Tag Archives: Halloween season

PETER RUGG – A GHOST STORY FROM 1824

PETER RUGG, THE MISSING MAN (1824) – This short story was written by author William Austin. A ghostly post-chaise horsedrawn carriage is often sighted and/or encountered up and down the East Coast. The carriage is pursued by a supernatural storm and is driven by a man named Peter Rugg with his daughter Jenny as his passenger.   

In the story, the narrator character Jonathan Dunwell and his driver meet Peter Rugg and his daughter on the road one night. Rugg asks for directions to Boston, obtains them from Dunwell’s driver and drives off, pursued by the storm.

Dunwell is puzzled, so his driver explains that Peter, his daughter, and their black horse are ghosts. Long ago they were killed in a storm while making their way to Boston. Rugg had refused to seek shelter at an inn, screaming to the heavens that he would reach Boston that night or never, and he and his child were then killed by the storm. Continue reading →

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THE WEIRD, WEIRD WEST – HORROR FILMS WITH A WESTERN THEME

With Halloween approaching Balladeer’s Blog is doing its usual holiday-themed posts. This time around I’ll give a brief synopsis of western-flavored horror flicks. In keeping with my blog’s theme of covering out of the way topics I won’t be examining movies that are too well known, like Billy the Kid vs Dracula, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter or The Terror of Tiny Town. Ditto for more recent movies like Sundown and Billy The Kid in Hell. As for West World and Welcome to Blood City, those are more science fiction than horror, so they aren’t included either.  

black noonBLACK NOON (1971) – Roy Thinnes stars as an old west preacher who falls in with a coven of witches in the town of Melas (Salem spelled backwards of course).

The witches tempt Thinnes into thinking he’s a prophet and healer, then use his vanity against him and his wife during their dark ritual of the Black Noon, which takes place during a mid-day eclipse.

CURSE OF THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN (1974) –  A medical student and his hippy friends try to renovate a dude ranch haunted by the Headless Horseman. No, it’s not the figure from the Washington Irving tale, but an old-west gunslinger who was unjustly hanged, losing his head in the process. The Horseman now roams the dude ranch by night looking for victims to frighten. SPOILER: The Continue reading →

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HALLOWEEN MONTH 2026 IS HERE!

October 1st kicks off Balladeer’s Blog’s usual mixing of horror items in with my usual topics. I review horror films from the silent movie era onward as well as obscure stories from the 1800s and earlier, like they’re Halloween counterparts to my Ancient Science Fiction reviews.

To give new readers a taste of how Halloween is done around here, take a look at some of last year’s Halloween Month highlights:

GRAND FINALE

HALLOWEEN WITH PAUL NASCHY – I capped off the horror season with a look at the 60s, 70s and 80s movies of Spain’s King of Horror – Jacinto Molina aka Paul Naschy. And I mean all of them, not just his many, many werewolf movies about tormented lycanthrope Waldemar Daninsky. Naschy also starred as a mummy, as Dracula, as slashers, as an exorcist and so on.

There was Assignment: Terror, one of my all-time favorite Bad Movies featuring aliens who possess the dead bodies of scientists so they can conquer Earth with a vampire, a mummy and a werewolf. Werewolf vs the Yeti was another as was Dr. Jekyll vs the Wolfman.

Non-werewolf Naschy films I reviewed included Count Dracula’s Great Love, Horror Rises from the Tomb, The Hunchback of the Rue Morgue (yes), Vengeance of the Zombies, Return of the Witch, The Mummy’s Revenge, House of Psychotic Women, Exorcism, and The Man with the Severed Head.

FORGOTTEN HORROR STORIES

MAN-SIZE IN MARBLE (1887), about old stone statues of two knights which come to life to do evil. Classics like The King in Yellow (1895), Isabella of Egypt (1812) and several Ambrose Bierce short stories. Continue reading →

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B-MOVIE HOSTESS: SALLY THE ZOMBIE CHEERLEADER (2005-2007, 2009-present)

SALLY THE ZOMBIE CHEERLEADER – This horror hostess is portrayed by Nicole Galeano aka Nicole M. King aka Nicole M. Brooks. The Zombie Cheerleader started appearing on Public Access Cable around 2001, and in 2005 the undead pom-pom girl launched one of her best-known Movie Hostess programs – The Zombie Cheerleader’s School of Horror.

