Scary Childhood Movies
Halloween has come and gone, but scary movies from my childhood are always around. What? You don't think movies from the 1950's, or 1960's or earlier were scary enough?
When I was growing up I loved watching what I called "Monster Movies", and they were plenty scary enough for me, and are still interesting to watch for fun...and sometimes even from a literary or historical perspective if you care to get into what made the writer write the story behind the movie.
My childhood years were in the 1950's and early 1960's, so many "monster movies" were based on the Atomic age...the bomb had been dropped in WWII...the idea that strange mutations took place after an area was exposed to radiation had a big influence on movies. Carrying a geiger counter was a common sight in monstor movies back then, and a sure sign you were watching the "real deal".
Other movies were based on the writings of authors outside the United States and were about the things that took place in their history...or perhaps just stories formed in the dark recesses of the authors mind.
Enjoy with me a trip to the past, and make the past part of your present...so many of those old vintage movies are now available in DVD format, and in many cases, in multi-movie collections!
This is just the tip of the iceburg, I've got many more movies tumbling around in my brain that will find their way here. Maybe you'll have a favorite or two to share when you sign my guestbook. I'll be back to add more from time to time.
What You'll Find Here:
- Attack of the Crab Monsters Background
- About the Creature of the Black Lagoon
- Dracula - a Literary Perspective
- Is This Where Dracula Lives?
- Wolf Man
- When is Halloween in 2010?
- History Behind Frankenstein
- How Scary is Scary Enough for You?
- About the Karloff Mummy Movie
- Invisible Man Publishing History
- The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms
- Godzilla!
- Follow Me on Twitter
- Halloween Crafts for Sale
- Halloween Movies for Sale
- Halloween Decorations for Sale
- Halloween Costumes for Sale
Attack of the Crab Monsters
Attack of the Crab Monsters Background
Attack of the Crab Monsters is a 1957, American, black-and-white, science fiction film, written by Charles B. Griffith and produced and directed by Roger Corman via Los Altos Productions, on contract for distribution by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. The plot follows a scientific expedition trapped on a remote island inhabited by atomically mutated giant crabs. It was distributed as the main feature on a programmed double bill with Not of This Earth.
Attack of the Crab Monsters
VHS - Not DVD - See my description
Attack of the Crab Monsters [VHS]
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The Creature from the Black Lagoon
About the Creature of the Black Lagoon
:This article is on the film. For the eponymous character, see Gill-man
Creature from the Black Lagoon is a monster film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, and Whit Bissell. The eponymous creature was played by Ben Chapman on land and Ricou Browning in underwater scenes. The film was released in the United States on March 5 1954.
Creature from the Black Lagoon was filmed and originally released in 3-D requiring polarized 3-D glasses, and subsequently reissued in the 1970s in the inferior anaglyph format (this version was released on home video by MCA Videocassette, Inc. in 1981). It is considered a classic of the 1950s, and generated two sequels, Revenge of the Creature and The Creature Walks Among Us, each a year apart. Revenge of the Creature was also filmed and released in 3-D, in hopes of reviving the format.
The Creature from the Black Lagoon Collection
Creature from the Black Lagoon - The Legacy Collection (Creature from the Black Lagoon / Revenge of the Creature / The Creature Walks Among Us)
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Dracula - Bela Lugosi Art
Dracula - a Literary Perspective
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula.
Dracula has been attributed to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature. Structurally it is an epistolary novel, that is, told as a series of letters, diary entries, ships' logs, etc. Literary critics have examined many themes in the novel, such as the role of women in Victorian culture, conventional and conservative sexuality, immigration, colonialism, postcolonialism and folklore. Although Stoker did not invent the vampire, the novel's influence on the popularity of vampires has been singularly responsible for many theatrical, film and television interpretations throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
Dracula - the Legacy Collection
Dracula - The Legacy Collection (Dracula / Dracula (1931 Spanish Version) / Dracula's Daughter / Son of Dracula / House of Dracula)
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Is This Where Dracula Lives?
