Guess what...
It's more ephemera!
This time, it's a wish from Troll Books and 1975 for a Happy Halloween.
I've written in the past about my fond memories of Scholastic Books and those exciting days when the flyer would arrive in class and the day the books you ordered would arrive.
With that in mind, here are some Troll and Scholastic Books I've collected over the years with Halloween and/or spooky slant. Why not add them to your reading list?
Note: Blogger was really fighting me while creating this post, so if things aren't formatting properly, I apologize.
First off are some from my childhood. I loved these collections of spooky tales, even if they usually had some logical or silly endings.
I ate these cryptid books up (although "cryptid" wasn't a word at the time, it would come into use in 1983).
I wrote an entire post on "Strangely Enough!".
Margaret Ronan was a house writer for Scholastic. She wrote many paranormal books for them as well as stories for Dynamite magazine (where R. L. Stine got his start).
Some of these "landscape" format books are Troll books, but not all. Those with the 2-letter and 4-digit number code are Scholastic Books.
I often confused Ghost Charlie and Georgie as a kid. 
"Brave Daniel" isn't really a Halloween or Spooky book, but hey, Witch and Ghost on the back.
I loved Norman Bridwell's "The Witch" series when I was a kid.
And finally, my favorite books from Scholastic. Monsters and Magic.
Did you buy from Scholastic Books? Did you have any of these?
You know me--I always got the cartoon books. Only one I can remember with certainty is the first collection of the "Heathcliff" comic strips, which I got in 4th grade (1976-77). Each order came with a free poster of the book's cover.
ReplyDeleteOh man, you just flooded my memory. I bought a Heathcliff book too from Scholastic around that same time, and now I think I had that poster on my bedroom wall. I remember when Garfield came out and I was like, "Why this is just a knockoff of Heathcliff!!!"
DeleteWow, great collection of covers! Many memories here:
ReplyDeleteThe illustrations on that bookmark are really tickling a memory for me. I thought they were Scholastic, too. Huh.
I definitely had that first "Arrow Book of Ghost Stories."
That first "Incredible Tales by Saki" is SO SEVENTIES. I'd even warrant to say it's meant to evoke the kid from Salem's Lot.
Aww, Georgie! Loved him. And Ghost Charlie!
I think I also had that "How To Care For Your Monster" book, too, and I vaguely recall those Scholastic "Witch" books ("Witch's Christmas," etc.)
...and then there's all the Hardy Boys books. Read them all, I think. AND Nancy Drew.
Side note: I picked up a box of Carmela Creeper at the store. It's ok -- it's 100% Apple Jacks, but with a caramel note. It's not bad! Our store only had that, Frankenberry, and Boo Berry -- not a Chocula in stock. I wonder if they just sold out of the Chocula. Still miss Frute Brute.
>I'd even warrant to say it's meant to evoke the kid from Salem's Lot.
DeleteI'd hate to see that thing scratching on my window.
>not a Chocula in stock.
Chocula is always the first to disappear from the shelves. You'll see Frankenberry and Boo Berry (and now probably Carmella) warming the shelves well after Halloween and will eventually show up in Dollar General for a buck.
i kind of assumed that Chocula was the most popular, but i'm surprised that Frankenberry doesn't move well. Boo Berry already seemed like an outlier to me, but then we are old enough to remember when that was introduced, too. Maybe i should pick up some Boo Berry next, and help its sales numbers a little, poor thing.
Delete>but then we are old enough to remember when that was introduced
DeleteActually we are. Boo Berry was introduced in 1972.
>Maybe i should pick up some Boo Berry
Since they introduced Monster Mash last year, I've gotten hooked on making my own by mixing Frankenberry and Boo Berry. Last year it was mixed with Frute Brute, this year with Carmella Creeper, so you can mix in a little of that if you like.
a cereal cocktail, if you will. i might do that!
DeleteAll this artwork is so very pleasing to my eyes. What a great collection.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed Jenna, and thanks for dropping by!
DeleteI remember a few of these! When I was real young, I loved the Benji books. Then, would be Dynamite magazine, and eventually horror or spooky stuff. Good times.
ReplyDeleteDynamite was a favorite of mine too. I still have my collection.
DeleteI think i only have one issue somewhere, and that's the Star Wars one. Dynamite was awesome. I always read it cover to cover.
DeleteI have about a quarter of these. When I was young, in the 60s, I just loved looking at the catalogs and dreaming of getting these books, but alas, for the most part we were too poor for these. On the rare occasions I DID weasel a buck, I remember our teacher handing them out and the room was blissfully quiet. Most kids thought I was strange as I only ordered the sci fi or horror books. So most in my collection I get second hand in thrift stores. A couple of my originals I love are The Forgotten Door and The Runaway Robot. Thanks for showing these, now I have a few more SBS books to look out for!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Lord Mikolaj. I've had The Forgotten Door and The Runaway Robot as well. Not sure if I still do. I wasn't always able to get books either, but like you, every once in a while we'd have an extra buck to order some and the anticipation as the teacher opened the shipping box was great. Seeing what books everyone chose was always interesting and if someone ordered the same book as you, HEY!
DeleteWe had a bunch of these. I was especially fond of the witch next door.
ReplyDeleteJust saw your comments. Blogger flagged them as spam for some reason.
DeleteMy sister had the Witch Next Door books, so I had access to them early.