Elvira and the Party Monsters
| Manufacturer | Midway |
|---|---|
| Release date | October 1989 |
| System | Williams System 11B |
| Design | Dennis Nordman, Jim Patla |
| Programming | Mark Penacho |
| Artwork | Greg Freres |
| Music | Chris Granner |
| Sound | Chris Granner |
| Voices | Cassandra Peterson (Elvira) |
| Production run | approximately 4000 |
Elvira and the Party Monsters is a 1989 pinball game designed by Dennis Nordman and Jim Patla and released by Midway (under the Bally label), featuring horrorshow-hostess Elvira. It was followed 1996 by Scared Stiff, also designed by Nordman.
Design
Most of the game was designed by Dennis Nordman, but after a motorcycle accident near the end of the design stage, Jim Patla completed it.[1]
The game is a combination of three game ideas:
- Monster Mash, with dancing Boogie men was conceived of by Dennis Nordman when he observed finger puppets with dancing arms at Halloween in 1984.
- Greg Freres conceived of Party Monster as a follow-up to Party Animal which had released in 1987.
- Roger Sharpe, working as Williams marketing director, thought of using Elvira as a theme[2][3]
The marketing slogan "Elvira is No Cheap Date!" referring to the new .50/.75/1.00 pricing scheme.[4] Elvira and the Party Monsters was manufactured shortly after the merger of Williams and Bally. Although the game uses a vaguely Bally-style cabinet and flippers, all the rest of the game hardware are completely made up of Williams parts. The machine uses a System 11B CPU and associated board setup.[5] It includes rubber bogeyman characters and coffins that open during play.[6]
Backglass design
The games designers are shown on the backglass, with Dennis Nordman as the werewolf, and Jim Patla as Dracula.[1]
The arms of the creature from Creature from the Black Lagoon are shown on the backglass, three years before the Creature from the Black Lagoon pinball machine.[7]
Reception
At the AMOA 1989 awards, Elvira and the Party Monsters won the best in show award.[8]
Digital versions
A game cartridge called "Pinball Jam" was also produced for Atari Lynx, which includes two pinball games, Police Force and Elvira and the Party Monsters. This version of the table includes a scrolling 2D screen, a two-ball Multi-Ball, and more or less self-censored Elvira quotes.[9][5]
Elvira and the Party Monsters was available as a licensed table of The Pinball Arcade for several platforms[10] until the loss of the Williams license in 2018.[11]
References
- ^ a b Shalhoub, Michael (2012). The pinball compendium: 1982 to present (revised and expanded 2nd ed.). Atglen, Pa: Schiffer Publishing. pp. 114–115. ISBN 978-0-7643-4107-6.
- ^ Nordman, Dennis (November 11, 1989). "The Creation of Elvira and the Party Monsters" (PDF). Cash Box. Vol. 53, no. 18. pp. 6, 8.
- ^ "Pinball designers: the faces behind the games". Play Meter. Vol. 16, no. 7. June 1990. p. 62.
- ^ "Internet Pinball Machine Database: Midway 'Elvira and the Party Monsters'".
- ^ a b "Pinball Archive Rule Sheet: Elvira and the Party Monsters".
- ^ Beck, Barbara (1989-12-08). "Pinballs: the Zing is Back!". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 51. Retrieved 2025-09-22.
- ^ Freres, Greg (2007). "The soul of the game" (Interview). Interviewed by Jim Jansen.
- ^ "Stars turn out for a memorable night". Play Meter. Vol. 15, no. 10. October 1989. pp. 56–57.
- ^ Pinball Jam game manual. Atari Corporation. 1992.
- ^ Sarkar, Samit (2012-10-29). "The Pinball Arcade gets two Elvira tables on PS3, Vita". Polygon. Retrieved 2025-06-11.
- ^ Lawson, Aurich (2018-05-08). "The Pinball Arcade is losing its classic tables; grab them while you can". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2025-06-11.
External links
- Elvira and the Party Monsters at the Internet Pinball Database
- Elvira and the Party Monsters - robertwinter.com