HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOUBLE-WHAMMY! VINCENT PRICE and CHRISTOPHER LEE!

Vincent Leonard Price Jr. was born on this day, May 27th, 1911. I shouldn't have to tell you all who Vincent Price is, or how much he accomplished in his lifetime, but the man is and always will be the model of a consummate actor. His accomplishments, not only on film, but also on TV, stage, recordings and other media, will always attest to his wonderful talent. in his career he managed to star in over 103 films, as well as many TV appearances. Vincent Price is, and will always remain one of my personal heroes, as I mentioned before, he is one of my personal "Unholy Three". To read more about Vincent's amazing life, please check out his filmography and read his Wikipedia page. HAPPY BIRTHDAY VINCENT! We miss you!







Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was born on May 27th, 1922, and has become one of the most recognized faces in Horror, along with Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Vincent Price and Peter Cushing. Christopher's list of characters ranges from villians to heroes, from vampires to Sith Lords, Bond villian to royalty. Christopher was even Knighted in 2009. He continues to work to this day, scaring and thrilling us. To read all about Christopher Lee's incredible life, check out his Wikipedia page.

Happy Birthday to 2 of Horror's most dignified actors, a truly devilish pair, VINCENT PRICE and CHRISTOPHER LEE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETER CUSHING!

Peter Wilton Cushing was born May 26th, 1913, and went on to be one of the biggest names in British horror. He is part of what I consider my personal "Unholy Three", the other two being Vincent Price and Boris Karloff. Peter Cushing, in my opinion, is hands down the BEST Baron Frankenstein ever to be put to film. Of course he is also widely known for his portrayal of Dr. Van Helsing in the Hammer Films Dracula series, along side Christopher Lee. Peter had a very extensive career, starring in over 129 films and television shows. Peter always brought a sense of class to his roles, whether he was playing a hero, such as Dr. Van Helsing, or whether he was playing a villian, like the evil Grand Moff Tarkin in the first Star Wars film. To read all about Peter's fantastic career, go to his Wikipedia page. Happy Birthday Peter, we miss you!

The FAMILY GHOULS

Some time around August of 2009, my band, The Van Orsdels, kinda stopped playing. Our bassist quit and after a long search for a new bassist turned up empty, the band kinda just lost it's desire to continue. Right about the same time, September 2nd to be exact, my wife gave birth to my son, Zachary Price. I then made my mind up to not continue with The Van Orsdels, at least for the time being, and focus on my family. Some time went by and I started getting a hankerin' to make some music. I was missing it, not necessarily the performance end, playing shows, etc., but just making music itself. My time was very restricted, between work and family, so I definitely didn't have time to devote to my band, much less start a new band. But I did find myself with the desire to create and record new music, if anything at least to keep myself musically active, for fun, and with all the proper equipment at my disposal at home, I could do it anytime I wanted, on my free time. That's when I decided to start The Family Ghouls. The Family Ghouls is technically not a band, since it's only me performing the songs and playing all the instruments. And since my time is limited, I work on music when I can, stealing spare minutes here and there. It's alot of fun for me, and it does give me the opportunity to get my musical frustration out. I created a MySpace profile for The Family Ghouls, which you can access by clicking the image above. Feel free to take a listen, it's not much and I'm definitely not going to be breaking the Billboard Top 40, but I enjoy it, and I hope you do too!

Happy Birthday To Me!

That's right kiddies, today is my birthday, so in honor of it, I am posting the original trailer for the 1981 cheesefest slasher film Happy Birthday To Me, starring Little House on the Prairie's own Mary Ingalls, Melissa Sue Anderson! Enjoy it, and if you own this flick, pop it in tonight in honor of yours truly!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK PIERCE!

Jack Pierce was born May 5, 1889, and Jack is most famous for his design and creation of the make-up for Universal Studio's Frankenstein, in 1931, starring Boris Karloff. But Jack created many of the famous Universal monster make-ups we're familiar with today, for such films as The Man Who Laughs, The Mummy, starring Boris Karloff, Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi, The Bride of Frankenstein, and The Wolfman, starring Lon Chaney Jr., as well as many others. Jack Pierce left a legacy behind for many fans of classic monster movies, and inspired a slew of fans to become make-up men themselves, such as Rick Baker and Tom Savini.
Happy Birthday to the original Monster Maker!!

MONSTER SPOOKSHOW RADIO No. 24!

Hell-o there boils and ghouls!

Welcome to the 24st installment of

MONSTER SPOOKSHOW RADIO!

May brings us all kinds of fun and exciting things, some more great spooky tunes and lots of birthdays,
including yours truly's very own birthday! So close all the windows, bolt your doors and turn up the stereo...
MONSTER SPOOKSHOW RADIO No. 24 is here!!


