Richardson and Richardson Jewellery

And then sometimes when you are least expecting to see something exciting in the shops for Halloween you stumble across something out of the ordinary like this...

As I was taking photographs of new shopfronts for the local history society in Folkestone I came across this display at 23 The Old High Street for R&R a locally run company with a shop in Folkestone since August 2018 and a stall at Greenwich market.

The picture of the whole window doesn't do it credit, but the close ups are better of the acrylic Halloween jewellery, hand made in Folkestone.

And to top it all, as part of their display (and not for sale) are two Super-8 films of 'The Revenge Of Frankenstein' and 'The Wasp Woman.'

Saturday 13th October 2018

Peter Cushing on Vinyl

Well not a complete list... as he did recordings of audio plays... but I finally managed to get a copy of the 1991 7" single called 'No White Peaks.'

I remember this being played on Radio 1 when it came out at the end of the lunchtime news as an oddity feature - legendary horror actor does rap! It's not exactly rap, but a recording of an anti-war poem written by Peter Kayne right at the end of the 1960s over which an early 1990s dance track has been added with some backing vocals.

I found a friend with a record player and listened to it this week and it wasn't as bad as I remembered. It obviously sounds of its time (i.e. late 80s / early 90s pop) but I've heard much worse. It failed to chart, but there were plenty of other acts out at the time that successfully produced similar fare (e.g. Soul II Soul) so I don't let its lack of chart success affect your judgement!

Whilst trying to track this item down, I did pick up a CD single a couple of years ago with the poem recited without the dance music backing track. This was for a while available in Whitstable's museum and raised money for a charity. But this recording I found to be somewhat of a disappointment after having heard the record. Instead of it being just the spoken word which for me would have been preferable, the CD features fairly immemorable instrumentalisation underneath with the end of the track segueing into a version of a hymn more reminiscent of the American Civil War than the Vietnam era that inspired the poem. The vocal track used of Peter Cushing's voice too is not of great quality and whereas the dance track covers up such limitations, on the CD it's more noticeable. So despite both being very worthy attempts at charity fundraising, I think I'll stick with my 7" single for listening pleasure.

Sunday 17th March 2013

Christopher Lee's Heavy Metal Christmas

Oh dear! This one seemed to pass me by until I was researching names to put on my 2013 Death List. And what a bad omen too.

Before Peter Cushing died an attrocious anti-drug rap record he did the vocals for called 'No White Lines' was released, and now whith a voice more suited to opera, Mr Lee releases heavy metal versions of two carols. I did contemplate whether to buy the mp3 files off of amazon... but when I heard the samples, sanity was restored and my credit card stayed in my wallet.

As a fan of Christopher Lee's work, all I can say is... why???

Friday 28th December 2012

Hammer Horror fridge magents

Well after putting my Snoopy Halloween fridge magnets up a couple of days ago I thought I'd better put my other horror fridge magnets up on here. A few years back I bought these fridge magnets in the old Forbidden Planet shop in New Oxford Street in London. Ironically there was also a Captain Clegg fridge magnet and I hadn't at the time a clue what the film was and so didn't buy it despite it being only 50p and there being lots of them!

Sadly I now know that Captain Clegg was the alternate title for Nightcreatures that was Hammer's version of the Dr Syn film. And living in the district of Shepway in which lies Dymchurch - Dr. Syn's parish - and having been to the Day of Syn celebrations over the past twenty years, I'm somewhat kicking myself now.

Sunday 18th November 2012

Ingrid Pitt in Hastings

Saw this flyer the other day in London and thought I'd put it on the blog for anyone interested.

Timetable of events:

10am Dealer's room

12pm Local Musicians Concert, Parade, Make-up artist and much more.

Films will be shown throughout Saturday in the Electric Palace Cinema in the High Street, Hastings Old Town.

2pm Screening 1 Vampire Lovers with introduction and Q & A by Ingrid's co-star, gorgeous Maddy Smith.

4pm Screening 2 Countess Dracula

6pm Ingrid Pitt Tribute

7.30-8.00pm Short Story Award & Reading Launch of Dracula Who.

8pm Screening 3 Fan Choice

8.30pm VIP Reception

10pm Screening 4 The House That Dripped Blood

9pm-2am Masque Ball - Bring out you antique finery for the Masque Ball in the Venuu in George Street. The Queen of Horror will be announced there and crowned by actor Damien Thomas (Twins of Evil) who knows more than a bit about wicked woman.

