#fred is Frankensteins monster

[wackyscreamswithraisin]

BLLAAAAGH!! Did I scare you??👹

(// unreality and ooc)⚠️👇

-.-- . .- .... .-.-.- / .-. .. --. .... - .-.-.-

[atomic-chronoscaph]

The Monster Squad (1987)

[brokehorrorfan]

Dismay Design has released a Monster Squad poster. 18x24 matte prints, signed and numbered out of 75, are available for $29.

[scoobydoobaday]

Scooby Doo, Where Are You! S02E08 - Don't Fool with a Phantom (1970) Hanna Barbera Productions

[fitsofgloom]

Following the big '60s Monster Boom, there was a neat little literary micro-trend back in the '70s and '80s that had Famous Monsters either cast in alternative sympathetic lights or posited them as living figures setting the records straight by dictating their own autobiographies à la "Interview With The Vampire."

[scooby-review]

Scooby Doo Where are You? S1 E9-E12

9. The Backstage Rage

The Backstage Rage is an episode I don’t see talked about all too much! There’s not really any representation through merchandise, he doesn’t have any reappearances like many of the villains in Where are You? merely receiving a comic adaptation, which as far as I can tell, every episode did. Yet, this is one of my favourites for sure. 

This episode follows the gang heading to an abandoned theatre after a case of counterfeit money is stolen from them by a puppet. It’s a simple concept, yet they push the villain and theming perfectly, the episode focusing more on its atmosphere and scares rather than jokes, it’s something we rarely see, yet when we do it works so much better. Similarly to how Zombie Island managed to terrify so many people, because when you know one thing for so long and suddenly it’s all wrong, the tone darker and more serious, you suddenly feel a whole lot less safe. Of course, this episode doesn’t fully commit to a darker tone, but it does feel creepier in many places! 

I think this episode's strongest quality is the Puppet Master, through the strong themes he draws in, his great design and general creepiness spread throughout the episode. To start with his design, he feels somewhat evocative of the titular Phantom of the Opera, specifically through the masks of the 1943 movie and the cloak, it’s not all too overt, yet the characters definitely feel connected. Curiously, this is one of three links to the Universal Monster movies within the four batches of episodes here, a strange coincidence! It’s also the least obvious of them. Beyond this however, I just find the colours to be so strong, he feels so ominous with his darkened cloak, the only streak of colour within his cape, a flowing river of crimson. 

The villain’s plot here is counterfeiting money, which ties perfectly into the theme of the puppets, these wooden inventions created for the sole purpose of tricking those who see them into believing them to be human, but they’re not. They’re fakes, cheap imitations that keep people long enough to realise they’ve been tricked, by which time it’s too late. We see this in the opening as Scooby is tricked by a girl dog (you can tell because she’s a white poodle with a pink bow), focusing on her while his money is stolen. This all links perfectly with the counterfeit money, it looks real and by the time you realise it’s not, it’s too late. Thematically, this episode is likely the strongest. 

Also the puppets just rule. Specifically a scene where the gang talk to a doorman, Pietro, returning later after a chase where they talk to him, his head slipping down his body. He was a puppet. It’s such an eerie scene, and sure, he’s the villain in reality, the first time we meet him it’s actually him, I think, but it’s such a great way of switching the way the audience is thinking, it’s unsettling and perfect. 

There’s so many new puppets, we see a show later on, watching as they’re animated seemingly without any control. The trope of haunted dolls can be seen throughout time, in media ranging from Goosebumps to The Conjuring. They aren’t haunted come the end, but the presence of the Puppet Master gives this idea of him controlling them without being there, the ruler of the puppets. It’s great and I love it so much. 

All this ties in perfectly with the setting of the abandoned theatre, the backgrounds filled with costumes and generating a generally creepy tone. Within the theatre there’s a door hidden within a harp case! It’s such a cool and weird little idea I love it! The theatre comes to life with its patented Scooby-Doo secret passageways! One of which comes to life through the use of musical notes, which is reminiscent of the film The Ghost Breakers, which Ruby-Spears cited as a huge inspiration during the creation of the show.

I also made a few notes on the animation in this episode! One moment depicts Scooby shaking his head, but his face is animated so fluidly, it’s slow and janky sure, but parts of his face move that previously have always been static, giving a really long and jarring sequence that I really don’t love! However, Pietro and his puppet Johnny are animated so well here, for sure it looked the best the show ever has to me, so that’s worth pointing out! All the puppetry here is animated so well! Just a really great one! Not sure why it isn’t more popular! Looking on IMDB it’s like the middle of the rankings, but I’m not sure how representative it is of peoples thoughts overall, most websites ranking things tend to be kind of a bubble, it depends on the users there. But regardless, I love this, one of my favourites ever! 

