Tag Archives: blogging

SUPERHERO PANTHEON OF HARRY A CHESLER PUBLISHING

Superhero cosplay for Halloween has begun threatening to overtake horror themes in recent years. In recognition of that, Balladeer’s Blog has been including a look at a different superhero pantheon during each October’s Halloween celebration. This year it’s the superheroes from Harry A Chesler ‘s publishing company. 

Alias the Dragon 1THE DRAGON

Secret Identity: Bill Norton, Police Scientist

Origin: Tired of being relegated to the scientific end of crime solving, Police Scientist Bill Norton decides to seek out some action. He devises a flame-thrower pistol for himself plus a costume and starts fighting crime as the Dragon in his series titled Alias the Dragon.

First Appearance: Skyrocket Comics #1 (March 1944).

Powers: The Dragon had the strength and agility of a very athletic man. He wielded a pistol which could shoot fire like a flame-thrower and the dragon-scale cape of his costume was bullet-proof. In addition this hero was a first-rate scientist in criminology.

Comment: The Dragon was one of those Golden Age superheroes who didn’t care if he killed the criminals he fought. As Bill Norton our hero serves under Captain Donovan, no first name given. This character’s willingness to kill and his flame-thrower gimmick can’t help but remind a Bad Movie Fan like me of Robert Ginty’s two-movie character the Exterminater.

Yankee GirlYANKEE GIRL

Secret Identity: Lauren Mason, wealthy socialite 

Origin: Lauren Mason’s family line included practioners of the mystic arts, but the only spell-casting Lauren herself ever employed was a magic conjuration employing the words “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” (I guess her delivery made all the difference.) Chanting those three words transformed her, Shazam-style, into the super-powered Yankee Girl. 

First Appearance: Either Red Seal Comics #17 (July 1946) or Dynamic Comics #23 (November 1947). There is still some dispute. 

Powers: Continue reading

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#BLEXIT: BLACK EXIT FROM THE DEMOCRAT PARTY PLUS #BLACKLIVESMAGA

Candace OwensBalladeer’s Blog has often covered Candace Owens, a Martin Luther King Woman of Courage. Candace has officially made #BLEXIT the name of the ongoing switch of so many black voters to de facto Third Party President Donald Trump, simultaneously exiting the Democrat Party.

Not only that, but the courageous Candace – who is one of the countless people who have had to deal with hate-filled Democrat mobs – has launched an entire line of apparel commemorating the #BLEXIT movement.

And by the way, according to those polls that Democrats live by, Rasmussen has President Trump’s approval rating with black voters at FORTY PERCENT! For a Republican not named Lincoln that’s phenomenal. But then Trump’s NOT a real Republican like the trash in the Bush Family and at National Review are.

*** FOR AN ARTICLE ON CANDACE OWENS AND BLEXIT CLICK HERE

#BLACKLIVESMAGA is another hashtag being used. I love it! It would be fantastic if President Trump could unite the working class of ALL colors against this country’s corrupt career politicians. FOR CANDACE OWENS’ YOUTUBE CHANNEL CLICK HERE

Below is one of the videos made in support: 

Khaliq RodriquezKHALIQ RODRIQUEZ, ANOTHER MARTIN LUTHER KING PERSON OF COURAGE CENSORED BY WHITE ONE PERCENTER JACK DORSEY’S TWITTER THUGS –

Technofascist Jack Dorsey of Twitter loves to pretend Twitter does not censor people who disagree with the Democrats but real-world events always seem to put the lie to his claims.

Twitter thugs played their usual game of clamping down on Khaliq – since he defies the Democrats and Dorsey – for quoting the racist labels that hate-filled Democrats throw at people of color who refuse to obey them. Race-hatred is in the DNA of the Democrats. 

FOR THE WHOLE STORY ON THIS AND #FREEKHALIQ CLICK HERE  Continue reading

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A DAY OF JUDGMENT (1981): MOVIE REVIEW

Halloween Month continues! Independent filmmaker Earl Owensby churned out a long list of movies over the years, including this horror flick. For more Earl Owensby horror films click HERE

A Day of Judgment 1

Owensby’s macabre Grim Reaper/ Fool Killer style monster from A Day of Judgment.

