Tuesday, October 28, 2008

2008 Halloween Countdown 28: Elvira Pinball

Elvira and the Party Monsters pinball machine from Bally was released in 1989. Some of the features include wake the dead heads, party punch, skull lock and monster ramp. Bally released Scared Stiff in 1996 and features a spin spider. Both pinball machines were designed by Dennis Nordman and are holy grails for most Mistress of the Dark fans. I have neither but I did play Elvira and the Party Monsters on a trip to Wichita University back in the early 1990s.

Here are some pictures of the Elvira and the Party Monsters pinball machine that I found on the interweb:
Elvira and the Party Monsters promo flyer front cover
Elvira and the Party Monsters promo flyer front cover

Elvira and the Party Monsters promo flyer back cover
Elvira and the Party Monsters promo flyer back cover

Elvira and the Party Monsters promo flyer centerfold
Elvira and the Party Monsters promo flyer centerfold

Here are some pictures of the Scared Stiff pinball machine that I found on the interweb:
Scared Stiff pinball flyer
Scared Stiff pinball flyer

Scared Stiff pinball poster
Scared Stiff pinball poster

Scared Stiff pinball promo photos
Scared Stiff pinball promo photos

Scared Stiff promo video featuring Elvira:

Monday, October 27, 2008

2008 Halloween Countdown 27 Bonus: Crematia Mortem

I never watched any of Elvira's Movie Macabre when they originally ran so I need to post about the horror hostess that I did watch. From 1981 to 1988, Roberta Solomon played Crematia Mortem, the ghostess with the mostess, on KSHB-TV Channel 41 out of Kansas City, Missouri. She hosted Creature Feature every Saturday night and I had more fun watching her than the movies. The only item that I have is a DVD of her hosting Laserblast.

Crematia Mortem postcard

The postcard was originally found at T.V. Horror Hosts: Crematia Mortem.

Here are a few videos featuring Roberta Solomon back as Crematia Mortem:


The Basement Sublet of Horror interview



Introducing movie at Feast of Horrors 2007 convention in Wichita, KS

2008 Halloween Countdown 27: Chill's Evenings of Terror With Elvira

Evenings of Terror is a Chill roleplaying game supplement from Pacesetter that was published in 1985. Not only does color pictures of Elvira adorn the front and back covers but there are also black and white pictures before and after each adventure. She even introduces and ends each of the nine adventures of horror like the following:

"This is Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, getting all you CHILL fans ready for our first Evening of Terror, an adventure called "The Epidemic." Kind of a catchy title for an adventure, isn't it...but really what happens is that everybody goes to this town to try and find out why people are vanishing mysteriously and why animals are dropping over dead. And this S.A.V.E. organization which is supposed to be so goody-goody, right? This S.A.V.E. organization gives the people a little puppy and kitten to use as bait. I mean, when you need the ASPCA, they're never around.

"Well, the excitement waiting for the adventure to begin is kind of contagius, don't you think? So let's get on with the story..."

"O.K., first off, what's with these Pacesetter guys? Animal zombies? Little dog's body with a little kitten's head? For that matter, a little kitten's body with a little dog's head. I mean, gross me out! These guys are really not subtle or anything.

"And one verterinarian who just happens to be there? Sure. Just happens to know about half the stuff those S.A.V.E. folks need to know. Made it kinda easy for them, if you ask me. Even if you don't ask me.

"Anyway, the next adventure is going to be more tougher. But more of that later. As for now...Unpleasant Dreams."

For those not in the know, Chill: Adventures into the Unknown was a horror roleplaying game released in 1984. The players work for S.A.V.E. (Societas Argenti Viae Eternitata, or, The Eternal Society of the Silver Way), a secret society dedicated to protecting the innocent from creatures of the unknown. I had the boxed set and several supplements before I sold them several years ago. Mayfair Games bought the game and put out a second edition that gave the rules a facelift.

I had some fun with Evenings of Terror but never actually used any of the nine adventures of horror with my gaming group. I did make a very large campaign with Elvira as a main focus. One player found out the hard way never to take a sleeping pill in a supernatural charged place. Another player had fun hitting werewolves with his silver briefcase.

Evenings of Terror with Elvira front cover
Evenings of Terror with Elvira front cover

Evenings of Terror with Elvira back cover
Evenings of Terror with Elvira back cover

Sunday, October 26, 2008

2008 Halloween Countdown 26 Bonus: The Batman vs. Dracula

The Batman vs Dracula was a full-length animated movie released on DVD in 2005 that was much darker than the cartoon series. Vicki Vale makes her first animated appearance and she was voiced by Tara Strong (she was also the voice of Barbara Gordon/Batgirl on The New Batman Adventures and Raven on Teen Titans).

2008 Halloween Countdown 26: Elvira At Claypool Comics Part 3

The final covers from my collection of the Elvira, Mistress of the Dark comic book series from Claypool Comics.

