Pod Stallions Episode 9: Monster Kids

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October brings out the best in us as both Jason and myself appear to be "Autumns". More importantly, October serves as a countdown to Halloween and brings with it all sorts of memories of monsters and horror.

Throughout this episode we explore our first experiences with the genre, what publications were most helpful and what characters we enjoy the most. We chat about store bought costumes and how certain department stores smelled (not real great in my case).

Episode 9 gets on a weird tangent when we discuss TV specials, horror at a singing Kojak and wonder if Florence Henderson ever turned anything down.

"Monster Kids" is just the first of our Halloween podcasts, we'll be back in two weeks with an in-depth discussion about Monster related toys.


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Show Links:

• [*=left]The opening of the Telly Savalas TV special is the greatest, most important thing you can watch today.
  [*=left]A cool video on the Crestwood House Monster books by Ian Thorne that influenced Brian as a boy.
  [*=left]Those amazing Mad Monster Party figures that everyone should own.
  [*=left]The entire Paul Lynde Halloween Special can be viewed here, if you dare.
  [*=left]A wonderful (but sadly, short) documentary on the amazing Hilarious House of Frightenstein TV series.
  [*=left]The current issue of Famous Monsters is all about Godzilla and has an article about Shogun Warriors.
  [*=left]Brian recommends this well done documentary about Amicus Horror films.
  [*=left]The Monster Squad TV series has been reissued on DVD.
  [*=left]The book Jason mentions is called A Pictorial History of Horror Movies.
  [*=left]Jason's first Halloween Costumes was this Ben Cooper Mr Spock.

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[Earth 2 Chris]

Yeah! Friday is saved!

Chris

[Chris]

Yeah! Friday is saved!

Chris

Exactly! This is going to be nothing short of phenomenal. I love the extended format too.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Wow, that was fun. Lots of great memories shared there. I have an odd relationship with the monsters. I love Halloween, always have, but I was fascinated by the monsters from afar for a long time, since I was such a weenie as a kid. I've often told of how Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein scared the beejeezus out of me as a child. After that I steered clear from monsters, but yet I couldn't completely look away. My friend up the street had the Remco mini-monsters, and I myself bought a Scholastic book on monsters from the school book fair in 2nd or 3rd grade. Then one of my friends brought over John Carpenter's "The Thing". Needless to say the old Uni-bunch seemed quite quaint after sitting through THAT!

My wife brought home those Crestwood books several years ago. The library she worked at was discarding them. I absolutely LOVE these books. I have Dracula, the Creech, The Wolfman and Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman. My son has continuously worn these books out ever since. It's interesting to read how the author considered the Hammer movies the pinnacle of outrageous horror. Wonder what he'd think of the Saw franchise?

I know what you guys were talking about with that vinyl smell. About 13 years ago I worked for a billboard company. In an effort to move into the digital age, the boss bought a huge vinyl plotter to print the graphics on. I was chosen to do set-up on the machine, so I was stuck in a shack with this huge printer, and rolls and rolls of vinyl. It smelled just like the Ben Cooper/Ben Franklin mash-up that I still think of as Halloween!!!

Chris

[Hedji]

Tried to download this from iTunes, but it ended up being the Gerry Anderson episode. Did I do something wrong, or was there an error?

[palitoy]

Tried to download this from iTunes, but it ended up being the Gerry Anderson episode. Did I do something wrong, or was there an error?

I screwed up the RSS feed but corrected it earlier this morning. I'm kind of a babe in the woods as to how I repair the issue with itunes.

[Hedji]

I know how you feel, Brian. I used to do an educational podcast, and iTunes really didn't make it easy. Looking forward to listening to this!