10. Bedlam in the Big Top

This episode sees the gang stumbling across a circus, learning that it’s haunted by a ghost clown. It’s such an iconic episode based on this alone, the character and the setting are instantly recognisable! I think with this being the show's first iteration, other than the repeated haunted houses or castles, we don’t see much repetition in where the gang go, or what kind of villain they face, other than most of them being ghosts. Because of that it makes Where are You?’s villains the most memorable, but of course, time is also a factor. Plus, I think the villains stand out so much because they do a lot of the heavy lifting in these more formulaic episodes. Whereas looking at something like Mystery Incorporated, most probably think of Mr. E rather than a specific monster. This version of the show is defined by aesthetics, which the monster’s seep into heavily. 

As a child, I was terrified of clowns, I think for most this is a result of their looks and the inability to communicate, although I personally was afraid after going to the circus and having a fear of participating. However in pop-culture, a fear of clowns can be derived usually from the evil clown trope. Now people likely think of Pennywise as the definitive scary clown, he’s the mascot for it now. Simply however, the trope comes from a subversion, clowns throughout history are intended to be funny, their origins dating back to classical Greek plays. Although the creepy clown trope can be dated back at least to Edgar Allan Poe’s “Hop-Frog”, the creepy clown trope of the late 60s likely comes from The Joker, who, outside of the horror genre, is the most popular creepy clown. Yet, the trope was young at the time of this episode’s release, often cited as a pretty early example of the trope; every few decades there’s a resurgence in what ignites the trope, such as serial killers, books and movies and the 2016 internet fuelled craze. The entire concept is loaded and there’s a plethora of reasons why we find clowns scary, but a lot of the modern scary clown comes from depictions we see, such as the ghost clown within this episode. 

I think the ghost clown carries a lot of this pretty solid episode, it’s a long spiel of his antics, they’re pretty fun playing on the circus setting, and while scary for sure, the episode is very gag driven rather than clue driven. Usually these are the two directions a Where are You? episode will go in, following clues that lead to the capturing of the villain, or the villain taunts them in a series of gags. Both work, and this one definitely takes the right option for its subject. 

Most of the horror of this one comes from the clown’s hypnotism abilities, where he will hypnotise a member of the gang to do something like Daphne on the unicycle or Scooby on the tightrope. Ultimately, these play out the same, it gives a sort of repetition to the episode that harms it, but it’s still an enjoyable time using its setting to great effect. 

Plus the clown has such a striking design, the bright flashy red costume and bulbous nose contrasting with the white makeup, it’s perfect! His design is just off putting, but again, I think that maybe comes from growing up in a society afraid of clowns, likely more so than the 1969 audience! 

Despite mentioning a redundancy, I will say I love the rubber ladder and balloon popping sequences. The first is merely a silly gag, it works well in the context of the episode placing a new roadblock in the gang's way, but the balloon popping is tense, it shows how the clown is ready to place the gang in actual harm's way. This all links into the villain being the most evil we have seen so far, his motive being that he was fired from the circus and sent to prison, therefore he wanted revenge, this revenge either being closing the circus down for good, murder, or both! Who knows, but the episode is unique in how willing they are to place the gang in danger, although the only one that really works for me is the Scooby one. The previous episode did this better I feel, putting the gang in more physical danger, yet not over doing it. 

I also love Shaggy’s characterisation here! Again, we see a sporty side to him, I think he’s maybe the best written character of the gang, with Daphne and Fred being the weakest despite having some merit. But having him do track at school not only makes the world feel more alive, but the character feels deeper!

Pretty fun one! Love the gorgeous backgrounds here and the villain a whole bunch, plus the gags are mostly good too! I completely get why the clown is so merchandised and popular. 

11. A Gaggle of Galloping Ghosts

What a fun little title! 

A Gaggle of Galloping Ghosts follows the gang entering Franken Castle, despite warnings from a nearby fortune teller of an unfavourable fate if they do. 

I’m not going to discuss the fortune teller in a similar depth to most the other characters here, mostly because the character is pretty infamously a racist caricature of a Romani fortune teller, who ultimately is a white man in a costume, which around this time was likely how many people saw these types of people, their culture reduced to a single image slathered across pop-culture and halloween costumes. Consistently the character is described with a slur. The entire character here sucks, and it’s a trope within this season, at least, that if a non-white character appears, they’re the villain, which we can see in the following episode, and I believe is only broken in the finale. Still, this character is marketed and popular, despite more awareness about this depiction being harmful, this character lives on. 

