Halloween at the homestead

There is a tendency to avoid more personally-oriented posts, because we would rather talk horror than about ourselves. However, since this is about Halloween, we decided to give a little glimpse of how we celebrated at our home this year. Storage space (not to mention our bank account) is limited, so we only decorated the entertainment room. Even so, it came out quite festive for the season.

For starters, rather than removing the cat condo we included it in the decorations, using it as shelving for a set of three faux jack o' lanterns. Furthermore, Yankee Candle's "Harvest Welcome" scent gave the room a pleasant, spiced fragrance. Strong enough to be noticed, but not overbearing on the ol' olfactory system.

Adjacent to the cat condo is our big-screen television. We draped Target's "Décor" brand spider-cicle lights set across the front of the TV stand and placed a pair of faux pumpkins from Michaels on top. This also included a skull-faced faux jack o' lantern from Meijer, bearing a passing resemblance to Jack Skellington from 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'.

An otherwise ordinary wood cabin changed into a vampire's coffin by draping Walmart's dripping light set atop and around it. And for an added touch (though not seen, here, in this picture), a pair of wooden, paint stir sticks were taped together into a cross and slipped into the handles. All it really needed was creepy vampire fingers curling out, trying to pry apart the locked coffin. Ah, well. Perhaps next year.

 

Behind all this was the main spread of ghoulish goodies. Three Meijer Halloween-themed tins stored, respectively: Reese's mini peanut butter cups and Reese's Pieces, fun-sized Kit-Kats ranging from white to regular to dark chocolate, and lastly Jolly Rancher suckers with orange-colored rolls of Fruit By The Foot. A furry spider from Halloween City safeguarded Target cotton candy cobwebs, plus a bag of pumpkin-shaped cheesy potato puffs, which were also bought from the latter. (The cotton candy, quite frankly, wasn't that good. However, the potato puffs were.)  

An unknown witch decoration, witch hat from Snyder's IGA, and a generic plastic cauldron from Walmart comprised the center of the table, where we later filled it with "witch's brewskis." That is to say, mostly Redd's Apple Ale and an assortment of a few other drinks, like green apple Jones Soda. (Those witches sure do love their apples.)

It gets a little lost in the table, but there's one other item definitely worth pointing out, and that's the Frankenstein's monster ceramic glass from Spirit Halloween. This was certainly one of our more favorite additions to the Halloween decorum this year. Note the attention to detail, with its weathered wrinkles, stapled scars, and droopy-lidded, yellowed eyes. Is that not cool or what?

As coincidence would have it, among our selection of movies to watch for that night was Universal's black-and-white classic adaptation of 'Frankenstein' (1931). For those of you who are curious, the rest of our nightly viewing consisted of: Key & Peele's Halloween episode, 'The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror episode "The Shinning," and 'Burnt Offerings' (1976), the latter of which, oddly enough, has many similarities to Stephen King's 'The Shining'.

Looking forward to next Halloween and, as an alteration to the old saying goes, "Eat, drink, and be scary!"

hiatus happenings

Ouch. *cringes* It's been just shy of a year since our last post, here on the Darkley Niche. Been kept busy dredging away at work like a blue collar zombie. Apologies all around, readers. Without further ado let's get the reagent, because we're about to bring this blog back to life!

Although we've been absent for a considerable length of time from the blog scene, we've been keeping at it with watching and reading horror in both film and literature, respectively. And of course there's still oh so plenty on our to-do list. Here's an abridged rundown of what we've viewed in the more recent months during our hiatus. – We'll try to come back to these later on and write more in-depth reviews or commentaries. Consider this the first entree, so dig in.

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MOVIES

 'The Cabin in the Woods' (2012)

When you think you've seen all that horror has to offer, 'The Cabin in the Woods' takes many of the tried and tired subgenres and then turns them on their ear, like your ol' Nanna did when she caught you swearing. I had some inkling of what the premise was, but had only guessed at the tip of the iceberg. This is one film that we can confidently feel safe to say you won't be able to predict. Also, kudos to the filmmaker's nods to 'The Evil Dead' movies and guest cameo, albeit brief, with Sigourney Weaver. This was a fun ride, and it was apparently so for those making it.

'Creature from the Black Lagoon' (1954)

We've been meaning to see this Universal Studios classic for some time, but it wasn't until reading Gary Myers' "Understudy" in the 'Shadows Over Innsmouth' anthology that gave us just the right push. The creature itself, that is, the Gill-man, was an impressive costume, both in its appearance and functionality underwater. Not too many made during the fifties can make that claim. And we've been on a serious H.P. Lovecraft kick with all things Innsmouth, so this really hit the sweet spot. In certain respects, we would even favor this film over 'Dagon' (2001).