The 1941 Wolf Man Film
The Wolf Man is a 1941 monster horror film written by Curt Siodmak and produced and directed by George Waggner, starring Lon Chaney, Jr., Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers, Ralph Bellamy, Patric Knowles, Béla Lugosi, and Maria Ouspenskaya. The title character has had a great deal of influence on Hollywood's depictions of the legend of the werewolf.The Wolf Man: Classic Monster Collection (1941) The film is the second Universal Pictures werewolf movie, preceded six years earlier by the less commercially successful Werewolf of London.
Wolf Man Original Collection
The Wolf Man - The Legacy Collection (The Wolf Man / Werewolf of London / Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man / She-Wolf of London)
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(Halloween is October 31, 2010)
Frankenstein Art
History Behind Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, generally known as Frankenstein, is a novel written by Mary Shelley. Shelley started writing when she was 18 and the novel was published when she was 21. The first edition was published anonymously in London in . Shelley's name appears on the second edition, published in . The title of the novel refers to a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who learns how to create life and creates a being in the likeness of man, but larger than average and more powerful. In popular culture, people have tended incorrectly to refer to the monster as "Frankenstein". Frankenstein is infused with some elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement. It was also a warning against the expansion of modern man in the Industrial Revolution, alluded to in the novel's subtitle, The Modern Prometheus. The story has had an influence across literature and popular culture and spawned a complete genre of horror stories and films. It is often considered the first fully realised science fiction novel due to its pointed, if gruesome, focus on playing God by creating life from dead flesh.
Original Frankenstein Movie Series
Frankenstein - The Legacy Collection (Frankenstein / The Bride of / Son of / The Ghost of / House of)
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How Scary is Scary Enough for You?
Do the horror movies produced today go beyond your comfort zone?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byToday's Horror movies are Too Horrible for Me
Susan52 says:
I don't even like the commercials for today's horror movies. The "old-timey" classic monster movies are so much better!
Posted October 12, 2009
BevsPaper says:
I won't say they are too horrible but I do love the old movies better. They left a lot to your imagination which actually makes them more scary.
Posted September 28, 2009
happynutritionist says:
I think I'll stick with the old movies, when I try to watch the newer sci-fi, supernatural, or horror movies, with the exception of a very few, I spend more time with my hands over my eyes than watching the movie.
Posted September 27, 2009
Bring it On, the Scarier the Better!
The Mummy KARLOFF Ltd. Ed. Art
About the Karloff Mummy Movie
The Mummy is a horror film from Universal Studios directed by Karl Freund and starring Boris Karloff as a revived ancient Egyptian priest. The movie also features Zita Johann, David Manners and Edward van Sloan. It was shot in Cantil, California, Universal City, and the Mojave Desert.
The Mummy Original Version Collection
The Mummy - The Legacy Collection (The Mummy/Mummy's Hand/Mummy's Tomb/Mummy's Ghost/Mummy's Curse)
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Invisible Man Movie Art
Invisible Man Publishing History
The Invisible Man is a science fiction novella by H.G. Wells published in 1897. Wells' novel was originally serialised in Pearsons Magazine in 1897, and published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man of the title is Griffin, a scientist who theorises that if a persons refractive index is changed to exactly that of air and his body does not absorb or reflect light, then he will be invisible. He successfully carries out this procedure on himself, but cannot become visible again, becoming mentally unstable as a result.
The Invisible Man Collection
The Invisible Man - The Legacy Collection (The Invisible Man/Invisible Man Returns/Invisible Agent/Invisible Woman/Invisible Man's Revenge)
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The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms is a 1953 science fiction film directed by Eugène Lourié and stars Paul Christian, Paula Raymond and Cecil Kellaway with visual effects by Ray Harryhausen. The film is about an atomic bomb test in the Arctic Circle that unfreezes a hibernating fictional dinosaur, Rhedosaurus, that begins to wreak havoc in New York City. It was one of the first "monster movies" that helped inspire the following generation of "creature features", coining it with the atomic age.
20,000 Fathoms Beast Art
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms DVD
Double Feature!
