E-GOR IS A BUST IN THE MONSTER KID HALL OF FAME!
... or a real cool Rondo Awards PLAQUE, actually -- but it's an incredible honor in any case! Click here for details!

This webpage is a visual catalog of many of the monstrous graphic projects I've worked on since I first got serious
about promoting my artwork in the early 1970s. Some of them I was generously paid to work on, and others were
done gratis, but most of them were richly rewarding because they were creative collaborations and labors of love.
If you find some things you like here my inner Monster Kid will be pleased.

TO SEE A LARGER VERSION OF ANY IMAGE, CLICK ON ITS THUMBNAIL

BOOK  ILLUSTRATIONS

...FOR BOOKS BY FRANK DELLO STRITTO

It was a pleasure and a privilege to be invited to design dust jackets and cover art, endpapers and interior illustrations for the three books in
Frank Dello Stritto's superb historical fiction "monster trilogy" -- imagined biographies of iconic major characters in classic horror/fantasy films.
The three books were published in 2017, 2019 and 2021 by Cult Movies Press, as were the three earlier books in his non-fiction "horror trilogy."

Designs from THE PASSION OF THE MUMMY by Frank Dello Stritto (Cult Movies Press, 2021).

Left to right:  dust jacket, front endpaper, back endpaper, front book cover.

Designs from CARL DENHAMS'S GIANT MONSTERS by Frank Dello Stritto (Cult Movies Press, 2019).

Left to right:  dust jacket, front endpaper, back endpaper, interior illustration.

Designs from A WEREWOLF REMEMBERS by Frank Dello Stritto (Cult Movies Press, 2017)

Left to right: Dust jacket, both front & back endpapers.

...FOR BOOKS BY GARY D. RHODES (et al.)

I met the world's foremost Bela Lugosi scholar, Gary D. Rhodes, at the Monster Bash in 1998, and our mutual love
for Bela forged our friendship immediately. We've kept in touch even though his academic career took him to Ireland
for years, and we haven't met again since the early Bashes. But I've scanned rare items from my collection to be used as
illustrations in several of his books, and one that he co-edited with Otto Brill, EXPRESSIONISM IN THE CINEMA (Edinburgh
University Press, 2016), is co-dedicated to me. When Gary asked me to do artwork for some of his most recent books,
I designed "make-believe posters for never-made films" (as he called them) for six unproduced Lugosi movies that
have illustrated three of Gary's books to date (see below). A seventh poster is in the works for a forthcoming book.

My make-believe poster for the film Edward D. Wood, Jr. filmed as REVENGE OF THE DEAD in late 1957, though it wasn't
seen theatrically or on television until it was released direct to video as NIGHT OF THE GHOULS in 1984. Gary Rhodes
asked me to design it for a forthcoming book on Ed Wood's film work, as yet untitled. A color version is also forthcoming.

Left and center:  fantasy posters for an unproduced WOLF MAN VS. DRACULA film and an untitled DRACULA sequel,
from SON OF DRACULA by Gary D. Rhodes, Tom Weaver, Dr. Robert J. Kiss & Robert Guffey (BearManor Media, 2019).

Right:  fantasy poster for Monogram's unmade THE GOLD BUG, from BELA LUGOSI 'S MONOGRAM 9
by Gary D. Rhodes & Robert Guffey (BearManor Media, 2019).

Make-believe posters for never-made films from ED WOOD AND THE LOST LUGOSI SCREENPLAYS
by Gary D. Rhodes, Tom Weaver, Robert Cremer & Lee R. Harris (BearManor Media, 2016).

Left to right (reproduced in B&W in the book):  fantasy posters for unproduced films scripted by
Ed Wood for Bela Lugosi: THE GHOUL GOES WEST, FINAL CURTAIN, THE VAMPIRE'S TOMB.

...FOR BOOKS BY TOM WEAVER (et al.)

The 8 images below (and 8 others I designed) were published in two books about Rondo Hatton published by BearManor Media in 2019:

THE BRUTE MAN with chapters by Scott Gallinghouse, Tom Weaver, Dr. Robert J. Kiss, George Chastain & David Colton, and cover art by Kerry Gamill;

RONDO HATTON: BEAUTY WITHIN THE BRUTE by the same contributing writers, with cover art and an afterword by Drew Friedman.
Information specific to THE BRUTE MAN film is omitted from this book, which concentrates on Hatton's life and career beyond that film.

Left to right:
fantasy poster for original concept for Universal's HOUSE OF HORRORS (reprinted from Tom Weaver's article in Classic Images magazine);
the "splash" page and pages 2 & 5 of my 14-page chapter "The Brute Men" in both of the BearManor Media books about Rondo Hatton.

Left to right: pages 8, 10, 11 & 14 of my "Brute Men" chapter in both of the BearManor Media books about Rondo Hatton.

...FOR BOOKS BY JACK SULLIVAN

I shared a love for classic ghost & horror stories with my friend Jack Sullivan in college; a few years later
he began his academic career as a scholar, teacher, historian and critic with these three exceptional
books on the horror genre. I'm very proud that I was invited to contribute these illustrations.

Left to right:
dust jacket for ELEGANT NIGHTMARES: The English Ghost Story from Le Fanu To Blackwood by Jack Sullivan (Ohio University Press, 1978);

frontispiece for THE PENGUIN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORROR AND THE SUPERNATURAL, edited by Jack Sullivan (Viking Press, 1986);

dust jacket for LOST SOULS: A Collection of English Ghost Stories, edited by Jack Sullivan (Ohio University Press, 1983).