Other than this aspect, I enjoy how the episode is a fun tribute to classic monster movies, it feels like House of Dracula or House of Frankenstein, in the way it includes three classical characters, all running around a castle. It’s so much fun seeing the three of them running around here! I’ll move through them all before getting any deeper into the episode. 

Firstly, we have Dracula, who is by far my favourite of the three. Created by Bram Stoker, the character’s design echoes the Universal Monster’s design for him, with a black cloak and red lining and a more human appearance rather than being ghoulish. Being the only one of the three who talks, Dracula stands out amongst the rest, and sure, all of them are distinctive, I think he carries the episode where the others are unable to, he offers something completely different, being mostly human. Cognitively, he can think better than the other two creatures, therefore, delivering some humanity. Also I love his ability to turn into a bat, so fun, and I’m also a big fan of the white, chalky skin he has. 

Next we meet Frankenstein’s Monster, this look again is directly inspired by the Universal Monster’s character. Of the three here, I’ve only seen these first two, but I prefer Frankenstein! As for the books, I don’t think I have a preference, I think I preferred reading Dracula, but overall enjoy Frankenstein more. Regardless, this design is a hulking character, stalking the characters endlessly through the castle. It gives this impossible feeling to him, as if you’ll never be able to shake him off. 

Finally, there’s, who I deem to be, the weakest of the three, the Wolfman. Only meeting the gang once, the character is also inspired by the Universal Monster, a completely original character there, which is why he’s so different in contrast to the other two. I don’t love this design, he looks so ghoulish, his werewolf side feels lost. I enjoy the stockier design, but the lack of fur makes it difficult to know what he is just by looking, although I guess this closer links him as a human and wolf, a literal wolfman, sure, but the movie it’s taking inspiration from also does this, I just find the purpley skin to be a mit much in this design. Also, he does the least, I find his antics the least interesting. 

Although we never see the three together in the same scene, all of them played by the same villain, I do enjoy this set up, the castle feels truly haunted and inescapable! 

Speaking of the castle, the Frankenstein name added to it is certainly earnt, containing a lab among other gothic elements that places it closest to that character rather than the other two. It’s a great place to be in, and I don’t find myself tired of the castles because of how they vary them when we’re here! Plus, these characters were made for gothic castles! 

I enjoy some of the character stuff here too, even if most of it is very silly. The Velma and Fred pairing is a nice change of pace, I enjoy their dynamic! Although, this does only come as a result of Daphne’s capture. Ultimately, this series is thin on its depiction of Fred and Daphne, they’re mostly one note and will get to shine way more in later versions of the series! I still like them enough, but I can’t help but feel like this comes from their designs and how they act in the future. I think Daphne is the weakest, she’s simply prone to danger, presented as a klutz and usually not all that intelligent, it can be done well, there are places in the franchise where it is, but not here! Fred similarly lacks much character, but small details and focus on him give him the upper hand, such as in Foul Play in Funland where I felt he stood out, and his place as the leader of the group which gives him more to do. Velma, Shaggy and Scooby are far stronger characters, even if they are pretty surface level in how they’re written. 

Another moment I really enjoy is when, for some reason, Shaggy and Scooby decide they want to prank the ghost. For some reason? It’s not too clear why they would jump from being terrified of the monster to pouring water on him, but hey, it’s really funny, mostly because of how abruptly they decide this, finding a body under a sheet, assuming it’s the monster, and then finding a hose. Of course, this backfires, the two of them getting wet, and the body not being the monster’s, it’s great stuff!

And after all this, we learn that the monster is none other than Big Bob Oakley. No way. 

I always find it funny when they kind of ditch the mystery angle - like there’s no suspects here except the fortune teller I guess, but then we see she’s not real. I don’t mind it at all though, the reveal is a lot less impactful in this series purposefully. 

Overall, this one’s fun! Filled with classic horror settings and characters that made me smile. 

12. Scooby-Doo and a Mummy Too

When I saw the list of four episodes I had lined up to watch, I was dreading this one. Truthfully, I hate sandy locations, and Mummy’s are also pretty boring to me! So after the three before that looked so fun, I wasn’t too thrilled to end on this! 

But, I liked it way more than I expected to. 

First of all, the episode isn’t set in a desert, instead in the department of archeology, where after seeing an ancient mummy, Shaggy accidentally pockets a coin, the mummy following them afterwards. 

Honestly, I was on the side of the mummy for most of this. As soon as they see the mummy come to life, they just refuse to give him his coin back, but like, he just wants his coin. To begin with, there’s no crime here, he’s just a mummy returning to life who would like his coin back. If I was robbed, I’d also want my stuff returned. 

