It all started with Guy Juke and Rondo Hatton.

1981, Oct. 30: No Halloween cover (or coverage to speak of) in our first year.

1) 1982, Oct. 29: Rondo Hatton
(by Guy Juke)
    From a later “Page Two”: “Hatton had acromegaly, a pituitary disease which made him look monstrous. He had major roles in only five movies (including House of Horrors and The Spider Woman Strikes Back), but his memory is treasured by horror fans. … Knowing of filmmaker and cinema legend Robert Burns’ [art director for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and other films, as well as a writer, producer, director, and actor] obsession with Hatton, we interviewed him for a short story on the actor and asked Guy Juke to do a drawing of Hatton as a Halloween mask cover. The drawing was gorgeous – still is – and inside, Burns helped demonstrate how to cut the cover out and make a mask.”

2) 1983, Oct. 28: Al Lewis as Grandpa Munster
(by Guy Juke)
    Al Lewis was in town for Monster Fest at Liberty Lunch (with Roky Erickson; $3 cover). The other prominent Halloween event was the first Moaner-Groaner Orchestra at the Ritz.

3) 1984, Oct. 19: The Bride of Frankenstein
(by Guy Juke)
    Marjorie Baumgarten wrote on Elsa Lanchester and the Bride:
    “‘The monster demands a mate.’ She lets loose a viscerally piercing scream that leaves no doubt that this babe, in a flash, understands The Whole Score.”

4) 1985, Oct. 18: Leatherface
(by Guy Juke)
    Texas Chainsaw Massacre hitchhiker Edwin Neal demonstrates how to make and don the mask. For the next issue, Nov. 1, 1985 (we were biweekly then), we had Rollo Banks’ striking Madonna Dia de los Muertos cover.

1986, Oct. 24: The Headless Trick or Treater, by Terry Tweed, was our only Halloween nonmask.

5) 1987, Oct. 30: Jorge Carrasco as a vampire
(by Baby Lucas, aka Paul Sabal)
    After a year off, we revived the tradition of the Halloween mask cover, but this time with a political slant, depicting then City Manager Jorge Carrasco as a vampire. Before the next Chronicle was published, Carrasco was fired by City Council, kicking off a string of “mask curse” issues. (See “30 Curses” list.)

6) 1988, Oct. 28: Day of the Dead mask
(by Unique Graphique: Mather, Nelson, Ayres, Dehay, & Pickhardt)
    An anomaly among our mask covers, as it had no specific theme, and also because it was done by a local art collective, rather than by one illustrator.

7) 1989, Oct. 27: Mark Weaver
(by Baby Lucas)
    From the Chronicle history in the 20th anniversary issue: “The Chronicle has been weekly for one year. Times are difficult. On Wednesday, October 4, 1989, as a result of a complaint by pro-family, anti-gay, anti-porn activist Mark Weaver, the Chronicle is thrown out of the 17 HEB stores it was distributed in. The Chronicle’s position is to step back and say, ‘HEB had every right to throw us out, but it’s time that Mark Weaver stopped dictating the standards of the community.’ There are letters and protests – one organized by the wife of a future council candidate whom the Chronicle didn’t endorse – that are totally beyond our control or even knowledge. And in a way, it is the first time we really know we have a following. Mark Weaver is the Chronicle’s Halloween Mask cover, dated Oct. 27, 1989, and by the next issue, Chronicles are back in the HEB.”

8) 1990, Oct. 26: Clayton Williams
(by Doug Potter)
    Williams, the favorite in his run for governor against Ann Richards, lost a few days after the mask was published.

9) 1991, Oct. 25: Gary Bradley as The Developer of the Black Lagoon
(by Roy Tompkins)
    From the mask instructions: “Here’s a tip: Though the above may look easy, it’s best to play it safe. Borrow heavily – hundreds of millions of dollars, if possible. Ask for help from every level of government. Make whatever promises seem necessary. … And if things go really badly, the government’ll have to step in and eat the debt, and then you can blame them for the whole mess.”

