Classic Horror Ads From Comic Books, Magazines & Newspapers

I recently came across this great collection of vintage horror ads from Cult Movies Magazine & TV's Facebook page (and thanks to Johnny Thunder and Hauntcast for posting this!). I can remember seeing a few of these crazy ads filling the back pages of horror magazines and comics as a little kid. I wanted to send a dollar to each, although even back then I knew I would receive a silly, cheap trinket in return. But wasn't that part of the fun??

Monsters! Vampires! Ghosts! HORROR! These ads pushed the creative limit, each trying to outshock the rest as they all fought for your attention (and your money) within the back pages of magazines and comics. They remind me of those great old haunted house ads that battled for my attention as I flipped through the local newspaper's Friday insert. Only the boldest and most shocking ads would be considered for a weekend visit! What a great time it was to be alive!

Enjoy this really great collection of the hilarious and crazy ads of the past!

Image courtesy of Flickr.

Image courtesy of House Of The Unusual.

  
  

The Johnson-Smith Novelty Company Horror Record

So with my decision to jump back in this Halloween, I soon started thinking ahead to another month of spooky, fun content for the blog. And of course, one of the first things I thought about was music. Music has always played an integral part of my Halloween season, and by extension, my life in general.

I started researching new options for my Freebie Fridays segments, where I share gems from my ever-increasing collection of old novelty Halloween "spooky sounds" records, cassettes and CDs throughout the month of October. I quickly realized that I had shared everything in my current collection, so it was time to go out and snap up a few more classics.

And I came upon a Halloween holy grail that I somehow hadn't heard of before...

The Johnson-Smith Novelty Company Horror Record!

Seven full inches of glorious Halloween novelty record cheese. Chock full of hilariously bad and poorly produced sound effects. Originally sold along side whoopie cushions and x-ray specs through ads in the back pages of horror comics and similar publications of the 1970s. I knew I had to add this one to the collection.

And while I still don't own a copy yet, I DID find something way more amazing than the record itself.

About 15 years ago, Jason Ellis, head curator of the absolutely amazing Scar Stuff blog, decided to take his love of this record to the next level. He took the original audio and animated it using the incredible art of Eerie Publications' classic horror comics. The same comics that housed the those original Johnson-Smith ads that you could have bought this record from. 

And the results are simply stunning! This video quickly made the rounds when it was first released, but I thought it was time to share this one again. It's just too damn good not to!