The Forgotten Prisoner
of Castel-Mare

The Forgotten Prisoner of Castel-Mare was one of the most intriguing kits of the Aurora line for me, simply because it didn't represent a famous monster, but more of a scene. Though it wasn't unique for the Aurora Corporation, it was unique to me. The only other scene depiction from the classic monster kit line was "The Guillotine". I remember also that I kept having lots of mishaps putting this one together; I used a white enamel for the bones, and it never seemed to dry. I ended up with parts sticking to my fingers and the newspaper on the table. Still it was altogether fascinating to me. In 1966 I hadn't a clue as to who this forgotten prisoner was, and why he ended up in such a dreadful state.

I built this kit on an old card table in my room. The movie "Mr. Sardonicus" was playing on TV that same evening. Once the family got a new color TV set, they let me take our old black and white model into the room that I shared with my brother then. That movie terrified me, and gave me the shudders like crazy. I guess it was the perfect movie to be playing in the background of building this model! It was the dead of winter when I got this kit; I picked it up at our local Fred Meyer store. It was very cold and dark outside as we made our way home from the store, and I couldn't resist peeking into the bag to stare at the box. I really liked this kit then, and still do now.