The Mummy here is based on the mummy from the Universal Monster movie, The Mummy. I haven’t seen it yet, but I do like how they reference the character, his name being the Mummy of Ankha, a play on the princess name in the movie who the mummy was supposed to protect. Although, as stated in the episode, Ankha was a real person, believed to be the richest ruler in Egypt around 1030 BCE. Also, this name in hieroglyphics roughly translates to life, which makes sense for the character, given he has “returned from the dead”. 

Also I just really liked the mummy here, I don’t know why! He’s just a silly man who would like his money back, which I think is fair enough! In fact, reading back through my notes I made while watching the episode, I was taking the mummy’s side a lot, like sure, he turns people to stone, but so what! I like him. My favourite mummy for sure. 

On the topic of turning people to stone, I think it’s done better here than in What the Hex Going on?, maybe? I’m not too sure, both feel like they use it as a way to escalate things without ever using the concept to its full potential - here Scooby is stolen, then they find a stone statue of him, cry, until they see Scooby is alive a moment after. Although I do love the gag of Scooby crying over being turned to stone, it’s the perfect amount of silly. 

The rest of the episode plays out like your typical Where are You? story, but that isn’t to discredit it. It’s lots of fun, I enjoyed myself far more than I expected to! But sometimes it can make an episode less interesting to talk about. Most of the series is of a consistently good quality, but some episodes are great, such as The Backstage Rage, while some are just very whatever, such as Decoy for a Dognapper. This one sits around the middle, but still manages to be fun to watch!

Episode Ranking:

The Backstage Rage

A Gaggle of Galloping Ghosts

Scooby-Doo and a Mummy Too

Bedlam in the Big Top

Villain Ranking: 

Puppet Master

Mummy of Ankha

Clown Ghost

Dracula

Frankenstein’s Monster

Wolfman 

Previous Review: SDWaY S1 E5-8

Next Review: SDWaY S1 E13-17

[luckylunatix]

So I had this idea a while back for a sort of Scooby Doo parody/homage thing where our group of intrepid freelance mystery-solvers were a bunch of gothy witches who often took down the spooky bad guys by scaring them back, and while I still liked that idea, I felt like it could've used more work. An idea recently came for me to change up the usual dynamic of the gang; instead of being some humans and their non-human pet/mascot, they would instead all be anthro animals. So I cut their pet mascot and furry-fied the humans.

The first of the gang is Karl Frankenkong (she/they/he), a monkey who's been rendered a patchwork zombie after multiple disastrous experiments. They're an occult expert and amateur mad scientist.

Then there's Bella Vampirez-Komori (she/her), a literal vampire bat with a love of fashion and music. She's the best at trickery, espionage, and pragmatism.

Finally there's Lazlo Katz (he/him), a ghostly cat who loves old horror and noir movies and is eccentric even by this clique's standards. Despite arguably being the creepiest, he is also the most easily frightened.

Together they are the Mystery Monster Menagerie.

Their adventures would be like Scooby Doo, but with more horror infused (especially taking cues from old gothic horror, cheesy b-movies and classic slashers) and even a bit of noir-style detective flavor.

[hotvintagepoll]

This is a three-way poll. Only one of these men will continue to the third round of the bracket.

Propaganda

Fred Astaire (Top Hat, Shall We Dance, Easter Parade)—Not just a dancer (but oh, what a dancer), we should also show nothing but respect to a man whose characters had the good sense to repeatedly fall in love with Ginger Rogers over the course of ten movies together!! He was such a style icon that even Cary Grant wanted to know where he got his clothes. Astaire was one of those men whose intense charisma and talent is best understood when seeing him in motion!! A genuinely lovely person who worked very hard and did his utmost to promote the standards of how dancing should look and be filmed on screen. Debbie Reynolds also had some lovely stories about him in her autobiography [clips and Debbie's anecdotes below]

Johnny Weismuller (The Tarzan movies)—no propaganda submitted

Boris Karloff (Frankenstein)—I feel like everyone should know Boris Karloff had Indian ancestry and grew up in the UK, so he deeply understood the outsider feelings he portrayed so beautifully onscreen...and that's never minding his gorgeous soulful eyes, his expressive hands. (plus he voices the grinch. how can you not love the grinch?)

This is round 2 of the bracket. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage man.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Boris Karloff propaganda:

"when he was out of the monster makeup he was touching, elegant, dignified"

Fred Astaire propaganda:

No additional propaganda was submitted for Johnny Weismuller.

[violetrainbow412-blog]

Day 31: halloween costumes

Masterlist flufftober 🎀

First I want to thank all the people who followed this during the month, I honestly never thought I would be able to join this kind of events, and I am very happy with the reception that each work received, you are incredible and made my days the best! I Hope this last one is to your liking, I send you a hug wherever you are

Deciding on an individual costume is already difficult, so you weren't surprised when you realized that a couple costume involved a bigger concern.

