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![Monsters Monsters](https://m5.paperblog.com/i/722/7227672/monsters-L-n6QIYF.jpeg)
![Monsters Monsters](https://m5.paperblog.com/i/722/7227672/monsters-L-6Tx3QJ.jpeg)
Such a creature is a gift to the film industry. The first film was Werewolf in London, in 1935, followed by the hit The Wolf Man in 1941 staring the great horror actor Lon Chaney. Does anyone remember him?I remember An American Werewolf in London, with Jenny Agutter, in 1981, now a cult classic. The metamorphosis into a wolf was a tour-de-force of cinema for its time and the film won many awards. Anyone who wants to seek out fiction about werewolves should look up Fritz Leiber, H P Lovecraft and the English Saki. The latter’s Gabriel Ernest is sure to send a chill down the spine, while sacrificing none of the tongue-in-cheek trademark sardonic humor.We now come to the ghoul, to the Western world, a creature who robs graves and devours corpses. Originating from pre-Islamic Arabian culture, it was, to them, a monster that dwelt in the desert or isolated places and lured hapless travellers astray. They were often hyena shaped, with hooves of a donkey. It was only when Orientalist scholar Antoine Galland translated the twelve to fourteen volumes of The Arabian Nights between 1704 and 1717 that these monsters took root in Western culture.We must recall the old Scottish prayer,“From ghoulies, ghosties and long leggety beasties And things that go bump in the night
May the good Lord deliver us!”By the twentieth century, ghouls were still hot property with the promise of box office success to theatres and cinemas and a cracking opportunity for the visual. The first film with this protagonist was The Ghoul, in 1933, starring Boris Karloff. Its success is indicated by the follow-up horror comedy which followed, What a Carve Up! produced in 1961 with Sid James.To this day, happily undead and kicking, ghouls have maintained their importance in the cinema and theater industry. They are part of the English Harry Potter franchise and the American Creepshow franchise written by Stephen King and George C Romero. A ghoul is the Weasley family’s beloved pet, while King and Romero creations cause shocks and shivers in their eager audience.In Japan, the play, Tokyo Ghoul has extended into gaming, with A New Tokyo Ghoul coming out in this year 2022.Finally, we come to the Vampire. The catalyst for making them central to spook culture, as we all know, is due to the novel Dracula by the Victorian theater manager Bram Stoker, published in 1897. These guys turn into bats, hate garlic, make other people vampires by biting their neck and only die when struck through the heart by a stake. They follow a pattern of other monster creation over time and are now regarded as fodder for comedy rather than fear or tragedy and more inspiration for the food industry. An example are the snacks called fangs. There are also many chocolates, cakes, biscuits and candy around vampires, expressing a focus on consumer enjoyment of these cultural icons. In films nowadays, lots of vampires are young, becoming associated with the concept of eternal life rather than death and morbidity. The comedy horror film that has been re-produced titled The Lost Boys, is but one example of this youth-based genre.As I mentioned the famous Byron at the beginning of my blog, it’s worth mentioning a story I heard about the actor Christopher Plummer, who suffered due to his screen image, but with far less disastrous consequences for himself than poor old Peter Stumpp. His car broke down while on holiday in France. He made his way to a French farmhouse to ask for help. The person who opened the door cried out, “Oh, mon Dieu, c’est lui!” (“Oh, my God, it’s him!”) The actor was left saying “Aidez moi, aidez moi!” (“Help me, help me!”) I take no responsibility for its veracity but it’s a good story and another quote!
![Monsters Monsters](https://m5.paperblog.com/i/722/7227672/monsters-L-qLXS0w.jpeg)
Come and funk with the Vampire dudes now,
Come and join us up here and we’ll show you how.
Forward, back and turn around, now move the hips and click the fingers
Now jump way up high
Right, left, right left, boogie in the skies
Now raise your arms up
Shake your bod and start again
To chill out good in the Vampire’s food hall
It's the Vampire’s ball!
Chorus:
Lah, Tee Doh Re Mi Fi See Lah
Soh Fah Mi Ray Doh Tee Lah.
Verse 2:
Come, tuck into the vampires’ feast here,
Sup the black bat soup and taste the witches’ beer.
Eyeball pasty, dead-rat jellies
That’s the fare this starry night
But you must buy a graveyard pud
(Background voices: With real soil from the graveyard!)
Munch and crunch while grooving till the dawn.
That’s when the vampires’ have to go to sleepy-bye
So chill out good in the vampire’s food hall
At dawn, you’ll have to go!The words for the chorus are an opportunity to teach your child/grandchild/nephew etc the words of the melodic minor scale. As they sing it, they move across the room stamping, being a grumpy ghoul. Then, when they reach Lah, they turn into a vampire and step to each word with their arms wide out. Have fun!Anne Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook