Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Crestwood House Monster Series (1977-1987)

Those wonderful orange and black books!

If you grew up in the late 1970’s or 1980’s and had even the slightest interest in monsters or horror, you probably came across at least one or two of the Crestwood House Monster books. For a kid like myself, these orange and black covered books were the stuff of dreams and nightmares. My school’s library had many of these books on the shelf, and I was sure to read all of them.

These books introduced me to many of the classic monsters that I grew to love over the years. Their focus was primarily on the legendary Universal Monsters, but they also covered a few other monsters such as Godzilla and the Blob.

I have vivid memories of reading these books as a child. The cover of the Wolf Man book has been imprinted in my brain ever since I first saw it. It’s a photo of Henry Hull as the werewolf in Werewolf of London (1935) and not the better known Lon Chaney, Jr. from The Wolf Man (1941), but the picture impacted me due to the “realness” of it all. You can see the creases in Hull’s mouth and his eyes are extremely harsh. It’s a brilliant image.

The series was released between 1977 and 1987. From the research that I’ve done, there were apparently fifteen books released during that time frame. Written by Ian Thorne (a pseudonym for science fiction writer Julian May), the first twelve books in the series gave a surprisingly in depth look at the cinematic history of each of the monsters covered. The final three books were written by William R. Sanford and Carl R. Green and did an excellent job of presenting some pretty amazing information about the monsters and their histories in film as well.

The books were also full of brilliant photographs. They included shots lifted directly from the films, promotional stills, behind-the-scenes photographs, and even “making of” shots including the above posed photo of of Milicent Patrick, who designed the Gill-Man. Patrick’s contributions to The Creature From The Black Lagoon weren’t fully recognized until after her passing. I actually reviewed a book on the subject by Mallory O’Meara entitled The Lady From The Black Lagoon and you can check that out here. You can order your own copy here as well. I highly recommend it!

Did you read any of these books while growing up? Were they your first introduction to any classic monsters? Let me know in the comments. Also, if you are interested, I found a PDF version of the Godzilla book available at archive.org. Click here to read the book absolutely free!

Thanks for reading my post. I hope that you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. I hope to one day find a copy of one of these books and purchase it for myself. There are some available on the web for purchase, but most of them are out of my price range. Until then, I’ll have to settle on reading web versions of the books that I find.

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

Basil and Bing take us for a ride

Packaging two literary tales that have absolutely nothing in common might seem like a difficult task, but in 1949, Disney did just that. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is based on two literary classics. The Mr. Toad segment is based upon The Wind in the Willows, a classic children’s book written by Kenneth Grahame. The Ichabod segment is based on the beloved short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving.

Academy Award nominated Basil Rathbone narrated the Toad segment, which focused on Mr. Toad and his many poor life choices. From bankruptcy to being wrongfully imprisoned in the Tower of London, the story moves along at a great pace and is actually very fun to watch.

While Mr. Toad is definitely worth checking out, this post will focus on the second story centered on Ichabod Crane. Narrated by the legendary Bing Crosby, who also sings a number of original songs in the short, the Ichabod segment has legitimately scary sequences that work for all ages.

In the tale, Ichabod Crane takes the position of schoolmaster in Sleepy Hollow, New York. He immediately becomes popular among the town’s local women despite his awkward looks. He dines with the townsfolk and charms women left and right. As the segment continues, Ichabod attracts the attention of the lovely Katrina van Tassel. He also attracts unwanted attention from Brom Bones, the local brute who is in love with Katrina. The story comes to a head whenever Brom discovers that Ichabod is extremely superstitious. He tells the story of the Headless Horseman, a local legend, in order to trigger fear in Ichabod at a party at the van Tassel home.

From there, Ichabod has an encounter with the sinister Horseman. The animation style and the look of the Horseman makes him one of Disney’s most legitimate scary villains in my opinion. While Ichabod provides plenty of laughs during the chase scene, the Horseman counters with some brilliantly scary moments.

I won’t tell you how the story ends, but I will tell you to make an effort to check out this film. Both stories are extremely well done, but the Sleepy Hollow segment is my favorite. It’s available on home media as a stand-alone film and in multiple compilations. The two segments have also been available separately as additions on other discs. The film in its entirety is currently available on Disney+ as well.

