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Category: Halloween

[Arch Oboler, half-length portrait, seated, facing right, wearing hat and glasses, holding paper and pencil.

Halloween Heartthrob: The “Chicken Heart” that Gobbled Up the Globe

Posted by: Neely Tucker

“Chicken Heart,” a 7-minute episode of the “Lights Out” radio series that aired just before midnight in March 1937 was a cheesily effective landmark of the Golden Age of Radio. Living on for decades through rebroadcasts, remakes, in syndication and on records, it snaked its way into the childhood memories of everyone from horror master Stephen King to comedian Bill Cosby, becoming a campy horror cult favorite. It was the brainchild of playwright Arch Oboler, a major star of radio whose name has since faded from popular recognition.

Posted in: Halloween, Manuscripts, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, Performing Arts, Radio, Writers

Broadside shows a male skeleton dressed in a charro outfit wielding a machete in a graveyard, apparently in the process of creating more skeletons – a crowd of skeletons surround him and skulls lie at his feet. The text block is decorated with four small skulls.

José Guadalupe Posada’s Lively Calaveras and Enduring Legacy

Posted by: Maria Peña

Mexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posada, considered Mexico's most influential graphic artist, helped popularize the calavera as a satirical graphic motif, often printed with rhyming ballads or corridos. After Posada's death in 1913, the calaveras became closely associated with the "Día de los Muertos," a holiday in November to honor and remember deceased loved ones. The Library of Congress has one of the largest collections of his work in the U.S. and is a major resource for understanding Mexican culture.

Posted in: Halloween, Hispanic and Latino, Hispanic Division