I had originally intended to do a series of postings during the last few weeks in honor of the spooky holiday that concludes the month of October. There are no shortage of horror movies to comment on and we certainly had a wide variety of scary films that were played at our store. With my brother Mike passing away last month, I wasn't sure when I would find the desire to post again. But, when I remembered how much my love of scary movies was fostered by my eldest brother when we were growing up, I knew now was as good a time as ever. My brother Mike was a big fan of the early Universal horror movies. He introduced me to them all, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, The Invisible Man and all their sequels and other incarnations. When I was a kid I knew who Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Claude Rains were long before I knew the names of the muppets on Sesame Street. I have my brother to blame for that! But thanks to Mike, I also knew who some of the heroes were behind the scenes as well. The visionary director James Whale, composers Hans J. Salter & Frank Skinner and of course the pioneering make-up artist, Jack Pierce. Pierce was the man responsible for the legendary make-up created for Boris Karloff as the Frankenstein monster, and Lon Chaney, Jr.'s Wolf Man among others. My brother Mike would often comment on how Pierce had died in virtual obscurity in 1968, the man who was responsible for creating so many legendary images had been almost completely forgotten. Mike even tried his hand at make-up in the early 80s. I often was his guinea pig for some of his make-up experiments. I even one a prize in a Halloween contest one year thanks to his artistry with the grease paint. Every time I find myself staring in front of a mirror putting on a mustache or age lines before walking out on a stage, I can see my brother's face leaning over me with his brushes.