A DAY OF JUDGMENT (1981) – This movie plays as if Owensby collaborated with Reverend Estus W Pirkle like Ron Ormond did for the religious zealot/ Cold War potboiler If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? 

You can strip away that movie’s Cold War angle, though, since A Day of Judgment is set in the 1920s American south. Well, 1920s-ISH we’ll say since the usual fun Owensby anachronisms turn up repeatedly in assorted scenes.  

Reverend Cage addresses a church that is virtually empty and bores the few faithful who remain by bitching and moaning about how poor attendance has been. He’s leaving town and is basically washing his hands of the place, warning that the increasingly sinful town will get what’s coming to it. 

A Day of Judgment 3Next we have a series of scenes featuring some of the more sinful citizens of the deep southern town. Adultery, bigotry, covetousness, greed and outright murderous passions lurk behind every corner of this Mayberry-turned-Sodom and Gomorrah. These scenes go on so long even Larry Buchanan would scream “Pick up the pace, dammit!” at the screen.

A sinister, monstrously ugly man in black arrives in town, driving a horse-drawn carriage and sporting a long scythe. This figure is the film’s Grim Reaper/ Angel of Death/ Foolkiller- type menace. Continue reading

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS FROM OCTOBER 27th

HEADLINES

Stevens Point helmetNUMBER TEN FALLS – In D3 the UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT STEVENS POINT POINTERS welcomed the number 10 team in the nation – the UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT OSHKOSH TITANS. A 14-14 Halftime tie became a 17-14 edge for the Pointers to end the 3rd Quarter. From there UW-Stevens Point pulled off a 27-21 Upset.

NNAS_VAUSCAA GAME OF THE WEEK – The NEWPORT NEWS APPRENTICE SCHOOL BUILDERS (Shipbuilders) traveled to face the COPPIN STATE EAGLES (C) in the Game of the Week in the USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association). The Builders parlayed a 13-0 lead at the break into an authoritative 33-0 smackdown. 

College of Idaho Coyotes NEW HELMETTHEIR OWN PRIVATE IDAHO – Up in the NAIA the COLLEGE OF IDAHO COYOTES played host to the country’s number 18 EASTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY MOUNTAINEERS. The Coyotes held a 27-14 Halftime advantage, then got more and more separation from the Mountaineers. The final tally was College of Idaho 48  Eastern Oregon University 24. Continue reading

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HAUNTEDWEEN THEME SONG (1991)

HauntedWeenAs always, October flies by too quickly. There are just a few days left in Balladeer’s Blog’s month-long celebration of Halloween. Here’s a shoutout to the title song from the infamously bad 1991 horror film HauntedWeen.

That movie is about a young kid driven insane by accidentally causing an impalement death. Long years later that now grown-up figure runs his family’s yearly spook-house for Halloween season. The catch is that after a few deaths that he demonstrates as fakes for the attendees he then begins really killing several helpless captives. The live audience cheers wildly, thinking it’s all just more fake blood and gore.

That inspired premise is squandered in a classically bad film that DOES boast a catchy theme song. And here it is:

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1899 MUMMY STORY: PHAROS THE EGYPTIAN

Balladeer’s Blog celebrates Halloween all month long. For today here’s a look at an 1899 mummy tale.

Pharos the EgyptianPHAROS THE EGYPTIAN (1899) – Written by Guy Boothby, who was better known for his Doctor Nikola stories about an evil genius in the mold of Dr Mabuse and Fu Manchu.

Cyril Forrester, a successful British artist, is approached by an enigmatic and sinister-seeming old Egyptian named Pharos. This figure tells Cyril that a mummy he (Cyril) inherited from his Egyptologist father is the dead body of Pharos’ ancestor from over 3,000 years ago. 

Pharos 2That ancestor was Ptahmes, whom we’re told served as a magician for the Pharaoh Ramses during the mythical Exodus. Pharos is angry over the desecration of his ancestor’s remains so Forrester obligingly returns the mummy to the old man.