Halloween had finally arrived and you had practically begged Spencer to find a couple's costume for the party the FBI was hosting, something not really official, but with most of the agents, at the bar your friend David Rossi had chosen.

“Any suggestions for our outfit?” you had asked the man, once you convinced him to match his costume with yours.

Spencer thought about it for a while and although many of the options he gave you sounded excellent, there was the detail of the short time you had to get things or the disadvantage that few people would be able to recognize the theme of your costume.

“It has to be something practical and known,” you had murmured, when both of you were sitting on the couch at dinner time and a children's channel filled the void in the room.

Until, watching TV, you finally figured it out: you had the perfect option right in front of your eyes and you never saw it.

So it was that on the night of the 31st, quite happy and satisfied with the choice you made, you drove to the place and let him behave like a gentleman by opening the car door for you.

“Are you sure I look good?”

“You've never looked more handsome” you smiled at him, trying to calm his anxiety, while both of you walked hand in hand towards the entrance.

You didn't have to wait long to see your friends and, as you expected, they were comically surprised at you.

“No way…” Morgan had laughed, looking at you up and down. “Pretty boy in bell-bottoms? Now that's something I didn't think I'd see."

Shaggy and Velma from Scooby Doo. That was you two.

It was true that Spencer was wearing brown bell-bottom pants that you had gotten at a thrift store. You also searched your closet and luckily found a v-neck shirt in the perfect color. Unfortunately, your boyfriend had recently cut his hair and you wished you had thought about the costume more in advance so he could show off his long locks just like the animated character.

You had bought a few things from your all-orange outfit, but the bonus with you was that you could wear them later. When Spencer saw you, he was stunned and didn't waste the opportunity to compliment you extensively.

“What can we tell you? They solve mysteries and catch monsters, it's almost like our job”

"How nice!" murmured JJ, who had just arrived accompanied by her husband Will. Both of them were dressed as vampires “I loved Scooby Doo when I was a kid. My favorite was always Daphne.”

“I don't know why that doesn't surprise me,” joked Emily, who was dressed as the bride of Frankenstein's monster and drank from a glass with an unknown concoction.

“You should have told us and we could have done a group costume,” she smiled, while she looked at Will, hinting that they could have been the other couple on the show.

"Clear. You Daphne, him Fred and Morgan would have been the dog”

A collective laugh filled the place where even Derek, the affected one, smiled while he pointed a finger at you.

“Guess who was my favorite,” you murmured, a little more to your boyfriend than the others.

“Huh, Velma?”

“It was Shaggy!” you replied amused, while you took his arm to plant a kiss on his cheek.

“Reid looks a little like Velma if you think about it. You know, with all those facts and statistics and they're the damn nerd of the group”

Spencer blushed slightly at the comparison and didn't think of anything clever to answer because, sadly, Morgan was right this time.

You complimented the others' costumes and everyone agreed that you were looking forward to seeing Penelope Garcia and her extravagant clothes, since she hadn’t yet honored you with her presence. After that the group started talking about something else and soon the two of you were no longer the center of attention, allowing you to take the man's hand and sneak over to the drinks bar to look for something to cool your throat with. 

“Does this have alcohol?” your boyfriend asked the bartender over the noise of the music, making you laugh lightly. When he checked that the drink was safe, he took one and made sure to order your favorite cocktail afterwards.

“If you think about it a little, we are both more like each other's characters,” you murmured thoughtfully, because what your friend had said seemed to have echoed in your head. “Shaggy was always clumsy and an enthusiastic eater. Like me"

“You're not clumsy.”

"I am. But not in a bad way, not like being an idiot or something, but like something…”

“Cute and adorable?” he completed.

"Exactly. You always know what I'm thinking."

“Despite I agree, I think the costume wouldn't have worked at all that way,” your boyfriend smiled, approaching you to grab your waist. Because of the heels your height was more balanced and he only needed to extend his hands a little to reach your body.

"Why?"

“Don't get me wrong, but I don't think that skirt would have looked good on me at all” you let out a loud laugh at this, realizing what he was referring to “Although you, on the other hand…” while he spoke one of his hands slid down until he slapped your butt, startling you slightly “you look gorgeous in it”

“You have all night to figure out how to take it off,” you said flirtatiously. Now it was Reid who held his breath “I'm wearing something underneath that I make sure matches the rest of the outfit and that I think you'll love”

The wink you gave him was enough to make him nervous and, evidently, excited by the images that his skillful mind was already beginning to generate.

