Happy Hallow's Eve Eve!
Today is the last of the Halloween Web series. Our final guest is an artist that we can only conjure if you help me. Legend has it if you say his name 3 times in front of a monitor he will appear. Dim the lights, grab my hand, and we'll say it together...
Monsterfink!
Monsterfink!
Monsterfink!
Wooo, it worked! Speak to us, O spirit from the interwebs.
Most people online know me as Monsterfink either from my artwork or from the Midnight Monster Spookshow blog. I also spend a fair amount of time working on the Haunted Toybox, a magazine dedicated to monster toys and collectibles.
What was Halloween like for you as a little fink?
I grew up living in a cemetery, go ahead, let that sink in.....
Okay I'll go on, you're probably thinking hey that's a great place to have Halloween.... it's not. No one comes to your house trick or treating. You can't put up Halloween decorations outside because hanging ghosts in your tree could be offensive and fake headstones are kinda pointless when real ones fill your backyard. However the inside of the house was decorated up. I still remember a set of three inflatable monsters - Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster and a Witch, that my mom got at the local Drug Fair. Loved those, wish I still had them. The sound of leaves under your feet as you ran from house to house.
Any favorite costumes from past Halloweens?
As a kid, my older brother built me an R2-D2 costume out of a large cardboard storage tube that grass seed came in. He spent weeks making the thing a perfect copy of the action figure since that was the only real reference material available in the ye olden times (pre-internet and home video). That costume won every award contest I entered that year. In art school I made a really nice werewolf costume one year that won awards and at the height of the musical's popularity a really sweet original take on the Phantom of the Opera.
What do you remember most about Halloween from childhood? What was it like in your neighborhood as a kid? If you could mention the general area you grew up in that would be helpful. I'm going for Halloween across the country here.
How do you celebrate today?
Nowadays I spend my Halloween nights taking my daughter trick or treating.
Do you have any yearly rituals?
I listen to what most people would call Halloween music all year long, even my Christmas music is monster related. I have to visit all the Halloween stores at least three times to peruse the offerings and the season isn't complete without several viewings of Trick r Treat.
Inside the Spooksters' Studio
The worst thing to get while trick or treating was pennies. Seriously, collect all that loose change and go to the store and buy a bag of candy fer cryin' out loud!
My favorite thing to get was comic books. One year a house was giving out issues of Action Comics with Dial H for Hero stories, greatest treat of all time.
Why do you think Halloween sticks with us as we get older?
The fun of it all. When you're a kid the sheer joy of getting to dress up as something else and parade around getting rewarded with candy is such a thrill. As we get older, we shift from being the kid to the adult rewarding the kids. It's a circle of life thing, ugh I feel like a Disney cartoon about jungle animals now. Also for a large portion of the audience reading this article, it's the time of year when the things we like most get brought out into the public, the time when monsters sit on store shelves and pumpkin flavoring is in EVERYTHING.
Thanks for bringing the series to a close!
Where can folks stalk you online and see more of your art?
Where can folks stalk you online and see more of your art?
Before you head off to your next house, swing by Halloween Mixes.
They're posting a themed mix album every day of the month!
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