Kilroy Was Here, Shenandoah IA

09/19/2026

🎄🧟 Before Ralphie wanted a Red Ryder BB gun, his director was raising the dead.

Eleven years before Bob Clark directed *A Christmas Story*, he made the wonderfully titled *Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things*, a low-budget zombie movie shot in Florida for about $50,000.

A theater troupe. An island cemetery. A co**se dug from its grave. A fake ritual that turns out to be a little too effective.

And somehow the man behind all of this would eventually give us Ralphie, the leg lamp, and one of the most familiar Christmas movies ever made.

I took a look at Clark’s strange road from homemade zombies to *A Christmas Story*, including Alan Ormsby’s makeup, the tiny budget, and why this odd 1972 horror movie still deserves a watch.

🎬🪦 Read it here: https://kilroywashereshop.com/bob-clark-zombie-movie/

Bob Clark zombie movie history starts with a $50K Florida horror film years before A Christmas Story. Discover the story behind this cult oddity.

09/19/2026

🎬 This week's first Kilroy Horror Pick starts with a magician who finally discovers the gimmick that could make him famous.

Unfortunately, the gimmick is named Fats.

Magic (1978) puts Anthony Hopkins behind a ventriloquist dummy and turns an old-fashioned stage act into psychological horror. Burgess Meredith and Ann-Margret make the deal even better.

https://kilroywashereshop.com/magic-1978-horror-movie/

Magic 1978 horror movie stars Anthony Hopkins as a ventriloquist whose dummy may be taking over. Discover why this overlooked psychological thriller still works today.

09/18/2026

🍴 From Spreaders to Meat Pounders...

Step back into the Mid-Century Kitchen, when the percolator announced morning, Pyrex filled the cupboards, recipe boxes were the family search engine, and kitchen drawers contained enough strange-looking gadgets to confuse anyone born after 1990.

We’re opening those drawers and looking at the spreaders, meat pounders, hand-cranked tools, electric skillets, pressure cookers, colorful appliances, and forgotten gadgets that once did the everyday work of feeding America.

Some disappeared. Some became collectibles.

And some still work so damn well that there's no reason to quit using them.

👉 From Spreaders to Meat Pounders: The Amazing Mid-Century Kitchen https://kilroywashereshop.com/mid-century-kitchen/

What old kitchen gadget did your parents or grandparents have that you still remember or STILL use today? 🥣☕🍳

Step inside the amazing Mid-Century Kitchen, from spreaders and meat pounders to Pyrex, percolators, recipe boxes, and forgotten kitchen gadgets.

09/18/2026

🎃 Before Halloween playlists, haunted-house apps, and endless sound effects online, there was a record that could turn your living room into a haunted house.

Disney’s Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House packed ghosts, witches, grave robbers, night creatures, and mad scientists onto one wonderfully creepy LP.

For generations of kids, half the fun was turning out the lights, dropping the needle, and wondering whether that noise came from the record... or somewhere down the hallway. 👻💀

I went back to this Halloween classic to see how well those spooky sounds hold up today.

👉 Read the full record review: https://kilroywashereshop.com/chilling-thrilling-sounds-of-the-haunted-house/

Chilling Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House brought Disney screams, storms, monsters and creepy sound effects into American homes beginning in 1964.

09/18/2026

Without looking it up, name one Halloween candy from your childhood that you almost never see anymore.

09/18/2026

William Castle Theater Gimmicks

https://kilroywashereshop.com/william-castle-theater-gimmicks/

09/17/2026

🎬 William Castle didn’t just want you to watch his horror movies. He wanted the theater itself to scare you.

Skeletons flew over audiences. Seats buzzed during The Tingler. Moviegoers were offered fright insurance. Some were even given a chance to escape before the ending.

Long before modern theaters tried to turn movies into attractions, Castle was filling neighborhood cinemas with wonderfully ridiculous gimmicks designed to make people scream, laugh, and tell their friends what happened.

👻 Take a trip back to the days when buying a movie ticket might mean becoming part of the show.

👉 Read William Castle Theater Gimmicks: Horror’s Greatest Showman

https://kilroywashereshop.com/william-castle-theater-gimmicks/

09/17/2026

House on Haunted Hill

https://kilroywashereshop.com/house-on-haunted-hill/

09/16/2026

Imagine sitting in a movie theater in 1959 when the skeleton on the screen suddenly has company.

William Castle's House on Haunted Hill did not always stay safely on the screen. Some theaters used his famous "Emergo" gimmick to send a skeleton flying over the audience during the movie.

Vincent Price, a haunted house, $10,000 for surviving the night, and a theater stunt that kids eventually started fighting back against.

This was horror when buying a movie ticket could make you part of the show. 💀🎬🍿

Read the strange story of House on Haunted Hill and Emergo at Kilroy Was Here.

https://kilroywashereshop.com/house-on-haunted-hill/

House on Haunted Hill history reveals how William Castle, Vincent Price and a flying skeleton turned a 1959 horror film into an event.

09/15/2026

🐷 Farmer Vincent is serving up one killer DIY Halloween costume! 🔪🎃