LOVECRAFTIANA (PORTAL FIVE)

Hollywod special effects man Paul Blaisdell and his pal, Bob Burns, are revered by the legions of monster movie fans out there. Bob, of course, is still alive and possesses one of the largest collections of monster movie memorabilia imaginable. Entire books have been published on his collection that, in my estimation, is second only to Forry's Horde. Blaisdell was the "man in the rubber suit", as well as prop guy for numerous Atom Age B-Movies like THE SHE CREATURE and IT CONQUERED THE WORLD.

Beginning in 1962, they produced seven issues of FANTASTIC MONSTERS OF THE FILMS, a popular collectible for monster magazine fans. Intended as a showcase and "how-to" of Paul's special effects work, it evolved into a monster movie 'zine like others on the newsstands of the day. What was distinctive about FMOTF was its use of color and large, two-page spreads of photos that were not seen in the competition. Unfortunately, they had teamed up with an unscrupulous publisher who eventually ran off with not only their money, but a lot of their collectible film stills as well.

Coverage of the Poe-titled and Lovecraft-inspired THE HAUNTED PALACE was in Issue #6.