The year was 1957 and the revival of horror was in full swing in movie theaters. With the technicolor thrillers by the British studio, Hammer Films—featuring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.

Soon after, the classic Universal horror films of Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, and others were released to television, in a package called Shock Theater, distributed by Screen Gems.

These vintage spine tinglers became a weekly event on TV and chillingly good fun. Introduced by eerie horror hosts like yours truly—as Roland in the Philadelphia area and later as Zacherle in New York, plus a variety of ghoulish guides on other local stations across the country. They presented these films to a new generation of young teens and made these monstrous chillers kid-friendly. Suddenly, across the country, the monster craze was born.

Later, in 1958, Forrest J. Ackerman and James Warren created Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. Featuring colorful covers mostly done by artist Basil Gogos, this magazine not only fed the craving you young horror fans, but also took them behind the scenes.

Famous Monsters introduced readers to the artistry of makeup, featuring articles on Lon Chaney, Sr., the Man of a Thousand Faces, and Jack Pierce, the creator of most of the classic monsters from the 1930s and 40s. Plus the actors who brought these creatures to life on the screen. Some parents thought these gruesome photos were too extreme, but their kids could not get enough and anxiously awaited the next issue.

These “monster kids” (as they have been called) were not satisfied with mere photos in magazines. They wanted a souvenir of their beloved monsters to bring into their homes. But at that time, movie merchandizing was almost nonexistent. There were only a few plastic or rubber masks of the monsters, although Castle Films provided a variety of 8 mm film condensations of the classic horror films, for home showings, in very colorful boxes. Then a plastic model company, Aurora, primarily known for models of battleships, airplanes, or knights in armor, hit upon the idea of making a model of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s Monster. Orders began pouring in to the small model company in West Hempstead, Long Island. Sculptor Bill Lemon created the first monster model, as well as most of the other classic horror characters for Aurora. Immediately after Frankenstein, then Dracula, and the Wolfman were rushed into production. Followed by the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy, and the Phantom of the Opera.

The Aurora Plastics Company was often working around the clock to keep up with demands from hobby shops, department stores, and monster magazine orders.

More monsters were to follow.

The Monster Kids of the 1960s could not get enough of these images, which spawned other merchandise, such as board games, target games, mechanical toys, and what’s more, the beautiful box art by James Bama became as collectible and memorable as the Aurora Models.