...MOVIE VISUALIZATION ART FOR "THE MIST" BY STEPHEN KING

In 1980 Stephen King's then-agent KIRBY McCAULEY commissioned me to do a series of paintings visualizing the key scenes requiring special effects
in a film adaptation of King's novella "The Mist." I was given a copy of King's manuscript with instructions to paint all the monstrous creatures in it to
help SPFX artists animate them. The paintings had to done quickly, and I already had a full-time job, so it was a struggle to get them done, but the
movie money was tantalizing, and I got to talk to Stephen King on the phone when I had questions about one of his monsters. Kirby flew into our small
airport, met me at a fast food joint to pick up the paintings, and took off again an hour later. I didn't hear more about the project for nearly 30 years,
when Frank Darabont finally filmed THE MIST in 2007. I doubt that my paintings were seen by the new guys, but some of the monsters were similar to
how I visualized them. I imagine it was easier to bring King's horrors to life in the film with CGI than it would have been with '80s effects technology.

Left to right:  Norm the Bag Boy's Demise; Tom Smalley and the Bird Thing; The Bird Creature Set Afire.

Left to right: Spider Creatures Attack; Ollie and the Claw Creature; Giant Creature Walking Toward Car.

Three examples of the pencil, ink & wash preliminary studies I did for the project.

MAGAZINE  ILLUSTRATIONS

...FOR THE "NEW" FAMOUS MONSTERS

When I was a kid, my idea of a Grownup Dream Job was helping Forrest J Ackerman crank out issues of FAMOUS MONSTERS,
or working with the Disney or Warner Bros. animators, or being a member in good standing of the Usual Gang of Idiots at MAD.
In some ways all of these unreal ambitions have come true for me via my artwork -- like when I produced a lot of it for the current
incarnation of FAMOUS MONSTERS for several years, under contract to and directed by PHIL KIM, who owns the rights now
...but always working in spirit under the lifelong influence and aesthetic inspiration of FORREST J ACKERMAN.

DIGITAL UPDATES OF CLASSIC FM ARTWORK FOR "RETRO ISSUES"

The coolest FM pieces Phil Kim commissioned me to do were updated reinventions of vintage Warrren magazine graphics by two of my
favorite comic artists and one legendary comic book writer: JACK DAVIS's drawing for FM's "Fang Mail" letters column heading, and
FRANK FRAZETTA's anti-smoking comic strip, scripted by ARCHIE GOODWIN, that appeared in many Warrenzines in the '60s-'70s.
I was standing on the shoulders of giants to attempt those jobs, but both of my revised versions were originally published in March 2011
in the first "retro issue" of FM (new issues specifically designed to retro-fit a 10-issue gap in the original FM numbering sequence, #70-79).
Forry Ackerman's caretaker in his last years, JOE MOE, was senior editor of FM retro issue #70. The "Fang Mail" revamp was used in
later issues of FM for a while, and Joe Moe published the anti-smoking strip again when he oversaw the production of
THE ANNOTATED FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND ISSUE #1 (Movieland Classics, L.L.D., 2011).

Left: my digital reinvention of Jack Davis's original "Fang Mail" drawing for FM's letters column. I couldn't
include any character who wouldn't have been known in 1970, when FM #70 would originally have been published!

Right: the first version of my digital reinvention of the original anti-smoking ad drawn by Frank Frazetta and written by
Archie Goodwin. The original strip was about teenage surfers, and was titled "Easy Way to a Tuff Surfboard!" The version
I wrote and drew featured teenage monsters and was titled "Easy Way to a Cool Ghoulfriend!" My first finished draft, above,
was a half-page strip like the Frazetta & Goodwin original, but Phil Kim asked me to rework it as a full-page strip for publication.

CARTOONS FOR FM TRANSFER TATTOOS AND T-SHIRTS

My first assignment from Phil Kim was to design four colorful monster cartoons to be printed as transfer tattoo giveaways at the
San Diego ComicCon, coming up very soon. My contractual pay for such low-level FMera was very low, but I enjoyed working
on the cartoons, and the prospect of creating "official" FAMOUS MONSTERS merchandise was the most important thing to me.

Cartoons designed as FM transfer tattoos at the San Diego Comic-Con, left to right:
"Here Come Ol' Flattop" Frankenstein cartoon, used instead on white FM T-shirts;
"Man of 1000 Faces" cartoon, never used;
"The AckerAlien" Forry Ackerman cartoon, used instead on white FM T-shirts;
"Eyeball Highball" Lugosi Dracula cartoon, used instead on white FM T-shirts.

Cartoons designed to be printed on black T-shirts, left to right:
"Eat My Dust" Mummy & Costello cartoon, never used for shirts;
"Hyde and Shriek" Jekyll & Hyde cartoon, never used for shirts
"Mr. Sci-Fi" 4SJ Ackerman cartoon, no shirts, but used as a tiny FM illo;
"Curse of the Werewolf" Wolf Man cartoon, never used for shirts.

Lovecraft character cartoons designed for black T-shirts, left to right:
"Nature Call of Cthulhu," no shirts, but published as a small illustration in FM;
"The Ancient Ones," never used for shirts;
"ShogGoths," never used for shirts.

LOVECRAFT POSTER DESIGN USED FOR FM IMAGI-MOVIE FESTIVAL

FAMOUS MONSTERS #255 was an H.P. Lovecraft-themed issue, and I was commissioned to create a movie poster for a made-up Lovecraft
shocker as a full-page illustration for one of the feature articles. Reseaching vintage poster art for authenticity, I swiped a severed head
motif from one '50s drive-in classic (NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST) and reworked the title & an image from another one (NOT OF THIS EARTH)
to assemble my design for a vintage "window card" poster for an imaginary '50s sci-fi/horror flick called OUT OF THIS WORLD.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that major elements of my Lovecraft poster, including the title, had been reconstructed in a bunch
of different ways to advertise the forthcoming 1st annual FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND IMAGI-MOVIE FILM FESTIVAL, starting
with a double-page spread in FM #255 (see center image below) -- the "Lovecraft Lives" issue I did the poster for.