This film is one of my favorite Disney releases. I own the first DVD release of it and watch it every year around Halloween. I hope that you’ve enjoyed this quick glimpse at it and, as always, thank you for reading my post. We’re beyond the halfway point to Halloween, and I plan on mixing things up a bit more as I continue on to the spookiest night of the year!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: So Random! Halloween Special

Sonny With A Chance (2010)

Already well on her way to stardom, Demi Lovato starred in the Disney Channel series Sonny With A Chance. One unique aspect of the show (which actually spawned its own series) was that Demi’s character, Sonny Munroe, appeared on a show within the show called So Random!. That “show” was a sketch comedy series that featured an outstanding cast of young comedic actors that I’ll get to in a minute.

In Sonny‘s second season, a So Random! Halloween special was shown with Shaquille O’Neal as the special guest host and music from Lovato (as Sonny) Brandon Mychal Smith (as Nico), and Allstar Weekend.

The episode features sketches that include the Check-It-Out Girls, The Monster Under My Bed, Halloween Party Do’s and Don’t’s, and a comedic song, Making Babies Cry. Between skits, the cast is shown backstage in a couple of humorous moments featuring Shaquille O’Neal dealing with the anxiety of performing in front of a crowd and being helped by Chad Dylan Cooper (Sterling Knight).

Of all of the Disney Channel shows that I watched with my daughter while she was growing up, Sonny was one of my favorites. So Random! became its own series and it was enjoyable as well. Both shows had the same key cast members with the exception of Lovato, who moved on for health reasons before the third season of Sonny, which became the first and only season of So Random!, went into production.

This particular episode is light, funny, and not scary at all. The comedy is solid, especially for a children’s show, and is anchored by the solid performances of Lovato, Tiffany Thornton, Doug Brochu, Brandon Mychal Smith, and Allisyn Ashley Arm. Knight’s brief appearance as Chad is funny and O’Neal does a great job poking fun at himself and performing in the skits.

If you have younger children and want to give them something to laugh at without scaring them at all, check out this episode of Sonny With A Chance. It’s available on home media and on Disney+ at the moment.

Thanks for reading my post. I’ll have another for you tomorrow!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Focus On The Hocus Part III!

Bette Midler

Mary Sanderson smelled out the children and Sarah Sanderson drew them in with her song, but it was Winifred Sanderson that orchestrated and executed all of the wicked plans of the Sanderson sisters in Disney’s Hocus Pocus. Bette Midler was the most famous and established actor in the film and carried the movie for its entirety. That being said, without the talents of Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker, the film would probably not have become the cult classic that it is today.

Midler has won multiple Grammy awards, Emmy awards, Golden Globes, and one Tony award. She is a multi-platinum selling recording artist with numerous hit singles and has starred in a number of successful films in a career that began in the 1960’s.

Midler’s career really took off in the early seventies when, after building up a solid following locally in New York City, she released her first album, The Divine Miss M. The album was well-received and spawned numerous hits. Midler won the Grammy for Best New Artist for 1973. Midler released more albums and in 1979 starred in The Rose. She was nominated for an Academy award for her performance in the film.

Midler continued to both sing and act throughout the 1980’s, including performances in Disney’s Oliver And Company (1988) and films such as Ruthless People (1986) and Down And Out In Beverly Hills (1986). She released one studio album, No Frills, in 1983.

During the 1980’s and throughout her career, Midler recorded numerous songs on film soundtracks, almost always resulting in at least one charting single for her from each album. The biggest single of her career was Wind Beneath My Wings from the film Beaches (1988) in which she also had a starring role.

Since the 80’s, Midler has continued to have success. She continues to act and sing and has appeared in multiple films including The Women (2008), Get Shorty (1995), and What Women Want (2000). She lent her voice to the animated The Addams Family released in 2019 as well. In 2000, she had her own short-lived sitcom, Bette, and has appeared in guest-starring roles in numerous television shows over the decades. She often appears as a parody of herself in guest appearances. One of her most memorable performances (in my opinion) was on a 1995 episode of Seinfeld entitled The Understudy. Kramer becomes Bette’s caretaker at the hospital after George injures her during a charity softball game. Her understudy takes on Midler’s starring role in the stage play “Rochelle Rochelle” (which has its own twisted life in Seinfeld). The incident parallels and parodies the real life drama between Olympic ice skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding.