The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms / Them! (Double Feature)
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Godzilla!
is a daikaij?, a fictional Japanese giant monster. His first film was Ishiro Honda's 1954 film Gojira, and since then, he has made many more appearances, and has become a pop-culture icon. In total, Godzilla has appeared in 28 films, all of which were produced by Toho Company Ltd. Godzilla has also appeared in numerous comic books, video games, and novels.
Two songs were written by the series original composer, Akira Ifukube, the "Godzilla (Main Theme)" and the "Godzilla March" theme, both written for the character.
Original Godzilla Print - Raymond Burr
The Ultimate Godzilla DVD Collection - 7 Movies
The Godzilla Collection
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This is the ultimate Godzilla Movie Collection. Includes 7 Movies and over 20 Hours of content and bonus features! Gojira / King of the Monsters (2 disc set), Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Godzilla Raids Again, Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster, Invasion of Astro Monster, Terror of Mechagodzilla
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About Me
My Bio
Thanks for stopping by. Here's a little bit about me: I'm a Christian, a Wife, and a Nature + Animal Loving Baby Boomer. I'm a Gardener, Herbalist, Mom to 2 Grown Children, Blogger, Certified Nutritionist, Autoharp-playing Yorkie owner who lives in a little lakefront log cabin in beautiful Northern NJ.
My lenses are about just about anything that strikes me a the moment.
When you visit my lenses, please say hello in my guestbooks, and I'd be honored if you joined my fan club (see the upper right of my/this "profile" page).
Visiting my main website, happynutritionist.com, is a good avenue to most of my other sites and blogs, and getting to know me a bit better. Happy reading and thank you for visiting.

I've had the pleasure of graduating from 2 RocketMom sessions, one in October of 2009, and the other on December 22, 2009. click here to see the most recent graduates and their lenses.

It was also fun to have two lenses selected as Lens of the Day, Weird New Jersey in February of 2007, and in November of 2009, Cranberry Sauce - From Bog to Table. The second was a charity lens, and because it won LOTD, Squidoo sent $1000 to a charity of my choice, which was Soldiers Angels. This lens also received a GIANT SQUID AWARD for 2009...Thank you visitors, and Squidoo.
Reader Feedback
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- Ramkitten Ramkitten Oct 26, 2009 @ 10:32 pm
- Of all these movies, I've honestly only seen Frankenstein. I'm such a weenie about scary movies and avoid them unless they're funny-scary. Still, I barely watch the scary parts through my fingers.
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- TylaMac TylaMac Oct 13, 2009 @ 12:01 am
- You've presented a great selection of movies here. I've seen and enjoyed all of them except for Attack of the Crab People. I don't know how I missed that one. It sounds fun. I've gotta see it now that I know about it.
I'm lensrolling this lens to my Classic Monster Movies lens which features the "Big 3" Universal monsters, Dracula,Frankenstein and The Wolf Man.
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- momto4 momto4 Oct 5, 2009 @ 10:37 pm
- Great list of movies! It's been a long time since I've seen any of them. Guess it's time for a scary movie night with my husband. Great lens! You have brought back a lot of fond memories!
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- oztoo oztoo Oct 4, 2009 @ 4:07 pm
- Still love these old movies. Actually most of the new ones just make me laugh. don't know why but i don't find them scary like the old ones.
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- luvmyludwig luvmyludwig Sep 30, 2009 @ 11:46 pm
- great job on this I love scary movies what is better than dracula?
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- shajo shajo Sep 30, 2009 @ 2:59 pm
- I'm not a huge scary movie fan! I do like some of the older movies you have listed here though! Fun lens!
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- SherryHolderHunt SherryHolderHunt Sep 30, 2009 @ 6:31 am
- eeeeeeeekkkkkk, can't watch real scary movies alone! (I think I like the Dracula movies the best) Fabulous lens, lots of great poster art!! Rolling to my Boo: Time for Halloween lens and 5 *'s
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- KarateKatGraphics KarateKatGraphics Sep 29, 2009 @ 9:39 pm
- Really fun lens! Love the poster art.
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