Left: my concept, title & design for a full-page fantasy movie poster illustration for Lovecraft-themed FM #255 (not used for this purpose).

Center: double-page ad in FM #255 for the Famous Monsters Imagi-Movies Festival, using my ideas & images reworked by other hands.

Right: cover of the program guide for the Imagi-Movies Festival, held April 8-10, 2011 in Beverly Hillls, California.

...FOR FORREST J ACKERZINES & RELATED FMERA

My appreciation for the fantastic things Forry Ackerman and FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND gave me to think about when I was a lonely
misfit youngster came in handy years later, when I befriended several people who were close to Forry, and they invited me to collaborate with
them on some great projects under his supervision, often with his active participation. Here are a few of them that came close to realizing
my dream job of working with 4SJ on the favorite magazine of my childhood & teen years, the one and only original FAMOUS MONSTERS.

Left: poster rearranging elements from my cover for Forry's 85th birthday program in 2001 to advertise his forthcoming new magazine, IT'S ALIVE!;

Center: wraparound cover for 4SJ's 85th birthday program, IT's ALIVE!@85 -- a "mini-FM" with 12 interior pages of Forry's text and my graphic design.

Right: cover mockup for an issue of IT'S ALIVE! My title design and layout on a stunning painting of Rondo Hatton by the great Basil Gogos!

IT'S ALIVE! was sabotaged by 4E's health & legal problems in his later years -- another lost monster piece from the Realm of Unwrought Things.

Left: front of the wraparound cover by Pete Von Sholly for THE ANNOTATED FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND ISSUE #1, with a tiny image I contributed
at top left, and two large images I designed called "Eck" & "Ack" at right. JOE MOE asked me to paint a picture of "Eck," a disembodied spirit from the first
fantasy film 6-year-old Forrest Ackerman ever saw (ONE GLORIOUS DAY, 1922) for the cover avatar. I also threw in a picture of Forry made up as that
character (renamed "Ack") just for a goof. Joe got a kick out of it, and we thought Forry would have too, so he went with "Ack" for the cover boy.

Right: covers of the two "retro issues" of FAMOUS MONSTERS (#70 & 71) published during the couple of years I was doing artwork for the magazine.
Both of the issues shown have labels attached at bottom left; a blowup of the label is shown below them. The label art is taken from a portion of the "Fang Mail"
letters column heading I designed; it was apparently affixed to these magazines to clarify the current ownership of common Ackerman phrases used in FM.

...FOR MONSTERMAD AND MONSTER BASH MAGAZINE

I knew The Man Behind the Bash, RON ADAMS, when he was a talented teenage artist, and I ran into him again years later when he was selling horror videotapes
at a small movie show. He told me he was planning to do his own classic horror convention called MONSTER BASH in the Pittsburgh area, and I offered my help to
get it started. For the first 5 years I created lots of advertising artwork, including the first 11x14 "lobby card" posters that became a Bash tradition, and I put together
the Monster Bash website and maintained it. Before the first Bash in 1997, I worked feverishly to realize an ambition I'd been dreaming about since I was a teenager:
with a LOT of help from my Monster Kid brothers BOBB COTTER, PAUL RIGGIE and RON ADAMS, I edited & published a one-shot monsterzine called MONSTERMAD.
We got it finished in time, and it was very well received at the Bash, since it was full of information about the event, including Ron's interviews with the major guests.
We gave Forry Ackerman a copy during that Bash weekend and he liked it so much that he bought 20 more copies to give to friends! It was advertised as "the official
magazine of Monster Bash," and it's still being sold on Ron's Creepy Classics website as the precursor to his own long-running MONSTER BASH magazine.

Left: cover of my #1 and only issue of MonsterMad, named for my childhood bibles FAMOUS MONSTERS and MAD -- "Horror in a Jocular Vein!"

Center: the cover Ron Adams invited me to do for his MONSTER BASH SPECIAL #3 -- an obituary tribute to the Coolest Ghoul of all, John Zacherle.

Right: my cover submission for a MONSTER BASH issue focused on Vincent Price; Ron chose a stunning painting from Daniel Horne -- easy choice!

...FOR THE LAST ISSUE OF MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT

One of the few monsterzines I've bought consistently since it first came out (1995) is Jim Clatterbaugh's fantastic MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT. I was
sad to hear that Jim was planning the FINAL issue of MFTV, with alternate covers buyers could choose from -- but I was very pleased when he asked
me to design one of those final covers. I first did a digital draft of a Creature from the Black Lagoon cover with 3D effects in the lettering, then used the
digital design as a pattern for a large acrylic painting of the Creature image (minus lettering), and then scanned the painting and retouched it to make
improvements in the details. Finally, Jim suggested that I ask KERRY GAMMILL to help me achieve the best 3D effect possible for the lettering. Kerry offered
to experiment with it, and he got so involved that we collaborated on changes to my Creature artwork so the entire cover could be in 3D! Meanwhile, Jim's
plans for the final issue have changed from a single issue to two issues (Vol. 1 & 2), with four alternate covers for each one! But because Jim has been
plagued with health problems, neither volume of the final issue has been published yet -- but MFTV fans know they'll be well worth waiting for.

Left: my original acrylic painting for one of the four alternate covers of the final issue of MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT (Vol. 1);

Right: the great KERRY GAMMILL worked his 3-Dimensional magic on my Creature painting to produce this genuine standout cover art
-- it works great with 3D glasses like the pair the Gill Man is wearing!

