Welcome to Marginalia. While our stated goal is to keep everyone up to date with the services we provide here at the circulation desk, the general idea is to present that information in a light-hearted, but relevant manner.
~ Fade in with the ‘Silver Shamrock Song’ from Halloween III ~
As you may recall, last year we related a tale of vampiric plagiarism that involved the estate of Bram Stoker and the producer of Nosferatu (Albin Grau). For this edition of Marginalia, however, we asked the skeleton crew at the circulation desk what stories best exemplify the idea of Halloween for them?
But first a message from our sponsor.
It’s mid-term time again, so let’s take a moment to remind you that while we have a large number of previous exams for our students to choose from, we do not have them all. Nonetheless, feel free to stop by the reserve room loan desk and we’ll be more than happy to give you what we’ve got.
Bonus Tip: Most reserve items (loose-leaf materials are an exception) are available for an overnight loan period if you take them out within the last two hours before closing.
~ Thunder & Lightning Opening ~
Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve as it was once known, apparently evolved from an ancient Celtic holiday called Samhain. This particular festival marked the beginning of winter and its participants donned masks in an effort to avoid the ghosts of those who had died during the previous year.
The present day incarnation can be traced back to a British decree which allowed the poor to go begging from door-to-door for (sweetly spiced) ‘Soul Cakes’. Eventually, this led to the modern day practice involving costumes, masks, skeletons and a ubiquitous black cat.
Well, gals and ghouls, that’s it for our spooky synopsis so let’s get right to our feature presentation.
Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau; Film 1922)
In order to avoid a potential lawsuit by the Stoker Estate producer Albin Grau set the film in the year 1838, and re-named the lead character Nosferatu in the process, but his strategy ultimately failed (see our October 31, 2018 edition of Marginalia for more details). Nosferatu (Max Schreck) does not make an appearance until almost 20 minutes into the film.
Drácula (Spanish version: George Melford; 1931 Film)
The Spanish version of Drácula was shot on the exact same sound stage as its more well-known counterpart (starring Bela Lugosi). When the main production wrapped for the day, Melford’s Spanish crew would go in and use Todd Browning’s sets, props and costumes. The idea was an early experiment by Universal Studios to exploit the international market. However, it was quickly determined that simply dubbing the actor’s lines would be a lot cheaper than paying for a second cast and crew.
War of the Worlds (Orson Wells: Oct. 30 1938 Radio Broadcast)
Some people were so scared when this ‘News Flash’ first aired they barricaded windows and bolted their doors in an effort to hide from the alien invasion. Many of the listeners also called their local fire departments and police stations for help.
The Lottery (Shirley Jackson; 1948 Fiction)
When the editors of the New Yorker Magazine accepted Jackson’s short story submission they only had one request – would it be okay if they changed the date she used in her story to the one they were planning to publish it on (June 26). She agreed.
Carnival of Souls (Herk Harvey; 1962 Film)
A small portion ($40) of the $30,000 budget was used to pay the city of Lecompton, Kansas for damaging the bridge used in the opening scene. The movie itself had a production crew of six, counting Harvey, and was reportedly shot in three weeks. The ghoul sequence in this movie inspired George A. Romero’s later film ‘Night of the Living Dead’.
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Bill Melendez; 1966 T.V.)
After watching this animated special some children felt so sorry for Charlie Brown that they actually sent him candy (care of ABC-TV).
Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero; 1968 Film)
They used chocolate syrup for blood because it just looked better on black and white film stock. The thick, dark sauce was poured over pieces of roast ham and placed inside the remains of recently deceased townsfolk. The (living dead) ghouls would then savagely rip it out of their still warm corpses and devour it wholeheartedly.
Love it to Death (Alice Cooper; 1971 Recording)
After two albums on Frank Zappa’s Bizarre label (1969’s ‘Pretties for You’ and ‘Easy Action’ in 1970), their initial Warner Brothers offering made people stand up and scream – and with tracks like ‘Is it My Body’, ‘Black Juju’ and ‘The Ballad of Dwight Fry’ who could blame them.
Rocky Horror Show (Richard O’Brien; 1973 Musical)
Richard O’Brien, a devout science fiction fan, wrote the music and lyrics. The stage production was first performed at London’s Royal Court Theatre in 1973 and O’Brien played the role of Riff-Raff (a part he had written specifically for himself). Two years later it was turned into a film directed by Jim Sharman. The Rocky Horror Picture Show was Tim Curry’s cinematic debut.
The Thing (John Carpenter; 1982 Film)
Carpenter’s tour de force opened in theatres on the same day as ‘Blade Runner’ (June 27). The story was adapted from John W. Campbell Jr.’s classic sci-fi short story ‘Who Goes There?’
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (Tommy Lee Wallace; Film 1982)
The only film in the series not to feature Michael Myers as ‘The Shape’. To get the right texture for the fluid oozing from the robots’ mouth the props department used frozen orange juice. For those of you who like to keep score this movie has a body count of nine.
Addams Family Values (Barry Sonnenfeld; 1993 Film)
Charles Addams created the characters for the New Yorker Magazine in 1937. The original T.V. show was shot in black and white and aired from 1964 to 1966 (on ABC-TV). John Astin (Gomez) returned to play the role of Grampa Addams in a 1998-2000 adaptation called ‘The New Addams Family’.
The Nightmare before Christmas (Henry Selick; 1993 Animated Film)
Walt Disney Studio’s thirty-third feature film and their first to be shot with stop-action animation. If you look closely you’ll see that Zero’s nose is really just a small, glowing jack-o-lantern. The first of two films on our list by Henry Selick.
Cloverfield (Matt Reeves; 2008 Film)
It has been called a monster movie for the MySpace generation and along with the ‘Blair Witch Project’, with its similar hand held camera style, people continually left the movie theatre complaining of motion sickness.
Coraline (Henry Selick; 2009 Film)
The snow used in this film was apparently made from a combination of super-glue and baking soda. Coraline had a production budget in the neighborhood of $30,000,000 and was the first stop-action animation feature to be shot entirely in 3D.
That’s all for this edition of Marginalia folks, but be sure to join us next time for ‘The Curious Case of the Missing Curse’.
~ Fade out to the sound of an ancient coffin lid closing ~
CRYPTIC CREDITS:
Topics and editorial assistance by the fine folks at the Diana M. Priestly circulation desk.
Image concept & design by Paul Totzke and David Everard
Plot by Dr. Phil Graves.
Written & Produced by David Everard.