[cjefferys]

Awesome, I know what I'll be doing tonight. Thanks for the heads up on the new issue of Famous Monsters too, I'll have to pick that one up (I have the original FM that had the Godzilla Vs MG cover, so this will complement it nicely)

[Falstaff13]

Once again, thanks for the trip down memory lane. Before I was even born, my father had a book called Saturday Afternoons at the Bijou, which told about old movie series from Classic Hollywood, and I loved reading through it for many reasons, including its chapters on monster films. It had all of the major series except for the Creature (admittedly a short series) and Dracula. When I was in third grade, my school library had the Crestwood Monster series, and I loved checking them out. The one volume I never managed to check out was Dracula, which seriously bummed me out because of the lack of a vampire chapter in the Bijou book. I still wish I'd read that one, but the whole series was awesome.

[Red Hulk]

Great episode I certainly remember all the things about the stores like Woolworths and Kresgies and the smell of the grill.

[PNGwynne]

Ah, I recall those Crestwood books fondly & still have the Giffords book.

[raycastile]

Like many monster kids, we pretty much had the same childhood. I'm looking forward to the monster to episode.

[MIB41]

Great podcast! Universal monsters played such a enormous part of my childhood, it's pretty clear where it started. We had a local program called "Fright Night" that showcased monster movies every Saturday night. The host appeared in the dark with a flashlight shining below his face to give him an eerie appearance. My dear friend Dave Conover who organizes and helps run Wonderfest actually created a website devoted to the memories of this show (including the actual programming schedule). Here's a link if you would like to visit. A fun time for sure.

http://search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0oG7mGwClxSnh0AW31XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzMHRqZTVzBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkA1ZJUDI5Nl8x/SIG=120lr3du4/EXP=1381792560/**http%3a//www.williamgirdler.com/kissinger.html

It goes without saying the Frankenstein monster use to scare the pee out of me. Karloff in particular. It became an endurance contest to see how long it would take before I ended up in my parents bed, if I watched the scene where the monster backs into the room and turns around for his close up debut. It was particularly bad for my imagination if I watched the Ghost of Frankenstein, because they dug him out of a wall and he visited a child's bedroom where he took her away. So what did I think when I went to bed? Is he inside my wall and will he take me away? Boom! Parents bed. I was a prisoner to my imagination. And it was unbearably vivid. I think part of what made this era of horror films so special was the way it was woven into the very fabric of our society. These monsters were everywhere. Remember the Shasta commercials with Frankenstein? A pretty good one too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbaj94AXDU4

Between Fight Night, commercials, Groovie Goolies, Aurora model kits, magazines, and all toy-related product, monsters were basically a daily staple of my childhood in one form or another. I will always have a tremendous fondness for those years. Monsters thrived like never before. I wish everyone here could have been around for those years. Magical times. Except for my parents...

[Hedji]

I'm hoping you I guys will discuss Halloween Records of the '70s in your next show. That was a huge influence on my love of Halloween.

This was great fun to listen to, and it seems like you've just scratched the surface.

[cjefferys]

I finally had a chance to finish this, great show as always guys! The opening and closing Vincent Price speeches from Frightenstein brought back a flood of memories, that was one of the few shows that I would wake up really early (usually 6AM on Saturdays when I was a kid) to catch. You guys went over so much cool stuff, it's all a jumble in my head already! I remember liking monsters for as long as I can remember, probably mostly due to my father and uncle's influence. They were/are both real horror film nuts, so I probably knew who Frankenstein and Dracula were by the time I was three. My whole life revolved around monsters and superheroes (well, until Star Wars came out anyway), so I could totally relate. Fall has always been my favourite season, and I'm sure Halloween is a big part of it. I love this time of year! Thanks for the shout out Brian, and yes I totally agree with you on Godzilla, I LOVED these films as a kid, but now it's hard to sit through one. I still love the kaiju themselves, and adore the toys (obviously, which is why I collect them) but I think that by becoming a grown up, I lost some essential part of my brain makeup that was needed to enjoy the films themselves at their fullest. Kind of sad really....

Can't wait for part two, bring on the monster toys!