dark with the door closed... but let someone LOCK it from the outside, and see just how fast you being the slide down into apprehension, then fear, then claustrophobia, then panic, then loss of bladder control, then traumatic catatonia.

Comes with convenient Urine Collection pan in the bottom of the chair.

Yeah. It's a torture device at it's evil heart, just like waterboarding is slightly more than a pleasant and relaxing facial moisture therapy.

Besides, you remember what came out of the last movie sensory deprivation experiment, "Altered States."

If you have a case of "shy bladder" don't try going here.

When finished, take your skull-print paper from this cheery holder.

In case you don't have a skull-shaped commode, you can make do with a skull-adorned toilet seat cover...

Just don't sit on it with the lid down.

And in case this excessively scares the crap out of you, use this skullish toilet brush and holder when you are done...

The Bones of Bryan Baugh

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:

Bryan Baugh's skele-terrific artwork

"Hi, folks! I'm Robert the Eco-Zombie. I encourage you to use Eco-friendly burial methods, such as skipping embalming and using bio-degradeable cardboard caskets. They preserve the Earth for future generations, and make it so much easier for us zombies to come back and EAT THEM!!"

Bryan Baugh loves zombies and skeletons, that much is obvious. I'm betting his artwork got him in trouble with more than one uptight teacher in school who didn't appreciate his doodling during class... or his choice of subject matter. But thankfully he stood his ground and now he's making a living doing what he loves: horror art. During the day he works for Walt Disney Pictures, Television Animation, and the rest of the time it's ghouls, girls and gore.

Way to go, Bryan!

Visit Bryan's site for more of his artwork:
http://www.cryptlogic.net

and his cool blog:
http://bryanbaugh.blogspot.com

Carl really got a kick out of scaring the tykes. As an ex-camp counsellor, it was in his bones.

"I'd go a loooong way for a hot cheese Krystal... with a side of fresh BRAINS!!!"

Bryan not only draws beautiful living dead, but his girls are quite attractive too, as the art below vividly illustrates...

Although secretly wishing some boys would crash their pajama party, the girls didn't quite count on them all being zombies.

Check out his "Horror at Party Beach" illustration on his site for more feminine pulchritude. I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.