Once you got your cocktail you returned to the hustle and bustle but your velvety voice couldn't leave Spencer's mind, who couldn't wait for the night to end because he was sure that the best candy he would receive this Halloween would be you.

taglist: @navs-bhat @reidwritings @tricia-shifting14 @spencerslove @vivian-555 @r-3dlips @rhiannonhippiegirl @taygrls @simp4f1 @sdddoobydoobydoo @taintedstranger @missabsey

[thenightling]

Someone finally asked me the golden question. How would I have handled Universal's Dark Universe.

Disclaimer: If someone sees this and likes my ideas, you may use them for free. No consultation or acknowledgement required. Just do justice to my boo boys.

Well, I would stop so blatantly trying to make it the MCU. It's not the MCU. And don't be afraid of a little camp. These are the classic monsters after all.

Time period. Start in the past and then WORK your way to the present. Don't force all of it to be set in the present from the get go. Let the audience feel and understand these are immortal beings. You can even make it a surreal, timeless, fairy tale-like setting that just resembles the nineteenth century. Most people use generic medieval for fantasy settings but Gaslamp fantasy is a thing.

2. Start with the most well-known of the monsters. Do Dracula. It can be a book faithful adaptation, or something along the lines of Bela Lugosi or Frank Langella. I think general audiences like Dracula to be fierce and predatory but also somewhat romantic, that's why the Mina / Dracula romance has endured even though it deviates heavily from the novel. So let Dracula be romantic but do something unexpected and fresh with it.

Honestly I'd love an adaptation of Fred Saberhagen's The Dracula Tape (Dracula retold from Dracula's point of view). But I know they'd want to stick with the public domain version.

Let Dracula have his literary powers to take wolf, bat, and mist form, and conjure storms. Let him be able to walk by day but not able to shapeshift by day. Bela Lugosi's version didn't actually burn in the sun until the sequels anyway and that was only from mimicking Nosferatu (1922).

Either leave out the reincarnated wife concept all together or let the reincarnation be someone other than Mina. Dr. Van Helsing (a male or female version) or even Jonathan Harker could make for an interesting twist. Lots of depictions of Dracula are bisexual now and this would be something fresh for the universal version.

3. When doing Frankenstein stop trying to recreate the Karloff version "for modern audiences." Let's try the literary version for a change. Long black hair, no neck-bolts or green skin, let him be articulate. And don't go for "steampunk action figure. " (I'm looking at you, Van Helsing.)

Let each classic monster have their own setting and time period. Dracula gets 1891 since that's when his novel takes place, unless you do a fifteenth century origin or fifteenth century flashbacks in the nineteenth century. Frankenstein is late eighteenth century or very early nineteenth century.

You can get more free with the concept if you do a Frankenstein sequel. Think 1985's The Bride but the male creature is intelligent and articulate too.

4. With Wolfman go old school. Practical effects in the style of Rick Baker. Get Guerrero del Toro involved with these somehow. That man knows how to handle classic monsters. Remember the rules, and acknowledge that he's mostly immortal and can regenerate. Everyone forgets this.

5. Have Danny Elfman do the music. I know he's already doing the Dark Universe park music but let him do ALL the music. Trust the man. Have you heard his score to Sleepy Hollow? Just let him do his thing.

6. Don't treat each film like a commercial for the next or hinted team up. Just let the films be able to stand on their own at first. That's how the Uniersal Monster movies started originally. You can let one or two characters turn up in multiple films but don't be ham fisted about it like with some of what was in 2017's The Mummy.

7. When you finally do allow the team up go watch the Asylum's Monster Mash (2024) first.

I'm serious. Hell, buy the movie from The Asylum to do a high budget remake but add about twenty minutes to it so The Creature from the Black Lagoon can be added too. It's cheesy but its fun. Let them be dysfunctional would-be heroes. Let have What we do in the Shadows-like moments without being too cynical and insulting and mocking the very idea.

By this point you already made the monsters scary but with some potential for redemption, compassion, and tenderness. Let them organically evolve from brooding villains and anti-heroes to surprisingly competent heroes but let it happen organically.

You can even get organic diversity. The mummy is from Egypt (North Africa), the witch is Roma (and possibly a previous lover of Dracula's daughter), The Creature from the Black Lagoon is from South America, etc. Again, get Guillermo del Toro involved. The Shape of Water was pretty much Creature from the Black Lagoon with a happy ending for The Creature anyway. An Abe Sapien-esque version of The Creature from the Black Lagoon would be great.

I forgot to say who the main antagonist would be in my version of The Dark Universe. Possibly a mad scientist like Doctor Moreau, Doctor Pretorius, or a faction of vampires who want to dethrone Dracula from his self-appointed title as king of the vampires. There's nothing in Stoker's novel or the Universal movies that claim he's the first vampire but he's commonly depicted as king of the vampires simply because no one had thought to unite and lead all of them until him.

