Vincentennial Post #66 - Diabolique Magazine #6

The upcoming issue of Diabolique Magazine (#6) features a wonderful Vincent Price cover depicting him in as Matthew Hopkins in WITCHFINDER GENERAL, one of his finest performances. Not sure who did this artwork, but it's really fantastic. Nice artwork and I like the sketchy, hand drawn look to the linework. Interesting color choices, too - just a super cover and this issue features an accompanying 100 Years of Vincent Price feature inside as well. Looks like another must-have for Price fans. You can find out more about DIABOLIQUE Magazine here: http://horrorunlimited.com/home.php

Vincentennial Post #65 - VinCentennial Celebrating 100 Years of Vincent Price

Award winning artist Frank Dietz has decided to publish a new book called "VinCentennial, Celebrating 100 Years of Vincent Price." Coming in May, this promises to be really special. Frank has drawn tons of Vincent Price sketches over the years, and this book collects them all along with many other special tributes and remembrances of Vincent. Here is Frank's own description:

  This limited edition book features all of my Vincent Price artwork (both old and brand new), along with exclusive remembrances from film industry producers, directors, writers, artists and actors. Many actually knew and worked with Price, and many are members of this forum.

The contributors include Roger Corman, Richard Matheson, Clint Walker, Norman Lloyd, Donnie Dunagan, Caroline Munro, Joe Dante, John Landis, Mick Garris, Tom Holland, David J. Schow, Tim Lucas, Tom Weaver, Richard Taylor, John Goodwin, Bob & Kathy Burns, Larry Blamire, Jessie Lilley, Ted Newsom, Ron Clements, John Musker, James Karen, Trish Geiger, Mark Redfield, John Fasano, William Stout, Bernie Wrightson, Drew Struzan, C. Courtney Joyner, Lucy Chase Williams, Robert Taylor and Greg Nicotero.

Plus a heartfelt essay on THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES by writer-director Frank Darabont.

Vincentennial Post #64 - Vincent Price oil portrait by Daniel Horne

This is simply an amazing piece of art by Daniel Horne - a portrait of Vincent Price commissioned by none other Guillermo Del Toro - painted in oils, life size on stretched linen. Daniel shared this in the Classic Horror Film Board webpafge, and I had to share it here too!

Just look at that Detail - amazing!

Vincentennial Post #63 - Undying Monsters Magazine Vincent Price tribute

Continuing the Vincent Price tributes that are taking place all across the country, the fine folks at Undying Monsters Magazine have a 100 Year tribute to Vincent in their August issue, #2, which features a gorgeous Vincent Price cover. Visit their website for more information!

Vincentennial Post #62 - Vincent Price Award

Vincent Price received many awards, trophies, plaques, etc. during his long life.  Here's one of them--a small gold elephant on a walnut base.  The brass plaque on the front of the award says:  VINCENT PRICE, IN RECOGNITION OF YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO CIRCUS ART, THANK YOU, C.F.A 1985!  C.F.A. stands for Circus Fans of America Association.

From the Robert Taylor Collection

Vincentennial Post #61 - More PRICEless shells

Here we have more goodies from the Taylor collection. Robert owns many items that were originally Vincent's. Here's the description in his words...

Robert - It seems that you could open any box or drawer or door in Vincent Price's home and find more of his collections housed there.  Here was a surprise "bonus" found inside a silver cigarette box--still more of Vinnie's seashell collection.  Price treasured anything in which he found beauty or interest--from rare and highly valuable pieces of fine art to a handful of lowly tree snail shells!

Vincentennial Post #60 - Vincent's Boyhood Home

I have a couple of neat pictures and a funny story for you guys tonight. These all come straight from Price collector Robert Taylor, so I'll let him tell it in his own words...

