Bob Burns – Rest in Peace

December 18, 2025 by Jon Kitley in Rest in Peace and tagged Beast Wishes, Bob Burns, Fantastic Monsters of the Films, Invasion of the Saucer Men, It Came from Bob's Basement, It Conquered the World, King Kong, Paul Blaisdell, Rick Baker | Leave a comment

Bob Burns was the ultimate fan of the sci-fi and horror genre. He was an author, actor, makeup man, consultant, historian, and more importantly, a collector and archivist. He knew the importance of these items, from the original Time Machine from the 1960s film to the armature from the original King Kong, not to mention masks from a young 16-year-old Rick Baker to pieces from both Alien and Aliens, and so much more. And the best part, he looked at this stuff like the same little 10=year-old that is inside of all of fans, with a sense of wonder and fascination.

He worked with Paul Blaisdell on films like It Conquered the World (1956) and Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957), but in the early ’60s, they created a short-lived magazine called Fantastic Monsters of the Films.

He would often appear in a gorilla costume, usually billed as Kogar, but also was a Gorilla named Tracy in the 1975 Saturday morning show The Ghost Busters.

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Monster Bash Spring 2025

July 2, 2025 by Jon Kitley in Conventions and tagged Crawling Eye, Curse of the Swamp Creature, Daniel Roebuck, Dominique Lamssies, Dracula Prince of Darkenss, It Conquered the World, Larry Buchanan, Lon Chaney, Monster Bash, Monster Bash Conference, Pete Walker, Roger Corman, Scripts from the Crypt, The Comeback, Tom Weaver | Leave a comment

A few weeks ago, we made our annual trip to PA for the Monster Bash Conference, which we started attending way back in 2015. I can’t believe it’s been over a decade now, but we still continue to have so much fun there.

One of the reasons is some of the great items we find in the dealer room, most of which aren’t even something we’re looking for, but just happen to come across! For this show, since money has been a little tight as of late, my main goal was to try and not spend much at the show. I guess the key word there is “try”, because by Saturday, that was completely out the window.

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Jonathan Haze – Rest in Peace

November 6, 2024 by Jon Kitley in Rest in Peace and tagged It Conquered the World, Jonathan Haze, Little Shop of Horrors, Not of This Earth, Roger Corman, The Terror | Leave a comment

The original Seymour Krelborn in Roger Corman’s ultra-low budget picture Little Shop of Horrors (1960), actor Jonathan Haze has passed away at the young age of 95. He was a staple in the early Corman films, with his first film being the Corman produced monster flick, Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954). He would appear in a handful of Corman films, wherever he was needed, in whatever kind of role. For other genre pictures, he appeared in It Conquered the World (1956), Not of This Earth (1957), and The Terror (1963).

No matter who or what he was playing, he was always memorable. I had a chance to meet him at a Cinema Wasteland show years ago, along with Little Shop co-star Jackie Joseph and screenwriter Charles B. Griffith, who told plenty of great stories of those days. But no matter, Haze will live on in those many roles he appeared in, especially Little Shop of Horrors. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this difficult time.

Horror History: Paul Blaisdell

July 12, 2017 by Jon Kitley in Horror History and tagged American International Pictures, Beast with a Million Eyes, Bob Burns, Fantastic Monsters of the Film, Invasion of the Saucer Men, It Conquered the World, Paul Blaisdell, The She-Creature | Leave a comment

Paul Blaisdell
Born July 21st, 1927, Died July 10th, 1983

Any fans of the monster movies of the ’50s have probably seen the work of Paul Blaisdell. He was the man responsible for creating the monsters and creatures for a lot of those early AIP films, usually done with very little time and even less money. But he always came up with some unique and very memorable designs. He started his career after graduating from the New England School of Art and Design, and started to work for Douglas Aircraft as a technical illustrator. He would also send in his drawings to sci-fi fantasy publications like Spaceways and Otherwords. His work was noticed by a very important figure in the horror / sci-fi genre fandom, that of Forrest J. Ackerman. He became Blaisdell’s agent and introduced him into the world of movie making.

Blaisdell would go on to create some of the most memorable monsters from that era, in films like The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955), The She-Creature (1956), It Conquered the World (1957), Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957), and many more. In the early ’60s, he even started his own magazine called Fantastic Monsters of the Film, with Bob Burns. Unfortunately, the magazine was short lived.

With all of his creations being still remembered today by dedicated fans, it’s a shame that Blaisdell still does not receive the recognition that he should. So let’s change that. If you’re not familiar with him or his work, look some of his films up and take a look at the fun stuff he was coming up with, just with a few dollars and a lot of creative talent. I think you’ll enjoy what you see.