Back in 2017 for the London Walks Halloween Podcast, my colleague Andy took a look at the occult influence of the plays of William Shakespeare, while I compared three versions of Frankenstein on the big screen and paid tribute to London's own Boris Karloff.
In the process, I re-familiarised myself with the 1967 album An Evening With Boris Karloff and His Friends - which was released on to Spotify last September.
It is terrific fun, catch up with it here…
My own tribute to Mr Karloff is on The London Walks Podcast Halloween Special 2017 Part Two…
Karloff's plaque can be found in South London (it's blue in real life, but in a fit of over-enthusiasm I've Halloween-ed it up a bit in my pic)…
It's placed on Forest Hill Road SE23 and it does commemorate a genuine London movie legend. William Henry Pratt (born in south London, raised in Enfield) left England in 1909 for North America where, under the stage name of Boris Karloff, he embarked upon the life of a thesp. Supplementing his initially sporadic acting career with periods of manual labour, it was not until 1931 and his iconic portrayal of The Monster in James Whale’s inaugural “talkie” version of Frankenstein that he became a star.
In addition to his famous horror roles – as The Mummy and in The Body Snatcher – Karloff enjoyed a long and varied stage career, starring in the works of Jean Annouilh, J.M Barrie and J.B Priestly on Broadway. His ghost is said to haunt Hollywood & Vine.
Join me on the London Horror Story Tour here in London this October. I'm leading the tour on Tuesdays 8th, 15th, 22nd & 29th October & Saturdays 12th, 19th & 26th October. There's also an extra tour on Sunday 27th October at 2:30pm and I'll be out-and-about on Halloween night at 7:30pm. Book here…
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