A Wild Christmas in Wales

I'm all packed like a woolly Kris Kringle
In my sack silver bullets go jingle
Werewolf hunting in Wales
If blunt instrument fails
Then I'll whack 'em this Yule in the dingle.

David Cairns

 

The Wolf Man has no idea what we're going on about. Lon Chaney Jr in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man ( Roy William Neill; 1943).

On the Growl

Chaney Jr. excelled wearing fur
As a moon-chasing hellhound or cur
But by day he had charm
Wouldn't scare, scar or harm
Till his lunatic spell made him grrrr. 

David Cairns


Lon Chaney Jr. in The Wolf Man (George Waggner; 1941).

Lon's on First

The studio figured before
They closed up the old monster store
They'd clear out the stock
For comics to mock
And make a last box office score.

Some say that the movie is great
Because all the scaries played straight.
But comedy due
to clowns Bud and Lou
Determined the franchise's fate.

Donald B. Benson


It was hard to take the monsters seriously after Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948); with Glenn Strange, Lon Chaney Jr., and Bela Lugosi.

Peer Pressure

This reeking old geezer's a creep
He'll sneak as, uneasy, you sleep
For lost love he's yearning
You've tossed, now you're turning
You shriek when you see the guy peep!

Kharis (Lon Chaney Jr.) hunts for his long lost love, Ananka, the reincarnated princess in The Mummy's Curse (Leslie Goodwins; 1944). Mummy Monday is looking at you.

Schlep by Schlep

Just heat him some tana leaf potion
He's beat, but will manage slow motion
Teeth clenched, he's not talking
For centuries, walking
His feet sure could stand a good lotion.

Lon Chaney Jr. is the Mummy in The Mummy's Ghost ( Reginald Le Borg; 1943). Title by hep Donald Benson. Mummy Mondays is on the march.

Fails From the Script

The Karloff is notably eerie
But Kharis looks totally weary
Through sequels he rots
With creaking, old plots
Sub-par, writ by rote, oh so dreary.

Lon Chaney Jr creaks in The Mummy's Tomb (Harold Young; 1942). Title by fail-safe David Cairns.

Being an Unsound Mime

He putters around in the night
Mouth shut, won't expound or recite
He'll swat any dame
Who's not his old flame
This nut has been bound far too tight.

Kharis (Lon Chaney) throttles Jane Banning (Mary Gordon) in The Mummy's Tomb (Harold Young; 1942). Title by Donald B. Benson, mime-stopper.

Undead On His Feet

His wrappings are threadbare and cheap
Poor sap has no bed and can't sleep
Not very athletic,
Yet peripatetic
Unhappy, undead, on he'll creep.

The Mummy's Ghost (Reginald Le Borg; 1944) stars Lon Chaney Jr, who looks ready to give up the ghost. Title by surefooted David Cairns.

Flame and Fortune

By rights, the poor mummy's concerned
Once bright, now his prospects have turned;
Never trust the High Priest
He's a lustful, low beast
And his acolytes always get burned.

Paul Truster



Priest of Karnak Turhan Bey and Mummy Lon Chaney Jr. in The Mummy's Tomb (Harold Young; 1942). Mummy Mondays is carrying a torch.

Really, Really Auld Lang Syne

At this time to renew, something old
Something grimy, inhuman, and cold
Without peace, without joy,
It won't cease to annoy
Like a mime, only putrid with mold.

Lon Chaney Jr. tries to catch a cab out of The Mummy's Tomb (1942).

Here's Mud in Your Isis

Once man, now this being is "iffy"
On tana in tea will get squiffy
Then limp, scuff, and stagger
More gimp than like Jagger
A bandaged and pre-Christian stiffy.

Tom Tyler drags a leg through Universal's first Mummy sequel, The Mummy's Hand (Christy Cabanne; 1940). Title by Donald Benson, a mudder. Happy New Year from all the stiffs at LimerWrecks.

B.C. Living

This Mummy is hoary and worn
The bum just ignores X-mas morn
His hateful activity
Predates the nativity
Was crumbling before Christ was born.

Lon Chaney reaches for some guy's throat in The Mummy's Tomb (Harold Young; 1942). Title by D.C. (David Cairns).

Hirsute Yourself

Fur-festooned by a taxing complaint
This poor loon's sprouting yak's-hair, how quaint!
It's a monthly affliction
He grunts and starts itchin;'
When the moon's fully waxed, Chaney ain't.

David Cairns

Jack Pierce created the Wolf Man makeup for Lon Chaney Jr. Welcome to Werewolf Wednesday.

Acolyte at the End of the Tunnel

This grime-sucking heel--that's enough!
It's time that I really get rough
The weasely pest
Thinks HE'S sex-obsessed?
The slimeball is stealing my stuff!

The Mummy (Lon Chaney Jr ) is fed up with Ragheb (Martin Kosleck) in The Mummy's Curse (Leslie Goodwins; 1944). In the Mummy sequels, it's not the romantic interest of the Mummy that motors the plots, but that of the priests and acolytes. This post is part of the "Late Show" blogathon hosted by David Cairns and Shadowplay.

Clod Bless the Child

Don't scorn me, you know what I'm like
If cornered, a blow I will strike 
It's no life on the run
Constant strife, never fun  
Forlorn, I could go for this tyke.

The Monster (Lon Chaney Jr) befriends little Cloestine Hussman (Janet Ann Gallow) in The Ghost of Frankenstein (Erle C. Kenton; 1942).

Another Fine Mesquite

His fate has been highly unjust
He hates to comply, but he must 
Once dashing, now crusty
Old passions grown dusty
So dated and dry he'll combust.

The Mummy strangles some guy on a porch: Lon Chaney Jr in The Mummy's Tomb (Harold Young; 1942). Title by Mesquiter Donald B. Benson.

Mummy-Back Guarantee

First one thinks he is burned in a fire   
Then he sinks, unconcerned, in a mire
Under walls that collapse
There's no call to play taps
Mummy finks, we have learned, don't expire.

Lon Chaney Jr drags his way through The Mummy's Curse (Leslie Goodwins; 1944). The Mummy appears to perish at the end of every film, but we know better. Title by Donald Benson, guaranteed.

Hope for the Rest, Expect the Versed

Though prepped for an infinite nap
He's kept by his masters on tap
And slogs overtime
In blogs full of rhyme
Except that these rhymes never wrap.

Donald B. Benson

Turhan Bey and George Zucco inspect The Mummy's Tomb (Harold Young; 1942). The Mummy being Lon Chaney Jr, of course. We'll all need a nap when the gobbling is over. Happy Thanksgiving from the turkeys at LimerWrecks.

Less is Morbid

The inaugural Mummy just glows
Now this slogger looks bummed, comatose
These sequels just prove he
Can creak through a movie
Which doggerel sums more than prose.

David Cairns



Lon Chaney Jr wishes he could escape The Mummy's Tomb (Harold Young; 1942).

Kharis Match

He staggers about, he's half-lame
Looks haggard, no doubt off his game
How can one defeat him?
Don't panic, reheat him!
The raggedy lout turns to flame.

Lon Chaney Jr. (or his stunt double) burns in The Mummy's Tomb (Harold Young; 1942). Title by the match king, David Cairns.