Don't be a Halloweenie

Growing up is hard, especially in those early teenage years in that limbo of leaving childhood and becoming an adult. I was the youngest of my siblings, so there never was that little brother or sister still doing those things I was now 'too old' for. Big Pete, well, he has Little Pete to deal with. You try resisting him. Little Pete wants to set a new world record for most houses visited for trick or treat. Sounds awesome right? Well it is, but he needs help... and the only one who can do it is Big Pete... whose now 'too old'. Good thing he can wear a mask to hide his embarrassment right? Well... Halloween is a dangerous holiday sometimes. One such danger is older kids who like to bully Halloweenies.

originally posted 9/8/23 

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~Tonight we Scream

fatsAlien Nation was a science fiction/crime drama hybrid that delt with lots of social themes. It was also pretty dang good. Of course we're here for Halloween and hey, this pretty good show had a Halloween episode! It's the spooky season as as the Newcomers are adapting to life on earth they're of course learning about our cultures and holidays. Halloween is pretty weird for people that don't celebrate it as is, but imagine being from another planet. It's a pretty big culture shock, not to mention dealing with jerks. Emily is looking forward to her first Halloween, but some of the kids are of course not to friendly towards somebody different. Did I mention the social themes? Yeah, they go pretty hard. The Francisco's are having an interesting spooky season.

It doesn't help that George is tracking a serial killer. Oh hey, a serial killer at Halloween! This episode hits all the major notes! The killer however is targeting Newcomers in a very specific way. In their old culture, there was Overseers and slaves. Now on Earth, they're all equals... but the former Overseers still think they're better than others... sound familiar? It gets pretty heavy. Well the killer is specifically targeting the former Overseers in the manner of a scary folk legend the Overseers would use to scare the slaves into obedience. Needless to say, this isn't your average show or Halloween special.

Originally Posted: 09/01/2023

Who's Witching the Kids?

Usually this time of year I post one of my favorite Halloween specials, a weirdo little cartoon called Witch's Night Out. However it's been pulled from YouTube. I guess that's fair considering it's still being sold on DVD and on streaming services, but man does it feel weird to watch it go. Of course it's available on a magical place for now...

The Curse of Muffy Mouse

Hocus Pocus Alimagocus, it's Halloween at the store! The gang's all here in one big Celtic festival of the dead. I'm pretty sure Silver Shamrock made Jeff's hat.

Halloween: The Night Michael Landon Came Home

We've been celebrating Halloween since the beginning of August here on Planet Zone. As we're now officially in October, so is everyone else! We've only got one more month of pumpkin spice mayhem and we're gonna dig through the ditches and burn through the witches. I take pride in turning up the spooky sound tape a little louder each year and this year we're blowing the roof off the Spirit Halloween.

Highway to Heaven was a show starring Michael Landon as an angel sent back to Earth to save souls. Michael Landon was also born on Halloween and celebrated the spooky shit out of it. In this Halloween special edition, Johnathan's partner Mark gets in trouble with the devil. No seriously, he runs over a kid and gets tricked into selling his soul to save said kid's life. Michael enlists the aid of a con man whom he currently is trying to save from an eternity in Hell. Speaking of Hell, the Devil shows up and all Hell breaks loose. I would say it doesn't get any crazier than this... but it will later this month.

Originally Poster 10/01/2021

Jerry Van Dyke joins a Cult

I'll be honest, I've never seen or heard of this show before I found their Halloween episode. From what I gather, it was a sitcom from the late 60's that got canceled after one season. Probably because it's terrible, as most sitcoms about single parent roommates are. The show was based on an entertainer named Sandy raising his son with his manager, who was raising her daughter together at a farm. In this Halloween episode, Sandy's son want's to join a neighborhood club called the... junior gargoyles... whose leader looks like Anton LaVey... and dresses like the devil... So, Sandy's son wants to join the local satanic cult.

