Wednesday, September 14, 2016

CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN NO. 16 (PART 1)


CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN
Vol. 4 No. 4 (Whole #16)

1971
Gothic Castle Publishing Company
Created, Edited and Published by Calvin T. Beck
Managing Editor and Layouts: Bhob Stewart

Associate Editor: Philip B. Moshcovitz
Publisher Emeritus: Charles F. Kane
Layout Assistant: Frank Brunner

Business Manager: Helen Beck
Cover: Ken Kelly
Pages: 68


It would have been interesting to be a "fly on the wall" in Cal Beck's home office during the days of the making of his horror/fantasy magazine, CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN. The editorial and production staff gained and lost personnel and titles changed seemingly with every issue. Still, amid all the chaos, CoF had become a respected title among monster fans.

Bhob Stewart returned in this, the 16th issue as managing editor and layouts while Beck's mother, Helen, became the magazine's business manager. Frank Brunner remained as a layout assistant.

This "Satanism and Vampires" issue is a strong entry in the run of CoF. Leading off is an interview with author Robert Bloch. There is, what must have been in the day, a very notable article on two (at the time) lost films, THE MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM and Fredric March's DR. JEYKLL AND MR. HYDE. Other films covered are THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, COUNT YORGA, and THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. Peter John Dyer's overview of horror film history, "All Manner of Fantasies", concludes in this issue. Victoria Vetri (aka Angela Dorian) is the CoF "Slaymate of the Month" and Berni Wrightson has one of his horror strips, "A Case of Conscience". Rounding out the issue is material on DARK SHADOWS and the usual, abundant reviews. Beck rails on Nixon and the Vietnam War in his "Headitorial".
































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