...FOR TWILIGHT ZONE MAGAZINE

Writer/editor T.E.D. KLEIN was one of the many friends my ghost story colleague JACK SULLIVAN knew in the world of fantasy literature, and I
met him when I visited Jack in New York City. Ted was the editor of TWILIGHT ZONE magazine in the '80s, and he contacted me a few times when
he needed an illustration for a story in my (jugular) vein. Ted was also one of the co-founders of the World Fantasy Convention. When friends and
I attended the 1st WFC in Providence, Rhode Island in 1975, Ted gave us a walking tour of Lovecraft's Providence -- he graduated Phi Beta Kappa
from Brown University in 1969, and wrote his honors thesis on H.P. Lovecraft.

Left: "Pumpkin" by Robert Bloch (Twilight Zone , December 1984).

Center: "The Ash Tree" by M. R. James (Twilight Zone, December 1981).

Right: "The Great Elvis Presley Look-Alike Murder Mystery" by Mick Farren (Twilight Zone , October 1981).

...FOR A CLASSIC IMAGES ARTICLE BY TOM WEAVER

I displayed the poster at right previously because it was reproduced in the two books Tom put together about Rondo Hatton.
Here it is again from its original appearance in the March 2018 issue of Classic Images magazine, along with another
illustration I did for Tom's article in that issue, "The Old Dark House: A Followup" (left).

Left: Rondo Hatton & Evelyn Ankers substituted for Boris Karloff & Gloria Stuart
in a Photoshopped still from THE OLD DARK HOUSE.

Right: fantasy one-sheet poster for Universal's planned but unproduced
remake of THE OLD DARK HOUSE as HOUSE OF HORRORS.

...FOR COMIC BOOK COVERS

I've only done a few things that were published in comic books -- I'm a fan of lots of comics of all sorts,
but I just don't work fast enough to thrive in such a fast-paced industry. I have some ideas I wish I had
more time to pursue, though...

Left: acrylic cover painting for Alien Encounters No. 1 (FantaCo Enterprises, January 1981).

Center: acrylic cover painting for Halloween Horrors No. 1 (Eclipse Comics, October 1987).

Right: digital Frazetta spoof cover for Giant Shanda Animal No. 11 (Shanda Fantasy Arts, October 2006).

...FOR FANZINES AND PULP FANS

The first six of the images below are from the Summer-Fall 1975 issue of Midnight Sun (Vol. 1, No. 2), "a magazine primarily
dedicated to [Karl Edward Wagner's immortal warrior character] Kane and the new school of epic fantasy." The next two images
are from other pulpzines, and the last two are a digital fantasy pulp cover and a large acrylic painting I sold in the 1993 PulpCon
auction. All but one of these pieces were done with traditional media, before I had the access and ability to create digital artwork.

Left to right: front cover of Midnight Sun Vol. 1 No. 2, featuring my ink painting of Karl Edward Wagner's immortal hero KANE at bay;

the other images on this row are the first three scratchboard drawings from my portfolio of five illustrations for William Hope Hodgson's
"THE HOUSE OF THE BORDERLAND portfolio," published in the same issue.

Left to right:
the last two of my five scratchboard drawings from THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND portfolio, published in Midnight Sun Vol. 1 No. 2;

illustration for "The Twelve Coins of Confucius" by Robert Weinberg in the Spring 1976 issue of Starwind Science Fiction and Fantasy;

fanttasy Timeless Adventures pulp cover drawn for the back cover of Pulp Vault No. 8, January 1991.

Left: digital fantasy pulp cover commissioned by Donald Ramlow, starring his radio show detective "Ira Park."

Right: painting I did for the 1993 Pulpcon auction, celebrating the 60th anniversary of DOC SAVAGE & KING KONG that year.

TRIBUTES TO SOME FAVORITE PEOPLE

...FOR ROBERT MICHAEL "BOBB" COTTER

IN MEMORY OF BOBB COTTER (June 22 1959 - February 8 2020)

This web tribute to my late friend Bobb Cotter is a visual catalog of some of the many creative projects he worked hard to produce in his
lifetime. It will be a work in progress as long as I can find more images and information to improve the collection, and I hope some of Bobb's
many friends will help to celebrate his life and art by contributing images and memories to improve the collections. Bobb's wife Cheryl and
his longtime friend Paul Riggie helped me get this project started in January 2021. I originally began to put it together as a means of sharing
information about Bobb's books, fanzines and music career, and a gallery of his artwork, with his fans and others who share his diverse
interests -- and as an introduction to his lifetime of achievements for voters in the annual RONDO HATTON CLASSIC HORROR AWARDS,
accompanying his nomination as a very worthy candidate for induction to the Rondo Awards "Monster Kid Hall of Fame."

...FOR FORREST J ACKERMAN

Forrest J Ackerman was a huge influence on me and my interests in the late '50s when I discovered his brainchild FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND. In his
later years, I was able to spend a lot of time talking with him when he was a guest at many of the fan conventions I attended. I also made great friendships with
some of his closest circle of Ackolytes, who called on me whenever there was something I could contribute to the fantastic 4E projects going on in Horrorwood,
Karloffornia. It was always a great pleasure to answer their call for my services, or to produce a little somethng for him on my own that I hoped might give him
back just a little of the "Gosh! WOW!" sense of wonder and delight that his awesome images and fascinating information have given to me for so many years.
Here are a few examples; I wish there had been time for many more of them.

Left to right: "Shameless Punster" acrylic painting I gave to Forrest J Ackerman at the 1993 Famous Monsters Convention in Arlington, Virginia;

front cover of "IT'S ALIVE!@85," a 12-page "mini-FM" booklet I produced, printed & delivered for 300 guests at Forry's 85th birthday bash in 2001;

4E AWARDS certificate presented to me in 2001 in appreciation for the IT'S ALIVE!@85 program and other contributions to Ackerman's well-being ;

Forry showing me my 4E Award, standing in front of the "Shameless Punster" painting I gave him where it hung in the Ackermansion kitchen.

