The Daves would like to thank Rob Dimension for this coverage of Monster Mania!
MonsterMania 20 has come and gone, leaving the usually peaceful Hunt Valley, MD in ruins…well, not exactly. The Horror Convention hosted some of the greatest Horror Icons and Movie stars with names like John Carpenter, Anthony Michael Hall, Norman Reedus, Jeffrey Combs and many more. The crowd was the best yet for the NJ based convention..plus, it was a great time had by all who attended.
Welcome to part two of my series on the best alien invasion films of the 50’s. If you missed part one then by all means click HERE! 1951 featured quite a few entries in the alien invasion genre, two in particular that in my opinion, are two of the all-time best science fiction films ever released! The first one is THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, directed by Robert Wise and starring Michael Rennie and Patricia Neal.
One thing the Daves have always had fun doing is interviewing as many of the great horror hosts as we can. The interviews have all been very popular on Terror From Beyond The Daves and we always try to ask questions that you don’t normally see in interviews. This time out, we present the one and only Roxsy Tyler, from Roxsy Tyler’s Carnival Of Horrors!
The 50’s must have been an amazing time to be a film fan, especially if you liked science fiction. Thanks to pilot Kenneth Arnold’s sighting of nine flying discs on June 24, 1947, the possibility of alien invaders became an all-too-real reality. America had just come out of World War II two years earlier and I am sure that people were still paranoid and tense. Nationwide reports of unidentified flying objects would only add to this paranoia and the film industry took full advantage by playing off of these fears.
Welcome to part 2 of my overview of Halloween-themed novelty songs. If you missed part 1 you can see it HERE. Before I get down to my recommendations let me warn you about buying Cd’s like this. When you see Halloween Cd’s in stores ALWAYS look to make sure that the songs are by “original artists”. Many times these Cd’s available in major retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target feature popular Halloween songs but done by people you have never heard of. If they don’t list the MONSTER MASH as being sung by Bobby “Boris” Pickett then guess what, it’s not! Even if it says by “various artists” it is probably done by artists you have never heard of. That’s the reason so many of these Cd’s cost so little. All of the Cd’s I present here feature songs by the original artists, unless noted otherwise.
With the end of Labor Day weekend also unofficially signifies the end of summer (even if the calendar says otherwise). This is actually my favorite time of year. The cooler nights, shorter days and Halloween decorations galore in every store. Yes…Halloween is my favorite holiday, even at my age. Growing up has many fond memories for me, especially at Halloween…carving pumpkins, dressing up as one of my favorite monsters, trick or treating and even listening to the Dr. Demento Show with his annual Halloween special. It’s a real shame that kids these days make little effort to keep the Halloween traditions alive (perhaps they should watch the movie TRICK ‘R TREAT to see what can happen!). Kids rarely dress up as scary things anymore. Witches, vampires and ghosts are a thing of the past, replaced with super-heroes, princesses and whatever top 40 music star is popular that year (or my favorite costume, wearing army fatigues and painting your face black…ooooh scaary! Could you tell that I was just extremely sarcastic?). Also missing these days is the Dr. Demento Show, at least in my area. According to the good doctor’s website he is in fact still broadcasting every week, just in more of a limited capacity. It’s too bad that Sirius/XM wouldn’t pick up his weekly show.
Terror from Beyond the Dave 