Wickedness comes this Way Occasionally

There must have been a rule back to show Something Wicked this Way Comes on local channels around Halloween time in the day. It was on steady rotation on TV's during the spooky season all over the UHF dial. Before that, Disney Channel would include it in their downright awesome Halloween programming. The movie used to terrify me as a kid... but now not so much. Still, it's charm is inescapable. In these days of streaming apps, I really hope some kids stumbles onto it. Something Wicked this way Stumbles.

Ghostface [Tiny Mights/Ghostface]

I've been eyeing Tiny Mights for a while now. Their Scooby Doo and Batman sets never arrived at my Walmart stores like I had been seeing online and that was pretty disappointing. Earlier this year when their horror offerings were made known, I started salivating. Fortunately a recent trip to Spirit Halloween resulted in finding a box of their Ghostface series by the check out. Let's take a look at the pack I got. Tiny Mights like to pack their keshi in capsules that match the series. I say that regretting I didn't snap a picture of the Ghostface capsule mine came in, but you should check it out (not an affiliated link). It's great. There's 3 mini figures included and they're a great size. There's a multitude of sculpts and colors in opaque and translucent varieties to collect.

In my pack I got a a translucent yellow holding a scythe, a pink Dead By Daylight version in the classic Kinnikuman pose, and a solid black running with a machete. These look amazing and I'm having a hard time picking a favorite. The machete and scythe ones conjure mental images of Halloween costumes equipped with whatever weaponry Walmart had available. I've never played Dead by Daylight... but I love this version. Ghostface started out as a generic Halloween costume long before Scream came around, so seeing all these colors and variations brings back fond memories of the various versions and colors the masks used be in. I definitely need to pick up more of these.

Horror Hotel, it's up to you

"Hey man, it's Halloween. Let's do something scary!" You might find yourself saying during this time of the year. It's the Spooky Season after all, and nothing says that better than a trip to the local haunted house or scary attractions set up for the season. In 2000, you might have found yourself at the Horror Hotel surrounded by masks and dummies of famous monsters! It sounds like a great time, even though somebodies Aunt keeps trying to scare you.

originally posted 9/15/22 

Candy Corn and Vengeance

This move seemed to always play on a local station on random Saturday afternoons when I was a kid. I'd usually flip across it during a scary part, watch for a second, and get told to mow the grass. I really appreciate it as an adult. It's a great little movie where the bad guys are the main characters. Last year, I watched it on Halloween night after all the trick or treaters stopped coming. The Mrs had fallen asleep on the couch and I had a bag of candy corn. It made for a very pleasant way to close out the spooky season. Think I'll spend another pumpkin spiced night with it this year again. Just need some candy corn.

1-900-660-UGLY

It's Friday night. You're warming up a frozen pizza in the oven while playing SEGA. Maybe after the pizza is done, you'll watch a scary movie. It's Halloween time after all, time for some creepy fun. Hey... how about calling that scary phone hotline? Heck yeah! This will be great! Time to take a JOURNEY INTO TERROR!

originally posted 9/30/22 

Garret Rising

You take the good. You take the bad. You take so much of Joe's crap and there you have... what the crap? Holy Crap. Days in and out of tending to the girls has lead to something horrible. Somewhere between un-clogging the toilet (she pronounces it 'turlette') after another one of Natalie's 'special episodes' and Tootie microwaving another fork... Mrs Garret apparently snapped. Turns out all that head wobbling was an early sign.

originally posted 8/2/22 

Halfway 2 Halloween~Watch Halloween this Halloween

It's no surprise that a movie series named Halloween would be popular during Halloween. Though, if you're around my age, you'll remember it being a more forbidden thing. The escaped mental patient that killed kids on Halloween urban legend spread like wildfire during October. At the time, Halloween was a popular movie... but not the institution that it is now. Kids were often more sheltered by their parents from these movies, and Michael Myers was one of the more taboo movie monsters. So of course your local television station commercials had an aura of mystique. I'm glad these old local spots somehow survived and got uploaded. They're firmly a relic of days gone by.

Originally Posted: 10/12/2023

7 days

The Silver Shamrock Trio (Toony Terrors)

Halloween 3: Season of the Witch doesn't have Michael Myers in it. It is a 41 year old movie and that still needs to be explained. John Carpenter really didn't want to  make a Halloween 2, let alone a part 3. So by part 3, he decided to make it an anthology series... which didn't exactly go over to well as the prior two movies were a direct series. So from then on, Michael was the main antagonist with the only deviation being Corey in Halloween Ends. That too has more than it's share of hate. Clearly it's Michael Myers only for the series in most peoples eyes (the darkest eyes)... and that's understandable. However, Halloween 3 is freaking awesome. Hokey and silly, sure, but freaking awesome. It's the only Halloween movie where the holiday is the actual focus. It's like a holiday special on steroids and thankfully it's getting it's due in more recent years. More and more folks are appreciating what a select few of us have been regarding highly this entire time. Fortunately that also means more merchandise!

