Brother Theodore (1906-2001) was one of the most unique performers of the twentieth century. He was a stand-up comedian of sorts, an occasional actor and frequent presence on late night talk shows. Just don’t call him a monologist - “When someone calls me a monologist my first reaction is to jump on him, and tear out his guts !”, he once said to Fangoria editor Bob Martin. The singular strain that ran through these various endeavors was a passion for the macabre that would have done Tod Browning proud. Ironically his real life story was more horrifying than anything Hollywood could have conjured. Theodore Gottlieb was born into wealthy and well-connected circumstances in Dusseldorf, in what was then the German Reich of Kaiser Wilhelm II. His family published magazines and art books in addition to owning a textile factory. The young Theodore was beguiled by the array of German generals and admirals that would congregate at the home of his parents, wanting nothing more than to be a stiff-necked Prussian lieutenant in the Erich Von Stroheim style. Too young to serve in World War I, Theodore’s personal fortune shielded him from the tumultuous circumstances of late 1920s, early 1930s Germany. For him it was a time of wine, women and song. This course of events was interrupted in 1933 with the ascension of Hitler to supreme power in Germany. Theodore and his family were Jewish. The family fortune was confiscated by the state and Theodore was imprisoned in Dachau concentration camp. The horrors he witnessed here would color the rest of his life. Getting out by the skin of his teeth via a refugee program and with some help from Albert Einstein (a family friend), Theodore fled to England and then America. Theodore first settled in California and, now penniless, had to make due with menial jobs and chess hustling. He began acting, his short stature and scowling visage making him a natural for character roles, and managed to appear in small roles in films like The Stranger (1946), becoming a favorite of Orson Welles, and So Dark the Night (1946). He took up performance art in the late 1940s, probably as much to express the darkness within as to make a living, finding his groove reciting poetry and monologues in a distinctly grotesque vein. Edgar Allan Poe’s Berenice was a particular favorite. These recitals would be performed on a stark black stage, with Theodore in plain black clothes illuminated only by a spotlight. In the noirish world of postwar America, Theodore hearkened back to Dr. Caligari and Charles Baudelaire. Theodore moved to New York, where he found his greatest success as a performer in Manhattan coffee houses and other venues that appealed to a beatnik aesthetic. His shows would often begin at midnight and now, in addition to the recitals of Poe and Saki, featured a great deal of macabre wit. Instead of the audience heckling the performer, Theodore would often pick on a member of the audience to subject to a withering tide of Teutonic fury. “Because of your insolence the German national anthem will be omitted tonight!” He became a regular on television talk shows hosted by the likes of Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin, always in the distinctive black turtleneck which led to his being dubbed “Brother” Theodore. In later years he was a fixture and foil on Late Night with David Letterman , making dozens of eccentric appearances. It was natural that such a person would find his way to Forrest J Ackerman and Famous Monsters of Filmland . Forry and his wife Wendayne corralled around themselves a host of fascinating figures from the world of the arts and Theodore often visited them whenever he found himself in Los Angeles. And like Bela Lugosi before him, Theodore was amazed by the extent of the Ackerman Archives. A favorite bit of Theodorian wit that Forry loved to recite: “My mother tried to abort me with a knitting needle in the womb. But I fooled her! It went through my glass eye !” In the end Theodore did manage a horror stardom of sorts in Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula (1979), appearing as himself alongside John Carradine as Dracula. Here Theodore delivers what might be the most memorable take on Renfield since Dwight Frye. A brooding, resentful soul in torment who plots against his master when not lusting after his granddaughter, Nocturna (Nai Bonet, who also produced). Theodore also narrated Al Adamson’s Horror of the Blood Monsters (1970) as well as the U.S. trailers for House by the Cemetery (1981) and Superstition (1982). Joe Dante put Theodore to spectacular use in his dark comedy The ‘Burbs (1989). Here, in his final film appearance, Theodore portrayed Uncle Reuben Klopek, who, along with his psychotic family, gives Tom Hanks and Bruce Dern much to worry about. In addition to this, Theodore compiled an anthology of horror stories in 1975 titled Brother Theodore’s Chamber of Horrors , contributing an original tale to the mix, The Possession of Immanuel Wolf , co-authored by Marvin Kaye. Theodore passed away in 2001 following several years of ill health. He was a great friend of Famous Monsters and all things macabre. He was a man who indeed gazed into the abyss - and the abyss gazed into him - and neither of them liked what he saw.

