Back in February of 2022, Films From Beyond introduced its first line of motivational posters for monsters, named “Shockcessories” after the Successories line of sappy inspirational wall art that used to be popular in offices and doctor’s waiting rooms back in the day (and which are still around, believe it or not).
To many, they were one step above the cute kitten posters that urged you to “Hang in there!,” but somehow, somewhere, someone got something out of them, or they wouldn’t have been so ubiquitous at their peak.
The first Shockcessories line highlighted the Universal monsters. This go round, the inspiration comes from Hammer Films’ Frankenstein series. Baron Frankenstein as portrayed by Peter Cushing (and Ralph Bates) was perhaps the ultimate arrogant, cold-blooded elitist who let nothing and noone stand in the way of his illicit experiments. But I believe that underneath that contemptuous exterior was an insecure little boy who never got the encouragement he needed growing up. These messages of hope and positivity are for all mad scientists with such issues.
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| Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) |
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| Robert Urquhart in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) |
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| Simon Ward, Freddie Jones and Peter Cushing in Frankenstein Must be Destroyed (1969) |
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| Ralph Bates in The Horror of Frankenstein (1970) |
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| David Prowse as the monster in Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) |