Ultra Swank - Retro Adventures

science-fiction

The Outer Limits
Written by James Vaughan in Television

The Outer Limits

For those who watched the original Outer Limits on flickering black and white screens in the early 1960’s the experience is imprinted on a section of our brain labeled awe and terror. Baby-Boomers have deep and dark memories from The Outer Limits original airing or early re-runs. With tilted camera angles, nerve jarring close-ups and shadowy surreal sets; many episodes of Outer Limits already had the feel...

Mars Attacks
Written by Baron von Swankenstein in Readable

Mars Attacks

In the middle of the twentieth century, fear and paranoia were ingrained into the subconscious of every American. The 1957 launch of the Sputnik satellite had Americans wary of Soviet attack from the skies. And the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 assured the world that Soviet Premier Khrushchev was serious in his threat when he said “We will bury you.” The spectre of mutually assured...

Ray Bradbury Lives on Mars
Written by James Vaughan in Readable

Ray Bradbury Lives on Mars

The man and his wheelchair sat silhouetted against an endless vista of bright unblinking stars and twisting nebula. He was a very old man. Born in 1920. That made him one year into his ninth decade of life. Very old indeed he mused … except for the fact that he was already dead. Well, if this was Heaven it wasn’t half bad he thought. Sitting...

Monte – King of Atom Age Monster Decals
Written by Baron von Swankenstein in Readable

Monte – King of Atom Age Monster Decals

In America, the 1950s and 60s spawned The Monster Kids. These were kids, mostly pre-adolescent boys, who assembled Aurora model kits of Frankenstein or Dracula after school; read Tales From The Crypt comics with a flashlight under the covers at bed time; and sneaked downstairs on Saturdays to watch the late-night horror movie show on TV with spooky hosts like Zacherle, Chilly Billy, or Ghoulardi....

The Wonderful Future That Never Was
Written by Baron von Swankenstein in Readable

The Wonderful Future That Never Was

“Here at home we’ll play in the city. Powered by the sun. Perfect weather for a streamlined world. There’ll be Spandex jackets – one for everyone.” – Donald Fagen, “I.G.Y.” Americans of the 1950s and early ’60s had a love affair with technology that, some would say, continues to this day. Nineteen fifty seven saw global scientific cooperation with the beginning of the I.G.Y., the...

Breathless Homicidal Slime Mutants – The Art of The Paperback

In the 1959 premiere episode of The Twilght Zone, Earl Holliman explores a town completely deserted. After helping himself to some ice cream from the drug store soda fountain, he encounters wire spinner racks full of paperbacks, one of which is filled entirely with copies of the ominously titled “The Last Man on Earth.” In the age of the electronic book, wire book racks (as...

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
Written by Jesse Kowalski in Film

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) begins with a hastily prepared animation sequence set to the sonic stylings of children singing “Hooray for Santa Claus.” Once the songs ends, we are told by the newscaster for KID-TV that they have sent a news crew to the North Pole to interview Santa Claus. I got excited upon hearing this news, only to find out in the...

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