Happy Thanksgiving fellow Monsters across the USA. Today is a very special day not only in the gratitude that we share for one another in our community but it was on this day November 24th 1916 that our beloved Forry was born. Forrest James Ackerman (for the uninitiated) wasn’t just the Editor of Famous Monsters but he was an ambassador for fandom, a lover of all things horror, science fiction and fantasy. Forry was responsible for bringing so many of the crazy creatures that many of us love today into the public consciousness. So raise a glass to Forry and enjoy one of his favorite jokes… Did you hear about the McDonald’s they opened on the moon? Great food but no atmosphere. Hope you and yours have a wonderful day from the whole team at Famous Monsters!

That is the question the title theme song to the strange Australian kids show from the early nineties puts to its audience. A supernatural show aimed at both kids and their parents. Round the Twist follows the exploits of the Twist family. Dad, Tony a widowed artist, fourteen year old twins Pete, Linda and eight year old Bronsan who move into a Lighthouse on the South Western Coast of Australia. With episodes featuring ghosts, lint Monsters, creepy scarecrows, a birdman and spooky dolls. Round the twist offers a little of everything for genre fans. Never taking itself too seriously, the show ran four seasons between 1989 and 1998. Fans of the show remember fondly the wild and surreal tales which included peeing contests,a propeller penis and even Pete falling pregnant. Despite a number of cast changes over the course of the four seasons, Round the Twist always kept its sense of fun and will make perfect family viewing for any mischievous little critters who like their spooky stories strange and unique. Episodes are available on Youtube for your viewing pleasure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPxJ6RR40ZU (theme song)

Peter Lorre died at a rather unfortunate time as far as the magazine was concerned. The current issue was already off the press in New York when I realized that we had not tributize the Lord high minister of all that is sinister. The man that chopped off Colin Clive‘s hands in Mad love, and had solved so many mysteries as the oriental detective, Mr. Moto. And seeing on how I got close with him towards the end of his life and saw him perform in the raven directed by Roger Corman, I thought well geeze, I need to put together a little something. Now I don’t claim to be any type of a poet but I put together a few little stanzas that I felt would memorialize the great man with the time I had. I sent it off to press and it made it into the issue of the magazine. Well that was, the biggest mistake I ever made. I got so many angry letters from fans all around the world. Each one stating how could Forry Ackerman throw away Peter Lorre in one measly poem. So every time that poem was mentioned I became the incredible shrinking man. Well it wasn’t until a few months later at a fantasy film screening I was there with Fritz Lang, the man who brought us Metropolis & Siegfried, that magical moment happened. Who would’ve ever of guessed that in attendance was Cecilia lovesky.... She was The first wife and last love, of Peter Lorre. And when I was introduced to her, by Fritz, she looked at me with big puppy dog eyes and said “ OH, Mr. Ackerman, the POEM... I LOVE ZEH, POEM!” Right at that moment I thought to hell the rest of the world Peter Lorre‘s widow love my poem and I screamed vindication!