Left to right: the first version of the "Amazing Forrays" print I gave to Forry Ackerman at Monster Bash -- a tribute to 4E and his
lifelong friends Ray Bradbury, Ray Harryhausen & KING KONG;

2nd, full-bleed version of "Amazing Forrays," published at 4E's expense for a panel signing with both Rays at the San Diego ComicCon;

"Forry Mask" originally designed as a party favor but finally published in FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND: "The Annotated Issue #1";

"Forry Decals" spoofing specific decals advertised in early issues of FM; the last thing I did for Forry about a week before he left us.

Left: "4SJ's U.F.O." hot rod cartoon I did for Forry Ackerman at one of his early Monster Bash guest appearances.

Center: THE ACKERMAN FAN NETOGRAM No. 1, posted on Facebook to share my rare photos of boxing champion
Primo Carnera as Frankenstein on TV, first published on Pierre Fournier's FRANKENSTEINIA blog at my request.

Left: THE ACKERMAN FAN NETOGRAM No. 2, posted on Facebook to share info and images of Bernard "Renfield" Jukes
(see Bernard Jukes stuff here).

...FOR BOB AND KATHY BURNS

I'd been reading articles about Bob and Kathy's hobbies, collections, and fabulous adventures since the early '60s, and they'd
been an inspiration to me ever since. When I got to know them at monstercons I wanted to do something special for them,
so I designed this poster for an imaginary serial starring Bob as his character "Major Mars" and Kathy as the heroine, with a
cast and crew of folks they had known and worked with. The title refers to Bob's lifelong sideline as a gorilla suit actor (his
"Kogar" is pictured in the poster) and I tried to capture the style of the posters made for Republic serials in the '50s. At the
next Monster Bash we attended I gave Bob a stack of posters he could sign for friends & fans as a souvenir of the event.
Bob and Kathy have treated me like their Monster Kid brother ever since! How cool is that?!

Left:  my fantasy cliffhanger poster for KING OF THE GORILLA MEN starring BOB and KATHY BURNS and friends.

Right: a bunch of buttons I designed for Bob and Kathy when they were guests at Monster Bash in 2000 and 2001.

...FOR ELENA VERDUGO AND YVETTE VICKERS

My friend JEFF ROBERTS ( OFF BEAT CINEMA's "Theodore") had close friendships with two fabulous actresses remembered for their horror films):
ELENA VERDUGO (HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE FROZEN GHOST) and YVETTE VICKERS (ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN, ATTACK OF
THE GIANT LEECHES). Jeff often assisted them at their tables at autograph shows, and he asked me to design two special posters they could
sign for fans. I did fantasy posters based on their most famous films: HOWLS OF THE WOLF MAN for Elena, and ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT PINUP
for Yvette. They loved them and signed them at movie shows from then on. Of course I did these posters as labors of love, but I was much
more than compensated by the photos and collectibles Jeff sent me for years afterward that they had signed for me.

Left: my fantasy HOWLS OF THE WOLF MAN poster starring Elena Verdugo;

Center: signing posters at movie shows: Elena assisted by Jeff Roberts; Yvette at her table;

Right: my fantasy ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT PINUP poster starring Yvette Vickers.

...FOR CONRAD BROOKS

I was delighted to meet one of Ed Wood's stock company players at many movie shows! Because we both lived in West Virginia
during most of that period, we became good friends, gabbing on the phone for hours and exchanging scare packages for years before
he left us. Connie was an amazing character with great stories about the old days. I enjoyed doing artwork for him whenever I could.

Left to right:

Poster design for JAN-GEL: THE BEAST FROM THE EAST, starring, produced, written & directed by Conrad Brooks;

Video box design for HILLBILLY MONSTER: SON OF JENGAL, starring, produced, written & directed by Conrad Brooks;

Poster design for Edward W. Hopf Jr.'s short film GRANDPARENTS FROM OUTER SPACE (aka OUT OF THIS WORLD);

Poster design for one of the many films Connie had a guest starring role in, the independent epic LAMP OF CONSCIENCE.

...FOR BROTHER THEODORE

I met Jeff Roberts on the first day of the first Monster Bash in 1997, and we hit it off immediately when he mentioned that he
was a very good friend of (Brother) THEODORE (Gottlieb), my all-time favorite sardonic comedian and prophet of doom!
Jeff offered me the great privilege of designing a cover for his limited edition CD reissue of Theodore's rare comedy record
"With a Tongue of Madness: Entertainment of Sinister and Disconcerting Humor," originally recorded in Carnegie Hall at Midnight
on Halloween, 1955. I leapt at the opportunity, and I designed a postcard and button to advertise the CD.

Left: my Caligaresque cover design for the CD reissue of Theodore's 1955 Carnegie Hall comedy concert record;

Center & right: B&W designs and quotes from Theodore for the button and postcard advertising the CD.

GRAPHICS FOR MONSTER CONVENTIONS

...FOR MONSTER BASH

I was more involved with Ron Adams' Monster Bash than other fan conventions, and my association with it has been especially rewarding.
I finally got to know and befriend one of my greatest childhood influences, FORREST J ACKERMAN, because he was a guest at Monster Bash
many times before he left the planet. I also met great people at the Bash who were close to Forry in his later years; Jeffrey Roberts, Terry Pace
and Joe Moe all invited me to work on creative projects that I was very happy to do in thanks for all the ways Monsters had brightened my life.
All three of them were go-betweens for fantastic projects I did for ForryAckerman, and sometimes with him, during his sunset years.

And that's just the beginning of all the great people I've met and all the wonderful experiences I've had at Monster Bash all these years...