However joining the local satanic cult isn't easy, first you have to host a Halloween party. Fortunately Sandy works in showbiz in the 60's, so he was used to appeasing cults. So Sandy and Sue (the aforementioned manager) throw the kids a Halloween party that's just the worse. Not to mention Sandy ruins their trick or treating... or as they used to call it for no apparent reason on Halloween specials, tricks or treats. Basically, Sandy is a piece of garbage and you'll want to kick his ass before long. Thankfully Sue saves the party and Halloween and the cult accepts their new member!

I... don't think it's cursed…

Originally Posted 10/29/2019

Tim Burton's Hansel and Gretel (1983)

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I love Halloween. By proxy, I'm a big fan of Halloween specials as well. Some people follow the NFL, I follow the Great Pumpkin. While various Halloween specials are produced every year... I prefer the old ones. Because nostalgia? Maybe, but also because they were vastly different. The gloves were off, obviously too much fun being had behind the scenes, or maybe it was a good opportunity to try something different. The more obscure the special, the more out there, the better. Such is the case with today's post.

The video above is a Disney Channel Halloween special from 1983. At the time a young Tim Burton was a Disney employee and made this short for the company. It was literally only shown once, on Halloween in 1983. Even as a Halloween special it was a little too dark. Even for Tim Burton. It might be cursed.

I've used the term fever dream often to describe things here and... that's a nice way of putting it. We have a retelling of Hansel and Gretel which is a pretty good story for Halloween. You know, they get lost in the woods and find a witches house. In this telling, their step mother tries to get rid of them by getting them lost in the woods (involving a robot duck), which leads to the witches house and some of the weirdest hellscape I've ever seen on film. You'll have to pause it occasionally.

Enjoy!

Originally Posted 8/28/2020

Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem 2024!

It's the first week of August and you know what that means... IT'S HALLOWEEN TIME ON PLANET ZONE! That's right, 3 whole months of Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem from now until Halloween! For readers that are new to the site, Halloween is my favorite time of the year and I love it so. To celebrate, between every regular post is a Halloween post. Sometimes it's nostalgic, maybe weird, or downright obscure. This year, we're stepping it up a notch and even the regular posts are a little spooky for the season!

The Halloween Playlist is back again as well! Bigger and better than ever for 2024 with more than 10 hours worth of scary tunes. It's a Spotify playlist, so if you're listening on random, it's practically a new experience every time! Thank you so much for coming to the annual Zone Base Halloween party and celebrating the best time of the year with me. Put on a costume and crack open a glow stick, it's time to go trick or treating for the next 3 months!

Halfway 2 Halloween~ Michael Landon Kills

Last Halloween, Johnathan fought the devil to save the soul of his friend Mark.

one year later...

It's Halloween night, and Mark finds it the perfect time to get a submarine sandwich and watch spooky movies. Unfortunately, the sandwich shop is ran by the devil. Needless to say, Mark falls asleep in front of the TV haunted by indigestion filled nightmares. Meanwhile, Johnathan decides to go out for a walk and befriends a lonely kid. This leads to a trick or treat adventure full of mischief and the most bat shit insane Halloween special ever made.

 originally posted 10/15/2021

Merry Christmas from Zone Base!

Merry Christmas! I hope all of you are having a great holiday and getting exactly what you want under the tree. While I do have a little bit of content planned, I'm sure you can all understand that I'll be taking most of the week off. Thank you so much for reading Zone Base!

The Predator Holiday Special

20th Century Studios, 2018

Today's Special, tomorrow's Halloween!

Tomorrow may be the spookiest day of the year, but today is the most evil day of the week. Monday! I hope everyone had a fun Halloweekend, I sure did. We carved pumpkins, had spooky spaghetti, and watched creepy TV including the new Five Nights at Freddy's movie. It's hard to believe the spooky season is almost over, but let's end it with a bang! 

I found some fun stuff while doing our weekly shopping. I went to Ross hoping to luck up on some of the Transformers finds folks have been having. While no Generations were there I needed, there was some Autobots Unite packs! I'd hoped to find these and got Bumblebee, Megatron, and Battletrap. Hopefully I can find the rest. Long time readers know how much fun I had with the Energon Igniters toys from the Bumblebee movie and these are those same molds!

