UnlovelyFrankenstein

My recreation of the classic advertisement from the back pages of vintage monster magazines.

GHASTLY! WEIRD! HIDEOUS! GRUESOME! My recreation of the classic "Life Size Moon Monster" comic book ad ... re-inked, re-lettered, re-colored and painted. I absolutely adored this ad as a kid, but the offer had come and gone long before I ever saw it. (I did have Sea Monkeys, though.)

Vampira was everywhere for about 15 minutes in the 1950s. Then she challenged the might of ABC television and was crushed under corporate foot. A statuesque, blond Teutonic goddess, Vampira (born Maila Nurmi) preferred to run with the weirdos, turning horror costuming into fashion and setting the stage for goth. Nurmi would have turned 100 years old on Dec. 11, 2022. Her birthday was marked with events around Los Angeles, including a gathering at Hollywood Forever and screenings of Plan 9 from Outer Space and Ed Wood at the American Cinematheque. This is the poster I created to promote the various birthday events.

My alternate movie poster for Hammer's Curse of Frankenstein, which remains among the meanest Frankenstein movies ever made. Plus: Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee make everything better.

Shemp Howard would have made a great movie monster.

My monster kid portrait of Colin Clive as Dr. Victor Frankenstein.

Joe Flaherty's Count Floyd was the horror host for those of us without horror hosts. Stuck with miserable duds like Tip O'Neal's 3-D House of Representatives, he was as good a horror cheerleader as you could ask for. SCTV 4 LIFE.

Bob Wilkins was unique among horror hosts in that he wasn't playing a character. Except he also kind of WAS playing a character ... watching Creature Features was like taking a guided tour by one of the many scientific heroes/villains that haunted B-movies during the golden and silver age of horror.

Stede and Ed gotta rise above.

The horror host with the most.

The Cramps could have quit after their first album, 1980's "Songs the Lord Taught Us," and their legacy would have been guaranteed. Looking back, rock and roll was probably invented just so we could have "I Was a Teenage Werewolf." Rock and roll has kind of been going downhill since then.

The 1985 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle "Commando" only needs a little push to become a full-blown G.I. Joe movie. And knowing is half the battle.

A monster magazine-style portrait of Steve Martin as Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr, as seen in 1983's The Man with Two Brains.

A tour poster for the Nov. 29, 1985, stop of Spinal Tap's "Lightning Strikes Thrice" tour, in Tacoma, Washington. Spinal Tap is not a real band. "Lightning Strikes Thrice" was not a real tour. But can you prove it didn't happen? Yes, you absolutely can. But that won't stop you from impressing your friends by displaying this print.

Probably the real reasons we’re still talking about 1931's Dracula is because of the performances delivered by Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye. Lugosi’s screen presence, especially in Dracula, can’t be overstated. And Frye's work here is a legitimate performance, presenting Renfield as both a foppish sophisticate and an unhinged maniac. Renfield is hugely sympathetic in the film. He’s not only the movie’s heart, but the story’s ironic voice of reason.

Just one more thing ... Peter Falk might seem like a weird fit for my usual work, but he'd make a great partner for Carl Kolchak.

"Please welcome your host, the spawn of Moloch – Vincent Price!" Thanks to Bill Hader, Halloween happened several times during the year, courtesy of a classic running sketch on Saturday Night Live.

There are few actors as suited to the role of a werewolf as Oliver Reed. The dude was a couple of whiskers shy of being the real deal, which makes his performance in Hammer's 1961 classic The Curse of the Werewolf all the more interesting. This is my take on the film's poster, which leans heavily into the Famous Monsters of Filmland esthetic. I also made sure Reed got top billing this time.

This one's for the Monster Kids: A custom movie poster for 1957's I Was a Teenage Werewolf in the style of an Aurora model kit.

My recreation of the classic comicbook ad for the short-lived Gre-Gory: Big, Bad Vampire Bat toy from 1984.

The logo for my Etsy shop, Unlovely Frankenstein. Stop by and visit!

Trick or treat! A recreation of artwork from a vintage Ben Cooper Halloween costume

George Romero's credit from the Night of the Living Dead opening titles.

A recreation of artwork from a vintage Halloween trick or treat costume.

A recreation of artwork from a vintage Halloween trick or treat costume.

A recreation of vintage Halloween costume art featuring the werewolf. Trick or treat!

Christopher Lee as Dracula. Hail to the King!

Peter Cushing in the 1973 Amicus film And Now the Screaming Starts.

The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla himself, Vlad Dracula. Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Dracula, was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He is often considered one of the most important rulers in Wallachian history and a national hero of Romania.

Just in case people don't get the message I made the colors infernally bright.

Plan 9 From Outer Space holds the title of "Worst Movie Ever" while Glen or Glenda was worse on just about every conceivable level. Ed Wood was a mirror-universe genius.

Watch Horror Film, Keep America Strong! Words to live by, courtesy of Bob Wilkins and Creature Features.

Seeing as how I am NEVER going to spend $200 for an old tee-shirt (and that Blue Oyster Cult will never produce the shirt again) I decided to make my own from scratch.

Somewhere in the world is a landfill containing 1 million videogame cartridges for Mac & Me. Nobody is looking for them. They will never be found.

What We Do in the Shadows character poster: Nadja of Antipaxos as a Hammer/Amicus/Trigon-style horror movie poster. Five spits for an enemy!

The notorious Chesty Abaddon, host of the travelling Burlesque Diabolique/Satanic Burlesque "spook party", spent much the last century shocking audiences all around the world. Was it cursed? Were the stories about deaths/tragic accidents left in its wake really true, or just urban legends? Abaddon went missing in 1966/67, taking with her any answers she might be able to provide about what happened both on the stage and behind it. This particular advertisement was used during a 1956 tour of the west coast.