Shock Monster - Raymond Castile's Basement of Horror

The Shock Monster is one of the most iconic rubber Halloween masks ever made. Designed by Keith Ward and produced by Topstone, the mask was originally called "Horror" when it was introduced in 1954. Publisher James Warren dubbed it the Shock Monster a few years later when it was advertised in Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, evolving into FM's unofficial mascot. The Shock Monster is now more of a character than a mask. Its visage has adorned countless products and been re-interpreted by numerous mask makers. In this video, we look at some of the masks inspired by Keith Ward's amazingly resilient character, working our way backward to the original Topstone-produced plastic and latex masks. This video is not a definitive history of the Shock Monster character, the Topstone company or Keith Ward. It is an off-the-cuff show and tell for anyone who enjoys looking at different variations on this one-eyed, slack-jawed, EC Comics-styled zombie. For a more authoritative history, see the Tomb of the Topstones video series on this channel.
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