Not to be outdone by returning favorites is another bit of older Zone Base favorites! I got some Botbots! Clearly Ross had some fun in store for me! Hopefully future visits will provide more of that fun. Still no Troop Builder box set at Target, but I did find a One Step Flipchanger Twitch. Now the Flipchanger ranks are complete until a new wave is unleashed upon the world and my wallet. I also grabbed The Bandai Ultimate Legends HD Zenitsu figure. I needed him to complete my set of Demon Slayer figures from that line.

Did everyone enjoy the new episode of Transform Squadron? Monster Gobots seemed like a fun way to round out the spooky season! There's a little more Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem in store before it's all over. Thanks for coming back for another new week and be sure to share with your friends. There's plenty of Zone Base Halloween to go around!

Halloween almost Wasn't but Dracula saved the World

It's getting close to the big day. That means it's time to share my all time favorite Halloween special. The Halloween that Almost Wasn't or also known as The Night Dracula Saved the World is a special little slice of Halloween that just doesn't get made anymore. It's Halloween and the Witch refuses to fly over the moon unless her demands are met by Dracula. If she doesn't fly over the moon, then no more Halloween! Dracula and the other monsters try to convince her other wise in a charmingly low rent production. It's hard to say anything bad about this special, even it's flaws are endearing... and funny. Check out the Mummy straight up falling more than once. I don't think he can see where he's going...

Who Spooked Rodney?

Rodney is a a big old fraidy cat. If there's a superstition, Rodney is scared of it. Which one begs to reason... why does he even go trick or treating? Or even to a haunted house? Does he just relish is pooping his pants or something? And what's up with that one kid while they're in the haunted house? Is he ok?

Garfields Halloween Adventure

It's just not Halloween without Garfield. That's the rules and they're unbreakable. This absolute classic features Garfield and Odie going trick or treating before getting into a spooky ghost adventure. The trick or treating sequence is just so well done as is the pirate ghosts... I'm actually offended this isn't in a museum. Dang, that bat costume Garfield is super rad. I could be a scary vampire, and turn myself into a bat. Flap,flap.

A Little bit Spooky

The Little's is one of those old Saturday morning cartoons you either love... or know nothing about. It's a perfect example of the saying 'you had to be there'. For those not in the know, the Little's are a race of tiny rodent like people who live among us in hiding. The Little's the show revolves around often interacts with Henry, a good natured kid whose house they reside in the walls of. Well, it's Halloween and Henry (with a few friends) go on an adventure at the local neighborhood haunted house. Of course his little friends get involved and we get a pretty great cartoon. Sometimes I joke about the things I post about and sometimes I'm just telling you to check out something cool. This is the later.

Witches come out to Play

It's time to bring this classic out for 2023. While it may not be for everyone, it's one of my favorite Halloween specials. I'll watch it throughout the year whenever I want a little Halloween fun. It's a great story that fits the holiday with a little personality of it's own. Local kids are disappointed that they didn't scare anyone while trick or treating and a witch turns them into real monsters. Meanwhile the adults in town hold a Halloween party in the witches house. All while this is going on, the witch's magic wand gets lost. There's a lot going on and things get weird. The epitome of Halloween.

Crown Royale with Bogg

Whenever Paul Frusco's name comes up, most people think about Alf and Willie's rumored massive cocaine addiction. However, he had other projects before all that. Most notably a series of puppet specials that aired on Showtime in the early 80's. That's where today's post comes from. The Crown of Bogg is a Halloween special revolving around King Mildew and his son Milo on an adventure among the human world. Of course it just happens to be Halloween, so the two blend in. The whole thing comes off like a weird blend of Fraggle Rock and a PBS children's show and I don't hate that one bit.

Dabney Coleman Ends

Drexell's Class is kinda forgotten about these days. Probably because it was only lasted a season. However, you'll probably notice some familiar faces among the kids. Speaking of the kids... it's Halloween and Drexell spends the school day with the time honored Halloween sitcom episode tradition of telling spooky stories. man, what was it with early 90's Fox Network shows about disgruntled middle aged men?