Back before the days of the Internet, people had to get their news and information from… dare I say it… a newspaper! *GASP* Yep, things sure were different back then. How did we ever survive? But despite the lack of technology it was an incredible time. There was something so very cool about opening a newspaper, flipping to the “Arts and Entertainment” section and devouring all of that delicious horror themed eye-candy: poster promises of scary films to come.
One of those posters was by artist and illustrator Robert Gleason, who’d been hired to deliver artwork at the guidance of producer Irwin Yablans for John Carpenter’s 1978 classic, Halloween, and it just pushed all of our genre lovin’ happy buttons! The instantly iconic image, which immediately goosed our collected imagination, and its attached tag-line of “The Night He Came Home” served to entice prospective viewers even more: who was “He” and what happened on “The Night He Came Home?” One thing we knew for sure: we had to find out, and so off to the theater we went!
In October of 1978, the world was poised to experience an all new kind of evil, and its ties to the spookiest day of the calendar year made it all the more exciting! Let’s take a look back at some Halloween posters from around the world.
Theatrical Posters
Newspaper Ads
But wait! There’s more! In 1981 Halloween premiered on television, and below you’ll find some scans of vintage TV ads, and even a commercial announcing the films NBC premiere! Ah, the good old days!
Writer’s note: my thanks to Dinosaur Dracula retro archives, which proved helpful in compiling this art gallery.