GRAVEYARD EXAMINER -- THE EARLY YEARS

We saw this past week that the newest incarnation of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND has relaunched THE GRAVEYARD EXAMINER as a regular newsletter to supplement its print publication. Monsterologists and regular readers of MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD will know that the original run of this feature appeared during the Warren/Ackerman FAMOUS MONSTERS years.

THE GRAVEYARD EXAMINER made its first appearance in FAMOUS MONSTERS #13 (Vol. 3, No. 4, August 1961). GE was the logical progression of a feature that began as early as FM #3, which focused on the acitivities of the FAMOUS MONSTERS CLUB. It was content like this that by reaching out interactively to fans, gave FM its legendary sense of community that few, if any, competitors ever achieved.

GE was edited by Ron Haydock, who was also credited on the masthead on the FM contents page as editor of "Special Materials". Haydock was a multi-talented individual. He is best known to the world as the lead singer in the rock n' roll band Ron Haydock & The Boppers, and, when he cruised the streets of Hollywood with his guitar as "Lonnie Lord", was sometimes compared to Elvis Presley! He also acted and wrote novels (under another one of his pseudonyms, Vin Saxon). He also happened to be a big fan of horror and monster movies. He worked for Warren for a time, then went on to edit his own monster 'zine, FANTASTIC MONSTERS OF THE FILMS, with Paul Blaisdell, Bob Burns, and Jim Harmon.

And that will be another story to tell here at MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD. In the meantime, here is the first "Dead Letter Edition" of THE GRAVEYARD EXAMINER.

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LOVECRAFTIANA (PORTAL FIVE)

Hollywod special effects man Paul Blaisdell and his pal, Bob Burns, are revered by the legions of monster movie fans out there. Bob, of course, is still alive and possesses one of the largest collections of monster movie memorabilia imaginable. Entire books have been published on his collection that, in my estimation, is second only to Forry's Horde. Blaisdell was the "man in the rubber suit", as well as prop guy for numerous Atom Age B-Movies like THE SHE CREATURE and IT CONQUERED THE WORLD.

Beginning in 1962, they produced seven issues of FANTASTIC MONSTERS OF THE FILMS, a popular collectible for monster magazine fans. Intended as a showcase and "how-to" of Paul's special effects work, it evolved into a monster movie 'zine like others on the newsstands of the day. What was distinctive about FMOTF was its use of color and large, two-page spreads of photos that were not seen in the competition. Unfortunately, they had teamed up with an unscrupulous publisher who eventually ran off with not only their money, but a lot of their collectible film stills as well.

Coverage of the Poe-titled and Lovecraft-inspired THE HAUNTED PALACE was in Issue #6.

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