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #35 (March 1996) featured "For Your Spies Only" and "The House That Roared".
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #35 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #35 cover

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #66 (October 1998) featured "Groan" and "Historical Babes Capter Seven: Maid to Order".
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #66 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #66 cover

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #67 (November 1998) featured "The Search For Schlock" and "Historical Babes Capter Eight: Showgirls".
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #67 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #67 cover

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #69 (January 1999) featured "White House or Bust" and "Diving Belle".
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #69 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #69 cover

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #151 (November 2005) featured "Death Cargo of Doom" and "Elvira: S.C.I. (Supernatural Crime Investigation)"
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #151 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #151 cover

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark 152 (December 2005) featured "Holiday Humbug" and "This Is Vinyl Crap Part One: Blast from the Past".
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #152 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #152 cover

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #153 (January 2006) featured "A Nose For Slease" and "This Is Vinyl Crap Part Two: New Year's Evil".
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #153 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #153 cover

Back issues page
Back issues page

Saturday, October 25, 2008

2008 Halloween Countdown 25: Elvira At Claypool Comics Part 2

More covers of the Elvira, Mistress of the Dark comic book series from Claypool Comics.

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #10 (February 1994) featured "Spook Off" and "The Prince of Froggenstein".
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #10 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #10 cover

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #12 (April 1994) featured "Phantom of the Soap Opera" and "Mummy Dearest".
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #12 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #12 cover

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #13 (May 1994) featured "Elvira Meets Renfield & Stimpfield & Their Boss or The Children of the Night...What Cruddy TV Shows They Make" and "Killer Cherubs".
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #13 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #13 cover

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #14 (June 1994) featured "You Drive Me Ape, Ya Big Gorilla" and "High Camp".
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #14 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #14 cover

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #15 (July 1994) featured "You Drive Me Ape, Ya Big Gorilla Part Two" and "The Most Happy Felon".
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #15 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #15 cover

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #16 (August 1994) featured "Little Miss Marketing Ploy" and "Good As Her Word".
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #16 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #16 cover

Friday, October 24, 2008

2008 Halloween Countdown 24 Bonus - Blog Alert: Adventures In Nerdliness

Darius has a cool new logo featuring Elvira at his blog, Adventures In Nerdliness, to celebrate the Halloween season. He has mad skills to be sure since he used the "Yours Cruelly" header that I included in my last post. Be sure to also check out his posts about nerd girls, archaic game materials, Dungeons and Dragons, comics and other topics that nerds like me enjoy.

2008 Halloween Countdown 24: Elvira At Claypool Comics Part 1

Claypool Comics was created in 1993 and began publishing Peter David's Soulsearchers and Company, Richard Howell's Deadbeats and Phantom of Fear City. They also obtained the rights to publish Elvira, Mistress of the Dark comic book series that lasted for 166 issues and two trade paperback collections. Cassandra Peterson had input in the series and even suggested several stories. The artists and writers varied from story to story with Richard Howell serving as letterer, editor and writer for several of the stories.

The company stopped printing in July 2006 thanks to the fact that Diamond Comic Distributors would no longer carry their titles. Deadbeats made the shift to online publication in April 2007 but alas they lost the license to publish the Elvira, Mistress of the Dark series.

I do not have the entire series nor do I have any of the paperback collections. Each issue of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark has photo covers, black and white interiors and two stories. I will be posting the covers of the issues that I have for the next couple of posts.

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #3 (July 1993) featured "Curse & Tell Part Two: Charmed, I'm Sure" and "All in the Family Chapter Three: House Party".
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #3 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #3 cover

Yours Cruelly header
Yours Cruelly header

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #4 featured "Carrie On, Classmates" and "All in the Family Chapter 4: Exeter Only".

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #4 cover

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #7 (November 1993) featured "Over-Exposed" and "Death Takes A Honeymoon".
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #7 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #7 cover

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #8 (December 1993) featured "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow (or get cable!)" and "Child's Christmas (with whales)".
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #8 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #8 cover

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #9 (January 1994) featured "Dino Park" and "Femme Noir".
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #9 cover
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark #9 cover

Thursday, October 23, 2008

2008 Halloween Countdown 23 Bonus: Kansas Lottery Haunted House Tickets

In reponse to Wonderful Wonderblog's Halloween Instant Lottery challenge, I present to you two Kansas Lottery Haunted House tickets. Neither is a winner but you can see all the neat little symbols that you have to match.
Kansas Lottery Haunted House tickets
Kansas Lottery Haunted House tickets

2008 Halloween Countdown 23: Elvira Accessories, Makeup, Tattoos And Air Freshners

Imagineering held the rights to Elvira in the 1980s and put out everything from child costumes to wigs. They also made accessories and makeup. I did manage to find the snake earrings, wristbands, Macabre Makeup Crayons, Midnight Kiss Lip Color, Flashy Lashes, Nightmare Nail Enamel and temporary tattoos.

