The Veil Thins...

The best of Boos to you and yous.

Mummy Mania!

If you're in the Vermont area this afternoon, get on over to
The Henry Sheldon Museum for Mummy Mania! Egyptian Mummies and How They Were Made, where kids can practice the ancient Egyptian technique of mummification on a toy or doll. The embalming bash runs from 1 to 3 p.m. beginning with a talk by mummy expert S.J. Wolfe, followed by mummy making, creating a Halloween mummy mask, hieroglyphics lessons, and an episode of my cartoon Tutenstein. Wolfe also discusses the context surrounding a mummy of a small boy acquired by the museum.

The Upright Beast

The Paranormal Database is an astoundingly thorough and well-conceived site devoted to strange goings-on in the United Kingdom, and I've been spending a few hours of research there recently. With a little digging around, you'll find reference to Sherwood Forest's cryptid, the 'Upright Beast'... also known as The Sherwood Thing or the British Werewolf. (From The Evening Post, November 28th, 2002) An eight foot, hairy man-beast with red glowing eyes is said to be on the prowl... the 'Sherwood Forest Thing'. Beast watcher Chris Mullins says: "I believe it's feasible. Wildmen could still exist in our time. Notts and Derbyshire are known for their underground caves and catacombs, explored and unexplored, and the woods could conceal a lot." This same creature has been spotted throughout the weird and wonderous Nottinghamshire region where it has garnered some other local nicknames, including 'The Fiskerton Phantom'.

It's Never Too Late

... But you really ought to hurry if you want to grab a great costume, decoration, or prop for Halloween. Fright Catalog has some spectacular stuff, and a handy shipping time estimate right on the site (North Americans can get stuff in 24 hrs!). And if you're in the London area this weekend, it's not too late to haul your carcass to The 12th International Halloween Festival at Queen Mary College, Mile End Road, from 12noon-8pm. Tarot readers, a Pagan craft market,lectures, and workshops... sounds like a party to me!

All Sorts Of Souls

The bad news is that I'm too busy this year to post up any sort of Hallowe'en storm here on MONSTERAMA. The good news is that I don't need to! Branded In The 80's, John Rozum, Neato Coolville, Plastic Pumpkins, and Secret Fun Spot are all contributing daily holiday posts for what they're calling '31 Days Of Halloween', and it's more monstrous mish-mash than you fiends can probably digest in one mere month! But don't take my word for it.. go look! And you'd better get busy... we're already 18 days in.

Saturdays Are Back!

Well, it's official... my cartoon series is going to be called THE SECRET SATURDAYS after all! Thanks a million to all you wonderful monster fans for supporting me during the 'wrong name days' as that dark period of my life shall forever be called. Kudos to the Cartoon Network for making a great choice.

Clap for the Kappa

It's sort of surprising that Japan's Kappa... cute creeps that appear as half-turtle, half-hominid river spirits... aren't better known outside of their native haunt considering how hugely popular they are there. I mean, the Kappa is probably Japan's most famous monster. From the great Shigeru Mizuki's adorably weird Sanpei the Kappa to the classic brushy comic strip work of Kon Shimizu (Kappa Tengoku, Kowataro the Kappa, etc.) which became the spokesmonsters of Kizakura Sake for many decades, Kappa are a big part of Japanese pop culture. Not that these river-dwelling pranksters are a modern phenomenon, though... no, sir! Kappa are venerable Yokai, and have been a part of Japanese folklore for centuries. I was just re-watching Miike's The Great Yokai War again, and loving the depiction of Kawataro the Kappa (named for the Shimizu character? See responses...). Frankly, you can't have a Yokai movie (from the Yokai Monsters trilogy from the 1960's, to the recent monsterpiece Kibakichi) without a Kappa! This guy Kyoichi Shimazaki, AKA Ghostman, has some really wonderful effects makeup and behind the scenes images on his site, including the stunning Kappa creation pictured below. Wish I knew what it was created for, but I can't read Japanese.Follow the links and discover the Kappa, my friends. But don't get too close to the water!

Motley Ghosts

Ahhh, the month of October. Harvest season and the time of Samhain. Takes me back to Merry Old England and her grand tradition of silly spectres (ok, it's a bit of a stretch, but stay with me). Paul at The Cobwebbed Room has loads of scans from the Fleetway monster comics I loved as a kid. And remember The Ghosts Of Motley Hall? Those were the days, my fiends...