Thursday 5th July 2012

Peter Cushing

It's been a busy week and I have a backlog of pictures to put up on here of different pumpkin related food and drink, but I thought I'd start with a post about my activities on Halloween itself.

(And if you feel the need to sing along to The Jellybottys' song 'Peter Cushing Lives In Whitstable', please do... and if you have no idea what I'm talking about... google it!)

So, anyway, I went with a couple of frined to the quaint and quiet Kentish town of Whitstable that still retains it's sleepy local charm and hasn't succumbed like many other towns to being a high street full of the same large corporate chains of shops. And being Halloween we thought it appropriate for a pilgrimage to the town that Peter Cushing called home in his latter years.

Usually our trips start with a brief look around the Whitstable Town Museum which has a small display cabinet of Peter Cushing memorablia. (They had a lot more, but it was auctioned off a few years back!) The museum was always worth a visit and had always been free in the past, but upon our arrival we were told there was now an entry fee and as we were only intending on looking at one display which we had seen before anyway, we passed on the museum.

(We had also previously done the Peter Cushing guided walk for which there is a booklet and I would recommend that any fan does this on their visit.)

However amidst our meandering around the town we did stop off in the recently opened Wetherspoons pub in the town. This impressive building was a formed art deco theatre and later a bingo hall and Wetherspoons have done a great job in renovating it and naming it after Whitstable's most famous resident. We also stopped off in the Tudor Tea Rooms where the late great horror actor used to dine every day in his retirement,and saw the memorial over the table where he would always sit.

So in all a great day out and a wonderful way to remember one of England's finest actors and a true gentleman.

So below are just a few photos of the aforementioned memorials to one of Horror's greats.

Saturday 5th November 2011

Taste the Blood of Dracula

'Trick or treat, smell my feet...'

I was given this as a present recently and can't believe I missed these last Halloween! Asda the supermarket chain in the UK, owned by Wallmart put out some different character socks from their usual fare of Simpsons and Muppets socks.

So I now have Christopher Lee about to bite my ankles...

Sunday 7th August 2011

Hammer Horror Exhibition

Going through a folder of old leaflets and Halloween related stuff I came across this leaflet for the Hammer Horror exhibition that I went to back in 1998 housed at the fabulous Museum Of The Moving Image on the Southbank in London which is sadly no longer there. Not only was the special exhibition about Hammer Horror films but the rest of the exhibition covered the whole history of cinema and television and was one of London's best and most interactive exhibitions. You could fly like Superman using "blue screen" technology, and even climb inside a Dalek and use the voice modulator to shout obscenities such as "Fornicate!" (Well I did!) On two other occassions I visited MOMI - for other special exhibitions:

Doctor Who in about 1990 just after the Sylvester McCoy series had finished where it was great to see all the old monster suits and props, but some from the Pertwee years in quite a state of degradation and probably borrowed from the Blackpool and Longleat Dr Who permenant exhibitions.

The Muppets - which was held, I think, the year after Jim Henson's early death and was a fantastic tribute to the great puppeteer and his creations; and again very "hands on." You could actually stroke Kermit, Miss Piggy and Big Bird. Fraggle Rock and Sesame Street sets and puppets were also there as were props and puppets from perhaps some of his lesser known work like "The Storyteller."

It's such a shame that MOMI is no longer in exisitence - and don't be fooled by the new London Film Museum in County Hall by the London Eye. It is a very poor, and overpriced effort in comparison with rather long corridors connecting large rooms with only a handful of props or costumes in each.

Although the Harry Harryhausen exhibition, which I visited in July, and is still on at the moment will be of interest to those who appreciate Stop Motion animation, and will probably be the only chance people get to see the great man's original models. However, the models are spread out over just 3 rooms and it would be difficuly for even the most avid fan to spend more than 20 minutes in these three rooms reading all the captions and watching the short video clips!

Tuesday 24th August 2010

Christopher Lee book

Yesterday I was given an old hardback anthology book from 1977 compiled by Christopher Lee. It contains the usual fare of M.R. James, Saki, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ray Bradbury e.t.c., and I haven't yet had the time to read it. But for 50p from a charity shop, it's got to be worth the purchase for the cover alone!

Monday 23rd August 2010