Sally cleverly used a black & white riff on the old MGM roaring lion logo on the production. “Hic Sunt Monstri” is Latin for Here be Monsters, making our subject’s motto a play on MGM’s “Ars Gratia Artis” – Art for Art’s Sake – and “Hic Sunt Dracones” – Here be Dragons, from very old maps. 

The Zombie Cheerleader’s School of Horror lasted into 2007 and the supporting cast consisted of her daughter Genevieve Brooks as Zombette, an underclass and undead cheerleader who assisted the star, as did the monstrous Mr. Hairyhands, played by Daniel Brooks.

Letting her daughter be part of the show reminded me of the old Philadelphia Movie Host Dr. Shock making his child Doreen a co-star as “Bubbles.”

In 2009 our Movie Hostess returned with her new program The Zombie Cheerleader Show, which has been running on various outlets including TV stations from America’s northeastern states westward to Hawaii. The Zombie Cheerleader Show also enjoys runs on assorted cable and streaming platforms, YouTube, Vimeo, The Monster Channel, The Vortex, Tingler TV and Roku. Continue reading →

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ANOTHER NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET PROJECT ANNOUNCED

With the announcement of a new Nightmare on Elm Street project it seemed like the right time for this flashback to my 2012 review of the horror series Freddy’s Nightmares.

Freddy's Nightmares

Freddy’s Nightmares

FREDDY’S NIGHTMARES (1988 – 1990) – I’ve always been a Freddy Krueger over Jason Voorhees kind of guy. I found Voorhees a dull imitation of Michael Myers from the Halloween movies, plus it isn’t even Voorhees doing the killing in at least two of the Friday the Thirteenth films. Throw in a mention that the slice and dice man didn’t even don his iconic hockey mask until the third movie. Now add the fact that no matter how bad some of the Nightmare on Elm Street sequels were NONE of them were as lame as so many of the FT13 flicks.

I always thought the Continue reading →

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THE VAMPIRA SHOW (1954-1955) TOP MOVIES SHOWN

Vampira

Vampira and her Movie Host show are still remembered fondly here in the present day. For something a little different in a Bad Movie Host item this time around, I’ll follow up my original post about her from long ago with a look at my favorites from the films shown on The Vampira Show.

Like almost all hosts and hostesses, Vampira (Maila Nurmi) had no control over the movies shown and the station saddled her with a bunch of lame detective and mystery films mixed in with the old horror flicks that the program is remembered for.

Here are what I consider to be the most fitting films from the short run of The Vampira Show.

PREVIEW: DIG ME LATER, VAMPIRA (Apr 30th, 1954) – A special devoted to hyping Vampira’s movie show which would start the next night.

THE FACE OF MARBLE (1946) – John “He’s probably even in the Zapruder Film if you look hard enough” Carradine stars as a mad scientist who is trying to use electrical and chemical treatments to revive the recently deceased. Human and animal test subjects come back to life able to walk through solid objects and are controlled by John’s voodoo-practicing maid. William “One-Shot” Beaudine directed and Willie Best was on hand as the butler. Continue reading →

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TARANTULA GHOUL (1957-1958) B-MOVIE HOSTESS

TARANTULA GHOUL – Actress Suzanne Waldron’s performance on stage in Macbeth captured the attention of the bosses at Portland, Oregon’s KPTV. They hired her to host House of Horror, their late-night B-Movie show, in a similar style to Vampira down in Los Angeles.

Waldron adopted the character Tarantula Ghoul, whose look was patterned after cartoonist Charles Addams’ Morticia in order to stand out from Vampira. Suzanne often emerged from a coffin in her hostess persona.

Tarantula Ghoul took Portland and vicinity by storm and could have been a phenomenon if not for the way KPTV made the idiotic decision to air House of Horror in the bizarre timeslot of Wednesday nights at 10:30pm (sometimes 10pm).