Robert - In St. Louis this past April for the Vincentennial celebration there, I was lucky enough to have a chance to see Vincent Price's childhood home.  As you can see, it's beautifully kept to this day--no longer in the Price family, but some other family's cherished home.  As the family's finances improved (Vincent Sr. was a prominent St. Louis businessman--he ran a very successful candy company), the Prices moved from one "better house" to another.  Vinnie's mother, Marguerite, was what you might call "house proud", and this was the family's final home, a real beauty of a place!

Givens Hall, the architecture building on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis, stands directly across the street from Vincent Price's boyhood home.  When it was built in 1934, Vinnie's mother, Marguerite, took an instant and towering dislike for it, as it blocked her view of the administration building.  Mrs. Price was very proud of her British ancestry and had always like the idea that University the old administration building resembled Windsor Castle!  When this upstart Graeco-Roman building was put up, she took is as a personal insult and for six months she peppered the University's head honchos with letters insisting that Givens Hall be taken down!  Of course it never was--it stands there today--but while his mother lived, Vinnie heard endless repetitions of the continuing story of Margeuerite's fruitless battle with Washington University.

Dr. Gangrene's Horror Hootenanny PODCAST

Greetings Fright Fans!
Doc Gangrene here and I am proud to announce we have finalized details on this year's Horror Hootenanny. It is taking place Sat October 8th at THE MUSE in Nashville. I am placing the poster below - and in addition, I have created a brand new podcast to give you more details and a taste of some of the music and fun that will take place at the Hootenanny! So click below to listen or download the podcast, and I hope to see you ghouls at the HORROR HOOTENANNY SAT October 8th at THE MUSE in Nashville



Horror Hootenanny Podcast #1 by drgangrene

Download here:

http://soundcloud.com/drgangrene/horror-hootenanny-podcast-1

Hope to see you ghouls there!

Vincentennial Post #59 - Sea Shells

 Here is a very neat piece of Vincent memorabilia - among the endless things Vincent Price collected, rare seashells were high on the list for many years.  Here's the largest shell Vinnie owned--an Australian trumpet shell--you can see it with a smaller version of the same critter on a table in Vinnie's home in the 1960s in this photo:

Here is the shell today, held by Price collector Robert Taylor this past April in St. Louis as he spoke to a group at the Sheldon Galleries in his talk, "Vincent Price, Collector!"  You can see in this shot the drilled "blow hole" by which the South Sea islanders got loud trumpet tones from the shell. 

  Robert - Victoria Price says her father liked to try it out occasionally when he had guests over for dinner--and he was able to make quite a racket with it!

Vincentennial Post #58 - Price framed Paintings

Robert Taylor and I had an interesting discussion about whether Vincent ever owned a monkey in an earlier post. While it turns out he never did, here is a pair of paintings of monkeys that he owned and which now proudly hang in Robert Taylor's house...

Robert - This pair of monkey paintings hung in Vincent Price's home for some 30 years.  Price was, as has been discussed here, a big fan of animals who had many pets over the course of his long life.  He never had a real monkey as a pet, but he loved this pair of 19th Century paintings!

Vincentennial Post #57 - The Muppet Show

"I never met a monster I didn't like"



One of the coolest television appearances Vincent price ever made was on THE MUPPET SHOW. You just know he had fun with this one - here's two clips from Vincent Price on The Muppet Show, 1976:

Vincentennial Post #56 - Vincent Price original art

Another piece from the Robert Taylor collection, a wonderful original water color painting done late in life by Vincent.

Robert - During his last years, in the early 1990s, Vinnie would sometimes sit in bed with a set of watercolors and his art pad and paint odds and ends of whatever his imagination came up with.  Here's a page-ful of flowers he did.  It impresses me that even toward the last, in poor health and frequently feeling bad, Vinnie's hands chose the brightest and happiest colors of paint for his little watercolors.

Vincentennial Post #55 - Monsters From the Vault #30

Dr. Phibes Rises once again in MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT #30. Jim and Marian Clatterbaugh posted this beautiful cover on their blog - it features an amazing painting by Danial Horne of Vincent as Dr. Phibes. Awesome. On sale in October!!