'Mary Shelley's Frankenstein' (1994)

Speaking of creatures, here is another movie that features one of its own. This little gem took us by surprise, as we had heard very little about it. And while the names Kenneth Branagh ('Hamlet') and Robert De Niro ('Taxi Driver') don't instantly bring "horror" to mind, it was all pulled off rather well. And there was a rather impressive line-up of actors, ranging from Tom Hulce ('Amadeus') to Ian Holm ('From Hell'). Our only real complaint is that Helena Bonham Carter's ('Sweeney Todd' and 'The Corpse Bride') physical appearance as the Bride was rather disappointing.

'The Thing' (2011)

Having been fans of John Carpenter's 'The Thing', we awaited this prequel with an equal measure of anticipation and trepidation. Admittedly, animatronics and movie make-up will almost always trump CGI in our book. But it wasn't too cumbersome with the latter, which was a relief. And speaking personally, I had to smile when seeing the inclusion of the alien spaceship deep in the Antarctic ice. That hails back to 'The Thing from Another World' (1952) and actually included a number of other bits that I recognized, which were also carried over. It adapted much of what made its two predecessors good movies.

'The Woman in Black' (2012)

When we come back to this film, we'll have to make an attempt at watching the 1989 adaptation, albeit both are based on Susan Hill's novel, much in the same way that both 'The Thing's and likewise 'The Thing from Another World' are with John W. Campbell's novella, "Who Goes There?" Surprisingly, it wasn't hard to watch Daniel Radcliffe without thinking Harry Potter. (If anything, Elijah Woods kept coming to mind.) While his performance was certainly noteworthy, hands down the best part of the film had to be the Eel Marsh House itself. If you've seen it yourself, you'll understand why.

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TELEVISION

AMC's 'The Walking Dead' (2010-present)

'The Walking Dead' has been a mixed bag for most, and while friends of ours have found plenty at fault with it, we still enjoy the series. Could certain changes have been made for the better? Sure. But as far as comic book adaptations goes, this sure beats the hell out of a lot of them. (Seriously. Look at 'Spider-Man's Green Goblin and ask how they go from the illustrated designs to a sorry, Power Ranger knock-off. With a little make up, Willem Dafoe's face would've been fine.) We're still working our way through season two, so it's always possible our opinion might change. We'll see.

John Carpenter's "Cigarette Burns" (2005)

Eighth episode of 'Masters of Horror's second season, "Cigarette Burns" made us think of Robert W. Chambers' 'The King in Yellow' stories, in certain respects. Instead of a play, however, we have a rare film that drives its audience mad. It could also be said that "Cigarette Burns" resembles Carpenter's 'In The Mouth of Madness' (1995), which we loved due to its obvious Lovecraft overtones. Lastly, while Udo Kier makes an appearance his screen time is regrettably kept short. (Coincidentally, this episode happens to star Norman Reedus, who plays a regular on AMC's 'The Walking Dead'.)

'Psych'  (2006-present)

Season six of USA's 'Psych' has included some comical homages to horror films, specifically episodes "This Episode Sucks" and "Hereeeee's Lassie". If James Roday and Dule Hill in full costume as 'Interview with the Vampire's Lestat and Blacula isn't enough for fang fans, it also guest stars Corey Feldman ('The Lost Boys'). And while "Hereeeee's Lassie" is essentially a parody of Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining', there are additional little Easter eggs slipped into the episode, like pregnant neighbor Rosemary ('Rosemary's Baby').

Stephen King's 'Bag of Bones' (2011)

Ugh... Firstly, we're definite fans of Stephen King stories, so make no mistake. 'IT' (1990) the mini-series still ranks among our top horror favorites. But 'Bag of Bones' was nothing if not predictable, as much as we wanted to like it. (SPOILER ALERT) It didn't take much foresight to predict Pierce Brosnan's character was related to the cursed men, for starters. And let's be honest folks, having an author protagonist is a tiresome trend that occurs pretty regularly in King's work. Yes, it was integral to the plot, but come on. Enough with the writer characters, King.

