Halloween Season 1,000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (White Mountain, art by Lewis T. Johnson)

This is the second puzzle I got during last week's visit to TJ Maxx. It had been on my wishlist, and finding it there for $9 cheaper than MSRP was quite a nice score! (The thrift stores here are terrible, so I have to take my wins where I can get 'em!) I've only done one White Mountain puzzle previously, and liked the brand well enough based on that experience. This puzzle did nothing to blemish my opinion of them. There was little dust, the pieces were thick and sturdy, and they fit well together. False fits were certainly possible, but the design generally made it very easy to avoid them. The collage is fun to look at, and putting it together revealed plenty of details I'd missed from viewing the box, as many of the of the best puzzles do. My favorite bits are some of the most obvious ones, however, such as the Aurora Universal Monster models and the vintage greeting card art. I really like the often funky piece shapes, too. I can easily see this puzzle becoming a favorite that I rebuild annually during the lead-up to Halloween! I have a few Xmas-themed White Mountain puzzles in my to-do stack, and based on my experiences with the two I've put together, I'm looking forward to assembling them in a couple of months!

Werewolf Wednesday: The Wolf Man Makeup Process

Previously on this date: Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, Frankenstein, and Macabre Monster Nails!

Today we'll be looking at various photos of Lon Chaney Jr. enduring the long makeup process that transformed him into the Wolf Man again and again over the years, mostly at the hands of Jack Pierce. Enjoy!

Werewolf Wednesday: The Wolfman (2010)

Previously on this date: The Mummy (1932), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and DIY Vinyl Halloween figures!

2010's remake of the 1940s classic The Wolf Man was much maligned on its release, and not without reason. It's a very uneven film, and its good qualities-- such as the performances by its main cast-- are largely outweighed by its flaws. No matter what anyone thinks of the movie as a whole, however, one thing we can all agree on is that the werewolf designs and effects are fantastic!

Werewolf Wednesday: The Evolution of Lon Chaney Jr's Wolf Man

Previously on this date: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Frightening Frankenstein Figures!

The Wolf Man is one of the great monsters of the classic Universal canon, no doubt about it. Unique among the classic movie monsters, the hirsute horror was portrayed throughout his existence by a single actor: Lon Chaney Jr. Chaney Jr. is generally held in lesser regard than many of his peers, but I maintain that, while he was not as versatile as Karloff, Lugosi, or his own father, he was a good deal better than he is normally given credit for. today we're taking a look at a selection of photos and film stills to demonstrate how the look of the Wolf Man changed over the years.

Naturally, 1941's The Wolf Man is the place to begin.

His look was basically unchanged for several years, as this shot from 1944's House of Frankenstein shows.

However, once master makeup artist Jack Pierce was replaced with Bud Westmore, the makeup process was altered in several ways to make it quicker and easier. This was the result, seen in 1948's Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

These photos of Chaney's appearance as the Wolf Man on the 1960s TV series Route 66 display the importance of someone like Pierce or Westmore, not to mention an adequate makeup budget.

As a bonus, here's a nice shot of The Wolf Man co-star Evelyn Ankers pitching in.

Creep on back tomorrow for more classic horror goodness!

Werewolf Wednesday: Oliver Reed in The Curse of the Werewolf!

Previously on this date: The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and The Frankenstein Project!

1961's The Curse of the Werewolf is generally regarded as one of the lesser films in the Hammer horror cycle, though it's a perfectly decent movie in its own right. (I'll have to get around to doing a full feature on it here one of these days.) It's perhaps best known today for starring a young Oliver Reed. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm convinced that Benicio Del Toro's Lawrence Talbot in the 2010 remake of The Wolf Man was based on Reed in this film. Take a look at the photo below and try to tell me you can't see a strong resemblance.

 Get a load of this next one; Hammer definitely knew where their box office bread was buttered!

Halloween month kickoff!

To kick off October, I thought I'd share a couple of photos of some of the new Halloween decorations I've picked up in the last couple of months. (Just to clarify, I won't have time to do a Halloween-related post every day of the month like I used to, but you can absolutely expect plenty of Halloween and horror-related content, as ever.)

First up, courtesy of Dollar Tree, we have the Grotesque Garden Gazebo!

They're not as detailed or as well-painted as the Halloween miniature's you'll see at other places, but the price was right!