Vincentennial Post #54 - Horror Monsters #10 article

In 1964 an article on Vincent Price appeared in Horror Monsters Magazine #10. This was actually the final issue of this Charleton Publication's magazine. These were originally scanned and posted over at MONSTER MAGAZINE WORLD - a blog dedicated to, as the title suggests, monster magazines. I also added the cover of the issue below - Click to enlarge and read the article...

Vincentennial Post #53 - Yale University bulletin

 I am very happy to be able to share some of Robert Taylor's wonderful Vincent Price collection with you here. Tonight I have a page from a Yale Bulletin talking about Vincent - and a fun little story about his name from Robert...

Robert - Here's an entry from a Yale bulletin in the early '30s.  I spoke to one of his great-nieces in St. Louis in April, and she was amused at my referring to him as "Vinnie" (as I spell it), as the family always referred to him by the nickname "Bink", and he was always, to her, "Uncle Bink"!  I told her that he'd also been called Vinnie by many, many folks--particularly old Hollywood friends, but look here--he was even called "Vinny" back when he was a 'teenager!

Vincentennial Post #52 - Milton Bradley Stay Alive Commercial

Wonderfully spooky commercial for the Milton Bradley game, Stay Alive, starring Vincent Price.

Morgus the Magnificent for the Rondo Award Hall of Fame

I posted this over at the Classic Horror Film Board today. That is the place to make suggestions for nominees for the Rondo Awards. I thought I'd repost it here, as it's good information on a classic horror host...
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Last year there were sadly no horror hosts inducted into the hall of fame, and I'd love to see that rectified this year.

I once again nominate Dr. Morgus aka Morgus the Magnificent.

Dr. Morgus began airing January 3, 1959, in New Orleans. Played by actor Sid Noel he is the classic mad scientist archetype. Along with his faithful sidekick Chopsley, Morgus introduced movies until the 1980s. In 2006 he came back on the air with a new batch of shows.

That is an incredible 50 year span as a horror host dating to present.  Morgus syndicated into Detroit in the 1960s, first with a 5 minute weather spot/skit at 5:55 together with a robot sidekick named 'Armsby' (the forecast was projected on Armsby's front panel/chest), then later with MORGUS PRESENTS hosting movies. It also ran on WPIX in New York at one point, as well as a few other cities, I believe.

Week of Nov. 21-29 he appeared in TV Guide nationally...(thanks to David Sechrest for posting them here in the CHFB originally (click to enlarge and read)

Morgus made a feature length movie in 1962 called THE WACKY WORLD OF DR. MORGUS.
It featured the Instant People Machine, which turned people into sand and then back again - a plot device that would be lifted in 1966 in a little film called BATMAN.



Dr. John even recorded a groovy Morgus theme song called MORGUS THE MAGNIFICENT

Right click here to download: Morgus The Magnificent

(not sure if that link will work, but you can find it here: http://www.horrorhostgrav.../morgus-magnificent.html at the Horror Host Graveyard)

Mardi Gras coin of Morgus

Actor Sid Noel is alive and well in New Orleans. I'd love to see him get this award while he is here to appreciate it.

Vote Morgus for the Hall of Fame. 

In the name of SCIENCE!

Beast Wishes - The Bob and Kathy Burns documentary

Hey guys - Frank Dietz and Trish Geiger are making a documentary on Bob and Kathy Burns called Beast Wishes and they need your help.

As you all probably know, Bob and Kathy are near and dear to me, as they are to many of you, too. Bob and Kathy are two of the genuinely nicest folks you'll ever meet in this world. This documentary is going to be something special - chronicling everything from Bob and Kathy's huge science fiction ...and horror collection (arguably the largest in the world, certainly the most impressive) to their early days working with Texas horror host Joe Alston aka THE HOST, to their amazing Halloween home haunts that drew thousands (with professional Hollywood talent and effects yet still FREE admission). This will be good.