Neca made a great set of of Silver Shamrock masked trick or treaters a while back, last year they introduced the kids in their cool Toony Terrors line. The Mrs and I exchange gifts at Halloween and I was absolutely overjoyed to see that The Great Pumpkin brought me this cool set. Toony Terrors is Neca's take on classic horror characters in an animated style, I like to compare them to Scooby Doo or Fright Features versions. I've got a few and they're great. This set of the kids is really cool and fits the cartoon theme well. The trio appear in Halloween 3 during the epic montage that's the epitome of local Halloween TV programming for a generation. Even if you don't like the movie, you like them. They're so popular they even appeared alongside Michael Myers in the more recent movies. However... they're still kids. With all the spooky and scariness of the holiday, kids going trick or treating is at the very heart of it. And these kids are the perfect poster children (no pun intended...but I like it) for the spooky season.

As Toony Terrors, you've got a solid set of the 3 kids going trick or treating wearing their Silver Shamrock masks. Each one has a bag for collecting candy and wearing a costume made from various items and their masks. Now to be clear, these are not super articulated action figures. They're more along the lines of expressive display pieces. There's a small range of movement in the arms and a small amount in the legs/feet. The witch, for example, can either put her hand on her hip in a sassy manner, or that arm can hold her masks hood open. You can use that arm to hold her bag... but it's not as natural looking. Skeleton kid can hold up his pillow case from the sides or top. You can tell he's excited. The pumpkin headed one is taller and has more of an awkward stance. I like to think he's nearing the end of his trick or treating years and is feeling a bit out of place. He's kinda just slumping there. The pumpkin kid has always been my favorite of the 3 and this figures just adds to that. I could see him getting really into Radiohead and writing bad poetry. Well... assuming he makes it out after the big give away.

Freddy Krueger (Savage World)

When I was a kid, Freddy Krueger was the most badass thing at the school lunch table. I still recall a kid named Jeremy correcting me that his name was actually "Freddy Cougar" because of his iconic clawed glove. As an adult... Freddy hasn't aged very well. The movies are still fun, but pretty cheesy and definitely a relic of their time. Most of the 80's slasher movies were hair metal flavored, but none quite so much as A Nightmare on Elm Street. It's only appropriate that Funko gave him (and the other 80's slashers) the 'He-Man' treatment in their cool Savage World toy line. Savage World (or Primal Age for DC comics characters) was essentially five point five figures in the vein of Masters of the Universe or other similar type figures of the various licensed properties Funko has.

The designers got a little creative with Freddy. Taking his dream demon powers into account, he has a bit of a different appearance than you'd expect. His brown leather fedora is replaced with a leather hood, while his green and red stripped sweater is a raggedy sash. Combined with his pants and boots and Freddy looks like some weird Dungeons and Dragons villain. It's pretty creative and I love the imaginative design. Not to be outdone with his outfit, Freddy's trademark clawed glove gets the treatment as well. Not much of a reinvention, but more of a stylish re-imagining. Now it's a big gauntlet with some LARGE uneven claws. It's surprising just how well this works. Freddy really came out great in Savage World and blends right in with Skeletor's Evil Warriors. I should point out that I've gotten this far without calling him Fred Savage.

Hellowe'en

Honestly, what's the Halloween season without Friday the 13th? Not only was the original movie an attempt to cash in on the success of the original Halloween... the movies are airing non-stop during the spooky season. The cheap dollar hockey mask is as much of a Halloween tradition as plastic fangs and pumpkin spice everything. It's only fitting that an episode of the Friday the 13th TV series had a Halloween episode. While not related to the film series other than in name (and recurring actors, producers, and studios), the show is pretty fun in it's own right.

Watch Halloween this Halloween

It's no surprise that a movie series named Halloween would be popular during Halloween. Though, if you're around my age, you'll remember it being a more forbidden thing. The escaped mental patient that killed kids on Halloween urban legend spread like wildfire during October. At the time, Halloween was a popular movie... but not the institution that it is now. Kids were often more sheltered by their parents from these movies, and Michael Myers was one of the more taboo movie monsters. So of course your local television station commercials had an aura of mystique. I'm glad these old local spots somehow survived and got uploaded. They're firmly a relic of days gone by.

Halfway 2 Halloween~ Macbre Marathons

We're Halfway to Halloween as you're aware and with hat comes a little spooky fun in the springtime. An easy way to do that is a scary movie night, easy to do with most streaming apps. Back in the day, many of us have fond memories of the horror marathon on local TV during October. It was such a regular thing that characters are doing it in Halloween 1978 and Halloween 2 1981. Long before AMC was known for it's original programing, the channel was for old movies. They have their annual Fear Fest to this day, but it's roots were more classic. Halloween night with the Universal Monsters? Heck yeah!

