Happy Holidays from M.C.E. !

Happy Holidays!!! 

So yeah, it has been a while that I used this BlogSpot  

It has been a really busy year here at the household between family and jobs, I hope to see some free time soon to be active with the products that I put out. For those who are discovering the cool small press stuff we have, here is a better understanding of what each publication represents... 

Midnight! Magazine is a homegrown horror ‘zine, featuring creator interviews, movie and comic reviews, loads of art, short stories, anecdotal articles, etc. We cover everything from VHS tapes, records, movies, comics, books, the whole shebang. 

MidnightTales is horror/Sci Fi/Weird tales style short fiction with art gallery spread out between stories.

Strange World is weird 70’s throwback exploitation photography stuff, but with modern models and photographers, along with articles, reviews and interviews.

All Titles are part of M.C.E. - Media Crypt Entertainment, all titles are a contributor driven fanzine, if you contribute to these labors of love, you will receive a contribution copy of the zine!

midnightmagazine.bigcartel.com

Emanuele Taglietti Portfolio by Vintagerotika!

 There are 9 Sets with Sukia Prints, Only 1 Sukia print set per Customer. However, we have 3 regular sets without the Sukia print available for those who want to pick up an extra set.  Each set is 140 USD shipped Priority in the USA, additional sets are 120 per set plus any additional cost of shipping, message me if you are buying more than one. The prints will be bagged and kept inside the portrait folder, The folder is in the cardboard mailer which will be doubled up with another sturdy cardboard mailer that is like a vinyl mailer for extra protection. Do not miss out on this one-time opportunity to own this special signed set by Emanuele Taglietti!

Starstream comics article - Originally printed in Midnight Magazine #4

 Originally printed in Midnight Magazine #4... long Out Of Print...

A Day in the Life of a Young Comic Collector

Starstream…. An Adventure into Science Fiction

    The Star Wars craze was going on during 1977 through 1978, being a kid at that time was so much fun! anytime we went to any department store I was always running off to the toy aisle to look at the wall after wall of Star Wars toys and of course the many other toys on the shelves Micronauts are not being one of them, I remember a lot of these being on clearance during this time, it was probably the Kenner line of Star Wars toys that pushed them out!

Check out the old Micronaught toys on the web!

     Anyways with all this being said, there was this one time I was with Mama at Kmart, a store we normally don't frequent. Once again I was off to the toy aisle! Well this place not only had some toys, but they had a small magazine style rack made of wood if I recall, Right there on this rack were many activity books such as coloring books, search a word, color forms box sets and among it were these bagged Whitman comics, most of these were three comic packs of Looney Toons characters and such and behind these bagged comics were several of these individual comics called Starstream - Adventures in Science Fiction.

I grabbed the four different books as they were the only ones I seen at the time, mom bought them for me no complaints, Starstream is like a comic book adaptation of a science-fiction anthology than a regular comic book, now these comics were very thick and they had cardstock cover and a price tag of .79 cents per book (Expensive at that time, If I had Dad with me, it be another “Damn son that’s Expensive” just like the Wonder Bread as told in the last issue) I did not know that these books already been out two years prior, I've not seen them anywhere else, perhaps Kmart decided just to leave them there or just simply doesn't return back stock often, for that reason I'm glad or I would probably not discover these till many years later, this is probably at the time, my discovery of some of the best writers in our time, to mention a few Robert Bloch, Theodore Sturgeon, John W. Campbell, Larry Niven, and some more... Hell! Even Dean Koontz is in it!

 

Starstream #1 1976 1976 Western Publishing Company

Writers: Barrington J. Bayley, Arnold Drake, Joan Hunter Holly, G. Cruz-Santos, John W. Campbell Jr., Steve Skeates, Howard Goldsmith, Paul S. Newman, Chad Oliver, Ed Summer, Raymond Banks

 Artist: Alberto Giolitti, Frank Bolle, Jack Abel, Jack Sparling, José Luis García-López, Adolfo Buylla

 

Starstream #2 1976 1976 Western Publishing Company

Writers: Dean Koontz, Wallace I. Green, Arnold Drake, Larry Niven, Allan Moniz, Robert Silverberg, Steve Skeates, H.E. Arloff, Mary Schaub

 Artist: Frank Bolle, Al McWilliams, Jose Delbo, Cambiotti, Jack Sparling

 

I Love these classic sci-fi stories and the art isn’t at all bad as most comic collectors say it is. I recommend finding them for good ole fashioned reading, and if your one of those folks collecting to Slab books just to make more $$ bugger off! Leave them be!!!

Starstream #3 1976 1976 Western Publishing Company

Writers: Jack Williamson, Ed Summer, Harry Dawes, Theodore Sturgeon, Arnold Drake, A.E. Van Vogt, George Kashdan, Anne McCaffrey, Dan Weiss

 Artist: Don Heck, Frank Bolle, Adolfo Buylla, Al McWilliams

 

Starstream #4 1976 1976 Western Publishing Company

Writers: Poul Anderson, George Kashdan, Pamela Eckard, Isaac Asimov, A. Moniz, Stephan Goldin, Arnold Drake, Roger Elwood, Robert Bloch

 Artist: Adolfo Buylla, Frank Bolle, Jack Abel, Jose Delbo, Al McWilliams, Nevio Zeccara

 As a kid taking these home, I went straight into reading them and enjoyed all the odd stories, the quirky aliens and cool spaceships and amazing landscapes... it’s...

