For more than a half a century, now, a remarkable man in North Horrorwood, Karloffornia, has been "borrowing" motion picture personalities' faces-acquiring in plaster of Paris and then duplicating in elastic rubber the facial features of such horror stars as Boris Karloff, Glenn Strange and Peter Lorre. Today he and his son enjoy an out-of-this-world-wide reputation as "Mr.Mask Maker", foremost specialist in life-masks. He is Don Post senior, your genial host, head of the Don Post Studios.

In 1939 Don Post, sometimes called "The Wizard of Ooze", began what is today recognized as one of the most unusual businesses in the world. Just before the outbreak of the War in Europe he created over-the-head rubber masks of a couple of the greatest villains of the time: Hitler and Mussolini. He also made a mask of Russia's dictator, Joseph Stalin.

Shortly thereafter Mr. Post was discovered by the film studios, and since then he and his busy staff have produced custom creations for such motion picture companies as MGM, Universal, Paramount and American International. In addition he has done work for Roger Corman, Alfred Hitchcock, and Walt Disney.

Many horror pictures have been enhanced by Post creations, for example: INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS with its human duplicator "pods" from space...SPACEMASTER X-7, with its crawling "gook"...Poe's HAUNTED PALACE, with its nearby hideous one-eyed no-mouthed mutations...A COMEDY OF TERRORS, with the pop-eyed head worn by Peter Lorre's stuntman double...and THE TIME TRAVELERS, with the many radio-eared androids.

Many years ago Mr. Post became the only individual authorized to produce the official Universal Monsters in rubber mask form. His first mask was a runaway success.

Rather, a run-to success, for the Frankenstein Monster mask was sought out, run after, purchased, glommed onto, bought, grabbed, embraced by one million monster lovers!

The world's first beast-seller in monster masks! FRANKENSTEIN has since been joined by such popular fiend-friends as Mr. Hyde, The Mummy, The Wolfman, The Mole Man, The Hunchback, Count Dracula The Phantom of the Opera, And The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Don took his death in his hands at the time it was necessary to visit the old PHANTOM OF THE OPERA set at Universal Studios in order to rescue some of the old long-lost monster molds there.

With the help of Bud Westmore, famed Universal make-up ace, and Don's partner Verne Langdon, many molds weighing nearly 40 lbs. a piece were retrieved.

"We might have been mistaken for the Unholy 3!" Don reminisced, "as we climbed ladders like spiders to a loft located stories above the Opera House stage."

Verne Langdon reminded, "We had to lower the molds by rope and pulley.On a second visit we carried individual molds, weighing less, down the ladders one at a time."

The Universal Horror Masks have been proclaimed the ultimate of their kind,real gear fright-gear! "Actually," says Don, "they are closer to make-up than masks.

Those that require hair have human hair added by hand. Each mask hand-finished." Each mask in the Universal Series takes a craftsman nearly 4 hours to create! These super-masks are really professional jobs. Each "pro" mask were a steal at the low retail price of $34 in the 1960s and now routinely sell to collectors for hundreds or thousands of dollars.

During the 1960's by popular demand, Don Post added the "New Unholy 3: reproductions of those nirthquaking terrorvision stars, The Munsters: Herman Grandpa and Lily Munster for only $4.95, which now are valued in the hundreds of dollars .

The werewolf head in BIKINI BEACH was a Don Post creation. From faces to races, for the GREAT RACE (Warner Bros.) he and his co-workers have constructed an entire full-scale set of automobile bodies made out of plastic, as well as an old-fashioned dirigible and a glacier of ice.

What's next? Perhaps a BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN mask? Shaggy Boris Karloff as the deaf-mute menace of THE OLD DARK HOUSE? A mask of acromegalia from TARANTULA, showing the horrible melting face of Leo G. Carol? Maybe the Missing Link from MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS?

Whatever it is that Don Post creates next, you may be sure that it will have the same fine frightening features and professional quality which have accounted for the sale of such quantities of his horror masks here and abroad.

No, Don Post wasn't turning Peter Lorre into a clown, he was preparing him for "the ordeal" by fitting him with a tight-fitting elastic skull-cap. Layer of substance known as mould goo is applied over actor's face in second step toward creation of facial impression

Delicate operation: mould goo is applied around the nose. Naturally, nostrils have to be left unobstructed for breathing purposes.

To the mould goo a coating of plaster of Paris has now been added, and Peter Lorre looking like "The Faceless Man", sits in silence, waiting for the casting to dry. Freed at last from his temporary imprisonment, "And it didn't hurt a bit," he said, "except when one of the hairs from my chest was accidentally plucked out-ouch!" The end product-a life mask of the late star. A prized possession of its maker, who has had many offers to buy it, but is not offering it for sale. He is, however, sharing it with MM's readers. The Post's forever making faces.