Halloween in Comics, Radio and in the Movies
Jul 7th, 2009 by Benedict Fisher
Unbelievably, Halloween-inspired scripts and stories first made their appearance not in movie theaters but in good, old radio. We owe the first scary and thrilling story for Halloween to the novelist H.G. Wells. If you remember Tom Cruise’s War of the Worlds, then you might already know of this novelist.
But how did a literary piece such as “War of the Worlds” scare people, especially when it’s been in circulation for a time back then? A radio production by Orson Welles turned the novel into a radio script that would serve as the first Halloween show.
“And in the news today Aliens!”
Yep, that’s true. Welles is commemorated in Hollywood thriller, horror and comedy movies rolled into one. Parts from the famous novel “War of the Worlds” were exploited as news headlines that can be read between songs on the radio.
Imagine hearing something as macabre as War of the Worlds as real news on an ordinary day, just before Halloween! The premise was perfect. Again, you guessed it right. People were actually scared! There was news that people actually panicked (North American listeners).
The radio production of this classic literary piece from the 1930s was brilliant. How it was also accepted by the people was also superb. In fact, residents in New Jersey were subjected to public panic. After the big success of “War of the Worlds,” the media became more sensible and careful in using Halloween for different productions.
Literature
The theme of Halloween also managed to make it into printed media. Barely 15 years after the very scary radio production, the writer Anthony Boucher wrote a noir story that focused on reality and the grisly. Boucher’s story was set in California, adding to its realism.
The North American comic series ‘Shock’ was published five years later. It made the perception of Halloween more frightening than it used to be. The story line was about the cruel head of an orphanage, punished and turned into a Halloween pumpkin. In addition, during Halloween, pumpkins are finely carved and hollowed, and some of its peel were also taken off.It was a daring step, but the public took the idea well, making Halloween a production where a certain handful of themes was supported.
EC Comics also created their own spooky comics, but censoring some parts of the stories was on the rise. Before the 1960s, the American Comic Code controlled the circulation of these stories, as some of the story elements were no longer “suitable.” This caused the horror comic books to subside.
But today, Halloween-inspired comic series are still very successful, even without the endorsement of the ACC. The ACC only rewards more wholesome comic books, such as “Archie.”
Free TV and the movies
It’s surprising to know that TV took its sweet time getting used to Halloween. TV was more closely censored by religious and conservative groups, so Halloween-themed shows were difficult to produce.
The following are the earliest seen Halloween-inspired shows and movies in North America:
- Whispering Ghosts (Milton Berle)
- Footlight Serenade (Betty Grable & Victor Mature)
- Frankenstein (Boris Karloff)
- The House on the Haunted Hill (Vincent Price)
- Rosemary’s Baby (Audrey Hepburn)
- Night of the Living Dead (George Romero)
- King Kong
- Godzilla
- Psycho (Hitchcock)
- Night of the Demons