“Haven't you noticed that nothing in this house seems to move until you look away and then you just... catch something out of the corner of your eye?” - Theodora in The Haunting (1963) There are two women that I believe are a huge influence in horror today, Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, and Shirley Jackson who wrote The Haunting of Hill House, which was published in 1959. The film The Haunting, which was based off of Shirley Jackson’s masterpiece, would be released not too far after in 1963. The Haunting was brilliantly directed by Robert Wise. Wise used various innovative filming techniques that helped set the tone and mood of the film. Wise intentionally shot the film in black and white and his various camera angles would go on to set a standard for films like The Evil Dead. Wise used infrared film in his wide shots to make the film appear darker than usual. Fog like filters were used on the camera lenses and a new Panavison lens, which gave the film a slight distorted look were also used to enhance the mood of the film. The Panavision lenses were so new that Wise had to sign a waver prior to the filming that he was informed that these lenses would distort the film and MGM could not sue Panavison because of this. Wise was thrilled with these camera effects as it made everything appear to be just a bit off. The look achieved was perfect for a film about a house that was born bad. I also want to mention that Wise had prerecorded the frightening sounds for playback in the scenes so the actors could react to the actual sounds of the film. The screenplay was written by Nelson Gidding. While the film uses the guise of a typical haunted house story, Gidding masterfully takes it to another dimension by exploring the psychological effect on the leading female character, Eleanor Lance and how Hill House consumes her to the point that it seems this all may just be in her head. This masterpiece is the perfect watch on rainy days or stormy nights. It's been called the holiday Halloween in 114 minutes. It was the blueprint for the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland and a major influence on writers like Stephen King who used the archetype of The Haunting characters for many of his own. Jud Crandall from Pet Sematary is based on the caretakers Mr. Dudley played by Valentine Dyall and his wife, Mrs. Dudley played by Rosalie Crutchley. Mrs. Torrance from The Shining is Eleanor, played by Julie Harris, in many ways. Even Eleanor’s sister in the book is named "Carrie" and experiences telekinesis activities. Directors Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg have claimed The Haunting is their favorite horror film. It is considered by many to be the perfect gateway film to introduce people to scary movies. Although it's not gory or filled with jump scares, make no mistake this is a straight-forward classic horror movie. It is what Blair Witch and the Paranormal Activity franchise tried desperately to accomplish: apprehension in what is going to happen and the ability to frighten the viewer through their own imagination. The Haunting is about anthropologist Dr. Markway (played by Richard Johnson, who you might know from Fulci’s Zombi) who has an interest in the super natural and wants to conduct experiments in an alleged haunted mansion; to explore the possibility that ghosts actually do exist. Although the opening of the film has a voice over from Dr. Markway, most of the story is told through Eleanor’s thoughts. After finding out about the history of Hill House he sets forth to get a team together and explore it. After extensive research he finds Theodora (played by Claire Bloom), an empath with ESP abilities and Eleanor, who had personally experienced strange psychic phenomenon. There were others also chosen, but when they did their own research on Hill House they dropped out of Dr. Markway’s experiment. Eleanor and Theodora had no idea what to expect and chose to come on their own accord. The current owner of Hill House, Mrs. Sanders (played by Fay Compton who Tim Burton would base the character Juno The Social Worker in Beetlejuice on) reluctantly decides to let Dr. Markway stay at Hill House and do his research only if he allows their nephew, Luke (played by Russ Tamblyn who was still rocking his Riff character look from West Side Story) to overlook the whole operation. Luke stands to inherent the house and wants to make sure they don't destroy the place. Each night the house appears to become more and more powerful. Dr. Markway seems very concerned about his team however he is a scientist and instead of helping Eleanor, he decides to dangerously watch the deterioration of her mental state. Dr.Markway’s wife (played by Lois Maxwell aka Ms. Moneypenny from the James Bond series) shows up to show him how ridiculous ghost hunting is and then all hell breaks loose at Hill House. I believe this was the first ghost story I had ever seen that wasn't a comedy. It definitely was the film that inspired my interests in hauntings and things that go bump in the night. I always thought that hauntings were caused from something that tragically or wonderfully had happened at a certain location; that it was an incident stuck frozen in time. Ironically this film is just that; it is a timeless masterpiece. So sit back, get comfortable, keep your arms and legs inside your doom buggy and remember, “The dead are not quiet in Hill House.”