10) 1992, Oct. 30: H. Ross Perot
(by Doug Potter)
    The slightly nutty maverick billionaire was easy to make fun of, but in the next Tuesday’s election, he became the most successful independent presidential candidate since Teddy Roosevelt.
    From the mask instructions: “Speak in platitudes. … Stress your down-home, populist approach with cornpone humor and a big, silly grin. … Don’t forget to tell everyone that you’re taking no compensation for wearing the mask, and that you’ll only have it on for one four-year term. Better yet, just skip the whole thing.” (Perot and retired Vice Adm. James Stockdale won 22% of the vote in Texas the next Tuesday.)

11) 1993, Oct. 29: Jim Bob Moffett
(photo mask by Alan Pogue)
    Moffett was CEO of Freeport McMoRan, one of the world’s biggest water polluters and the developers of the Barton Springs PUD. From the Chronicle history in the 20th anniversary issue: “The next summer, the long-simmering battle over development in the Barton Springs watershed comes to a head in an all-night City Council meeting that the Chronicle helps instigate. [Save Our Springs Alliance] is born, and Jim Bob Moffett is the obvious choice for our Halloween mask.”

12) 1994, Oct. 28: Vampira
(by A.J. Garces)
    After a string of political covers, we swing back to the movie-monster theme. From the Chronicle history in the 20th anniversary issue: “1994 was supposed to be Vampira (star of Ed Wood Jr.’s Plan 9 From Outer Space), but artist A.J. Garces didn’t draw her emaciated enough, so she looked more like an expressionless Elvira.”

13) 1995, Oct. 27: Memnoch the Devil
(by Nathan Jensen)
    This mask came complete with a mask-instruction introduction by The Vampire Lestat and Music Editor Raoul Hernandez’s feature-length review of Anne Rice’s book Memnoch the Devil.

14) 1996, Oct. 25: Chupacabra
(by Roy Tompkins)
    Raoul Hernandez notes that farmers around the country “have been reporting the mysterious deaths of their goats – found with two small puncture wounds on their necks, drained of blood. Some have sworn to seeing a large vampiric beast with red eyes in the dead of night. Chupacabra.”

15) 1997, Oct. 31: Triangle Park
(by Jason Stout)
    In his first Halloween cover, future Art Director Jason Stout pulled off a nearly impossible task, cleverly rendering a map of the controversial Triangle development as a mask. Within the year, after intense neighborhood pressure, plans for a big box strip mall are scrapped in favor of the current mixed-use development.
    From the mask instructions: “… scare people by bellowing ‘Boo! I’m a development’ at parties and front porches in exchange for candy and a heartfelt ‘good riddance.’”

16) 1998, Oct. 30: George W. Bush as an Oompah Loompah
(by Michael Sieben)
    Former Art Director Taylor Holland: “The Chronicle’s Halloween mask covers have always been a hit with readers, and every year we wrestle with far-out ideas before finally settling on something most can live with. Of the approximately 215 covers I’ve done for the Chronicle, then-Governor George W. Bush as an Oompah Loompah (1998) qualifies as one of our strangest and least understood.
    “Originally, the idea came from Kim Mellen, who piped up in an editorial meeting that W. looked like one of Willie Wonka’s crooning midget workers, which related to an upcoming piece on oompah bands for the Music section. Immediately, I fell in love of the idea, not only for the fact that I love Willie Wonka the film, but I knew W. would one day be president, and the thought of jumping on him early and as often as possible appealed to me greatly, and still does.
    “The tough task of rendering George-as-midget fell to then-UT art student Michael Sieben, who toughed it out through four revisions and at least two sleepless nights to deliver the goods. Sieben never called for work again, and stands as the only artist I ever tortured out of illustration work in a single week.”

17) 1999, Oct. 29: Carole Keeton Rylander: The Bar Witch Project
(by Jason Stout)
    From “Page Two”: “This year we continue the political theme with one of our longtime favorite public officials, former Austin mayor and current state comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander. A special nod to those pioneering, low-budget independent Florida filmmakers responsible for this year’s surprise hit and buzz concept [The Blair Witch Project]. Cut out the mask, get naked, grab some bongos, and party. Go into a club and enjoy it, rather than closing it. This is Austin, after all!”
    From the mask instructions: “9. When all else fails, be as annoying as possible!”