'Adventure Time' (2010-present)

Cartoon Network's series 'Adventure Time' started with an outbreak of candy people zombies, so it was fun to see this idea brought back to life in 3x07a, "From Bad to Worse." Together with the murder mystery in 3x06b, "The Creeps," these two episodes comprised part of Cartoon Network's 2011 Halloween specials. – Speaking for myself, I particularly enjoyed these episodes as they're the closest I can get to watching horror films with my girlfriend.

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READING

 'Shadows Over Innsmouth'

Published by Del Rey Books and editted by Stephen Jones, this anthology includes seventeen stories all inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," along with that as well. Some are hits, others are misses. But that's to be expected, really, and the hits really make this book worthwhile. "The Big Fish," "Daoine Domhain," and "The Innsmouth Heritage," were among my personal favorites. Be assured that a detailed Darkley Niche review will be in the works.

'Tales Out of Innsmouth'

As mentioned earlier in our two cents on 'Creature from the Black Lagoon', we've been indulging in Innsmouth-inspired stories. And while we haven't yet finished this anthology, shorts such as Gary Myers' "Understudy" have already made this read a worthwhile venture. Additionally, "The Weird Shadow over Innsmouth," which begins the book, was made from fragments of early drafts and reworked into a cohesive narrative by John Glasby. It's offers an interesting insight, although the story itself is a little repetitive, as is to be expected.

'The Whisperer and Other Stories' by Brian Lumley

Referring back to the previous book, this particular anthology is the reason why we put a pause on 'Tales Out of Innsmouth'. If it was to take a vacation from Innsmouth, guess again. "The Return of the Deep Ones," similar to most of those told in 'Shadows Over Innsmouth', spreads their tainted influence over to the shores of Britain. So far, so good. However, we may soon be swapping this for another of Lumley's anthologies, 'Return of the Deep Ones and Other Mythos Tales', and resume reading from there.

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That's all for now, our Darkley Niche faithful, but we hope it is enough to rekindle the embers of those followers who have been patiently awaiting this long-overdue post – like Cthulhu in his deathless sleep. We'll aim to keep this weekly to biweekly, if able. A film or book review may well be in order, come next time we write again. Until then, dream darkly readers.

Black History Month: Bride of Blackenstein

Having been rather lax as of late with the Darkley Niche, it's time that we remedy that. With February being Black History Month, we're writing this article in regards to that theme. Expect more to come, touching on this.

Kenanan Thompson (right) and Jay Pharoah (left), who sounds an
awful lot like Wyatt Cenac as muppet Michael Steele ("bibbles" and all)

Nicki Minaj as the Bride of Blackenstein, brought to life

Saturday Night Live has a talent for making satirical commentary on various social circumstances, be they modern or past. In the case of their recent short skit, "Bride of Blackenstein," there is a bit of both. Drawing inspiration from the 1973 blaxploitation horror film Blackenstein, a.k.a. Black Frankenstein, this parody takes the next step by adapting Universal's The Bride of Frankenstein as if it were a sequel of the former. Now, not having seen Blackenstein for ourselves, we're only aware of the superficial traits and obvious stereotypes of the film.

So perhaps it is in poor taste that Saturday Night Live chose to use a derogatory genre for a comedy sketch. Then again, by mocking these racial stereotypes it points out the problems that were evident back then and, unfortunately, are still perpetuated in the film industry today in varying degrees. But then, does "Bride of Blackenstein" only succeed in exasperating this situation? It's a looping argument, which we won't allow ourselves to be drawn into.

Regardless of what your stance may be on the short itself, "Bride of Blackenstein" brings to mind the valid controversy surrounding Black, as well as Black women, stereotypes in cinema. It is in our personal opinion that if this was Saturday Night Live's actual intention, then they made good on it.

Additional Black History Month articles:

• Black History Month, part I (2010)
  
• Black History Month, part II (2010)

Frankenstein sketch card

To compliment the Bride, here's the first Frankenstein's monster. Purchase this original art for $20 USD, which comes in a plastic protector and includes no additional mailing costs. Contact me if interested.

Bride sketch card

After recently illustrating a sketch card for charity, it put me in the mood to do another card. So here's Universal's classic Bride of Frankenstein. Depending on how this sells, I may do more. I'm currently setting the price at $20 USD. Because of its size, there's no additional charge for mailing costs and comes in a plastic protector. Contact me if interested.

birthdays and memorials

This past week marks a number of birthdays for both living and deceased actors, as well as a recent death, who have played a role in horror cinema. So for this post we're going to briefly touch on each, highlighting certain parts that they have played, respectfully. Normally we wouldn't mark the birthdays of deceased actors, mind you, but because of the close dates it seemed too conspicuous to ignore.

