Neato Coolville, an all around amazing blog, has been posting a series of Halloween wallpapers for free download. They are full of retro monster goodness!
As a result of my image hoarding “hard drive curating” I have about 200 things on my desktop at any given time, so I need a fairly simple wallpaper in order to see them all. This one fits the bill perfectly.
I’m posting the downsized versions. Click here and scroll around for full sizes!
My earliest conscious memories involve a (harmless) deep intrigue and love of darkness. As a very young child I used to enjoy traipsing around my local library, looking for spooky goodies. Still do.
Given my innate radar, I was drawn to this box immediately, as it was the only one in the kids section that had a black spine and cover with ominous writing instead of the usual kid-friendly color schemes and bubble letters.
I was further entranced by the Devil’s voluminous neck folds. Admit it…you can’t look away.
The Devil and Daniel Mouse (loosely based on the Faustian short story The Devil and Daniel Webster), was released as a Halloween special in 1978. Once I found this in the video section, I got my parents to rent it for me multiple times.
The plot (via IMDB):
Finding their audience drying up in favour of rock music, two young mouse folk singers find themselves with a bleak future. Desperate for a better career and life, the female vows that she would do anything to become a rock star. Instantly, the Devil arises to take advantage of that and offers to make her a star in exchange for her soul. She agrees and she quickly becomes the star she’s dreamed of while her boyfriend, Daniel Mouse, is left behind. On the night of her greatest triumph, the devil comes to collect on her soul. In desperation, she turns to Daniel who must attempt the impossible task of trying to find an escape loophole for his girl’s release.
I’ll be straight with you here…The ending is pretty lame. Spoiler alert:
Despite a deep belief in the transformative power of song, I couldn’t get behind this. Perhaps a testament to the cynicism of my old age, I found myself thinking “A song does not negate a legally binding contract. Oh, come on Dana…it’s a cartoon! Suspension of disbelief! Think of it metaphorically, or something.” And even as a 4 year old I fast forwarded through the (intensely 1970’s) musical interludes. But this whole cartoon is worth it for the perpetually shape-shifting Devil, who is an absolute delight.
There are many fists of fury poses…
If you dig retro animation, watch this for good ol’ B.L. Zebub. Let me know what you think!
[Edit] Thank you, Bettie, for reminding me that this was sampled in Bauhaus’s “Party of the 1st Part.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lwQRpBzbxg&feature=player_embedded
Neato Coolville featured these excellent iron on transfers, featuring some classic fiends.
I think I’d wear every one of these on a T-shirt for Halloween.
In fact, this is going to be be new “migraine T-shirt” for those headachy days.
Which one is your favorite?
There are some leads for original image sourcing here.
You’ve got to be kidding me. Really. (That was my reaction when I saw this product).
Did you know the delicious Kit Kat bar, made by Hersheys, once had a rival by the Mars candy company?
Milk chocolate around 3 layers of crisp wafers, packaged in break-off sticks. Look familiar? Aside from the ridiculously similar name, product specifics, and wrapper color scheme, Snik Snak’s catch phrase was “Take a break” as opposed to Kit Kat’s “Gimmie a break.” How Mars got away with this and it stayed on shelves for , I’ll never know!
I think the warped, horrible quality of the VHS commercial here only adds to it.
I try not to post long videos here. I understand that everyone is busy (and I personally rarely take the time to watch lengthy videos I come across while browsing online…even if they look interesting). BUT…children of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s…these are worth your time.
The creators have taken (often embarrassing, highly dated, yet in some cases enjoyably nostalgic) clips from bygone TV days and edited them together in themed compilations. I laughed out loud multiple times.
Do not miss the video that begins at 8:00 in Cultural Meltdown. I ferociously googled the lyrics to find out more about this song and nothing came up. But look and listen!
Yeah, that’s the nature of the beast
Keeper of the male persona
Yeah that’s the nature of the beast
Keeper of my status quota
“Status quota?” What does that even mean? Don’t you want to rush to the 8 minute mark now?
There are a bunch of others I intend to watch as well! Thank you, GD, for finding these!
Ceramic artist LuRu’s Retro Atomic Sci-Fi Kitchen is a truly awesome, completely handmade renovation.
Look at these incredible tiles!
Despite working with a small space, LuRu really rocked this theme. There’s even a sci-fi “stovescape!”
Yep…I’m completely in love with this tiling.
See many more pictures here.
My friend Stacey linked me to this awesome collection of Japanese monster illustrations by Gojin Ishihara.
The books came out in the 70’s, designed for kids. I wish my childhood library contained them!
I think these are some of my favorite vintage Japanese monster illustrations out there
See more here.
If you are into bold domestic expression, Beep Art might have something for you.
This was the image that brought me to their site (I am a sucker for mid century atomic design, though I’m NOT generally “bold” in a brightly colored wall sort of way):
These are some of the more eye catching, unique wall details out there, for sure.
They also make great retro inspired laptop/ipad/etc. skins.
Heal Yourself Skeletor is an amazing tumblr. I cannot tell you how much joy I get from looking at this particular character paired with joyous, loving affirmations.
Skeletor makes a dynamite bodhisattva (and the screenshots are perfect, aren’t they?).
My favorite:
See the archive here.
Through dear old Pinterest, I discovered a most unexpected literary (and film!) subgenre: SWAMP PULP.
Swamps strike me as one of the LEAST sexy ecosystems to cozy up with someone…but what do I know? Swamps are clearly infested with rampant sexuality.
Apparently there was such a market for this that multiple authors and film makers chose the same swampy titles.
Oh, we’re still going…
Yes, there are more…
Why stop now?
Are you enjoying yourself? Are you thinking about swamps?
Not yet? Okay, have some more…
And this was just the small sample I found. I’m intrigued (not intrigued enough to read about swamp nymphs…but quite astounded that they have been such a prominent feature in dime store novels).
SheWalksSoftly 