18) 2000, Oct. 27: Governor Rick Perry
(by Taylor Holland)
    “Our Scariest Halloween Mask Ever!” was the cover copy; we also featured the story “What Happens If Bush Goes to Washington?” Within weeks we had our answer: George W. Bush in the White House, and, yes, Rick Perry in the Governor’s Mansion. Boy is this one time we wish the cover curse had been in effect.
    From the mask instructions:
    “1. Admire material. Wow. Ain’t he a handsome devil?
    “2. Choose cutting utensil. Don’t use the sharpest knife in the drawer. … Hurry! November 7 is coming soon. Might be moving to bigger house with swimming pool! Yippee!”

19) 2001, Oct. 26: Gas Mask
(by Jason Stout)
    The month after 9/11, this was our take on the nation’s mood.
    From the mask instructions:
    “1. Be a patriot: Buy one gross of scissors. …
    “3. While holding the scissors, do not run or leap, even if your mood is gleeful. …
    “8. Do not use in the event of an actual gas attack. (Warning from our lawyers: The mask is made of paper.)”

20) 2002, Oct. 25: Stan Knee: Halloween’s Keystone Cop?
(by Penny Van Horn)
    In a story titled “Weak at the Knee?,” News, Oct. 5, 2002 (with “A timeline of APD’s troubles over the past 13 years”), Jordan Smith noted that after five years, “Chief Stan Knee’s tenure at the APD has had many external successes, and several internal failures.” As time went on, the failures would start to outweigh the successes, but Chief Knee hung on until June 1996 before leaving to be a security consultant in Afghanistan.
    From the mask instructions: “Be sure to poke holes in both nostrils and through the mask’s mouth so that you can breathe. For guidelines on breathing, please see policy No. G-JH-406.746, ‘Procedures for Breathing.’ (Note: Failure to breathe may result in death or, in the unfortunate alternative, departmental discipline.)”

21) 2003, Oct. 31: Tom “Leatherface” DeLay
(by Doug Potter)
    In the midst of the controversy over congressional re-re-redistricting in Texas. DeLay pretty much got his way on the issue, but within two years he was brought down by money laundering charges – though it took another six years before those finally developed into a felony conviction.
    From the mask instructions by Mike Clark-Madison:
    “4) Pick up chain saw. Cut along dotted district lines and through communities of interest. (Be neat!) Secrecy is vital; allow no one to watch you cut out the mask. If people watch anyway, ignore their input.
    “5) Using chain saw and starting from the left, shred mask into 32 random shapes. Reassemble using tape and glue imported from the Northern Mariana Islands. Remember to leave eyeholes so you can avoid foul-smelling godless Cuban soldiers and schizophrenics with guns. Practice wielding chain saw with left hand and Denny Hastert’s gavel with right hand.
    “6) Submit your completed mask to the U.S. Department of Justice for pre-clearance. While waiting (it should be quick), invite anonymous car salesmen, accountants from Midland, and exterminators to move into the houses of neighbors whose views differ from your own. Fire up the old hot tub.”

22) 2004, Oct. 29: Iraqi Day of the Dead
(by Penny Van Horn)
    From the mask instructions:
    “1) Perform a surgical strike with precision-guided instruments and cut out the mask. Offer perfunctory apologies to the innocent bystanders you maim in the process. …
    “5) Prepare altars for American and other coalition casualties. Decorate with pictures of the deceased, cigarettes, beer or tequila (save some for yourself, you’ll need it), papel picado (use that same precision-guided instrument to cut the paper), yellow ribbons, and Kerry/Edwards (or Cobb, or Nader, or Badnarik, or Dean, or Kucinich) bumper stickers. Repeat 1,244 times.
    “6) Prepare altars for Iraqi adult civilian casualties. As above, omitting the alcohol. Repeat between 13,000 and 16,000 times. Budget $160 billion for supplies and expenses. If necessary, borrow the money from your unborn great-grandchildren.
    “7) Remember, Day of the Dead is not a sad time. It’s considered disrespectful to the dead to weep, wail, and grieve at the altar. You are allowed, however, to be very, very, very angry.”

23) 2005, Oct. 28: Barbara Bush: “Let Them Eat Cake”
(by Jason Stout)
    This was our take on Babs “Marie Antoinette” Bush’s comment about Katrina evacuees, that “so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this [chuckles] – this is working very well for them.”
    From the mask instructions:
    “3) Call the boys. Tell them what good jobs they’re doing! Positive reinforcement goes a long way. Always appear optimistic, even in the face of dire circumstances. …
    “9) Oh, yes – have a servant punch a hole on each side of the mask and run a string through each hole. Do not attach to face with glue.”