PETER CUSHING
(May 26, 1913 - August 11, 1994)

Cushing seen here as Van Helsing in 'Dracula' (1958)

For Don and myself, Peter Cushing will be best remembered in the role of Grand Moff Tarkin from 'Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'. After all, we were sci-fi geeks first, branching out into horror fandom later on. Especially Don in regards to the former, who had, and still does have, a love for 'Star Wars'. Lucas aside, Cushing had a history with Hammer Film Productions, cast as Baron Victor Frankenstein in 'The Curse of Frankenstein' (1957) and Doctor Van Helsing in 'Dracula' (1958). Cushing continued these parts on into the sequels that followed. Regrettably, neither Don nor myself have seen any of the movies released by Hammer Film Productions as of yet, but will eventually rectify this.

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CHRISTOPHER LEE
(May 27, 1922 - present)

Lee seen here as Lord Summerisle in 'The Wicker Man' (1973)

Like Cushing, Christopher Lee has a long-standing history with Hammer Film Productions, cast in similarly iconic roles as the Monster in 'The Curse of Frankenstein' (1957) and Count Dracula in 'Dracula' (1958). Furthermore, Lee continued these parts on into the sequels that followed, making Cushing and himself regular colleagues and sensibly led to their friendship. Again, while Don and myself haven't watched the Hammer Film Productions' movies, we have seen him in a number of other roles, be they purely horror or horror comedy, such as 'The Wicker Man' (1973) and 'Gremlins 2: The New Batch' (1990). And of course during the past decade we've become familiar with Lee's contributions to 'The Lord of the Rings' and the newer 'Star Wars' trilogies.

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VINCENT PRICE
(May 27, 1911 - October 25, 1993)

Price seen here as the inventor in 'Edward Scissorhands' (1990)

Sharing the same birthday as Christopher Lee, May 27th also marks the late and great Vincent Price's birthday. Where do we even begin? Price has done it all, from hosting PBS' 'Mystery!' television series to starring in many, many horror films to lending his talents as a voice actor (ex: Tim Burton's tribute, 'Vincent') to even appearing on family programs such as 'The Muppet Show'. Talk about a healthy work ethic. For myself, and likely for Don as well, it's bittersweet each time that we watch 'Edward Scissorhands' (1990), knowing that his part as the kindly old inventor would be one of his last, reverberated by the inventor's own saddening death. I'll confess, I've choked up during that particular scene.

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DENNIS HOPPER

(May 17, 1936 - May 29, 2010)

Hopper, seen right, as Kaufman in 'Land of the Dead' (2005)

Yesterday, due to complications with prostate cancer, Dennis Hopper passed away at age seventy-four. We remember Hopper best for his contributions to horror cinema, though the late actor has worked in various other genres over the years. Lieutenant "Lefty" Enright in 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2' (1986) and Paul Kaufman in George A. Romero's 'Land of the Dead' (2005) are two horror roles that specifically come to mind. Horror aside, we also remember Hopper in Quentin Tarantino's 'True Romance'.

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LINNEA QUIGLEY
(May 27, 1958 - present)

Quigley seen here as Trash in 'The Return of the Living Dead' (1985)

Last on our list of birthdays, but certainly not least, we have Ms. Quigley to mix things up a little. Definitely standing out from these older gentlemen, perhaps fate does have an odd sense of humor.* A scream queen, B-movie actress, Linnea is most memorable in her role as Trash, the pink-haired, punk rock chick in Dan O' Bannon's 'The Return of the Living Dead' (1985). ...And if you're interested, we just so happen to have a postcard-sized print of zombie Trash available for purchase. *cough* shameless self-promotion *cough*

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Coincidentally, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and Vincent Price starred together in the 1983 horror-parody, 'House of the Long Shadows'. Three out of five; not bad.

See also: The Vault of Horror's "The Vincent Price/Christopher Lee Birthday Throwdown!"

*excerpt from 'The Return of the Living Dead'
Trash: Do you ever wonder about all the different ways of dying? You know, violently? And wonder, like, what would be the most horrible way to die?
Spider: I try not to think about dying too much.
Trash: Mmm. Well for me, the worst way would be for a bunch of old men to get around me, and start biting me and eating me alive...
Spider: I see.
Trash: First, they would tear off my clothes...
Chuck: Hey, somebody get some light over here; Trash is taking off her clothes again!

randomness: Mignola's Bride

Does it get much better than this? Perhaps, but nothing else comes to mind at the moment. Thanks to Frankensteinia for bringing this to our attention.

