Monster Mash-Up by Dave Goode

Back in the 1940s Universal tried to wring the last drop of blood from their famous monsters franchise by teaming their 3 biggest horror heroes Dracula,the Wolf Man and the Frankenstein monster in a series of movies beginning in 1943 with FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN. This was a direct sequel to THE WOLF MAN (1941). It was followed by HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1944),

HOUSE OF DRACULA (1945) and finally ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948). I've come to refer to this series of movies as the "Larry Talbot saga". Combined they told the tragic tale of Larry Talbot the Wolf Man.*

There was even a 6th installment to the Larry Talbot saga in the form of a novel. THE RETURN OF THE WOLF MAN written by Jeff Rovin begins where ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN ends. It's a must read for anyone who grew up on Chiller Theater and Creature Features.

Years later the producers of Mexico's masked wrestler movies would use the same formula and team up their Mexiluchahero stars in the same way Universal teamed up their monster movie stars. Strangely enough they had their wrestling super-heroes facing off against knock-offs of the Universal monsters in flicks like SANTO AND BLUE DEMON VS. DRACULA AND THE WOLF MAN and SANTO AND BLUE DEMON VS. THE MONSTERS.

Below,right out of the Atom Age of Comics, is the cover for Dr.Judo No.13 drawn by my amigo Vance Capley. It features three of Universal's classic monsters. But substituting the Mummy for the Frankenstein monster.I always thought the Mummy should have been featured in ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN. If only as one of the exhibits in McDougal's House of Horrors.

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*editor note "some count LA CASA DEL TERROR (1960) (this footage, along with footage from LA MOMIA AZTECTA (1957), was used in Jerry Warren's "masterpiece" FACE OF THE SCREAMING WEREWOLF (1964)) as part of the Larry Talbot story just because Chaney, Jr. plays the werewolf...we leave that one up to you..."