As a young actor in the 1970’s Los Angeles must have been the place to be. With an extraordinary output of masterpiece movies, there truly is no other decade like it in Hollywood history. In 1975 Jaws, coined the term Blockbuster (with people literally lined round the block to see it) but it was Star Wars two years later that really changed the game, becoming a global sensation and creating a rabid type of fandom which the world had never seen before. Everyone and their Pot Dealer (more on that in a moment) were getting called in, to audition for George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppala, who was casting Apocalypse Now across the hall from the Space Fantasy. Coppola, with seemingly the more prestigious project at the time, an epic based on the novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Was looking at a lot of the same actors George Lucas was, hence a very early and fleeting appearance of Mamma Cass's (of the Mamma and Pappas and California Dreaming fame) Marijuana dealer, Harrison Ford, who also happened to be an odd job carpenter known and liked by the LA elite. With a beautiful blonde mane and 165 pounds of solid muscle (his own words) a confident young Shakespearean trained utility actor by the name of Robert Englund was called up to read for the role of the Surfer, in Apocalypse Now.. After watching his read the casting people suggested that Englund then go across the hall as they were looking for something he might be right for. It was at this moment in time, that eventual Freddy Krueger read for the role of Han Solo. With two castings under his belt Englund returned to his apartment where a good friend of his happened to be staying with him. Also an actor, the good friend was on the couch watching the Mary Tyler Moore show when Englund came in. Giving his friend the heads up that they were casting this thing called Star Wars, they might have something for him. The friend eagerly followed through and a few months later found himself in the desert of Tunisia probably cursing Englund for getting him involved in this weird little fantasy movie that nobody is likely to see. That friend was Mark Hamill and the rest…. is movie history. How interesting though to think about the what ifs here? Imagine Englund as Solo, Imagine Ford as Krueger, maybe just maybe, there is a multiverse out there where that played out. I for one am happy with the knowledge that Freddy Kruger contributed just a little to one of the most iconic movies in film history. The full Interview with Robert Englund is available to read at www.madmonster.com and can be found in issue two of the Mag

Hello Fringies, “I know you’re going to enjoy this movie tonight. I’m not, but I’m sure you are.” Nothing beats the sarcastic banter of the Master of the Macabre, the Epitome of Evil, the Most Sinister Man to Crawl on the Face of the Earth, Seymour. Born Francis Fitzgerald Vincent on June 14, 1924 in Massachusetts, Larry Vincent had various roles in shows such as Get Smart, I Dream of Jeannie and as Captain Starr on WFBM in Indianapolis. However, if you grew up as a monster kid in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s in Southern California, then you knew him best as Sinister Seymour. In 1969, the Groucho Marx of the Graveyard was the horror host of the show Fright Night on KHJ-TV where he was let go and replaced by the horror host Moona Lisa. By 1973, he switched to KTLA where he hosted Seymour’s Monster Rally. I remember on his last appearance of Fright Night, he walked off of the set before the show ended, only to bum rush Seymour’s Monster Rally the very next week. Eventually, Seymour’s Monster Rally became Seymour Presents. In 1974, Seymour was let go from KTLA, where he returned to KHJ-TV taking over Creature Features. Soon, the show was named Fright Night once again.

By the time the first issue of Famous Monsters was released, Physicist William Higinbotham created what is thought to be the first video game available exclusively at an open house at Brookhaven National Laboratory. A basic tennis-like game that was very similar to Pong. Here we are nearly 45 years later and the way that storytelling in games and film have progressed, even polymerized, is truly is amazing. Much in the way that there are luminary filmmakers, game designers such as Hideo Kojima are celebrated by fans and peers alike for his ground breaking work. Having come off the heels of an abusive relationship with Konami, Hideo Kojima started up his own production company reasonably named Kojima Productions. Since the inception of this company in 2015, Kojima Productions has released it's first game Death Stranding (starring Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, Tommie Earl Jenkins, & Guillermo del Toro among others), launched a film centric production studio in Los Angeles, and very recently started a podcast in partnership with Spotify called Brain Structure. There are 9 episodes of this podcast so far and while the theme of it is to shed light on the many things that inspire Hideo, it seems to serve as a means of launching potential collaborations with those whom he admires. The podcast's cohost pointed out that the list of potential projects with the guests he talks to continues to grow at the end of the latest episode (with RRR director S. S. Rajamouli). "Well, I think I'll meet up with Jordan Peele soon and we might talk about doing something together, but I'll never have enough bodies to get it all done..."

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