Halloween Month at Balladeer’s Blog continues with this look at Mexican horror figures who haven’t had a truly striking movie in decades. Well, outside of La Llorona, who still gets featured every few years.
Instead of doing nothing but sequels and remakes for the same handful of American slasher stories over and over again, how about 2020s treatments of these south-of-the-border monsters that people like me love almost as much as the classic Universal Monsters?
DOCTOR M
First Appearance: The Black Pit of Dr. M (1958)
Lore: Dr. Masali, a less than ethical psychiatrist at a Mexican insane asylum in the early 1900s, gets a visit from the ghost of his late colleague Dr. Aldama. The spirit explains to Dr. M the unholy procedure for returning from the afterlife in a different body, which has been Masali’s obsession for years.
The ghost then warns Dr. M not to ever use the process. However, after being hanged for a murder he didn’t commit, Dr. M does indeed return to the flesh. As Heavenly punishment for violating God’s Will his soul is trapped in the body of his asylum’s hideously deformed and homicidally violent resident, Elmer.
The image of the returned Dr. M in his hideous new body playing a mournful tune on a violin to prove his identity to a friend is a scene worthy of the greatest Gothic horror films. Even better would have been a scene of him later playing the same tune over his own grave. Continue reading
HAWKINS (1973-1974) – Before Matlock, there was Hawkins! The iconic Jimmy Stewart starred as Billy Jim Hawkins, an aw-shucks country lawyer who was really shrewd and calculating behind his stammering, Good Ol’ Boy facade. 
Hawkins rotated with Shaft, which starred Richard Roundtree reprising his big screen role as private detective John Shaft (but a John Shaft who couldn’t be as violent or profane as he was in the movies, of course).
LIBERTY VS ACES: GAME TWO – The NEW YORK LIBERTY took the court against the visiting two-time defending WNBA champions, the LAS VEGAS ACES. 
The Halloween Season has rolled around once again! For newcomers to Balladeer’s Blog let me point out that I post about more than just horror topics in October. I also cover my usual recurring subjects but throw in reviews of neglected, centuries old novels and short stories from around the world in a Gothic Horror equivalent of my Ancient Science Fiction blog posts. I also review horror films throughout the month. 
A NOVA CALIFORNIA (1921) – This short horror story from Brazil was written by Lima Barreto. The tale is set in a fictional Brazilian town called Tubiacango after the river along whose banks it stood. Tubiacango’s population was roughly 4,000. 
NOTE: Something I’ve been struck by as I read more and more Brazilian literature is how even the smallest towns could boast an international population. There will be native Brazilians, newly arrived Portuguese, white Europeans, and – as the literature itself points out – every shade of dark colored people from all over the world. 
SUN VS LYNX: GAME ONE – The CONNECTICUT SUN surprised their hosts the MINNESOTA LYNX in Game One of this semifinal series. 
CAMPBELLSVILLE OVER D2 – In this game the NAIA’s CAMPBELLSVILLE UNIVERSITY TIGERS welcomed NCAA Division Two’s ROOSEVELT UNIVERSITY LAKERS. The Tigers kept the higher division team off the scoreboard until the 4th Quarter while putting up points themselves all the way. The final score in this Upset was Campbellsville University 24 Lakers 8. 
BOBCATS CONQUER DIVISION ONE – Meanwhile, NCAA Division Two’s FROSTBURG STATE BOBCATS took it on the road against the NCAA Division One MERCYHURST UNIVERSITY LAKERS. The Bobcats put Mercyhurst on Upset Alert by Halftime with their 17-12 lead. From there Frostburg State had to hold on by their fingertips for a 25-24 victory. 
Maggie Smith (1934-2024) is no longer with us, unfortunately. To many fans, Smith embodied sophistication and withering wit. She and Sian Phillips were long among the elder stateswomen when it came to traditionally classy British actresses. 
THE DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU SPECIAL Vol 1 #1 (June 1974)
Synopsis: Storywise, this tale features three separate sections as Iron Fist, the Sons of the Tiger and Shang-Chi the Master of Kung Fu go up against Fu Manchu in three separate stages of his “master plan.” 
DESTINATION INNER SPACE (1966) – In a true rarity Scott Brady got to be the less-than- hunky action lead in this film! THE Sheree North and The Green Hornet‘s Wende Wagner were along for the ride in this flick that plays like an episode from Jon Pertwee’s Doctor Who era recast with Americans.
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