[peterlorrefanpage]

So we need to find Peter Lorre playing baseball

Because during the filming of "You'll Find Out" (1940), this happened:

The annual charity [baseball] game benefiting Mt. Sinai Hospital and free medical clinic matched the Comedians (including Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Andy Devine, Buster Keaton, the Ritz Brothers, Edgar Kennedy, and Leo Carrillo) against the Leading Men (including Gary Cooper, Tyrone Power, Errol Flynn, Fred Astaire, Randolph Scott, John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Peter Lorre, and others) before a capacity crowd of 37,700 at Wrigley Field on August 8. Paulette Goddard captained the comics and Marlene Dietrich the principals. Milton Berle announced and Kay Kyser, James Gleason, Chico Marx, and Thurston Hall umpired. Lorre apparently lost himself in the 'charity fracas,' which advertised the Jack Benny–Fred Allen rivalry - Allen: “Did you warm up?” Benny: “Yes.” Allen: “I thought I smelled ham burning" - turned 'first-class riot', which was broken up by the Keystone Cops." - The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre

Maybe Lorre "lost himself" by managing not to be captured by photograph or film, or managed to stay off the field entirely!

But I am intrigued regardless. He'd look so damn cute in a baseball uniform.

I'm hoping he's at least in the background of pictures from the event - and that those pictures are online.

In the meantime, we do have another person to enjoy:

Boris Karloff's appearance as the Frankenstein Monster was a complete surprise for the crowd; he hadn't been listed on the program!

Buster Keaton was the catcher. As Boris thudded toward home:

"Keaton pretended to faint, keeling over backward, falling to the ground, and allowing Karloff to score the run in dramatic fashion."

Source of above two pictures and great writeup

So: Look for August 8, 1940 pictures, Mt. Sinai Hospital, Wrigley Field, charity baseball game, Leading Men vs Comedians. (It's easier to find pictures from surrounding years, drat.)

Lorre should have been signed up for BOTH teams, to match his talents! That would have been hilarious.

Otherwise, well, we've got him at least holding a baseball bat in this iconic Peter Lorre-Sydney Greenstreet picture. My idle fantasy now is that he absconded with that bat from the charity game and brought it along to the photoshoot. :D

[brokehorrorfan]

Fright-Rags has released five new souvenir cups: Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Munsters. Designed by Nathan Thomas Milliner, each 32-ounce plastic cup costs $7.

[ireallyliketalldarksultrymen]

🫶 lautski… i hgave brainrot

them!! watching npmd and abstinence camp made me a sucker for the nerd x popular girl cliche. they’re dynamic is written so nicely and oughh they’re really made for each other

they DEFINITELY wear couples costumes during halloween; probably frankensteins monster and his bride or fred and daphne

[inheartofwinter]

A super late Halloween piece written for @drarrymicrofic 's prompt "trick or treat". G | 697 words.

Trick or Treat

"Happy Halloween! Trick or treat?"

Harry stared at the vampire standing amid ten kids in front of his door.

He must have been hallucinating this. There could be no other answer.

Harry rubbed his eyes. The person was still standing there, bonus a scowl.

"What the heck are you doing here, Malfoy? And wearing that!"

The vampire—Malfoy—folded his arms in front of his chest. "Participating in a Muggle tradition, of course. You know my terms of probation."

Harry knew Malfoy's terms of probation. How could he not when he was the Auror assigned to make sure that Malfoy followed it? One of them was learning about Muggles. Under torture, Harry would admit that it was quite fun to watch Malfoy interacting with Muggle things. Malfoy took to drama series, rocks and rolls, takeaways and jeans like a fish took to water, but he shrieked whenever he had to get in a Muggle transportation, too scarred by all the stories about car crashing and plane falling Harry had gleefully told him in details.

However, trying as hard as he could, he could not remember anything about wearing costumes and going around to ask for candies with a bunch of Muggle kids.

"Malfoy—"

"Where're the candies?" asked a kid in an annoyed voice, not caring a bit about whatever the adults had to say.

Following their leader, the other kids started voicing their displeasure at Harry's lack of candies.

"Give us our candies!"

"Candies!! Candies!! Candies!!"

"I want chocolate!" chimed in Malfoy, smirking at Harry.

"I want chocolate, too!" A boy in a giant pumpkin costume yelled. Malfoy high-fived him.

"Don't you have any sweet?" A girl wearing a Frankenstein's monster costume waved her bat threateningly—or would be threateningly if the bat hadn't been bright pink with a huge bow on top of it.