They have a kickstarter campaign and are asking for donations to raise money to make this film. If you can make a donation, anything at all, please do so here: http://www.kickstarter.com/pro​jects/1824891397/beast-wishes-​the-bob-and-kathy-burns-movie

They have 18 days to reach 11,000 dollars. If you pledge different amounts there are different incentives you get. And if you can't make a donation, no problem, simply re-posting this message where others can see it will help, too.

Midnight Syndicate - Carnival Arcane

    Midnite Syndicate has released a new CD called Carnival Arcane. I got a copy this past weekend and can't stop liastening to it!  As with all of Midnight Syndicate’s CDs it is full of movie style dark music perfectly suited for Halloween, but this one is more thematic in nature, set in a twisted traveling attraction called the Lancaster Rigby Carnival. Carnivals are always a spooky setting for a movie, and that’s what this is – the audio equivalent of a movie. It contains 25 tracks, each based on a different element of the Carnival – The Midway, the Freakshow, Under the Big Top, Goons and Greasepaint, Madame Zora – I can just smell the mix of cotton candy and fear. Definitely a worthy addition to the Midnight Syndicate  oeuvre,  come take a trio to the big top – if you dare!

Vincentennial Post #51 - The Price family Victorian Sewing Box

  Boy this Vincentennial countdown has been fun! I tell ya I could go forever writing about good ole Vinnie. We passed the halfway mark yesterday with the post about the Poe Films. Today I have another rare and beautiful piece from the Robert Taylor collection.

  Vincent Price's 2nd wife, Mary Grant Price, was a well-known Hollywood costume designer.  This Victorian sewing box was a treasured piece of family history she kept on display in the Price home.  Surrounding the box's paneled sides are childhood photos from the Price and Grant families.  Here you can see two of Vinnie as a child--at left, he sits on the lap of his older brother Mort (James Mortimer Price), and at right, young Vinnie, aged around 9, smiles at the camera.  You can readily see how blonde his hair was as a kid in this photo taken outdoors in the sunshine.

Vincentennial Post #50 - The Poe Films

Vincent Price made a series of six films based on Edgar Allen Poe stories with director Roger Corman. This "Poe Series" was highly successful and are fan favorites to this very day.

The Poe films and his roles in them were:

House of Usher

Roderick Usher 

Pit and the Pendulum

Nicholas Medina

Tales of Terror

3 Roles - Locke, Fortunato Luchresi (pictured), Ernest Valdemar

The Raven

Dr. Erasmus Craven

The Masque of the Red Death

Prince Prospero

The Tomb of Ligea

Verden Fell

Vincentennial Post #49 - THRILLER

What's that I smell? The foulest stench in the air, the funk of forty thousand years? Michael Jackson - John Landis - Vincent Price - in 1983 these three gentlemen collaborated on a music video that would make music history. Thriller. Never before or after has there been a video like this. So freakin cool. I like to think it's Vinnie's rap in the middle that took it that extra mile. Certainly did for me. Here's the music video below in case you haven't seen it in a while. LOVE the shot of Forry Ackerman sitting square dead center frame behind Michael. Landis is such a monster-kid! Don't fight it - you know you wanna rewatch it - cause no mere mortal can resist, the evil of The Thriller...

Vincentennial Post #48 - ESCAPE

Vincent Price is best known today for his vast body of film work, but Vincent also did plenty of work in radio in his time, too.

Among these was an episode of a show called ESCAPE, from March 17, 1950. The episode is called THREE SKELETON CREW, about a spooky lighthouse... and rats...

Vincentennial Post #47 - Dr. Price's Baking Powder

Vincent Price was obviously from a family of means. His Grandfather, Vincent Clarence Price, invented Baking Powder. Below are some original Dr. Price's Baking Powder containers and advertisements.

In a precursor to his grandson's cookbook publication decades later, Vincent Clarence Price published his own cookbook with recipes using his baking powder