I did open the snake earrings and tried them on. They have screw-like fastners so even people without pierced ears can wear them. Luckily, I bought two packages of the wristbands but only opened one.
Elvira snake earrings from 1986 and wristband from 1984
Elvira snake earrings from 1986 and wristband from 1984

Elvira black lipstick and black nail polish both from 1984
Elvira black lipstick and black nail polish both from 1984

Elvira eyelashes from 1987 and makeup crayons from 1984
Elvira eyelashes from 1987 and makeup crayons from 1984

Elvira temporary tattoos from 1989
Elvira temporary tattoos from 1989

I found these pictures of Elvira makeup and accessories online:
Elvira Look-A-Like Make-Up Kit from 1986
Elvira Look-A-Like Make-Up Kit from 1986

Three different Elvira make up items
Three different Elvira make up items

A pack of Elvira temparory tattoos and press-on nails
A pack of Elvira temparory tattoos and press-on nails

In 1989, Medo put out Elvira air freshners. I am not sure how many different ones they had but I managed to snag two at a local store and found a third one online.
Two Elvira air freshners from 1989
Two Elvira air freshners from 1989

Elvira air freshner
Elvira air freshner

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

2008 Halloween Countdown 22 Bonus: Worlds of Fun Halloween Haunt

Worlds of Fun is an amusement park in Kansas City, Missori. Every year they put on a Halloween Haunt. I have been to Worlds of Fun once several summers ago but I have never made it to their Halloween Haunt...yet. Here are two videos so beware of gruesome images that may give you nightmares.

Asylum Island at Worlds of Fun


Bloodshed haunted house 2007

2008 Halloween Countdown 22: Elvira Drink Holders And Slice

I have a plastic Elvira Coors cup but it is packed away with the majority of my glass collection. I do have one of those make-a-mug with a print out of the Mistress of the Dark. Unfortunately, the color is reddish and I should reprint it. This post features some Elvira drink holders that I found at various places online.
Elvira beer stein with art by Susie Morten
Elvira beer stein with art by Susie Morten

Elvira coffee mug
Elvira coffee mug

Elvira's Night Brew glass
Elvira's Night Brew glass

I never knew about Elvira promoting Slice in 1989 and 1990 but here's the proof:
Go Psycho With Elvira cup from Slice
Go Psycho With Elvira cup from Slice

Slice Go Psycho With Elvira display sign
Slice Go Psycho With Elvira display sign

Life-size Elvira Slice display
Life-size Elvira Slice display

She also promoted Mug Root Beer in 1989 and 1990 but I have yet to find any promotional items from those ad campaigns if they exist.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

2008 Halloween Countdown 21 Bonus: Alice Cooper's Munster Mash Marathon

I finally got to see the commercial for Alice Cooper's Munster Mash Marathon. The shock rocker is hosting eight hours of The Munsters starting 4 pm East/1 pm West on Friday, October 31st. The website has the promo video, an online trivia game called "Alice Cooper's Munster Mash", titles of the episodes that will air and clips from the series.

Alice Cooper has been in several comic books starting with Marvel Premiere #50 (October 1979) with the story titled "From The Inside".
Marvel Premiere #50 cover
Marvel Premiere #50 cover

Next came the unauthorized biography from Rock N' Roll Comics #18.
Rock N' Roll Comics #18 cover
Rock N' Roll Comics #18 cover

Finally, there was a three issue comic series from Marvel Music called The Last Temptation by Neil Gaiman and Michael Zulli.
The Last Temptation #1-3 covers
The Last Temptation #1-3 covers

The only comic that I have with Alice Cooper is Rock N' Roll #18. I do have several of his albums on vinyl, cassette and/or cds. I am surprised that no one has turned his Welcome To My Nightmare album into a comic book yet.

2008 Halloween Countdown 21: Elvira's Night Brew

The Mistress of the Dark's relationship with the Coors Brewing Company became rocky because they wanted to tone down her sexy image (that's why you see less of her cleavage). She decided not to renew her contract in 1996 and decided to start her own beer label. The result was Elvira's Night Brew and I managed to buy a few six packs (I wished I had all the bottles and holders but I did keep seven bottles and two holders). Only one of the local liquor stores stocked Elvira's Night Brew and a six pack sold for $5.79 at the time. The dark beer tasted much better than Coors and Coors Light. Unfortunately, Elvira's Night Brew only lasted a year since she could not enter the Colorado Beer Convention since her neckline was too low.
Six pack of Elvira's Night Brew #1
Six pack of Elvira's Night Brew #1

Six pack of Elvira's Night Brew #2
Six pack of Elvira's Night Brew #2

Empty bottle of Elvira's Night Brew
Empty bottle of Elvira's Night Brew

Elvira's Night Brew bottle labels
Elvira's Night Brew bottle labels

I found the following promotional items on eBay:
Elvira's Night Brew glass
Elvira's Night Brew glass

Elvira's Night Brew circular tin sign
Elvira's Night Brew circular tin sign

Elvira's Night Brew life-size standee
Elvira's Night Brew life-size standee