Harry sighed and discreetly Summoned the bowl of sweets he had prepared beforehand.

"Here you go," he said, presenting the kids with the bowl of sweets. The Frankenstein's monster girl looked disappointed. For a moment, Harry had a flashback of Fred and George. He shuddered.

The sweets disappeared in approximately ten seconds. It seemed the spicy tamarind candy had appealed to the Frankenstein's monster girl; she had put her bat down to open the wrap and throw the candy into her mouth. The pumpkin boy jumped in delight with the cheap chocolate bar Harry bought from the supermarket that morning. Harry noted to himself to buy a more expensive brand of chocolate next time.

Before Harry could be relieved that the world's peace was restored, a voice resounded.

"Where is my share?" asked Malfoy in a heartbroken voice, no sweets in hand.

Harry looked down at the bowl of sweets. There was none left.

"Eh... I'm sorry," said Harry, feeling weirdly disappointed at himself. He hadn't intended to give Malfoy any sweet, but still.

Malfoy dropped his head. The kids immediately surrounded Malfoy and cooed at him. A girl in a ghost costume hugged Malfoy to comfort him. The pumpkin boy offered to give Malfoy haft of his chocolate bar. The Frankenstein's monster girl glared at Harry, bat in hands again.

It was when an idea sprouted in Harry's head. "Come back tomorrow! I'll give you your chocolate tomorrow!"

Malfoy looked up, eyes widen with hope. "Really?"

Harry nodded eagerly. "Yes! I will even give you a whole box of chocolate!"

Malfoy smiled brightly.

The Frankenstein's monster girl gave Harry a thumb-up. Harry thumbed up back.

The kids and Malfoy waved him goodbye and moved to terrorise the next house. Harry waved after them.

Now he needed to think about which brand he should buy Malfoy tomorrow.

(*)

"Trick or treat?" A cheerful voice yelled when Harry opened the door. As promised, Malfoy and the kids had come back, minus the costumes.

Harry looked at them, glanced at the clock and groaned. By "tomorrow", he didn't mean 7 o'clock in the morning. He also didn't remember promising the throng of kids more sweets.

"Where are the sweets?" asked Malfoy with a hopeful smile.

Harry watched the dimples on Malfoy's cheeks, and decided that being wakened up at arse hour wasn't so bad.

[mediamixs]

The Munsters tv series gets a new version: 1313

The new Universal horror TV series "1313" is a dark reboot of the classic sitcom "The Munsters," set to bring a chilling twist to the beloved 1960s television show. This reimagining, titled "1313," is a part of the Universal Monsterverse and aims to offer an eerie reinterpretation of the original series. The show is currently in development under the creative team led by horror filmmaker James Wan, known for his work on The Conjuring Universe and other successful horror franchises. Lindsey Anderson Beer is set to helm the drama, with Wan, Beer, and Ingrid Bisu serving as executive producers.

The original "The Munsters" series, which aired between 1964 and 1966, featured a comical take on a family of gentle monsters navigating suburban life. "1313" marks the third attempt to revive The Munsters on television, following previous unsuccessful reboots. The show's title is a nod to the family's iconic address, 1313 Mockingbird Lane. While details about the series' production progress and potential airing network or streaming service remain undisclosed, the involvement of renowned talents like James Wan and the promising concept of a darker take on the classic sitcom generate anticipation for this new horror series.

The Munsters was an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1964 to 1966, depicting the home life of a family of friendly monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster, a Frankenstein's monster-like creature, Yvonne De Carlo as his vampire wife Lily, Al Lewis as Grandpa the vampire, Beverley Owen (later replaced by Pat Priest) as their niece Marilyn, and Butch Patrick as their werewolf-like son Eddie.

The show satirized standard American sitcom fare of the 1960s, with the Munsters never quite understanding why people reacted to them so strangely, as their everyday routine was the same as everyone else's, despite their monstrous appearances and supernatural abilities. The Munsters' house looked like a Halloween party should be held there, but was normal to them.

The series ran for two seasons and 70 episodes. It has since endured through reruns and a franchise of spooky adventures across various TV and movie incarnations:

The Munsters (1964-1966) - the original black-and-white TV series

Munster, Go Home! (1966) - a feature film starring the original cast

The Munsters' Revenge (1981) - a TV movie with the original cast

The Munsters Today (1988-1991) - a revival series with a new cast

Mockingbird Lane (2012) - an unproduced reboot developed by Bryan Fuller

The Munsters (2022) - a feature film written and directed by Rob Zombie

Despite its short original run, The Munsters left a lasting mark on American pop culture and continues to entertain audiences with its silly, gruesome humor and lovable monster family.