''Li'l Horrors'' is an Australian children's

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

puppetry television series which screened on the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

in 2001. The series contained 52 episodes each 12 minute, 30 seconds in length, with double episodes usually screened in a 30-minute time slot.

Plot

''Li'l Horrors'' takes place in the home of horror actress Morbidda Bates. The series follows the adventures of little monster characters based on classic, fictional horror characters such as

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been i ...

Frankenstein's Monster Frankenstein's monster, commonly referred to as Frankenstein, is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' as its main antagonist. Shelley's title compares the monster's ...

The Mummy A mummy is an unusually well preserved corpse. Mummy or The Mummy may also refer to: Places * Mummy Range, a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado in the United States * Mummy Cave, a rock shelter and archeological site in P ...

, The Werewolf,

Swamp Thing Swamp Thing is a superhero and antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several different incarnations throughout his publication. The ch ...

Zombie A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...

Quasimodo Quasimodo (from Quasimodo Sunday) is the titular protagonist of the French novel '' The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (1831) by Victor Hugo. Born with numerous deformities, most notably a hunched back, Quasimodo serves as the bell-ringer for Notre ...

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; ), also called Gorgo () or the Gorgon, was one of the three Gorgons. Medusa is generally described as a woman with living snakes in place of hair; her appearance was so hideous that anyone who looked upon her wa ...

and Gargoyles.

Characters

* Vladamir "Vlad" Bloode, a vampire based on

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

from Bram Stoker's gothic horror novel of the same name. A notorious trickster around Maug Stone Hall, his favourite pastime is to pull practical jokes at the other Horrors' expense. * Duncan Stein, based on Frankenstein's monster from the 1931 film

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...

. Gluttonous yet friendly, and yet also dim-witted and sorely lacking in social skills. * Cleo Patra, an Egyptian mummy based on modern pop culture. Uses a lot of Valley Girl filler in her speech. Ironically her

namesake A namesake is a person, place, or thing bearing the name of another. Most commonly, it refers to an individual who is purposely named after another (e.g. John F. Kennedy Jr would be the namesake of John F. Kennedy). In common parlance, it may ...

was not a native-born Egyptian but a Greek immigrant. * Webster Swampson, a piscine boy based on various sea monsters. School Brainiac and a bit of a nerd. Often turned to, to get the other Horrors out of a crisis. Storylines based around him involve some invention of his. * Abercrombie Necros, a zombie who does little more than watch television. When the set is faulty, broken, or otherwise out of order, he often melts down, simply by repeating phrases often appearing on television sets without reliable signals. These meltdowns don't happen every time though. * Medusilla Venimski, a pretty monster based on (and named for) the youngest of three gorgons,

. Very vain as she often admires her beauty, which does not turn others (or herself) to stone, unlike the ugliness of her namesake. Her hair can talk as well, as evidenced in several episodes. * Claudia Howell, a

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

girl, who, unlike her mythological basis, appears to have no human form (however, she does live in fear of transforming into a sweet little girl every full moon). Acts and communicates like a dog, for example, growling when angered or insulted. Sensitive to insults towards categories she falls within, and often the target of Vlad's trickery. * Quasi Modo, a thorough spoof of Quasimodo from Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Does not appear in every episode. * Garg, one of two

grotesques Since at least the 18th century (in French and German, as well as English), grotesque has come to be used as a general adjective for the strange, mysterious, magnificent, fantastic, hideous, ugly, incongruous, unpleasant, or disgusting, and thus ...

* Goyle, Garg's permanent companion * Bruce * Ratso Risotto * Humpfree *Morbidda Bates (known as "Miss Morbidda" to the Li'l Horrors), the owner of Maug Stone Hall. Unseen but referred to in most episodes. Her voice addresses the Horrors in the opening credits.

List of episodes

* ''Monsters 'r Us'' by Brendan Luno * ''Lolly Folly'' by Robert Greenberg * ''Fangs for Your'' by Robert Greenberg * ''Time Out !'' by Brendan Luno * ''Ghost of a Chance'' by Kevin Nemeth * ''Ghoul Friends'' by Kevin Nemeth * ''Rock Shock'' by Glen Dolman * ''Trial and Terror'' by Glen Dolman * ''I Want my Mummy'' by Jamie Forbes * ''Were-with All'' by Beverley MacDonald * ''Webster the Brave'' by Nancy Groll * ''The Morbida Mystery'' by Nancy Groll * ''Trouble Double'' by Clare Madsen * ''The Coming of Quasi'' by Clare Madsen * ''Stop and Gough'' by David Phillips * ''Ice Scream'' by David Phillips * ''The Cubby House War'' by Brendan Luno * ''Beelzebubba'' by Brendan Luno * ''Love Lettuce in the Sand (Which)'' by Jamie Forbes * ''Play's the Thing'' by Hugh Stuckey * ''Humpy Birthday to You'' by Anthony Watt * ''Send in the Clones'' by Anthony Watt * ''The Magic Hat'' by Glen Dolman * ''The Treasure of the Scary Madre'' by Glen Dolman * ''Comet Through the Wry'' by Adam Todd * ''The Bleurgh with Project'' by Adam Todd * ''Who Wants to Flea a Million Heirs'' by Anthony Watt * ''The Spaceman Cometh'' by Anthony Watt * ''Wouldn't it be Nice Revolting'' by Brendan Luno * ''Mirror, Rirrom'' by Brendan Luno * ''Now You See Me, Now You Don't'' by Glen Dolman * ''The Good, the Bad and the Fluffy'' by Glen Dolman * ''For whom the Bell Tolls'' by Annie Fox * ''Mummy, Dearest'' by Annie Fox * ''Revenge of the Zombie'' by Meg Mappin * ''Vlad and Duncan's Excellent Adventure'' by Penelope Trevor * ''Hall of the Mounted Things'' by Forbes * ''Home Alone'' by Anthony Watt * ''I Dream of Greenie'' by Anthony Watt * ''Who Dares Wins'' by David Rapsey * ''Under Your Spell'' by David Rapsey * ''Follow the Black Asphalt Road'' by Anthony Watt * ''Happily Ever Laughter'' by Anthony Watt * ''Altered States'' by Brendan Luno * ''Hamelot in Camelot'' by Brendan Luno * ''Stinging in the Reign'' by Peter Hepworth * ''I Won't, Dunce'' by Peter Hepworth * ''Pants on Fire'' by Nancy Groll * ''Head of the Class'' by Ray Boseley * ''Speak No Evil'' by Chris Annastasiades * ''The Wolf Who Cried Boy'' by Nancy Groll

Voices

* Paula Morrell * Ric Herbert * Rachel King * Richard Hart * Abbe Holmes * Michael King * Matthew King

International

The series also screened in the UK, Canada and France. :fr:Li'l Horrors

References

External links

Li'l Horrors
at December Media

at Australian Television Information Archive
Li'l Horrors
at Screen Australia * {{DEFAULTSORT:Li'l Horrors Australian children's television series Seven Network original programming 2000 Australian television series debuts 2001 Australian television series endings Australian television shows featuring puppetry Children's horror television series