LET'S HAVE A MONSTER PARTY!

Now that we're getting a little closer to the season of delight and dread where a lot of us feel the stress and not so much the joy, how about a little fun to help those of us along?

CRACKED'S MONSTER PARTY lasted for an amazing 46 issues, from July 1988 until Spring 2000. Shown here today is issue #41 (Fall 1998) which was just a few issues away from its last. The cover is by Frank Cummings who produced a dozen covers for the Globe Communications humor 'zine. The only new strip is "Boffy the Vampy Slayer", a parody of the then-popular BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, written by Todd Jackson and illustrated by Rurik Tyler who has a long list of credits with Globe, Marvel, Eternity, MAD and numerous others. The rest are reprints, but are a hoot to revisit again.

Go on, yuck it up!

TOPSTONE TUESDAY

How about this -- two Topstone Tuesdays in a row!

Based in New York, Andrea Sicco is an artist, musician and graphic designer. She is also the maker of some incredibly awesome hand-made and painted latex monster masks, including a better-than-the-original recreation of the legendary Topstone Cyclops mask.

These are not only masks, but works of art. See more of them HERE.

From the artist:

CYCLOP latex mask handmade by SICCO's HORROR MASKS. This is my tribute to the original Keith Ward sculpt of the One-Eyed Cyclop, made for Topstone Industries, and super rare / nearly impossible to find in the collector's market. Each mask is made to order, and can be made for display or to wear. Two versions are available; classic Topstone-style paint work (same as would-be production copy), or "deluxe" version, with more detailed paint work (see photos). Please specify which version you'd like to receive upon ordering. Please allow up to 7 days for production and shipping, as this is NOT mass-produced.

Each mask is numbered and signed by the artist.

NEW ARTICLE PUBLISHED!

Hey, all you horror comics lovers! The fourth installment of my series has just been published in Dead Letter Press' NIGHTMARE ABBEY #7. Edited by Tom English it includes some top-notch fiction by Steve Rasnic Tem, Steve Duffy, Helen Grant, Steven Volk and many others within its 146 pages. Also included is an article on Hammer Films' THE DEVIL RIDES OUT by John Llewellyn Probert. Allen Koszowski provides the cover and some super interior art.

In "Fear in Four Colors: The Hideous History of Horror Comics in America, The Ghoulunatics" I cover the greatest horror comics of them all, the legendary EC titles. I delve behind the scenes on the ideas and development of these still-popular tomes. Included are a ton of covers and illos.

You can support Tom's great magazine by ordering it HERE or on the right side bar of this page.

You can also order it through my Amazon Author Page HERE.

And if you haven't yet, head on over to my recently-launched new blog, FEAR IN FOUR COLORS for lots more horror comics!

Thanks bunches for your interest!