Universal Monsters Illustrated, 1994 Topps card by Mike Mignola

Bride of Frankenstein's 75th Anniversary

First off, my apologies for the lack of updates. The Niche has been neglected as of late, which I will remedy after certain work-related projects have been completed. But that isn't to say there won't be the occasional post from time to time. That brings me to the subject of this particular post, which was brought to my attention by Frankensteinia, the Frankenstein blog. This week is the 75th anniversary of Universal's 1935 classic, 'The Bride of Frankenstein'. So in addition to watching this Hollywood monster masterpiece to celebrate, we suggest that you follow along this week with Frankensteinia. It is a resourceful wellspring of Frankenstein-related history and news, so we vouch that it will be a worthwhile look at the Bride.

Easter at the Niche, part II

Here's the continuation of "Easter at the Niche". To read the previous post, click here.

'Night of the Lepus'

Likewise, 'Night of the Lepus' (1972) is another film that I haven't seen. For some reason, though, I am familiar with the running giant rabbits scene. Seems like it was playing in the background at some point during 'The Matrix', though I can't say for certain. Maybe it's a subtle play on the Alice in Wonderland theme in the movie. Hard to say.

The premise is that the rabbit population has grown out of control in a small Arizona town, so an experimental hormonal serum is used in the hopes of causing birth defects and thus dwindle down the populace. This, of course, does not go according to plan. Instead, the serum creates a horde of huge, carnivorous rabbits.

Cheesy? Most likely. But '[...] Lepus' just might be what you're looking for if mutant rabbits sounds appealing.

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'Resurrection'

Perhaps just as obscure as 'Night of the Lepus', 'Resurrection' (1999) is a murder mystery thriller that I haven't even heard of up until now. Here's an IMDB plot summary:

"Detective John Prudhomme, a Cajun transplanted to Chicago, is assigned to investigate the savage murder of a man who has bled to death from a severed arm. A message, "He Is Coming", written in blood on the victim's window is a dark, forboding clue of his task. After two more victims with missing body parts are discovered, Prudhomme realizes he is on the trail of a serial killer who is using the missing body parts to reconstruct the body of Christ...just in time for Easter. As Prudhomme struggles to catch the zealot-murderer, he is haunted by the death of his son, his continued estrangement from his wife, and his wavering faith in God."

Of all the Easter related examples listed, this is perhaps the one that might offend Christians most. As far as I see it, however, it boils down to the dillusions of a psychotically disturbed person. I would argue that the premise is on a similar par with stories like Frankenstein, except that these victims were still alive. (Mind you, that isn't a reflection on the quality of the stories, only that their themes are similar. I sincerely doubt that 'Resurrection' comes anywhere within the league of Frankenstein.) So instead of graverobbing we have murder, and instead of creating life we have an attempt at resurrection. Different, but still similar.

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30-Second Bunnies

A Flash-based cartoon series, "30-Second Bunnies" parodies popular films and replaces the actors with bunnies, occasionally even pinning bunny ears on random animals and objects for added humor. As the series title suggests, the episode shorts take thirty seconds to summarize the content of the original movies. Ever wonder what 'Night of the Living Dead', 'The Shining', or 'Freddy vs. Jason' would be like as an animated skit? Well, wonder no more. Watch these and others on the "30-Second Bunnies" horror channel at their website. It may not be outright Easter horror, but it does have bunnies and it does have horror.

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'Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'

More comedy than actual horror, 'Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit' takes a playful jab at mad scientists, werewolves, and typical plot devices found in classic horror. While silver bullet are effective against werewolves, they apparently prove useless against were-rabbits. So what is, then? 24-karat gold, according to the town reverend. Yes, an obvious pun on the word "carrot".

While '[...] Were-Rabbit' is not a holiday horror film, like "30-Second Bunnies", it does feature the long-eared animals linked to the Easter-time season. Consider this movie if you're looking for something more light-hearted.

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'Alien' films

Of course what would Easter be without the eggs? Unlike Easter eggs, though, these aren't the kind that you want to find around the house.

'Alien' and the films to follow are infamous for the "facehuggers", which are responsible for laying Xenomorph eggs inside of its victims. But even then these creatures come from eggs of their own. Maybe as a game, watch the 'Alien' movies and see how many facehugger eggs you can count. If you want to include 'Alien vs. Predator' and 'Alien vs. Predator: Requiem', that's your call.