Weekly Halloween~ The Haunted Castle

I love classic horror. There's charm and emotion that's missing in modern horror. When it comes to really old, like super old silent movies... I'm absolutely enthralled. There's a layer of weirdness that cannot be replicated. It's in part to the techniques used at the time, the weird frame rates of early cameras, and well... the cursed nature of the films. Am I watching honest entertainment, or something from the dark web that'll unleash a demon into my house?

Because it's Thriller Night

Nothing says Halloween like a horror marathon. The entire season and the big day itself is a great time for TV stations to pull out the classics and not so classics for some prime viewing. No matter if you prefer broadcast, cable, or streaming channels... you'll be sure to find some some spooky fun. Get a soda and kick back. Personally, I'm found of the Pluto Horror Channel and AMC's Fright Fest (as previously noted) these days (not to mention Ghostober). However like many of you, I fondly remember local TV marathons. Back then those small channels would produce their own bumpers for programing in house.

Even though the clips from today's post aren't from any of the channels I grew up with, it feels so familiar. This isn't even a Halloween time slot, it was a weekly programming block. It oozes with Halloween spirit. The vibe may be lost on some of my younger readers, but those a little older probably remember that old packaging that would often adorn such things as spooky sounds tapes and other oddball Halloween merchandise. The more low rent, the more radical the package. I don't know what you're doing Saturday, but I'm watching Thriller and playing SEGA... that actually sounds rad.

Shin Halloween: Thrice Upon a time

What they're billing as the final Halloween movie (and this time they mean it) was released this weekend. I enjoyed watching it in the comfort of my living room on Peacock. Halloween Ends is effectively a narrative ending of the series. Or at least this most recent rebuild series that started in 2018. That movie picked up 40 years after the original and ignored the other sequels. While I really enjoyed that 2018 movie for the most part (not a fan of the ending), it's follow up, Halloween Kills, was a pretty big let down. 

To be fair, there was parts of Halloween Kills that I liked. It was just the muddled execution that overall resulted in a not so great movie. Halloween Ends picks up 4 years later after Halloween 2018 (Kills takes place in the same night) with Michael Myers missing and Haddonfield worse off for it. I'm not going into spoiler territory as it literally just came out. I liked this movie a lot more than Halloween Kills. I like the story, but it could have been told better.

If this really is the last Halloween, I'm ok with it. Despite it's flaws, the movie really does feel like a proper end. Usually these 'final chapters' installments are not much more than another entry in the series without much finality to them. I'm sure in time the series will receive another reboot. I could go for a sequel to Season of the Witch if so. For now though, I'm ok with saying goodbye this time. Saying goodbye never feels perfect and there's always those thoughts of how it could have been better. If it is goodbye, then at least I have closure.

Goodbye, Michael.

1-900-660-UGLY

It's Friday night. You're warming up a frozen pizza in the oven while playing SEGA. Maybe after the pizza is done, you'll watch a scary movie. It's Halloween time after all, time for some creepy fun. Hey... how about calling that scary phone hotline? Heck yeah! This will be great! Time to take a JOURNEY INTO TERROR!

... is someone at my door?

Horror Hotel, it's up to you

"Hey man, it's Halloween. Let's do something scary!" You might find yourself saying during this time of the year. It's the Spooky Season after all, and nothing says that better than a trip to the local haunted house or scary attractions set up for the season. In 2000, you might have found yourself at the Horror Hotel surrounded by masks and dummies of famous monsters! It sounds like a great time, even though somebodies Aunt keeps trying to scare you.

Everyday is Halloween (3)

 

Growing up in the 80's and 90's meant watching a lot of local TV during the Halloween season. While Disney Channel and Nickelodeon usually had great stuff going on, the real treat was local stations. The marathons of horror movies and specials sandwiched between Halloween PSA's, and montages of horror movies are a corner stone of the season for me. These might be part of why I like Halloween 3 so much. Even if you somehow missed one of the billion airings of it (or part 2) on one of these channels, you probably saw scenes from it during the montage commercials. Say what you will about Halloween 3 (and part 2), but they honestly feel more like Halloween time compared to the other movies.

Garret Rising

 

You take the good. You take the bad. You take so much of Joe's crap and there you have... what the crap? Holy Crap. Days in and out of tending to the girls has lead to something horrible. Somewhere between un-clogging the toilet (she pronounces it 'turlette') after another one of Natalie's 'special episodes' and Tootie microwaving another fork... Mrs Garret apparently snapped. Turns out all that head wobbling was an early sign.