1970 - Castle of Frankenstein was another one of those influential magazines that came and went before I was ever reading horror stuff, so I had always wanted to get a copy and see what it was like.This issue features a cover by Frank Brunner, so I figured that was a good place to start!
The main thing I was struck by was the diversity of the magazine's contents--there's modern horror, classic horror, sci-fi, comics, even some humor. The conventional wisdom has always been that the fans of these genres/mediums don't always mix, but I guess COF wanted to give it a shot.
Inside this issue is an article on the new film Beneath The Planet of the Apes, a still from the very silly Lugosi film Voodoo Man, and then we have COF's "Slaymate of the Month":
There's a piece on the film Witches' Brew, and then an article called "Al Manner of Fantasies" that focuses on the causes and effects of horror films, concentrating on Golden Age of Hollywood horror, like London After Midnight, Murders on the Rue Morgue, and (one of my favorites) I Walked With A Zombie.
There's a piece on Karloff's last great film Targets, and then, oddly enough, two pages of Little Nemo in Slumberland! Following that is more movie stuff, on Marooned (more famous now for being the "biggest" film ever spoofed on MST3K) and The Oblong Box.
Next is two pages of Brunner's "Smash Gordon" strip, as well as a profile of the artist, including his samples of a proposed Star Trek newspaper strip:
Following that is film news, comic book, magazine, and book reviews, and all wrapping up with a few pages of Captain Company-style ads for assorted bric-a-brac.
For more info on Castle of Frankenstein, check out this page, which is a loving tribute to the mag.
4 comments:
GREAT mag - and as you point out, a real ground-breaker as far as covering multimedia.
When ya got a bit old for Uncle Forry's horrid puns, & FM's ever-growing list of retreads, this is where ya went!
Best,
-Craig W.
I LOVED CoF!!! I still have close to a full run around here someplace. Great Mag!
This was my very first issue of CoF and I remember being so nervous buying it--from Woolworths yet!--at age 11 cuz of the nekkid lady on the front! After that I bought every issue and back issue I could find. Luckily everyone knew that monster mags were for kids so no one stopped me!
Huzzah for the "I Walked with a Zombie" shoutout. What a beautiful film.
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