24) 2006, Oct. 27: Chris Bell: The Invisi-Bell Man
(by Robert Faires)
    From the mask instructions: “Call a press conference and announce that you are running for governor. As a Democrat. The silence is deafening, isn’t it? … Say nasty things about the Bride and Wolfman Rick. Tell people that Kinky Friedman is battier than Dracula in a cowboy hat. Spend your days wondering why Kinky gets so much media attention without having to pay for it.” (Bell drew less than 30% statewide in the following Tuesday’s election.)

25) 2007, Oct. 26: Richard Suttle: Phantom of the DevelOpera
(by Nathan Jensen)
    From the “Supermask Instructions”:
    “We can’t think of a better occasion than Halloween to mark the 20th anniversary of the original ‘grandfather’ law and, most importantly, the man behind it: Richard T. Suttle Jr. This hometown boy drafted the bill and lobbied legislators on behalf of builders looking to skirt city development rules designed to protect water quality and neighborhoods. Twenty years and 11 Wal-Mart Supercenters later, Suttle is still busier than a one-armed tree hacker, terrorizing citizens, neighborhood groups, and small Mexican eateries on behalf of big development. In the past year alone, he’s been the horse whisperer in the ear of city staff for the North­cross Wal-Mart, the Las Manitas ouster, the Town Lake supercondos, and a half-dozen some­what less notorious but equally heinous proposed blights. If you have a really bad development plan, he’s the friend you need at City Hall.
    “1) You’ll need a large bulldozer. Grease the wheels. In this business, it’s important to move quickly and quietly.
    “2) Wait a minute. You can’t possibly work with the size of this mask. It would be cost-prohibitive and extremely onerous. Plus it’s not fair.
    “3) Expand the outline tenfold. Tell people if it’s not done your way, and right this minute, another developer will come along and make it bigger, uglier, and with no retention ponds.
    “4) Convince city staff that the changes you need don’t require council approval, on account of – hey, wanna grab some chilaquiles at Las Manitas?”

26 & 27) 2008, Oct. 31: John McCain: The Monster
Sarah Palin: The Bride
(by Craig Staggs)
    From the mask instructions:
    “2) Time for a little straight talk: What you’re doing ain’t working! But the problem isn’t you; it’s with your opponent’s mask. Put down the scissors, and start smearing your opponent as a faux-European celebrity airhead (with a penchant for white women, of course!).
    “3) You need another mask to rile up the base: Deploy your mavericky vice presidential mask! Don’t feel that you have to look at it before you select it – that’s not what a maverick would do! And don’t think you have to cut along the lines – not very mavericky either. While we know you’re itching to use every bit of the carcass, don’t affix the Palin mask straight to your face with home-rendered moose-hoof glue (maverick!). After all, you’ll need this again in 2012. (Veep Elizabeth Hasselbeck mask to follow. Maverick.) Garnish with 150,000 dollars’ worth of products from elitist East Coast stores, and wink liberally – no, conservatively, no, err, maverickly.”

28) 2009, Oct. 30: Swine Flu
(by Jason Stout)
    From the mask instructions: “Grab a Chronicle – and you better hold on to this paper for dear life! Haven’t you heard about the swine flu mask shortage? They’re only doing a press run of 90,000, and with a population of 800,000 – well, you do the math! Tens of thousands are gonna go without; why didn’t they ramp up production months ago, when they knew they were needed? There will be blood running in the streets before this is over!”

29) 2010, Oct. 29: Perr E. Coyote
(by Jason Stout)
    Rick Perry’s second time on our cover came a few months after he shot and killed a coyote with a laser-sighted pistol – while out jogging.
    From the mask instructions: “Health Warning: Do not wear this mask while jogging. Do not wear this mask around gated communities, $10,000-a-month mansions, or governors with laser-targeting on their pistols. If you do get plugged like the gosh-darn pesky varmint you are, please have the good grace to turn into mulch on the spot of land where you are shot. Thank you.”

30) 2011, Oct. 28: ???
(by ????)
    Who or what will the 30th Halloween mask be? Only time will tell.