Gruesomestein's Monsters

Learned about these comical cartoon shorts from Frankensteinia and felt like sharing three of the total six episodes. I'll let the videos and Pierre Fournier's post do the speaking.

Women in Horror Month

The Darkley Niche is still a very young site, but we've managed, at least I hope, to start walking in the right direction by following the example of other horror bloggers. Carla, better known to many as Cool-slayer, runs the blog Nakamura's Place and is essentially what got me interested in starting my own. And while it's not specifically a horror blog, she discusses the genre from time to time and is a much bigger horror buff than myself, garnering my respect. So, getting a foothold, I started referring to the links that she included to find other sites of interest, specifically horror blogs, and eventually came across Rhonny Reaper's Dollar Bin Horror. From here I've found that there is a strong female following in horror fandom, which brings me to the matter of this post.

Started by Hannah of Women in Horror Month, February has been dedicated to the women that have made contributions over the years to the genre and has attracted attention, mostly from the female horror community. Throughout this month, for example, Rhonny Reaper is recognizing fellow bloggers of the fairer sex like herself with the "Cyber Scream Queen of the Day Award". Meanwhile, the gals of ZombieGrrlz are doing "28 Days of Diabolical Dames", dedicating a daily post to a different woman in horror. While I myself might not be of the female persuasion, I can still appreciate this event and at the very least give recognition to a handful of ladies whose talents deserve acknowledgment.

ELSA LANCHESTER
(1902-1986)

Despite her very brief roles as Mary Shelley and the Bride in Universal's 'The Bride of Frankenstein' (1935), given less than twenty minutes of screen time, easily, her performance in the latter part is both eerie and enchanting. This, I'm sure, is why the Bride has become such a classic Hollywood monster.

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ZELDA RUBINSTEIN

(1933-2010)

As many horror fans are aware, the recent death of Zelda Rubinstein brings in the new year on a slightly somber note. Well known as medium Tangina Barrons in 'Poltergeist' (1982) and the sequels that came in succession, she gave a grandmotherly warmth to the role that makes her particularly memorable.

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CASSANDRA PETERSON
(1951-present)

Now, to any of you girls (or guys, for that matter) that guffaw at this third mention, I'll point out that Ms. Peterson (a.k.a. Elvira) has established herself as a horror cult icon on par with others like Bruce Campbell, who essentially live off of their created personality. To achieve the sort of fame as that, I tip my hat to you.

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JODIE FOSTER

(1962-present)

Granted, 'Silence of the Lambs' (1991) and its following sequels fall more appropriately into the thriller genre than horror. Still, there is definite horror interwoven, and Ms. Foster's role as agent Clarice Starling is iron strong in the adversity of two sociopathic serial killers and a discriminative Bureau.

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HELENA BONHAM CARTER
(1966-present)

Lending her talents to several of Tim Burton's films, Ms. Carter more than proves her mettle in such roles as the ever-wistful Emily in 'Corpse Bride' (2005) and grisly Mrs. Nellie Lovett in 'Sweeney Todd' (2007). Thanks to her, I will never look at a pot pie the same way, again.

Vicki's makeover

After doing a little research on 'The Bride of Frankenstein', it seems that the black-and-white hair of the Bride is actually a large misconception. Elsa Lanchester (1902-1986), who portrayed both Mary Shelley and the Bride in Universal's 1935 horror classic, was, from what I understand, a natural redhead whose own hair was combed over a light wire cage whilst acting in the latter role. As for the light streaks, I assume that these were white, but this was not elaborated on.

I can't say that this is true with absolute certainty, but this claim was found by myself on a few unrelated sites. Color photographs and a portrait painting depict Ms. Lanchester with red hair, as well as a few professional sculptures of the Bride. It stands to lend this claim some credibility.

"Elsa Lanchester" (1925) by Doris Clare Zinkeisen

Mike Hill's Bride bust sculpture

Quite frankly, this bit of belated news blew me away. The iconic image of the Bride with her black-and-white hair is one that is ingrained in the mainstream mindset. And that's when it came to me. In this I saw an opportunity to give Vicki Westonecraft, one of the Darkley comic storytellers, a makeover that would not only help give her some originality but also give some homage to this character's main inspiration. And so, the Niche presents to you the next step in fleshing Vicki's character design.

Vicki, before (left) and after (right)

Let us know what you think of the redesign, here at the Niche. Feedback is always encouraged!