STARSTREAM

ADVENTURES IN SCIENCE FICTION

 If you’re a fan of Science Fiction, I recommend finding these issues to read, there is only 4 of them and you can get them for fairly cheap, if your LCS doesn’t have it, you can find them just about anywhere on the web, eBay, Comics shops, Comics groups, etc...

Mr. Fright

Vampirella #1 from Chile in Color

As discussed in Midnight Magazine #7 by Stephane Poitras, here is the Cover and the Insides of Vampirella #1 from Chile. This was the first Vampirella in color. Speaking with a few collectors on this item, be prepared to spend in the $1000 range for this...

Brujerias de Vampirella #1. Chile. May 1970. This one is incredibly hard to find. 

This print of Vampirella #1 is in color. Way before Harris published it in Hyde-25 #0 saying "for the first time in color".

To read the whole section of Vampirella from Kimbers Krypt, Stephane Poitras collection, and Vampi in Mexico with a fabulous splash page by Tim Tyler. Get your copy of Midnight Magazine #7

 https://midnightmagazine.bigcartel.com/

31 Days of Halloween

I am a little late getting this out on the blog but here goes... 2020 has been a pain in the butt, but it didn't stop me and Angie from doing our 31 Days of Halloween movie viewings.  This year we decided to mix it up with flicks we have yet to see and revisit some of the classics as long as it related to Horror and or Monsters.  A couple of these films were outdoor showings for Dead End Cinema, one was a Fathom event at Cinemark, the rest were in the cozy living room. Some nights we were able to get more than 1 film in, and here is the list!

1 - Blackula, Amusement

2 - The Brood

3 - Maniac Cop, Death Weekend

4 - The Witching Season, The Day the World Ended

5 - Death Warmed Up

6 - Deadly Blessing

7 - Friday the 13th (Fathom Event theater screening)

8 - Night of the Living Dead (Tom Savini version)

9 - Doom Asylum

10 - I Drink Your Blood (Dead End Cinema viewing)

11 - Voodoo Moon, Mountain of the Cannibal God

12 - The House of Mystery

13 - Volumes of Blood

14 - Friday the 13th Part 2 (excited to see the deleted scenes!)

15 - Jack-O

16 - Fear PHarm 

17 - Pumpkinhead (Dead End Cinema viewing)

18 - Dead by Dawn, IT! The Terror from Beyond Space

19 - Inn of the Damned

20 - The Thing (John Carpenter)

21 - Evilspeak

22 -  Night of the Living Dead (Original)

23 - 10/31

24 - From Dusk Till Dawn

25 - Tales of Terror

26 - The Last House on the Left (Original)

27 - Trick 'r Treat

28 - Return of the Living Dead

29 - Sleepy Hollow

30 - Critters, Halloween 3 - Season of the Witch, Kolchak - The Night Stalker

31 - The Mortuary Collection, Dawn of the Dead (Original)

There you have it!!! We hope you all enjoyed this list and we would like to see yours as well!

Join us... The Skyway Drive-In 7-10-20

I was scrolling around on Facebook and ran across this double feature of Evil Dead / Zombie playing at the Skyway Drive-In weeks back on social media. I'm like "Oh boy, that has to be seen at the Drive-In". The Skyway is a good hour and ten minutes away from home but nothing was going to stop us from watching these 2 fantastic films on the big screen. The 90+ degree weather doesn't faze us, it was the threats of storms and rain over the weekend and we were not sure if we want to be in the middle of a downpour trying to watch these films. Friday came around and I was scrolling around Facebook and saw a post about the weather clearing up for the evening, after checking several sources, We decided to road trip out to the Drive-In! all we needed was to bring some Judas Priest CDs and hit the road...

Skyway Marquee 

We were just about there when we came upon a traffic light with no power, thinking nothing of it until we arrived. There were rows of cars and some familiar faces from Cinema Wasteland (Art Ettinger, Brian Huey, Mike Watt and Amy Lynn) outside conversing with each other. I get out to chat with some of the Wastelanders. They were telling me the power is out in the area and they were waiting around to see if power comes back on soon. I tried to chat up with some folks but I had a hard time comprehending what some of the folks were saying with most everyone wearing masks. So I kept my conversations short and friendly and went back to the car to wait a while. Eventually, the owner of the drive-in (I believe he is) was saying the power company told them it be close to 11 pm when the power would be on, so I'm thinking "That's a bit of a long wait and what if it never comes on at all?" I could come back as my tickets were redeemable. Now some of these folks traveled from far away, Cincinnati OH, Pennsylvania, and even West Virginia license plate was spotted and that would suck if they had to go back...