Left to right:
my cartoon of monsters bashing each other, used for ads, flyers and posters for the first Monster Bash in 1997;

my 11x17 cartoon poster for the first Monster Bash convention, held July 18-20, 1997 in Ligonier, Pennsylvania;

one of two 11x17 posters I did for the 1998 Monster Bash, held June 19-21, 1998 in Monroeville, Pennsylvania;

my cartoon of Harryhausen monsters bashing each other, used for to advertise the second Monster Bash in 1998.

Left to right:
the other poster I did for the 1998 Monster Bash in Monroeville PA; this one stars Harryhausen's BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS;

3 of the 4 different 11x14 "lobby card" posters I designed for the third Monster Bash, held June 25-27, 1999 in Monroeville PA:
for the 2 "Bride of Monster Bash" lobbies I added some of the guests' faces to photos from classic horror films.

Left to right:
draft of my first sci-fi lobby card design for the Monster Bash 2000 convention (replaced by the following card design);

my final '50s sci-fi lobby card design for Monster Bash 2000, held June 30-July 2, 2000 in Greensburg, Pennyslvania;

one of two alternate "House of Monster Bash" lobby designs for the Bash held June 22-24, 2001 in Butler, Pennsylvania;

the "Monster Bash Buttons" sign I displayed on my table in the dealers room at the 2001 Bash.

Left: my acrylic color painting of monsters still bashing each other 20 years later, commissioned for the
20th Anniversary Monster Bash in 2017. Ron Adams' idea was an update and a fond look back at the original
cartoon logo I did for the first Monster Bash in 1997. I painted the figures on a white field and added the
colorful background digitally so Ron and I could fool around with the color scheme more easily.
My graphic concept was a built-up fantasy Aurora monster model kit.

Right: Ron Adams added text to my painting for ads, lobby cards & big posters for the 20th Anniversary Bash,
held June 23-25, 2017 in Mars, Pennsylvania. A big blowup is still displayed ever year. It's great to see it.

...FOR CHILLER THEATRE CONVENTION

KEVIN CLEMENT has been putting on the fantastic Chiller Theatre Convention in New Jersey since 1990. I've only
managed to attend a few times, but the guests & events are astonishing, and I've always enjoyed those incredible
weekends at Chiller. In 2003, Kevin commissioned me to design a special poster for Chiller's 13th Anniversary Show on
Halloween weekend in 2003. Since a live Saturday night rock concert was a major event at the show, featuring Kevin's band
"The Dead Elvi" and other musicians, I decided to do a spoof of the Beatles' famous album cover for SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY
HEARTS CLUB BAND, substituting more than 100 past & present Chiller guests for all of the figures on the original cover.
It took me a long time to complete the poster and have copies printed, but I was able to deliver them in person when I
attended the show. Kevin was pleased with the design, and he showed it by paying me very generously for doing it.

Left: my "Chiller Theatre's Midnight Spook Show Band" poster for Chiller's 13th Anniversary Show, Halloween weekend 2003.

Right: blowup of the "Sgt. Pepper" cover spoof on the poster, featuring scores of past guests & others scheduled for the Anniversary.

...FOR CLASSIC MOVIE MONSTER CON

In 2008, an ambitious promoter hired me to be the official artist for the Classic Movie Monster Con he planned to produce in
Kingsport, Tennessee, with the theme "BORIS KARLOFF: THE MAN REMEMBERED." He assembled a terrific guest list and reserved
a luxurious convention center for the event, and we conducted an aggressive advertising campaign of TV & radio spots, newspaper
ads & feature articles, promotional tie-ins with local businesses, and full-page ads in major publications. But things went bad when some
of the major guests feared that promises had been made that wouldn't be kept because of insufficient financing; they backed out at the
last minute, scaring some of the other guests away too. The show went on with a small but stellar group of guests and dedicated fans.
Despite the advertising blitz, attendance was lower than expected and the event lost money. But I had a great time because the show
wasn't as crowded as most monstercons are, the atmosphere was casual and comfortable, the dealers tables weren't picked over before
I got there, and especially because I got to spend a lot more time talking to the guests than usual. I'm also happy that I did my best on
the artwork I did for the show, and I'm still proud of the finished products.

Left: final version of my 11x17 poster for the Classic Movie Monster Con, held October 10-12, 2008, in Kingsport, Tennessee.

Center: my design for a large CMMC hanging banner, based on Universal Pictures' movie banners produced in the '50s.

Right: from the Realm of Unwrought Things: one of many drafts for the 11x17 CMMC poster, gone with some of these guests...

Left: draft CMMC poster focused on a live spookshow staged by legendary ghostmaster Philip "Dr. Evil" Morris -- he had to cancel;

Center: my "Monster Munchies" design for a banner to be hung over the food court (featuring the "Frank 'N' Stein" special);

Right: early, unused CMMC draft poster featuring fantasy buttons of Boris Karloff in many different film roles.

Left: Frankenstein University Diploma intended to be a gift for CMMC guests & worthy attendees; we didn't have time to develop the plan.

Right: Boris Karloff photo I retouched to show him surrounded by CMMC posters, resurrecting him in spirit for the program cover.

TOASTS TO TV HORROR HOSTS

I'm probably better known to horror fans as "E-gor" than by my real name, partly because I've often signed my monster art that way,
but mainly because of the website I created in 1994 and expanded for more than 20 years, "E-GOR'S CHAMBER OF TV HORROR HOSTS."
I started the site with basic data on about 70 horror movie hosts from all over the country (extracted from the late Elena Watson's
great book TELEVISION HORROR HOSTS) and I had amassed a huge amount of information about nearly 350 hosts when I had to stop
maintaining the site. I've heard from hundreds of Monster Kids who found E-gor's Chamber by searching the Net for the slightest mention
of the ghost hosts & glamor ghouls they grew up watching, and some of them were inspired to be horror hosts themselves by what they
discovered there. The site is so notorious that I, E-gor, have been elected to the Horror Host Hall of Fame -- The Horror! THE HORROR!