And so begins a danger-filled supernatural adventure to return the mummy of Ptahmes to his tomb. Cyril is suckered along into following Pharos because he is attracted to – or as we’re supposed to pretend in fiction, he is “in love with” Valerie, a beautiful Hungarian violinist who is in thrall to the old Egyptian. Continue reading

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DAY TWO OF THE #WALKAWAY MARCH ON WASHINGTON

#walkaway march on washingtonAfter yesterday’s arrival and meet’n’greet today is the “March” part of the #WALKAWAY MARCH ON WASHINGTON. All of the members of #WALKAWAY decided to do just that from the ever-increasing insanity of the Democrats. I became an Independent voter long ago.

For the #WALKAWAY YouTube channel click HERE

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SEAN NA SAGART: HORROR CLASSIC IN WAITING

masc graveyard newBalladeer’s Blog’s month-long celebration of Halloween hurtles toward its finale next Wednesday night. This time around I’ll examine the tale of Sean na Sagart aka John of the Priests, who should have been the lead character in several horror films by this point.

Sean was born John Mullowney around 1690 AD in Derrew, Ireland. By his teens he was living beyond his means, often drinking and carousing. He financed his hard-partying lifestyle through multiple crimes, with various accounts claiming he was a masked Highwayman or a burglar or even a rustler and horse-thief.

It IS certain he was arrested for stealing horses and was sentenced to death by hanging in Castlebar, Ireland. Recognizing what an amoral creature was before them, the authorities offered Sean a very dirty job in exchange for escaping death on the gallows – becoming a Priest Hunter/ Killer.

The Penal Act of 1709 had decreed that Catholic Priests plus higher and lower clergymen must take the Oath of Abjuration and recognize Great Britain’s Protestant Queen Anne as the supreme religious authority in England AND Ireland. Refusing to do so merited summary execution.

Sean na Sagart's treeThus began the career and dark legend of Sean na Sagart. Sean spent roughly the next 17 years hunting, capturing and killing renegade Catholic Priests, Bishops, and Cardinals.

Since Catholic schools were forbidden, outlaw Hedge School Teachers were also fair game. Sean’s bounty varied according to the rank of his clergy member victims. If he ever backed out of this career as a Priest Hunter it was back to the gallows for him.  

WHY A HORROR STORY? For multiple reasons in a variety of storytelling approaches. First, if played strictly true-to-life it would make for a very ironic twist on the horror subgenre of Witchfinder General flicks, which always featured crazed, sadistic clergymen hunting and torturing confessions out of “witches.” And Continue reading

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THE NUDE VAMPIRE (1970): MOVIE REVIEW

masc graveyard newHalloween is celebrated all month long here at Balladeer’s Blog. Here’s my review of this Jean Rollin film. For even more reviews of horror films with a nudity theme click HERE  

And for my look at three more Jean Rollin movies click HERE and HERE

Nude Vampire

The Nude Vampire

5. THE NUDE VAMPIRE (1970) – France’s Jean Rollin is one of those love-them-or-hate-them directors. The snooty French often bashed his films for their devotion to style over all else. Don’t believe reviews which claim that his movies have no comprehensible storylines.

Personally I find him more straightforward than Lynch or Jodorowsky. At any rate the central figure of this arthouse Euro-horror is indeed a beautiful female vampire in skimpy outfits and less. Continue reading

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HALLOWEEN TALES OF IRVIN S COBB

Balladeer’s Blog’s month-long celebration of Halloween skedaddles along! Here’s a look at my favorite horror tales of the neglected American writer Irvin S Cobb.

GallowsmithTHE GALLOWSMITH (1918) – A traveling hangman really loves his work and has executed countless figures with no care regarding their guilt or innocence. If the court condemned them, he does his job.

An evil gunslinger called the Lone-Hand Kid has been condemned to death for a killing he didn’t actually commit. He berates the Gallowsmith so thoroughly while being hanged that our title character screws up, killing the Kid slowly and painfully instead of with one clean, neck-breaking drop.

As he dies the Kid curses the hangman, bringing on a ghastly finale.   Continue reading

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