The month of October for my mother is akin to how a child acts at Christmas. Mom loves horror movies, with a particular jones for the Universal horror films…and anything with a vampire in it, really. Because operating the DVD/Blu-ray player that’s hooked up to our living room TV is a bit beyond her pay grade, she often asks me to put a movie in for her every evening. I use “ask” in the loosest interpretation of the word, of course. It’s more like whining. (“Pleeeeeeeeeaaase…”)
I don’t mind, of course, because I have developed this habit
of eating regularly…and Mom is a first-rate cook. Since I have seen the requested movies
on many occasions, however, I tend to just slip the disc into the player and
work on the tablet while she enjoys a good old-fashioned thrill and chill. We lucked out this past Sunday night (October
2) because The Greatest Cable Channel Known to Mankind™ ran the first three
entries in the Frankenstein trilogy—Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and Son of Frankenstein (1939)—so I was
thinking that would save a little wear-and-tear on the player. Ha! Mom
called an audible after the first movie was over, saying she wasn’t up for Bride.
(And people laugh at me when I suggest I was re-dopted. We watched the last of the Universal Sherlock
Holmes features, Dressed to Kill [1946],
instead.) But she did not get away with
dissing Bride—since it’s available
on TCM on Demand, I downloaded it and we watched it Thursday night. (“Smoke!
Friend!”)
October—and really, fall in general—has always meant
old-time radio to me. I can’t explain
exactly why this is the case, but I suspect it has something to do with a vivid
memory from 1984, when a Savannah station (WWSA, now right-wing talk radio
WKTS) broadcast some OTR horror programs on Halloween Eve…and you couldn’t have
stopped me from getting to a radio fast enough.
I recall WWSA ran a couple episodes of Inner Sanctum Mystery,
though the only title that really sticks out in my mind is “A Corpse for Halloween”
(10/31/49). Two years earlier, I just
happened to be listening to NPR one Sunday afternoon (I was attending Marshall
University at the time) and heard an interview with the legendary Arch Oboler…which
was my introduction to his excursion in radio horror, Lights Out.
So because I’m wallowing in nostalgia at the moment (I know…you’re
completely gobsmacked by this
revelation), I came up with an incredible promotional giveaway to celebrate
October and all things Halloween. I
wrote liner notes for two Radio Spirits releases: Lights
Out: Later Than You Think (released in October of last year and
valued at a SRP of $39.98) and Inner
Sanctum: Shadows of Death (released this past March—SRP: $31.95). I have a single copy of each collection to
give away, but I thought to myself—why not “bundle” these collections? (Ah, this DISH terminology just clings to me—does
it not?)
So bundle them I have.
Here’s what you need to do to enter for a chance to win.
1) Send me an e-mail with “Inner Sanctum/Lights Out” in the
subject header to igsjrotr(at)gmail(dot)com.
You have until 11:59pm EDT on October 15, 2016 to enter, which should be
plenty of time to imagine yourselves winning this prize (Thrilling Days of Yesteryear will not be responsible for any
goosebumps).
2) Make sure you are a U.S. resident or have a U.S. mailing
address. (I left this information out of
the last TDOY giveaway…and if there
had been a winner outside of the continental U.S. I would have been obligated
to send them their swag. Suffice it to
say, I dodged a bullet.) Believe me, I
would jump at the chance to be able to open these contests to my Canadian
cousins and beyond…but despite what you may have heard, I am not a wealthy man. (I also have little patience for USPS
bureaucracy, as a certain smock-wearing postal employee in Savannah will
readily attest.)
3) Also, too: if you’ve won one of the blog’s contests in
the past thirty days, it’s just good manners to sit this one out to allow other
members of the TDOY faithful a chance
to get some fantabulous swag. (We’re on
the honor system here—even if it doesn’t seem like it sometimes.)
4) I will choose one winner—sorry I don’t have enough sets
for two this time—the next morning and inform the lucky person of their tremendous
good fortune. Keep in mind that when
entering, you don’t have to provide a snail-mail address…but I will need it should
your name be called.
5) There is no number five.
5) There is no number five.
I am jazzed beyond description to be able to offer this
promotion, and I hope there are enough Inner Sanctum and Lights
Out fans out there to justify a good response (the Escape contest got a very
healthy reception…though I'll admit I kind of “goosed” it with a few Facebook
mentions). Remember: you can’t win if
you don’t enter—Thrilling Days of
Yesteryear is the phrase that pays!
Oh…one more thing.
Turner Classic Movies will run the next three vehicles in Universal’s Frankenstein franchise tomorrow night (Sunday,
October 9) beginning at 8pm EDT; The
Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), Frankenstein
Meets the Wolf Man (1943), and House of Frankenstein (1944). In anticipation of this event, Mom has
duct-taped the remote to her hand so as to keep it out of the clutches of my
father. (Okay, not really—but she did
suggest it.) Until the next time we get
together on the blog…pleasant dreams...hmmmm?
2 comments:
Boy, do I wish I lived somewhere close to Mom! (Well, you too, of course.) We could have such fun in October. I'm a decent cook, not the epicure that Mom is, of course, but I can make fantastic homemade eclairs -- I mean the real thing, with the puff ball, real cream filling, and fudge topping, all from my sweet little hands and enough ingredients to cover the living room and kitchen. I adore October and all the Universal classics, and more still! "Fire bad! Eclairs good!"
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Dairy cleared her throat:
I can make fantastic homemade eclairs -- I mean the real thing, with the puff ball, real cream filling, and fudge topping, all from my sweet little hands and enough ingredients to cover the living room and kitchen.
Mom makes cream puffs in a similar fashion (from scratch). Mighty tasty!
"Fire bad! Eclairs good!"
You serrit, kiddo.! (Sadly, my enjoyment of eclairs is a avenue that has been road-blocked.)
Post a Comment