Left to right:
screen capture of "E-gor's Chamber of TV Horror Hosts," currently inactive but still online in all its raggedy, delapidated glory;

screen capture of my website dedicated to my own childhood horror host hero, "M.T. Graves" (the late great Charlie Baxter),
created and developed with lots of help from Charlie and our good friend who put us in touch, Garnette Faircloth;

screen capture of my website "Pittsburgh Horror Hosts," created for fans of the late "Chilly Billy" Cardille and other
horror hosts in the Pennsylvania / West Virginia area where I've lived for many years.

Left to right:
poster design for Chiller Theatre's 13th Anniversary Show in Halloween 2003, also celebrating John Zacherle's 85th birthday;

cover art I did as part of my packaging design for Zacherley's "Interment for Two" CD, produced by my friend Mike Gilks;

"Interment for Two" CD label, designed to look like one of Zach's old horror novelty 45 rpm records on the Cameo label;

"Interment for Two" poster I did to promote CD sales at Chiller shows; I made 100 copies and Zach signed 20 for me.

Left to right:
I won a $50 contest prize with this cover art for a fantasy Aurora model kit box of the late great Zacherley;

cover print used by David Vaughn to hand-build Zacherley model boxes for his company, morbidmonster.com;

my cover art for MONSTER BASH SPECIAL #3, published shortly after John Zacherle passed away in 2016;

"Gothic Americana," my spoof of Grant Wood's painting "American Gothic," with Vampira and Zacherley.

Left to right:
when I found out that Lon Chaney's Phantom was Maila "Vampira" Nurmi's favorite monster, I wrote to her and offered to finish
this "Vampira Meets Erik" image for her exclusive use, no charge. It would have been an honor but I never heard from her about it;

this "Vampira Meets Dracula" Christmas card was thrown together quickly for my own amusement and my Facebook friends;

I did this cover art for a fantasy Aurora model kit box of ELVIRA, and was thrilled to give her the prototype box at Monster Bash;

the late Pittsburgh horror host "Chilly Billy" Cardille also guested at the Bash that year, and I gave him his prototype box too.

Left to right:
photo of my childhood horror host hero "M.T. Graves" signed to me many years later by his alter-ego, Charlie Baxter;

items in the reborn Graves Diggers Fan Club Kit I designed to help Charlie Baxter communicate with many of his old fans;

signed photo of an original M.T. Graves cardboard mask I've had since I watched "The Dungeon" in the early 1960s;

poster I designed for Dick "Count Gore De Vol" Dyszel's bio-documentary, EVERY OTHER DAY IS HALLOWEEN.

Left to right:
lobby card for the documentary VIRGINIA CREEPERS, about "the horror host tradition of the Old Dominion";

poster for "The Dreadful HallowGreen Special," co-starring PENNY DREADFUL and DR. GANGRENE;

poster for an Alamo Drafthouse Cinema showing of GIANT MEGA MONSTER MOVIES hosted by MR. LOBO;

lobby card commemorating OFF BEAT CINEMA's "25 years of the movies that must be shown"!

Left: poster for Tim "Baron Von Wolfstein" Herron's performances as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Creature.

Right: unfinished fantasy TV GUIDE ad for Eddie Munster's hero ZOMBO. Abandoned when Louis Nye died.

FILM AND THEATRE POSTERS AND FLYERS

...FOR PILLAR OF FIRE THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS

These posters were commissioned by actor/writer/producer Terry Pace to advertise events staged by the Pillar of Fire production
company. The poster designs were also used for advertisements, web and e-mail promotions, programs, tickets and T-shirts.

Left to right:
"The World of Ray Bradbury," a 7-act anthology play staged by Segué in May 2000;

"Donovan's Brain," Orson Welles' radio show recreated on stage by Segué in October 2001;

"Journey Through the Mind...Edgar Allan Poe," a return of Will Stutts' one-man show co-produced by Pillar of Fire in October 2004;

"Something Wicked This Way Comes" & "Leviathan 99," a Ray Bradbury double-feature co-produced by Pillar of Fire in October 2005.

Left to right:
"The Plummeting Man" & "Spellbound," two evenings with Norman Lloyd co-produced by Pillar of Fire in October 2008;

"Shadow and Substance: The Twilight Zone Tales of George Clayton Johnson," co-produced by Pillar of Fire in October 2009;

"Claude Rains: An Actor's Voice," a two-evening tribute to Claude Rains co-produced by Pillar of Fire in November 2009;

"The Machineries of Joy," six stories by Ray Bradbury staged by Pillar of Fire in August 2010.

Left to right:
"The October Country," 4 stories by Ray Bradbury staged by Pillar of Fire in October 2010;

"Journey Through the Mind...Edgar Allan Poe," Will Stutts' one-man show co-produced by Pillar of Fire in October 2010;

"Falling Upward," Ray Bradbury's Irish comedy produced by Pillar of Fire in March 2011;

"Dracula," the original Balderston & Deane play produced by Pillar of Fire in October 2011.

Left to right:
"Bradbury 90: Journey to Far Metaphor" flyer for three Ray Bradbury plays staged by Pillar of Fire in 2010 & 2011;

"Long After Midnight" flyer for Halloween concert readings of Ray Bradbury stories directed by Terry Pace in 2002;

"A Christmas Carol" flyer for annual showings of Dickens' film classic with other special events, first produced by Terry Pace in 2008;

"Metropolis" flyer for an 80th anniversary tribute to Forrest J Ackerman and his favorite film, planned but sadly unproduced.

