What Halloween Means To Me '13 Day 14: Joshua Hull

It’s time to kick off Independent Horror Filmmaker’s week on the “What Halloween Means To Me” countdown, and Joshua Hull is in the leadoff position.  I first became aware of his work through a killer short he directed as part of The Collective Volume 5 called Voice Over.  He then sent me his excellent zomcom Beverly Lane, which will be featured on the first episode of The Son Of Celluloid Show (yes, it is still coming). There are a lot, and I do mean A LOT, of really bad horror comedies out there right now, so Joshua’s stuff is a breath of fresh air. He really gets how to play the two genres off of each other.  His style is more laughs than scares, but it works infinitely better than the clumsy genre mash-ups that are, sadly, the norm.  You all know I’m picky as hell about my comedies, and so far I’ve dug everything he’s put out.  He’s got a few upcoming projects in various states of completion including The Impersonators, Pink Slips, and The Ballad of Sadie Grace, so head over to the Arsonist Pictures site to get the lowdown, snag a copy of Beverly Lane, and laugh your ass off.  Alright Joshua, tell us about your mother, the mad scientist…

"IT'S ALIVE!!! Remembering The Year My Mom Played Dr. Frankenstein

Ever since I can remember Halloween has been a huge part of my life. One of my earliest & favorite memories of Halloween is when I wanted to dress up like the Frankenstein monster. My mom is what you would call a Halloween fanatic. She would go all out creating our costumes. Store bought costumes? Not in this house! We would craft EVERY part of the costume from something we already owned. There were 6 of us kids. Money didn't grow on trees..especially for store bought Frankenstein costumes. I was about to get my 1st lesson in figuring out how to pull off a creative vision without money.
It took about a week to get everything we needed for this costume. However we were missing one VERY important piece. I needed the trademark "Franky flattop" head. Those store bought costumes came with one. Where the hell would I get mine from?
Halloween came & I remember dreading my "Franky Round Top" costume all day. I was just going to be a green dude dressed in all black with a round head. My dreams of Karloff were...well Faroff.
What I had failed to realize was my mom is a creative problem solver. She knew exactly how to put the finishing touches on my costume.
"Trust me. It's going to look great!"
I ran upstairs & got into character. All black everything. We had ripped my sleeves & I believe I wore boots that belonged to my older brother (or sister). I sat down in the "Halloween prep" chair and looked at the table with excitement.
It was littered with the trademark Halloween accessories. Face paint, black spider rings, glitter hair spray, fake blood and more. I looked the table up and down multiple times. I didn't see my flattop.
"Where is it???"
I looked over at my mom witching up my sister. She told me to walk to the fridge & grab the milk carton.

"That is your Frankenstein head.."
I looked at her then looked at the milk. What did she mean by that? How would this be my head? The carton still had milk in it! None of this made any sense to a small boy.
"Drink that & then I'll make your head"
Still confused I grabbed a glass & drank the remainder of the milk. I gave the empty jug to my mom & sat down waiting.
I watched as my mom took scissors to this jug. Carefully crafted a custom made "Franky flattop" for me. She finished cutting & took what had been the bottom of the jug and placed it on the top of my head. It was a perfect fit.
I sat in excitement as my mom played Dr. Frankenstein. She was giving life to her very own monster. A monster that went from wanting store bought costumes to believing in the magic of creativity."

 17 days ‘til Halloween, Halloween, Halloween.  17 days ‘til Halloween, Silver Shamrock.