THE MONSTER-MAKER aka THE SURGEON’S EXPERIMENT (1897) – As Halloween Month hurtles toward its conclusion, Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at one of the overlooked horror tales of one of America’s most overlooked writers – W.C. Morrow. This story depicts a mad doctor dabbling in unspeakable experiments.
NOTE: The movies titled The Monster Maker (1944) and The Surgeon’s Experiment (1914) were not based on this short story.
The Monster-Maker is not the most original horror/ sci fi story in the world, but it has that certain appeal common to all such neglected items. Morrow was a writer living in – and largely published in – California, and his early work was praised by the one and only Ambrose Bierce.
This tale’s setting in 1800s San Francisco gives a nice American touch to what would otherwise have been yet another story set in a creepy castle somewhere in Europe. An annoying factor is that, like some of Jack London’s early short stories like A Thousand Deaths, The Monster-Maker does not provide names for any of its characters.
The horror begins as a perfectly healthy yet pathologically melancholy young man from a wealthy family seeks a meeting with a VERY reclusive surgeon. The physician is considered brilliant and emerges periodically to perform skilled surgery for such high fees that he can devote the rest of his time to his bizarre experiments. Continue reading
Halloween Month rolls along here at Balladeer’s Blog with a look at two notoriously bad horror movies which use Andy Warhol’s name despite him not really having anything to do with them and credit Antonio Margheriti as the director even though Paul Morrissey wrote and directed them. 
ANDY WARHOL’S FRANKENSTEIN (1973) – Also known as Flesh for Frankenstein, this 3-D monstrosity and its sister film, Andy Warhol’s Dracula (aka Blood for Dracula) used to be among the most well-known “So Bad They’re Good” movies. Oddly, they fell pretty much off the radar long ago, but get rediscovered every so often and enjoy a brief surge in notoriety from successive generations of horror fans. 
These two movies are also like 1970s time capsules, too. Recently relaxed standards for what could be shown on the big screen yielded a LOT of cheap films that were clearly made just to see how much gory violence and kinky titillation the creative teams could get away with. 
Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein and Andy Warhol’s Dracula deserve my usual warnings to horror fans who really hate extreme violence and bizarre sex. Don’t go below the “Continue reading” line or you’ll probably regret it. These films are mild compared to 
THE DEVIL OF THE MARSH (1893) – Written by H.B. Marriott Watson. Halloween Month continues with this review of a short horror piece about a unique female monster who inhabits the marsh. The story was first published in the 1893 collection Damnable Tales.
IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (1994) – Directed by John Carpenter and written by Michael De Luca, this movie was an unabashed valentine to H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King’s imitations of Lovecraft, and The King in Yellow by Robert W Chambers. The King in Yellow, of course, is the 1895 book 
Soon, Trent is visited in his padded cell, where he has used a black crayon to cover his body and the padded walls with crucifixes for protection. His visitor is Dr Wrenn, played by David Warner, the panicked, crucifix-surrounded man from The Omen, now talking to the panicked, crucifix-surrounded Sam Neill in this film. (I admit that’s a sly touch in keeping with the style of the movie. It even has echoes of the victim in the 1970s film Equinox fixating on his protective crucifix.) 
NCCAA OVER NCAA DIVISION TWO – This game pitted the NCCAA’s VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY OF LYNCHBURG DRAGONS against their hosts, D2’s LANE COLLEGE DRAGONS. VUL was chasing Lane College 28-21 at Halftime and 42-35 in the 3rd Quarter. The 4th saw VU-Lynchburg pull off a 45-42 come from behind Upset. 
NJCAA OVER USCAA – In another Upset, NJCAA team the MONROE COLLEGE MUSTANGS welcomed the NEWPORT NEWS APPRENTICE SCHOOL BUILDERS (Shipbuilders) from the USCAA. A 14-14 tie at the Half became 21-21 to end the 3rd Quarter and ultimately a 28-21 triumph for the Mustangs. 
DOWN GOES NUMBER FOUR – In NCAA Division Two action, the 21st ranked AUGUSTANA (SD) VIKINGS took on the visiting number 4 team in the nation – the MINNESOTA STATE MAVERICKS. After a scoreless opening Quarter, the Vikings led 7-3 at the midpoint and 14-3 in the 3rd Quarter. In the 4th, Augustana U. toppled the Mavericks 28-10. 
EERIE #57 (June 1974) 
NOTE: Warren Publications are fondly remembered for their horror and sci-fi magazines like Creepy, Eerie, 1984 and Vampirella (at right). As magazines and not comic books, Warren’s output was not limited by the comics code and could therefore delve into adult themes and intense violence. 
THE LIVING MUMMY (1910) – Written by Australian author Ambrose Pratt. Dr. Pinsent, a two-fisted young archeologist, is running an expedition in the sands of Egypt. The beautiful May Ottley and her father, an accomplished archeologist himself, ask Pinsent to lend them some of his workmen for a few days. 
The West Coast League is a baseball league consisting of American and Canadian teams. For the U.S. Washington and Oregon are represented, and for Canada British Columbia and Alberta are represented.
WALLA WALLA SWEETS 
As Halloween Month continues, Balladeer’s Blog presents another seasonal post. Over the years I’ve reviewed plenty of the horror films made by Brazil’s King of Horror since the 1960s – Coffin Joe (Ze do Caixao) aka Jose “Mojica” Marins. I’ve even reviewed 
AT MIDNIGHT I’LL TAKE YOUR SOUL (1963) 
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