Most of the classic Bad Movie shows aired on Friday or Saturday nights, which were ideal for audiences to stay up late watching the movie and the host’s antics. Trapped in the mire of a late-night middle of the week timeslot, the brilliant Tarantula Ghoul’s show sadly lasted from just October 9th, 1957 to November 26th, 1958.

Still, during her brief run hosting House of Horror, the talented Suzanne Waldron managed several cultural milestones amid her schtick.

*** A TV Star Parade article about her stated “Tarantula Ghoul pokes morbid fun at everything within range of Portland’s KPTV” and referred to her “witty but acid tongue.” The article described her as a cross between “the Charles Addams woman and a road company Tallulah Bankhead.” Continue reading →

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE MAN AND THE MONSTER (1826)

THE MAN AND THE MONSTER – Written by Henry M. Milner, this stage adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein differs significantly from her novel and was first performed on July 3rd, 1826 at the Royal Cobourg Theatre.

The full title of this play is Frankenstein; or The Man and the Monster, a Melodrama in Two Acts. At least one other stage adaptation in 1823 preceded Milner’s version of the story. Milner’s play can be read in its entirety online.

In honor of Rome: Italian Style on SCTV I like to think of this work as Frankenstein: Italian Style since it is set in Sicily, apparently only so that Mt. Aetna can figure in the play’s finale. Rather than laboring in his own castle, Dr. Frankenstein lives and works in Sicily under the auspices of the Prince del Piombino.

The prince is a great patron of arts and sciences, and he finances Frankenstein’s work. In turn, the doctor tutors the prince’s son Julio (Julio?). Continue reading →

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MARDI GRAS MASSACRE (1978) BAD MOVIE REVIEW

MARDI GRAS MASSACRE (1978) – Category: A neglected Bad Movie classic, but its hard-core gore will prevent it from ever having a Plan 9-sized cult following

It takes a twisted sort of genius to make multiple disembowelment murders look boring, but that’s exactly what Jack Weis accomplishes in Mardi Gras Massacre! Today may be Fat Tuesday, but let’s rechristen it “Splat Tuesday” in honor of this late 70’s splatterfest. 

The actual “massacre” part of this movie is an incredible disappointment. An insane, hate-filled man with a knife is roaming around New Orleans during Mardi Gras targeting prostitutes as sacrificial offerings to the Aztec deities he worships.

That sounds promising for a horror film but the disembowelment ritual is reenacted word for word and movement for movement for EACH VICTIM! There is no variation and also no suspense because after the first killing we know exactly how all the subsequent sacrifices will play out. The only chills come from listening to the awful disco music that plays during the Continue reading →

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SCHALCKEN THE PAINTER (1979)

SCHALCKEN THE PAINTER (1979) – The British Film Institute has released a terrific video edition of this 69-minute Gothic Horror telefilm which originally aired on December 23rd, 1979 as part of the Omnibus program.

Leslie Megahey directed this adaptation of the Sheridan Le Fanu story. Schalcken the Painter is a genuine masterpiece of visual storytelling. Nearly every scene is lit and filmed like a 1600s painting by artists like Godfried Schalcken, Rembrandt, Vermeer and others.

I always compare the cinematography in this production to one of my favorite Stanley Kubrick films – Barry Lyndon. If you enjoyed the candlelit atmosphere of that movie then Schalcken the Painter will blow you away.

This film redefines slow burn horror, so it’s certainly not for all tastes. Art House Horror would describe it nicely. The emphasis is on mood and feelings of dread rather than graphic horror.

Jeremy Clyde of Chad & Jeremy fame stars as the Dutch artist Schalcken with Maurice Denham as his already famous teacher Garrett Dou and Cheryl Kennedy as Rose, Dou’s niece and Schalcken’s desire.

Rose reciprocates Godfried’s affections, but they dare not discuss anything with her uncle until Schalcken establishes himself and has enough money to support her. One night, a sinister, wealthy Dutchman named Vanderhausen of Rotterdam arrives to claim Rose for himself. Continue reading →

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