THE JOHNSON SMITH HORROR RECORD COMES TO LIFE!

For years Jason Willis freed vintage Halloween records from their rare vinyl cages and unleashed them into the digital realm (via his Scar Stuff blog) where they have spread like a zombie virus. Amid all the sharing Jason was able to reclaim and make available a recording that held tremendous sentimental value to him (and many others), the 1973 Johnson Smith Horror Record.


It was coveted regularly because it appeared as a perennial listing in Johnson Smith's ubiquitous comic book ads. However, only the really lucky kids got it because unlike most of the products sold by the company, this item was exclusively available through them.

(MP3s of the entire record are available here.)


The second side of the brief record features a "semi-cohesive story line," the details of which could only be deciphered by the minds of young listeners—until now. For Jason's first-ever animated project he chose to illustrate the crude story with gruesome graphics from old magazines produced by Eerie Publications. The marriage of the audio and visuals is spot on. These elements are born of the same era and they share the same over-the-top, b-grade vernacular.

So unless ye be squeamish, I invite you to click on over and experience this brutal scarefest in all its bloody glory. Note that it's certainly not for the kiddies, and your boss may not appreciate it either.

You can read more about the technical specifics at Jason's blog

INSTANT VENTRILOQUISM- NOW WITH SCRIPT

There's an old post of mine that's maintained a steady trickle of traffic since I wrote it back in July of 2006. It's the one where I shared Jimmy Nelson's Instant Ventriloquism, a mail order record from 1964.

My original upload lacked the script that came with the record. The missing document covered a conversation between you, the aspiring ventriloquist, and Farfel the dog. Thanks to the generosity of Dan Rodden this exchange is no longer a mystery. Additionally, he passed along some tracks with improved audio quality.

So you can visit the updated post or
download the album with the script here or
get the script by itself here

and you'll be on your way to a satisfying dialog with a prerecorded dog puppet!

SEE SUPERMAN AND THE GIANT CYCLOPS!

Now that you've seen the advertisement, you instantly have a new goal in your life— to see Superman and the Giant Cyclops! Your curiosity is already growing rampant, but like most of the tens of thousands of kids who have seen this ad, you can't go to the 1964 World's Fair. This painful predicament has haunted Devlin Thompson for decades. Devlin operates Athen's Bizarro Wuxtry comic shop as well as the Home of Bippy blog, where he has finally solved the mystery of the Superman/Cyclops ad!

I found the reveal to be surprisingly satisfying. Discovering the truth behind comic book ads is of the noblest endeavors. Well done Mr. Thompson.

GORILLA MASK HUNT

UPDATED YET AGAIN: Boy, my knowledge of gorilla facewear has increased tremendously this week. Raymond Castile of the invaluable Gallery of Monster Toys, has helped me determine what the Johnson Smith "Savage Gorilla (With hair)" mask actually looks like. Ray has it in his collection...

It's everything I hoped it would be. Thanks Ray!

[And now, here's the post as it originally began...]
Ever since I was forbidden by my parents to send my allowance to the "shysters" who advertised amazing novelties in my comic books, I've grown more and more obsessed with tracking down the treasures I was denied. Many of these items turn out to be as fraudulent as my parents had warned, but that just adds to their appeal.

I recently took a low stakes gamble and nabbed this fine facial enhancement on ebay, with hopes that it might be the gorilla mask I'd seen advertised so many times...


So here's my question for all of you mask experts and/or people who were allowed to order from comic book ads: Was this mask ever sold through the Johnson Smith ad (shown at the top of the post)?

The mask shown above is from the late 80s or even early 90s and therefore it was not "the one."

The mask was made by Topstone, the preferred mask supplier for Johnson Smith, Honor House and other mail order folks. I realized my gorilla has no teeth, but certain ads ran for many years, and novelty companies had to use different models of the products, even though the original illustrations were still shown. So I thought it possible that mine could be one of many varieties that were offered.

Another theory was that the Johnson Smith gorilla mas was the same as the Captain Company (of Famous Monsters of Filmland) gorilla monster mask since they used the same illustration. Evil Wilhelm of Monster Mayhem shared this photo of a recast of that mask...

By the way, blanks of this design happen to be available at Monster Mayhem. Here's what they look like unpainted and painted...



I've learned that this one was offered much earlier than the Johnson Smith ad and probably wasn't sold through them.

Then there were my other theories that involved this design or the mask Ernie Kovacs used as props on his show. Alas I think the truth has been uncovered.