...FOR A FILM BY WOLFBAIN PRODUCTIONS

This poster design was originally commissioned in black & white by producer/director Joe DeMuro to advertise the 2nd film in Wolfbain Productions' "Tales of Dracula"
series, DRACULA MEETS THE WOLFMAN. When I saw the high quality of this company's independent film work, I was pleased to pitch in on their labors of love with
the poster artwork, and to produce another version of it in full color to be used for home video packaging, web and e-mail promotions and other promotional purposes.

Left to right:
my black & white poster design for Wolfbain Productions' full-length independent film TALES OF DRACULA 2: DRACULA MEETS THE WOLF MAN;

color version of the poster I designed for DRACULA MEETS THE WOLF MAN, scheduled for release by Wolfbain Productions in Summer 2022.

GRAPHICS FOR CDS, DVDS & VIDEOTAPES

My contacts with other classic horror fans at monstercons (especially with active TV horror hosts and their fans because of my
"E-gor's Chamber" website) have given me some great opportunities to do artwork for audio-visual collectibles like these.

Left to right:
CD cover art for John Zacherle's "Interment for Two," produced by Mike Gilks, package design by E-gor;

VHS clamshell cover art for JAN-GEL THE BEAST FROM THE EAST, starring & directed by Conrad Brooks;

VHS clamshell cover art for HILLBILLY MONSTER: SON OF JENGAL, starring & directed by Conrad Brooks.

Left to right:
my DVD cover art for Dick "Count Gore De Vol" Dyszel's bio-documentary EVERY OTHER DAY IS HALLOWEEN;

my box art for Don Reese's DVD of his Monster Bash comedy monotogue, designed to look like a Castle Films box;

my DVD cover art for VIRGINIA CREEPERS, a documentary about "the horror host tradition of the Old Dominion."

MONSTROUS BUTTONS

Many of the buttons below are from my early years of more active involvement with MONSTER BASH; I designed dozens about the guests each year.
Others are from various projects I worked on over the last couple of decades. The best ones were almost always done for my own amusement.

Left to right:
Fan Club button for legendary Florida TV horror host M.T. GRAVES, played by Charlie Baxter;

George Zucco's High Priest of the Ramboona cult in the Bela Lugo si film VOODOO MAN (Monogram, 1944);

Bela plays all the roles in this imaginary TV sitcom (—if I tried to sell this one I'd have some 'splainin to do);

TV horror host Zacherley: button art swiped from my cover art for a special issue of Monster Bash magazine;

Promotional button I designed for the late great comedian BROTHER THEODOR.

Left to right:
Bob Burns' great ape KOGAR button produced for one of Bob's appearances at Monster Bash;

"4E@84" button designed for Forrest J. Ackerman's 84th birthday bash in Hollywood in 2000;

"I'm just WILD about Harryhausen" button commemorating Ray's appearance at Monster Bash in 1998;

"IT'S ALIVE&85" button designed for Forry Ackerman's 85th birthday party in Hollywood in 2001;

Bob Burns turned his long-suffering wife Kathy into "Miss Shock" for their Bash appearance in 2001.

Left to right:
Pittsburgh TV legend "Chilly Billy" Cardille attended many Monster Bashes until his passing;

stuntman Eddie Parker tribute based on his most visible scene in FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN;

Ed Wood stock company players Bela Lugosi and Conrad Brooks; Connie brightened many Bashes & other shows;

fan favorite Dwight Frye had been gone for many years when his son Dwight D. Frye attended the Bash in 1999;

I made this button years ago from selfies I shot in a dark room with a flashlight. I'm older now but still as goofy as ever.

A FEW FUNNY ANIMAL FANTASIES

My earliest work as an aspiring commercial artist, starting in the early '70s after surviving college and the Army, was a long series of
"funny animal" paintings and drawings like these. I did a LOT of them, with considerable success, but only a few pieces have monstrous
elements that suit the focus of this catalog. The full range of my funny animal work will have to be displayed on another big webpage,
including illustrations for a satirical paperback edited by Harvey Kurtzman, other movie and pulp parodies commissioned and promoted by
Jim Steranko, and much more. I'm including this small sample here because most of these pieces were produced the "old fashioned way"
with pencils, ink and paint, long before sophisticated digital graphic programs were available. Since most of my monster stuff was done
digitally, and many years later, I thought it would be a good idea to show some more of my traditional stuff (if only to show that I can do it).

Left to right:
"Drakula" print based on an original ink & wash painting; -- my first successful venture into the comic art market (1975);

CURSE OF THE HATCHED PEOPLE acrylic painting published as the centerpiece of Jim Steranko's Mediascene (No. 25, May-June 1977);

THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSWINE, a late '70s acrylic painting digitally reconstructed from photographs.

Left to right: three paintings spoofing classic 1930s "weird hero" pulp magazine covers:

"The Waddler," an acrylic parody of The Shadow pulp commissioned by Jim Steranko;

"Doc Sausage," an acrylic lampoon of the Doc Savage pulp commissioned by Jim Steranko;

"The Scavenger," an acrylic spoof of The Avenger pulp.

Left to right, three acrylic paintings spoofing the incredible art of Frank Frazetta:

my slavish acrylic study of Frazetta's millon dollar painting "The Berserker";

acrylic study of Frazetta's dust jacket art for a book club edition of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars novels;

my acrylic study of Frazetta's "Egyptian Queen."

Left to right:
"Great Moments from the Quackies: The Bantam of the Opera," co-created with my friend JIM KENT like much of my early work;
published in High Times magazine (#20, April 1977);

"Kiddie Matinee," original ink & wash drawing done for my own amusement;

"Uncle Cthulhu" page done for my own amusement -- a tribute to two heroes: Disney duck artist Carl Barks & H. P. Lovecraft.

"Anthropomorphism," a graduate school art class lithograph.

MORE TO COME (RAMBOONA WILLING)