Countdown Day 24: Recommended : PLAYHOUSE OF THE DAMNED

Don't let the rather amateurish cover art put you off. This is an often amusing, FUN play that has a Tales From the Crypt-style host, Gus the Ghoul, introducing horror sketches, each with a twist. If you like classic horror anthology films and comics, you'll like PLAYHOUSE OF THE DAMNED.

The Empty Bottle Theater Group did an audio dramatization of the Playhouse segment titled "A Lady of the Night" for a WORLDS OF WAYNE podcast, which you can play or download here.

Many of the play's segments can be read at author Richard Nathan's Playhouse of the Damned website. (An especially enjoyable one is the one titled "A Night in Transylvania.") You can buy a copy of the whole script at Amazon or at Xlibris.

Below is an excerpt from the sketch "Trick or Treat, which had an ending I didn't quite see coming. I'd love to see the whole play presented live (or better, undead) someday.
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The spotlight is up on our host, GUS THE GHOUL, while the set for the next story is prepared. This story takes place in the front parlor of Miss Hamilton's house. It is Halloween night. An empty candy dish is by the door.

GUS
Our next story takes place in the house of Miss Hamilton on Halloween night. Last Halloween I went trick-or-treating...down at the mortuary, but they wouldn't give me a single bite to eat. So I soaped all their windows. They didn't like that. Morticians have no sense of humor. Everything about morticians is so formal. Formal dress, formal manners, formal-dehyde.

Now I'm going to hide, while you stay here and watch "Trick or Treat."

Gus exits. The spotlight goes out, and during the blackout MISS HAMILTON enters and goes to the front door of her house. She is dressed in a traditional witch's costume, to celebrate Halloween. As the lights come up, she is calling out the open door, speaking to someone who has just left her house.

MISS HAMILTON
Good night, dear. Happy Halloween!

VOICE (off-stage)
Thank you, Miss Hamilton.

Miss Hamilton closes the door and looks at the empty candy dish.

MISS HAMILTON

Dear, dear. I must remember to buy more candy next year. I've never run out so early
before. I hope I don't get any more children tonight.

There's a loud, insistent knocking at the front door, and we hear the voice of a LITTLE GIRL.

LITTLE GIRL (off-stage)

Trick or treat!

MISS HAMILTON

Maybe if I don't answer the door, she'll think
no one's home.

LITTLE GIRL (off-stage)

Hey! I said, "Trick or treat!" Come on, I know you're in there! I can see the lights
on!

Miss Hamilton sights and opens the door. The Little Girl, wearing a witch's costume and holding a big bag of candy, stands in the doorway.

LITTLE GIRL

Trick or treat!

MISS HAMILTON

I'm very sorry, little girl, but I don't have any more candy. I've given it all away.

LITTLE GIRL
You're in big trouble, lady. You're supposed to have enough candy for everybody!

MISS HAMILTON
Why don't you come back tomorrow night. I promise I'll have more candy then.

LITTLE GIRL

I want candy now!

MISS HAMILTON

How would you like a nice shiny quarter?

LITTLE GIRL

How'd you like toilet paper all over your yard?

MISS HAMILTON

That isn't very nice.

The Little Girl marches into the house and slams the door behind her.

LITTLE GIRL

I'm not leaving here until I get some candy!

Miss Hamilton decides to scare the child.

MISS HAMILTON

Listen, little girl. I'm a wicked witch, and if you don't behave yourself, you're going to be very sorry!

LITTLE GIRL

Don't give me that!

MISS HAMILTON
All right! I'll make you a deal! If you'll forget about the candy, I'll teach you a genuine witch's spell!

LITTLE GIRL

What kind of spell?

MISS HAMILTON

I'll tell you how to summon the demon, Slogg Soggoth!

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Read the rest of "Trick or Treat" here.

Hello, Kali!

The Hindu goddess was the first being to "multi-task," as can be seen here.



The Venus de Milo must have been awfully jealous...

