Freddy Krueger

Freddy Krueger as portrayed by Robert Englund in 1994's "Wes Craven's New Nightmare."

I wasn't aware of the back story behind the creation of Freddy Kruger until I watched Adam Rockoff's "Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film." In which Wes Craven tells an eerily fascinating story, retold here from the Wikipedia:

Wes Craven states that the film was inspired by several newspaper articles printed in the LA times on a group of Cambodian refugees and their children, who, after fleeing to America from Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime, were suffering horrific nightmares, after which they refused to sleep. Acting on medical advice, their parents encouraged them to do so. However, each of the children died in their sleep soon after, following the second dream. After Craven read the articles covering these events, he began writing the film. Other sources also attribute the inspiration for the movie to be a 1968 student film project made by students of Craven's at Clarkson University. The student film parodied contemporary horror movies, and was filmed along Elm Street in Potsdam, NY.

By Craven's account, he had been bullied at school by a child named Fred Krueger, and named his villain accordingly. (He had done the same in his earlier film The Last House on the Left, where the rapist's name was shortened to 'Krug'). He based Krueger's appearance on another childhood experience in which he had been scared by a homeless man with a very distinctive red-and-green sweater; the same colored sweater he chose for his villain. In addition, it has been stated that Craven had read that those were the two hardest colors to visually process together, which is another reason as to why he chose the respective colored sweater.

As always you can purchase a signed and numbered limited edition print of this, or any of my prints by clicking the button bellow, or visiting the store. HURRY, there are only 13 DAYS LEFT until our BUY 1 GET 1 FREE SALE ends!

More sad news: R.I.P. Bobby "Boris" Pickett

Bobby "Boris" Pickett has passed away at the age of 69.

More information here.

R.I.P. Lawson J. Deming aka Sir Graves Ghastly

Lawson J. Deming
April 23rd 1913 — April 24th 2007


I just woke up to the sad, sad news that Lawson Deming the man who played horror host Sir Graves Ghastly passed away last night (April 24th). Anyone who knows me, or has visited this site knows the profound effect growing up watching Lawson's work as Sir Graves had on me.

R.I.P. Lawson! And thanks for everything!

UPDATE:

Keith over at www.sirgravesghastly.com has posted the following information.

Lawson had pneumonia recently and hadn't been responding to antibiotics. He died of congestive heart failure Tuesday, in Cleveland.

Funeral services will be held Sunday April 29th at the Zeis McGreevey Funeral Home, 16105 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, Ohio. In lieu of flowers, the Deming family requests that friends and fans please consider making a monetary contribution to the Cleveland Institute of Art.

Channel 2 in Detroit has posted this video about Lawson's death.

Here is an article on Lawson's passing from the Detroit Free Press

________________________________________

I found this well written brief description of "Sir Graves Ghastly Presents" on the IMDB written by Jimmy Shine...

Anyone who grew up in the Michigan and Ohio area remembers Sir Graves Ghastly, who hosted this horror movie show. His distinctive, blood-curdling laugh ("Neeeeeeeahhhaahhhhahhhhhahhhh!"), and his salutation "Happy Hauntings!" were two of his most enduring trademarks. What really set Sir Graves apart from other horror movie hosts was a sense of playfulness and wit that he brought to his bumpers, in-between station breaks and whatever film happened to be showing that day. This was during the day when local tv still had a certain glamour to it, a certain allure to the local communities, when tv stations had their own in-house shows and celebrities - that sense is now long gone. Also long gone are the movie packages that these local stations bought, and which fueled shows such as "Sir Graves", where classic films such as "Frankenstein" or "The Wolfman" would appear, followed by "Plan 9 From Outer Space." Now every film title known to man has been hoarded and reserved by huge media enterprises, to be shown for a premium on cable tv, or worse, withdrawn altogether. Sir Graves was known to everyone within his broadcasting circle, which isn't surprising when you remember that when he was at the peak of his success, tv was still relatively cable-free, and many communities still had only three or four channels to view. It's hard to believe that today, what with all the hundreds of channels now available. I'm not sure if Sir Graves would have the same impact he had on so many back in the 1960's through the early 1980's, if he was lost amid the thousands of shows that are available today; certainly not because his clever show is somehow lacking in comparison to current television fare - quite the opposite. It would be because his quirky, entertaining, charming little show wouldn't be considered worth the effort and money anymore; charm and wit are very low on the lists of requirements for most television shows today. It's too bad the environment for his kind of art is now gone.


For a more through look at the career of Lawson Deming, please visit Keith Milford's wonderful "Haunted History of Sir Graves Ghastly."

Chucky

Chucky as portrayed by Brad Dourif in 2004's "Seed of Chucky" written and directed by Don Mancini.

By request, here's Chucky!

I urge all of you who haven't taken the time to sit and watch "Seed of Chucky" to do so, this isn't your run of the mill "Child's Play" entry, The movie guest stars John Waters as an ill fated paparazzi fer God's Sake!

From the opening moments and the realization of what the substance is that has just splattered its way across the screen, to the introduction of Chucky's gender confused offspring Glen/Glenda it is clear that this film has it's tongue firmly in it's polyurethane cheek.

The film is ripe with filmic references from the works of Ed Wood, to the Rock Hudson classic "Pillow Talk."

As always, you can buy this print, or any of my prints (be sure to take advantage of our BUY 1 GET 1 FREE SALE!) for a mere $25.00 by visiting the store, or simply by clicking the button below.

Interview

Hey all,

I recently had the privilege of being interviewed by Mark from GorillaMen.com.

You can check it out here.

Vote For Me!

Hey everyone,

I've entered a contest to design a cover for Rue Morgue magazine, The contest is based on the number of votes you get so if you could take a second and click on the link below and click the "VOTE" button I'd sure appreciated it!

Thanks!

R

Vote Here!

King Kong

King Kong as portrayed by Willis H. O'Brien in Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's 1933 classic "King Kong."

"Some big hard-boiled egg gets a look at a pretty face and bang - he cracks up and goes sappy." - Carl Denham

That quote pretty much says it all! Here's another portrait of my all time favorite monster.

Enjoy!

R

To purchase a signed limited edition print please be sure to visit the store, or click the button bellow.