This month's horrifically haunting melodies are:

SATURDAY NIGHT CREEPERS - Nim Vind
KNOCKIN' BONES - Big John Bates
SATAN STOLE MY SURFBOARD - Los Plantronics
MONSTER PARTY - Bill Doggett
FLIGHT OF THE VAMPYRE - The Verbtones
THE NAUGHTY GHOST - Jan August
CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS - Photon Torpedoes
A COFFIN FOR SALE - Sheldon Allman
ALL BLACK AND HAIRY - The Gravedigger 5
MAN MADE MONSTER - The Manimals
DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES - Scientist
GHOST TRAIN - Virgil Holmes
WEREWOLVES OF LONDON - Warren Zevon
THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN - The Polecats
ARMY OF THE UNDEAD - Calamitiez
THE SKELETON FIGHT - Mack Allen Smith
PARTY WITH THE DEAD - Creepshow 1977
FRANKENSTEIN - Milton Delugg
WEREWOLF - Morgus and the Daringers
ROCKIN' COFFIN BAR - Hayride to Hell


Just click on the image above to get the latest installment of

MONSTER SPOOKSHOW RADIO!

Enjoy......Happy Haunting!

George Van Orsdel

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLIAM CASTLE!

The man who brought us such wonderful horror film gimmicks such as "Emergo", "Percepto" and "Illusion-O", was born William Schloss (which means "Castle" in German) on April 24, 1914. William started out working behind the scenes on Broadway, then worked his way up to films, then eventually became one of Hollywood's most famous director/writer/producer of horror and thriller films, with such classics as "House On Haunted Hill", "13 Ghosts", "The Tingler", and possibly his biggest hit, the Roman Polanski-directed "Rosemary's Baby". Castle was a genius at promoting his films with clever gimmicks, sometimes having the gimmicks outweigh the popularity of the films themselves. There was no doubt that William Castle was a successful filmmaker. Read about William and his films on his Wikipedia page. Happy Birthday to the Master of Horror Gimmicks!

MONSTER SPOOKSHOW RADIO No.23, SCI-FI SPECIAL!

Hell-o there boils and ghouls!

Welcome to the 23st installment of

MONSTER SPOOKSHOW RADIO!

This month we blast off into outer space once again for our annual
Monster Spookshow Sci-Fi Spooktacular! Fear not, I will not be changing the name to SyFy....gag....
That would clearly and utterly be disrespectful to Mr. Forrest J. Ackerman, the man who coined the phrase
"Sci-Fi"! So climb into your space suit and strap on your rocket boosters, we're about to blast off!

This month's space-tacular songs are:

THEY CAME FROM OUTER SPACE - Left For Dead
INTO A TIME WARP - The Phenomenauts
ROBOT - The Tornados
SPACE INVADERS - Kitty In A Casket
TELSTAR - The Ventures
I TURNED INTO A MARTIAN - The Misfits
MARTIAN HOP - The Galaxies
BLAST OFF! - The Stray Cats
THEME FROM DR. WHO - Peter Howell
REVENGE OF THE CYBERMEN - The Prisoners
PLANET OF THE APES - The Goddamn Gallows
ALIEN VISITORS - Man Or Astroman?
THE SCREEMIN' MEEMIES FROM PLANET X - Merv Griffin
HIGHLY ILLOGICAL - Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy)
MYSTERY PLANET - The Bomboras
THE MARTIAN BAND - The Wild Tones
FLYING SAUCER - Hans Conried
MAN FROM MARS - Butch Paulson
OUT OF LIMITS - The Marketts
HUMAN REMAINS FROM OUTER SPACE - Horror Of 59



Just click on the image above to get the latest installment of

MONSTER SPOOKSHOW RADIO!

Enjoy......Happy Haunting!

George Van Orsdel

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LON CHANEY Sr.!

Leonidas Frank Chaney was born April 1st, 1883, to deaf parents, and went on to become one of silent film's greatest actors and one of horror film's biggest superstars. Lon Chaney, nicknamed "The Man of A Thousand Faces", worked on stage and vaudeville, before settling into a career as a film actor. Starting off in small bit parts, Chaney soon established himself as a great actor and a master of make-up, creating some of the most memorable and elaborate make-ups ever seen. Chaney's most famous make-ups, those of Erik in "The Phantom of The Opera", and as Quasimodo in "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame" are the stuff of legends. Lon Chaney's career lasted for over 160 films, before his life was cut short due to lung cancer at the age of 47. Read all about Chaney's amazing life and career on his Wikipedia page. Happy Birthday to the Man of 1,000 Faces!!

Happy April Fool's Day!

I was contemplating playing an April Fool's Day joke on everyone, but I decided against it. Instead I am posting this video of one of the funniest pranks I've ever seen. The clip is in another language, so I don't really know what they are saying, but ultimately the video speaks for itself. Watch it, enjoy it, and have yourself a fun April Fool's Day!