I could list more of Midler’s accomplishments, but in all honesty, I don’t have enough time or energy to do so. I haven’t even mentioned her brilliant stage career or her charity work. Just know this: Bette Midler has seen and done just about everything. She’s been an award winning actor on both stage and screen, lived the life of a rock star, and given back to both society and her adoring fans. She’s done it all with a smile as well. She might have been the wickedest Sanderson sister, but she seems to be a genuinely good person in the real world.

Thanks for checking out my post. This completes my three part Focus On The Hocus segment of Thirty-One Days O’Horror. I’ll be going back to my regularly scheduled spooky posts tomorrow!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Focus On The Hocus Part II!

Sarah Jessica Parker

The second Sanderson sister that I’ll be looking at in my short Focus on the Hocus series is Sarah Jessica Parker who portrayed the ditzy Sarah Sanderson. Parker was already a well established star by the time that she appeared in Hocus Pocus. Her career blossomed in the late 1970’s when she won a small role on Broadway in Annie. She eventually took on the lead role in the play.

From there, Parker’s career continued to solidify and her star began to rise. She starred in the short-lived but much loved 1980’s sitcom Square Pegs and then gained roles in films such as Footloose (1984), Ed Wood (1993), L.A. Story (1991), and the popular comedy Honeymoon In Vegas (1992). After appearing in Hocus Pocus, Parker continued her run in popular films including Mars Attacks! by Tim Burton.

In 1998, Parker took on the role of her career as she portrayed Carrie Bradshaw in HBO’s Sex And The City (1998-2004). Based partly on the book of the same name by Candace Bushnell, the series became a massive hit for HBO and catapulted Parker and her co-stars, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon, into stardom. The series was so popular that it produced two feature films and was nominated for over fifty Emmy awards, winning seven. It was also nominated for over twenty Golden Globe awards, winning eight.

Parker continued to act after her run on Sex And The City but never really achieved the same level of popularity. She began focusing on her production company, a fashion line, and other ventures including wine and an online book club. Parker also returned to Broadway.

Considered to be the “airhead” of the bunch, Parker’s Sarah Sanderson was often disregarded by her sisters but proved to be much more intelligent than even she really knew. She was also the “attractive” sister who drew the attention of male characters in the film. She used her singing voice to attract children to their doom.

Well, there you have it, a quick look into the career of Sarah Jessica Parker. Thanks for reading my post. There’s only one other Sanderson sister to discuss and I’ll get to her tomorrow!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Focus On The Hocus Part I!

Kathy Najimy

Best known to horror fans (and probably most fans in general) as the child-smelling Mary Sanderson in Disney’s Hocus Pocus, Katy Najimy is a multi-talented actress and comedian whose career has spanned over three decades. Teaming up with fellow comedian Mo Gaffney, Najimy first gained attention with The Kathy And Mo Show, a feminist play.

Najimy’s career really took off when she landed the role of Sister Mary Patrick in 1992’s Sister Act alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Maggie Smith and its 1993 sequel. In that same year, she would take on the role of Mary Sanderson in Hocus Pocus with Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker. The trio terrorized the town of Salem, Massachusetts as they sought out the souls of children only to be thwarted by a young boy, his sister, a cursed cat, and the girl that he has a crush on in the town.

Najimy would continue to see success on both television and the big screen with roles in Veronica’s Closet, Chicago Hope, Rat Race, VEEP, and Hope Floats, among others. She is also a successful stage actress having performed in multiple productions on Broadway.

Najimy has also proven to be an exceptional voice actress as well. She has given her voice to characters on numerous animated films and television shows over the years including multiple Disney productions. Her biggest voice role to date is portraying Peggy Hill on the popular Fox series King of the Hill. She voiced the character for all of the show’s thirteen seasons.

As previously mentioned, Najimy has performed in a number of Disney animated productions. She has also appeared in numerous live-action productions for the company as well. Some of those roles (live-action and animated) are in productions such as The Scream Team (2002), Hercules (1998 TV series), Descendants (2015), Tinker Bell (2008), and The Rocketeer (2019). She is also rumored to be hopping on a broom once more as Mary Sanderson in the upcoming Hocus Pocus 2.