RELATED IMAGE DEPT.:

Here's a Reuters news pic of Tai Lihua, art director of a theater troupe for disabled people in China, along with many deaf performers, portraying the "Thousand-Hand Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva."



A handy being that ought to be in an army!

King Kong and Godzilla, or The Lord of the Rings?

Need some really funky fantasmogoric FUN this weekend and you're willing to travel a ways to see it? Well, ya got yer choice of getting to St. Louis, MO or Keene, NH!

St. Louis has the hilarious ONE HOUR LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY stage show, presented by the Magic Smoking Monkey Theater Company, a group that once cast me as Bela Lugosi in a stage version of Glen or Glenda, back when I was fully-bodied!

Keene has the KING KONG VS. GODZILLA SPOOKTACULAR film event, which is being put on by the folks of the cable horror show Saturday Fright Special!

From East to West (click anywhere to enlarge pictures and text):

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The One-Hour Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Extended to a THREE WEEK RUN with additional dates of May 8 & 9
Two shows nightly at 8PM and 10:30PM
Advance tickets available through Metrotix (314.534.1111 or www.metrotix.com).
Tickets may also be purchased at the door one hour prior to each performance.

The Voodoo Queen on BLADE RUNNER

My wife, Voodoo Queen Jane, recently attended a revival of the 1982 movie Bladerunner. Below are her thoughts on the event and the film itself.
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The Pittsburgh Film Makers media arts center has given me hope. Maybe it’s because we are here in Zombie Town, or maybe it’s something in the water; but the organization regularly shows horror and sci-fi classics! Other theaters seem to follow suit.

I’ve gone to some screenings in town of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
(1920), The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Tingler, and, through PFM, a really fun double feature of Frankenstein and
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. [At the Byham Theater; interior seen right-- click to enlarge. Max]


I attended a PFM screening of Blade Runner recently. I’ve seen Blade Runner probably a dozen times, in all of its incarnations. I went with a friend who has never seen the film, which is like going to Disneyworld with someone who has never been there. You get to experience the thrill of a first viewing of a truly great film vicariously.

This time it was the “final cut”. My companion, a twenty-something friend, was not old enough to have seen the original in the theater, with the Sam Spade-like narration, so I had to fill her in on the different versions. The narration was absent in this release, which is to the relief of most film fans. Although not mine-- I always thought it added to the noirish quality of the film.

This screening came with an introduction, by one of the Filmmakers members who loves the film as much as I do. His main admonition to us was to “pay attention to the light.”

And...

The lights went down.

So this will be about light, and often the lack of it, in this case. It’s supposed to be Los Angeles, but there is never any sun.

The interiors are dark as well, the brightest scene in the film is in Tyrell’s place, with the setting sun.

I remember that when I first saw the film, I was dumbstruck by how this future seemed so plausible. It wasn’t the shiny, streamlined future that as a Baby Boomer I grew up with. It was grungy and diverse and hard. I have often felt I would like to spend some time in this dark, neon lit, rainy world.

There was a discussion after the film. Most of us talked at length about the darkness, the constant rain.

We also discussed the plight of the replicants, and I got to speak of the parallels with Frankenstein. One of my favorite scenes is when Roy confronts Dr. Tyrell. He gets to confront his creator, which is a rare thing indeed, as the Monster did with Victor Frankenstein.


And the result is much the same, rage and destruction. But then that is a spoiler I will not divulge, for those like my friend who have not seen the movie.



It was really a joy to share that thought with other fans, and find that a few of them really appreciated the insight.

There are so many things to say about the film, things to love about it. The music, the realistically dingy and diverse sets, the retro clothing styles.

The music is by Vangelis, and it has aged well. It’s very electronic, but not dated. It has an atmospheric international "techno" quality that I love.

My love for the costume work and art direction of this film is deep. The sets, the props, and in particular the clothing with it’s throwbacks to the 40's, but with some very modern fabrics, just fits the neo-noir attitude of the characters so well.

All in all, it was a fantastic opportunity to see a true classic, in my opinion.