QUASI SAYS "I'M YOUR PUPPET"

Illustrator Bill Nelson has become something of a fine artist, and rightly so. He has a magnificent feel for portraiture. Even in his early days this talent was evident by his great work with the legendary fan magazine, PHOTON, and the fun-filled MONSTER TIMES.

Here is an example of his work in the MONSTER TIMES. It's not clear whether the puppet was his idea or the editor's. Clearly, though, Mr. Nelson put as much detail into parodying his beloved monsters as he did his more serious work. The scan is big enough to print out and use.

[SOURCE: THE MONSTER TIMES, #28 NOV. 1973]

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MONSTERS ABOVE THE FOLD

I remember seeing a stack of THE MONSTER TIMES for sale for the first time sitting on a magazine rack, looking severely out of place -- a folded broadsheet among the big league pamphlets called magazines -- and thought, "How cool -- a monster newspaper!"

By the early 1970's, us Monster Kids had seen just about everything one could think of with some sort of monster on it -- everything from books, magazines, records, models, toys, playing cards, paint-by-numbers, mugs, shirts, posters, evern bubble bath, fer cryin' out loud!

But here was something different . . . here was a newspaper where monsters were above the fold instead of the Viet Nam war or Watergate, and where even the ads were more thrilling than a full-page spread for Sears, Montgomery Ward's, and Maidenform bras!

Published from January, 1972 until July, 1976, THE MONSTER TIMES ran for 48 regular issues (about one per month) with 3 special issues. The 3rd of these special issues was entitled "The World's Greatest Monsters" and was sold as the "world's BIGGEST Monster Paper!!! Starring a Gruesome gallery of Horror Greats!!"

The "First Giant Collector's Edition" (are you catching on to the promotional emphasis on the paper's size by now?) was 12 pages and featured 10 giant poster-sized monsters, such as Dracula, Godzilla, The Wolf Man -- even Planet of the Apes (!). Included with each image was a capsule summary of the monster's cinematic history. All this for under a buck!

Reading copies of THE MONSTER TIMES are abundant. Collector's copies, however, are a little harder to come by as it was published on newsprint -- a step down from the pulp paper that FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND was published on -- and the quality of printing, including the registry of the color photography was not exactly ESQUIRE, if you catch my drift. Watch for age stress at the fold, too, as this causes easy tearing, expecially of the front page. Copies of this special issue of THE MONSTER TIMES in better shape sell for upwards of $35 or so.

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BILL NELSON: STAKE VICTIM & AXE VICTIM



Bill Nelson art from THE MONSTER TIMES #8 (May 1972).



Artist/Illustrator Bill Nelson's work could be seen in monster 'zines regularly in the early-mid 1970's. I remember his great cover drawings for the legendary PHOTON magazine and others. He has since gone on to become a a fine artist, specializing in portraits. Never forgetting his roots, a new book, The Man of a Thousand Faces, has been recently published that includes many of his pieces from his days as a monster artist. The book is available through CREATURE FEATURES.

Another man that shares the name Bill Nelson is on the short list of the Best Guitar Players You've Probably Never Heard. His group, Be Bop Deluxe, shredded listeners in the 70's with energetic pop/rock tunes accompanied by his blistering sonic guitar attack. Often compared to David Bowie, he eschewed the comparison, even though the group maintained it's glam and art rock persona throughout most of their career. Of interest to MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD readers is that Nelson often used science-fiction imagery in both his song lyrics and the group's album cover art.

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LOVECRAFTIANA (FIRST PORTAL)

Having been an active member of the H.P. LOVECRAFT AMATEUR PRESS ASSOCIATION for a few years, as well as participating in the dialogue with its varied and distinguished 35-plus membership affectionately known as THE ESOTERIC ORDER OF DAGON, I have to say that the Olde Gentleman has a lot going for him these days. I don't believe there is, at present, a greater group of people at the genius loci of Lovecraftian scholarship. Moderated by prolific horror historian S.T. Joshi, his leadership has spurred on the continuing reasearch of this most interesting of literary personalities.

Lovecraft did not leave much in the way of his fiction writing. It is nearly all found in fan 'zines and pulp magazines of the 1920's and 1930's. However, he wrote thousands of pages of letters to such correspondents as Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert Bloch. His letters are where one can find a little of what made this "Rhode Island Recluse" tick. Still, his legacy of horror -- or weird fiction as he called it -- is not only timeless, but dynamic. At the present time, it is safe to say that Lovecraft is today singularly influential from that group of "classic era" horror authors, surpassing even that of Poe.

Lovecraftian influence can be seen everywhere in literature and pop culture. Oddly enough, despite attempts at cannonizing him along with other literary greats, he remains largely a cult figure. Everybody seems to recognize the name, but not everyone can say they've actually read his writing.

When it comes to films, it's even a greater stretch. Who can say they realize that a film such as THE HAUNTED PALACE, while an obvious Poe title, was based more on a Lovecraft story (with a superb Charles Beaumont script)? The running and only half-joking phrase that's used by critics and fans is "Lovecraft, The Unfilmable" -- partly due to the fact that the true impact of his writing lends more towards the cerebral than visual.

Nevertheless, a handful of feature films and numerous short films have managed to capture the general essence of Lovecraft's "cosmic horror". In Issue #43 (Sept. 1975) of THE MONSTER TIMES, this theme is expounded upon.

Welcome to the First Portal of LOVECRAFTIANA WEEK here at MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD. I'll be posting various articles about movies based on Lovecraft's works, along with one or two biographical articles that include discussion of his influence on horror cinema. Enjoy!

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