Najimy was my favorite Sanderson sister and she’s also one of my favorite actresses in general. While she doesn’t seem to gain as much attention as her famous co-stars in Hocus Pocus, she’s definitely no slouch when it comes to her career.

Thanks for checking out my post. Which witch will I focus on in tomorrow’s post? You’ll have to check in at noon in order to find out!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Frankenweenie (1984)

“It’s only Sparky.”

Before he became a household name with films such as Batman (1989), Beetlejuice (1988), and Sleepy Hollow (1999), Tim Burton worked for Disney. One of his projects for the company was 1984’s Frankenweenie, a short that would result in Burton being fired by Disney.

Both a comedic parody and a love letter to 1931’s classic Universal film Frankenstein, Frankenweenie tells the story of a young boy named Vincent Frankenstein who loses his dog, Sparky, in an accident. Inspired by his science teacher, Vincent digs up Sparky, patches him together like Frankenstein’s monster, and brings him back to life. The results are catastrophic, however, as Sparky is mistakenly accused of going on a rampage throughout the neighborhood and eventually meets a second demise at the windmill hole of the local miniature golf course. Does Sparky live again? You’ll have to check out this wonderful short in order to find out.

The film is loaded with talent in front of the camera. Barret Oliver portrays Vincent. Already known for his work in The Neverending Story (1984), Oliver would go on to appear in a number of other successful projects such as D.A.R.Y.L (1985) and Cocoon (1985) before becoming a photographer in his adult life. His parents, Ben and Susan, were portrayed by Daniel Stern (Home Alone, The Wonder Years, City Slickers) and Shelley Duvall (The Shining, Faerie Tale Theatre, Roxanne). Supporting cast included Jason Hervey (The Wonder Years), Paul Bartel (Eating Raoul, Amazon Women On The Moon), Joseph Maher (Heaven Can Wait, Mars Attacks!), and Sofia Coppola (The Bling Ring, Lost In Translation).

Along with another short, the stop-motion animated Vincent (1982), Frankenweenie‘s creepy atmosphere proved to be too much for Disney and resulted in Tim Burton being fired by the company for “wasting resources.” He would eventually return to Disney in a roundabout way via his highly successful stop-motion film The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Even with that film, however, Disney only agreed to release it under their Touchstone moniker because they didn’t want the movie associated with their family-friendly offerings. Burton eventually became too popular for Disney to ignore and he ended up working with them on a number of new projects including Alice In Wonderland (2010), Dumbo (2019), and a feature-length animated remake of Frankenweenie (2012).

The film is a favorite of mine for a number of reasons. First, it’s a fun film to watch. Second, its nods to the classic Boris Karloff Frankenstein film are simply wonderful. Finally, it shows viewers that Burton’s style was embedded in his brain from the beginning. It’s easy to pick out a Burton project, and Frankenweenie is no exception.

Have you seen this wonderful short? Let me know in the comments and feel free to tell me whether you enjoyed it or not. As always, thanks for checking out my post. We’re almost to the halfway point of October, so I have something special planned in a couple of days! See you soon!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Dead Men Tell No Tales…

Or do they?

One of the most popular attractions at Walt Disney World is Pirates of the Caribbean. Since 1973 the attraction has brought joy, a little bit of fear, and plenty of laughs to visitors from all over the world. The film series based upon the attraction has also proven to be wildly popular as well. Those films feature tons of swashbuckling, treasure, curses, and ghosts. But does the attraction itself have a spooky citizen lurking about? Read ahead to find out!

Just a quick search on the web brings up numerous tales of ghostly apparitions appearing at many of the Disney theme parks. For Walt Disney World, one ghost in particular appears as the topic of multiple articles: George the Ghost.

According to multiple cast members and in stories passed down since the attraction first opened, a worker died during the construction of the attraction. His death has changed over the years from falling to being crushed by a beam, but the general consensus is that however he died, he did so in the burning town section of the attraction. His name was said to have been George.

