I always thought the monsters on the cover of Horror Monsters number 10 (winter 1974) looked cute and cuddly, like wide-eyed kiddy versions of the Teenage Frankenstein, Teenage Werewolf, and Christopher Lee’s Frankenstein Monster.
Despite the NEW! banner over the logo, this was the last issue of the title. It would also be curtains for its sister publication, Mad Monsters, as Charlton Publications cashed out of the movie monster magazine sweepstakes. The end must have been in sight as the editors made a last ditch attempt at repurposing the magazine. An editorial promised that “future issues of the New Horror Monsters… will bring you actual fantastic cases of people, like you, changing into hideous monsters, possessed creatures, distorted and inhuman!”
New features in this issue included a short piece of horror fiction, The Monster in the Tomb by Samuel Gogel, and a “true fact” article on vampires (illustrated with movie stills) by Dr. K. Kalman, “Professor of the Occult, the Mystic, Black Magic, and Vampirism”. Otherwise the issue contained the usual photo features, and a space-filling alphabetical Horror Reader. The Frankenstein entry goes, “F is for Frankenstein/Known by all horror fen/As the creep who was made/From parts of dead men!”
As with all the Charlton horror movie mags, the cover artist, editors and feature writers are not identified, though some of the material shows a good knowledge of the films covered. The Charlton titles were a cheaply produced, a little crude, a little gaudy, and a lot of fun.
My previous Charlton magazine posts: Horror Monsters No.2, and Mad Monsters No.5.
LOVE that cover!
ReplyDeletei miss Charlton Comics. they were odd, sometimes awful, and you could hardly ever find them at a newsstand, but they had *something*...
ReplyDeleteFUN magazine cover. LOVE those vintage horror illustrations!
ReplyDeleteHave a Vonderful holiday weekend!
Spooky CK
"...i miss Charlton Comics ... they had *something*..."
ReplyDeleteThey did indeed, Rob.
The company was cheap - and likely Mob-run; the books were often printed horribly. BUT-
-the Editorial policy kept folks like Ditko, Sutton, Cuti, Staton, & Boyette there. It was, basically, "you do the material whatever way you want, and we'll print it!"
Best,
-Craig W.
>"you do the material whatever way you want, and we'll print it!"
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting tidbit Craig! Very cool...