When I visited the Spirit Store a couple of days after they opened back up, I found this fella priced at $4.97! No idea why he was the only one marked down while the others were all still full price, but I didn't care. I snatched him up in a blur.

Pretty awesome, eh? Probably my favorite of all the fucked-up horror babies they had up there. (And if the Spirit Halloween store wants to use that line as an endorsement, they're welcome to do so!)

The new series of Lego minifigures has also been showing up the last couple of weeks, ahead of the official release date. I stopped by Walgreen's last week and happened to find the one I wanted most, the one they call Spooky Girl, who is totally not Wednesday Addams. She went right into the centerpiece Haunted House display, of course!

We'll close things out with  few pics of things I saw in stores that I was too cheap-- er, that is, too budget-conscious to buy.
Remember when I mentioned how you can find better Halloween miniatures than my Dollar Tree discoveries? Michael's always has plenty, and this was the most impressive.

This food truck was pretty awesome, too.

Note the prices, however. That lighthouse is pretty badass, but it's not $100 badass.
Back at the Spirit store, we have this apparently bewildered ghost lady who is cursed with man hands.

Then there is this pleasant scene. I think I can see why your toilet's clogged, lady.

That's it for today. Lately, I'm knee-deep in Forza Horizon 2 when I'm not ogling Halloween stuff and working on my next book, so give me a holler if you happen to see me on the open road!

Construction of the Haunted House

I teased you with this last time, and here it is: the MASSIVE and AMAZING Haunted House! At over 2000 pieces, this is far and away the biggest Lego set I've ever owned. Nearly all the ones I had when I was a kid were dinky little $5 sets; I couldn't even dream of getting something like this back then! Cindy wanted to help, so we put on a succession of classic horror movies and spent the next eight hours building!

Here are all the parts! I didn't count exactly how many bags of parts the box contained, but it was around twenty.

The three instruction books...

... and the decals.

First floor done!

Some interior rooms. Note the ship in the bottle.

Two floors down!

Completed! A couple of days later, I modified the top so that it can spin, based on a suggestion I saw somewhere on the web. I had actually been looking for ideas for a weathervane, but came across that and liked the idea.

One side of the attic. I friggin' love that it has a Victrola!

Yeah, it's a pretty nice house, but can it really be called a home with no coffins? (Note the mid-day snack in the jar next to the bed.)

Make sure you squeeze all the flavor out of that spice serpent! (The organ is an original creation I whipped up a few weeks earlier.)

The entry room and staircase.

A little office area, complete with desk and stationary!

"Here's a little number I tossed off recently in the Caribbean..."

Here's the hearse. As a potential future project, I want to build a garage for it in a matching style.

Brick-Ho-Tep swings by for a visit.

Gill Man and Scarecrow hanging out next to the tree, in which dwells...

... the Wolf Man! The tree is significantly modified from its normal version, and I'll mod it further as I acquire more branch and "leaf" pieces.

"I bid you welco-- RARRRGH! FIRE BAAAAAADD!!!!"

Cindy was sold as soon as she saw that it had this widow's walk! Love the zombie faces carved into the columns.

Full shot of the house, with Man-Bat stopping by to hang out.

Yeti in the ice cave I whipped up for him. If you look closely, you may be able to see the dismembered Lego body parts he's been snacking on in the cave behind him.

The spire, post-modding. It's pretty cool to spin it and watch the ghosts swirl around the witch.

The mad scientist hanging out by the porch, possibly drinking a urine sample.

Sweet liquor eases the Frankenstein Monster's pain.

Full shot, with all minifgs added.

These are the minifigs that actually came with the house(there were two ghosts). Cindy is holding them; my nails are not that fabulous.

Circa 1931

I can say without a shred of doubt that, of all the Lego sets I've lusted after over the years, this one is my favorite. I'm very glad that I got back into the Lego addiction in time to get it before it's discontinued and the price skyrockets. (Seriously, if you wanna invest some money with no risk, buy some of these. They'll be going for 2 or 3 times the retail price in a couple of years. Lego sets are never worth less than you pay for them, provided you get them at or below retail.)

The Haunted House occupies a place of honor in the house, and will be the centerpiece of my Halloween decorations in the years to come. I'd still like to get the castle that is part of the Monster Fighters line, but if and when I do, it won't displace the Haunted House. This thing is simply amazing.