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September Sketch Fest Part 10


This next round of sketches is from book #25 dated 14 May 2005 to 10 May 2006.

One of my earliest memories is being at my aunt's house (across from Greenwood Park in Toronto) while my parents were at work. I don't know how old I was, but I was probably three or four years old. This memory deals with the amazingly bizarre children's show from 1971 (incidentally, my own vintage) called The Hilarious House of Frightenstein (here's the opening featuring the formidable Vincent Price). Now, this likely wasn't the first time I watched this show, but this particular memory is of me realizing I could watch the show (reversed) by watching it reflected in the plastic that wrapped the couch.

The show normally played in the early mornings around 6am and I would catch it (along with a couple other beloved childhood shows, Tales of the Wizard of Oz and The New Adventures of Pinocchio) before going to the babysitter's across the street while my parents got ready for work. Years later I would catch these shows sporadically and accidentally, but always happy to catch even a few minutes of them.

To this day, HHoF still holds up in its own fantastically bizarre way (I still find it absolutely amazing that this show was greenlit as a viable kids' show –not that it's inappropriate in any way, it's just so bizarre) and I treasure my DVDs full of rip-offs of loving homages to Dracula, Frankenstein, Igor, the Wolfman, and an array of weird original characters to round out the ensemble (most of them played by the versatile and legendary Billy Van).

Billy Van as The Count...

...and his assistant, Igor, played by Fishka Rais.

A better Igor coloured with markers.


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