According to the stories, cast members must greet George every morning with, “Good morning, George” or the ride will have multiple issues throughout the day. They must also tell him, “Good night, George” whenever the ride closes down for the evening. There have been rumors of cast members seeing George appear on ride monitors and some have claimed to hear his footsteps around the attraction. Phantom phone calls are also made from the control room. As for visitors to the attraction, George apparently greets them with a chilly wind in the burning city just as the ride passes under the pirate on the bridge. George does not appear to have any ill intent. He just enjoys having a little fun with everybody.

Whether or not this is true, I was amazed to learn something new about one of my favorite attractions at Walt Disney World. When I return to the park, I’ll definitely be on the lookout for George and hope to feel the chill as I ride under the bridge in the burning city.

Do you believe in ghosts? Have you experienced the presence of George or other ghosts at one of the Disney Parks? Let me know in the comments section!

As always, thanks for reading my post. See you again tomorrow!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Wizards Of Waverly Place Halloween

“Boo! I got you, babe. I’m Cher.”

2009 gave us the third season of the wildly popular Wizards of Waverly Place. The second episode of that season, Halloween, sees the Russo family attempt to save their annual Haunted House by enlisting the help of three ghosts from the wizard world. In typical Russo fashion, however, things fall apart.

In the episode, Justin (David Henrie) and Harper (Jennifer Stone) team up to create a “peer pressure” house of horrors that proves to be too lame for Mr. Evans (Daniel Roebuck) and the rest of the Halloween committee. Mr. Evans tells the Russo’s father, Jerry (David DeLuise), that if the haunted house isn’t scary enough, the family will end up losing the opportunity to host the haunted house again.

Against his better judgement, Jerry allows Alex (Selena Gomez) and Harper to go to the wizarding world in order to fetch three ghosts in order to make the haunted house scarier. He gives her specific instructions to pick three ghosts that are scary, but not too scary.

While in the wizarding world, Alex and Harper run into Mantooth (Sean Whalen), a ghost known to be extremely scary and a frequent haunter of Justin. Deemed too scary, though, Alex and Harper pick three other ghosts who fail to miserably.

With no other options in sight, the Russo’s go ahead with their own haunted house that include Theresa (Maria Canals-Barrera) as Cher and Max (Jake T. Austin) as a moustachioed ghost. Still unimpressed, the Halloween committee decides that the Russo’s have lost their right to run the annual haunted house until Mantooth shows up to hopefully save the day. Does he? You’ll have to check out the episode in order to find out! It’s available on Disney+ and on home media.

The episode features all of the humor that is standard for the series and all of the cast do a great job as usual. Wizards was always one of my favorite shows to watch along with my daughter. There are plenty of episodes that feature monsters and ghosts across the entire series including werewolves, vampires, and even a Franken-girl, so be sure to check out more of the show’s spooky episodes.

Not only do I recommend this episode, I recommend the entire series. It’s great family fun. Thanks for checking out my post. More spooky goodness coming tomorrow!

Thirty-One Days O’Horror: Trick Or Treat (1952)

“Little scalawags with fiendish gags…”

When Huey, Dewey, and Louie visit their Uncle Donald on Halloween, Donald gives them a trick instead of a treat. Witnessing the entire affair, Witch Hazel decides to help the boys even the odds. This is the basic plot for 1952’s Trick Or Treat. The Disney short features the song Trick Or Treat For Halloween and has been released multiple times over the years as a bonus selection on home media (VHS and DVD) such as The Black Cauldron and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as well as with compilations such as Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald, Volume Four.

The short features a number of gags including an enchanted Jack-O’-Lantern, ghosts, and spells fired at Donald’s feet by Witch Hazel via an old style insect sprayer. The short is roughly nine minutes long and is perfect for setting the tone for a fun night of trick-or-treating.

This short marks the first appearance of Witch Hazel. Voiced by June Foray, perhaps best known as Rocky the Flying Squirrel of Rocky and Bullwinkle fame, the character has made a number of appearances over the years but is best known for her appearance in Italian Disney comics.

Donald and his nephews are voiced by Clarence Nash, the original voice of Donald Duck. In typical fashion, Donald is cranky and easily tricked into falling for Hazel’s gags by being called a pushover.

Be sure to check out this funny short for Halloween. It’s available on the aforementioned home media selections as well as Disney+. Thanks for checking out my post and I’ll have more horrific fun for all of you tomorrow!