Anyways we pulled out and headed back home... within 5 minutes or so after getting on the highway... all the street lights were coming to life! I'm like "11 o'clock my ass! we are going back!" lo and behold it was open for business!

Grindhouse Releasing, The Evil Dead... Join Us...

We set up our lawn chairs, boombox, tuned in to the Drive-In Airwaves, and ready to watch this masterpiece! The weather was perfect, after having storms all day, the sky was pretty clear with stars and the air was perfect with a cool crisp.

The Book of the Dead... Necronomicon

The Evil Dead, great flick... I can't say how many times I've watched it, but it was a first time for Angie and me to see it at the Drive-In and it was a thrill! The intermission reel was playing drive-in quizzes and facts so we went off to the concession stands and ordered cheese sticks and drinks. I found the food prices to be very reasonable!

Drive-In History time...

After finishing our food, we decided to pack up the boombox and chairs and watch the second flick from the comfort of the car... Once again, tuning into the Drive-in airwaves...

Lucio Fulci's ZOMBIE

Zombie - Great flick, great gore, and some crazy scenes like Zombie Vs. Shark, the famous injury to eye scene, oh yeah! Even better... We finally saw this on the Big Screen!

Eye-popping graphics! OUCH!

We are going to eat you...

Another good time at a Drive-In, remember folks if you love these films and never had a chance to experience them at a drive-in, I say do not hesitate, check your local listings (or not so local), and see what they are playing... If you find something, do not hesitate to make a trip out. Who knows how long they will play classics flicks all summer before the new big-budget films take over. We can only hope they will continue these classics from here on out... they can have my money as long as it keeps going...  By the way, I also heard that Grindhouse releasing is putting together a package for PIECES, another great flick, one that I actually saw a long time ago along with Don't Look in the Basement on a date night in the '80s... you can let your local Drive-In know that you want to see this and send them the link from the Grindhouse Releasing's Facebook page... Mr. Fright out...

Skyway Marquee at night.

Beware the moon, lads... A night at the Lynn Drive-In 7-2-20

Thursday, July 2nd was the last day that Lynn Drive-In was showing this classic pairing of Fast Times at Ridgemont High & An American Werewolf in London. It has been a fairly hot day out, but that wasn't going to stop us as it was also the only day Angie, J.D. and I could all go see these flicks on the Big Screen together, so that worked out perfect. We left a bit early to get a good spot on the field and we brought our lawn chairs, skeeter spray, snack foods, water, and a boom box to tune into Lynn's airwaves.

The Marquee at Lynn Drive-In

Lynn Drive-in is the oldest Drive-in here in Ohio and the second oldest in the world. It opened in 1937 as Boyers Auto Theater before changing owners. They changed the name to Lynn after their daughter in the mid-'50s. Movies played on a single screen until 1967 when they added a second screen and it became a twin drive-in. Although FM Stereo transmitters were installed in 1996, the original speakers are still out on the field and some still work.

(I wouldn't mind having a set of Drive-in speakers as a display set or a conversation piece here at the Media Crypt), now that we settled down and set up, we went off to the concession stand to see what was available, but we didn't buy anything...

Signs on the Concession booth. 

We are all seated in our chairs and talking away about movies and what classic pairings that we would love to see happen at any other drive-ins in the coming days. As the sun is winding down, it is starting cool off a bit... Just waiting for darkness to arrive...

Sun is waning... waiting for darkness...

The first feature is Fast Times at Ridgemont High, this is a great flick, I have always enjoyed watching this film over the years on cable T.V. or on some sort of physical media. This is the first time we all watched this classic teen sex comedy on the Big Screen.

When this was over, there were no Intermission reels or anything, the screen was left blank till the next feature was up...

Opening Feature...

The second feature is An American Werewolf in London, a long time favorite of mine. I saw this film along with my good friend Shawn Gingerich when it came out at the movie theater and many other times when it was on cable T.V. and own it on various media formats. This is the first time I am seeing it at a Drive-In. Now folks, if you are reading this and have "NEVER SEEN THIS FILM"... pull your thumb out of your ass and go watch it however you can! David Naughton and Jenny Agutter are great in this movie. The special FX done by Rick Baker is amazing, this has possibly the best werewolf transformation scene ever, the effects still holds up well today!

Second Feature of the night... Beware the Moon!

It was a perfect night under the stars... the evening was a nice temperature after a hot day, the sky was clear and you could see the constellations. I tried to get a picture of the Big Dipper but the phone camera just wasn't cutting it.  In closing... no matter how easy it is to watch a film at home whether you can stream it or own a copy... there is nothing like getting away spending a few bucks and watching classics like these on the big screen under the stars with some of your loved ones or friends... even though there are new big-budget films waiting to be played, I still hope Drive-ins will continue to play classics throughout the year... and where ever the classics are playing, I will be planning to hit them up. If anyone wants to chat about drive-in experiences, Just message me here.

Mr.Fright

The Marquee at night.