Podcast: Ygor gets a 'Monster Monday'

By Matthew “Pod Man” Bennell

Staff Pod Writer

Ygor did it! He’s officially a monster.

The Jack-o’-Lantern Press Podcast dropped its latest pod (no, not those pods from seeds that reproduce themselves in the exact likeness of any form of life). It’s Monster Monday! And on today’s episode of the podcast, Mike and Tom discuss Ygor as the monster he really is with their dad. Check out the episode on APPLE PODCASTS or on SPOTIFY or wherever you listen to your shows.

And, if you’re looking to check out some of the cool stuff from the show, here’s an article Mike talked about with regard to Ygor and the case that he’s not human, but, in fact, a true monster: Click HERE for the article.

Don’t forget to view the show notes for the podcast to find links to some of the other items discussed, including Ygor garb. 

Like this SHIRT or this ACTION FIGURE. How about this YGOR MASK! Ygor says, “Represent everyone’s favorite monster this Halloween with Ygor merch.” 

Do it!

‘Give us something fun to take!’

By Trix O. Treets

Staff Goodies & Neats Writer

The Halloweeniacs are bringing a sweet treat to YouTube this month.

This week, our very own Michael Picarella digs into his trick-or-treat bag and shares a really cool tale from an even cooler Halloween anthology. Check it out HERE.

Now, if you want to get “The Halloween Store” and Ronald Kelly’s other Halloween anthology, “Mister Glow-Bones” (both only 99 cents each for a limited time as of this post), use the following link, which may or may not work depending on when you view this:

Click HERE to unlock Ronald Kelly’s Halloween magic.

View Ronald Kelly’s other works on his website HERE.

Happy Halloween!

Toon: Runway monsters model stylish new threads for Halloween

 

Cartoon by Frank M. Hansen, a freelance Los Angeles cartoonist and member of the National Cartoonist Society. He creates cartoons, illustrations and animations about life, history and politics, in addition to original comic characters and stories for print, online and television. He’s the illustrator behind JLP’s “Transylveinya Traveler,” a humorous travel guide to and through the monster universe. His work can be seen at fmhansen.com.

Spookiness is among us this month

By Wade Weird Staff Weirdness Writer

Oooooh, lots of weird stories out there. 

The Nightmare365 podcast just dropped a show to get you in the proper spirit for the spooky season. Matt from the show shares a number of creepy tales — true and maybe true — but truly terrifying. 

Let’s not waste any more time. Set your radio dials to N-365, the spooky leader in the spectral. Here’s the show on Apple, and here it is on Spotify. It’s also available wherever you listen to podcasts. Enjoy! And I hope you make it to daybreak.

Toon: October is Self-Improvement Month

 

Cartoon by Frank M. Hansen, a freelance Los Angeles cartoonist and member of the National Cartoonist Society. He creates cartoons, illustrations and animations about life, history and politics, in addition to original comic characters and stories for print, online and television. He’s the illustrator behind JLP’s “Transylveinya Traveler,” a humorous travel guide to and through the monster universe. His work can be seen at fmhansen.com.

Review: It's October — Who's that knocking at the chamber door?

This week in Jack-o’-Lantern Press, we're celebrating the beginning of October and the spooky season. Today, movie reviewer Dan Cook gets a knock on his chamber door. What better way to begin the week than with Edgar Allan Poe, Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and one of October’s favorite birds ...

THE RAVEN (1963)

Bluray Collection

“Shall I ever hold again the radiant maiden whom the angels call Lenore?”

“How the hell should I know?”

A cracking horror comedy starring three of the most legendary actors in the genre’s history, Roger Corman’s 1963 “adaptation” of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” is a ghoulishly hilarious romp that blends the gothic with giggles with hugely entertaining results. Twisting the immortal poem of grief into a fantasy farce, the film features Corman regular Vincent Price as a humble magician who joins forces with a fellow conjuror played by Peter Lorre to do battle with Boris Karloff’s evil Sorcerer Dr. Scarabus.

A far cry from the macabre tone of the other Poe interpretations that Corman and Price collaborated on such as “The Pit And The Pendulum” (1961) and “The Masque of The Red Death” (1964), “The Raven” is instead a much lighter, family friendly affair. And while screenwriter Richard Matheson’s creative liberty with the source material may annoy literary purists, the enjoyably hammy performances as well as the witty script make it one of the directors more widely accessible pictures.

Price, Lorre and Karloff are clearly having enormous fun with their respective roles — with Lorre in particular providing big laughs as the drunken Dr. Bedlo, arriving on the scene in the form of a snarky talking bird — while the atmospheric score by Albert Harris bounces between scary and silly with enjoyable relish. Throw in some ravishingly gothic sets, a very young Jack Nicholson as the dashing hero, the beautiful Hazel Court, and a spectacular wizarding duel with comedic timing reminiscent of the battle between Merlin and Madam Mim in Disney’s “The Sword and The Stone” (also released in 1963), and you have the perfect spooky movie to introduce kids to the wonderful world of classic horror.

Dan Cook is a movie reviewer on Letterboxd, and he also posts his reviews on Facebook. He’s a self-proclaimed film fanatic, avid reader and retro gamer who lives in Dudley, England, with his wife, Sam, and their two daughters.

The spooky season begins now!

By Jack O. Lantern ‘Head’ Writer/Editor

It’s October 1st, the beginning of the spooky season, and there’s so much to check out from The Weird Network this month.

Jack-o’-Lantern Press offers its award-worthy-but-never-winning news, reviews, tales and toons, new merch to purchase, and that guide to and through the monster universe that is the ultimate tomb to take with you on your journey to that final resting place on October 31st. That’s right, “Transylveinya Traveler” is, of course, the must-have manual for all ghosts and goblins, monsters and maniacs.

The Weird Network’s Scary Story Society has a collection of spooky tales to survive. Told by the night’s leading masters of the spoken word ... That would be a good idea, but the Society got some other ghouls to usher you into the spooky season.

Nightmare365 is sharing the unexplained, mysterious and spookiness that lives among us, as per their norm. Alien bodies in Mexico, the mysterious case of the deepest hole on Earth and Project Blue Beam. October is a time when the veil between worlds is at its thinnest. Join Matt and Greg as they break on through to the other side.

And then there’s the Halloweeniacs. It’s a podcast with the guys from Jack-o’-Lantern Press and Nighmare365, coming together every 31st of the months that have a 31st to discuss all things Halloween. For October, they released their first video podcast with special guest Adam from The Great Pumpkin Project to discuss the rules of Halloween and a growing rule — place a jack-o’-lantern in a deserving place each day of the month until Halloween. That sounds like a great way to start October. And so, here are the guys to talk about it on their first video episode of “Halloweeniacs”...