HBO's True Blood... Soda?

I've not yet watched HBO's True Blood, but only because I haven't put my proverbial 'butt to seat' and caught up on DVD.

The New York Post has a brief article stating that the fictitious "TruBlood" beverage that the vampires consume in the show will be realized as a sugary blood-orange flavored soda treat called... "TruBlood."

This info was also confirmed at this past weekend's 2009 San Diego Comic Con and by myself 30 seconds ago through the HBO Store HERE and the official website of the drink HERE at trubeverage.com.

According to the HBO press release:

It's official! The Tru Blood drink has now been 'de-fictionalized' and emerges into reality as a delicious blood orange carbonated drink.

• Meticulously crafted, the Tru Blood Drink is an exact replica of the bottle design as seen on True Blood. The 14oz glass Tru Blood bottle is stained in a rich red, with raised Tru Blood English lettering and matching Japanese Kanji.
• This blood orange flavored soda is slightly tart, lightly sweet and subtly carbonated. Designed to taste great while matching the appearance of Bill’s favorite drink, the drink pours like a regular soda, but with the standing appearance in a glass is stormy and mysterious.

I LOVE my beverages "stormy and mysterious."
Kudos to the marketing people for getting it RIGHT.

Of course you know where I'm going with this:
What a perfect beverage for your upcoming Halloween party, right???!!!
For those attending who are fans of the show and don't know this info, you can get major style points sneaking these into the iced coffin cooler for them to discover.

The HBO site even lists some drink menu recipes to use with the soda:

Drink Menu:

• The Fangbanger - Tru Blood, Vodka
• Death on the Beach - Tru Blood, Peach Schnapps, Pineapple Juice, Vodka
• Plasmapolitan - Tru Blood, Citron, Cointreau, Fresh Lime Juice

"Death on the Beach" HA!
Love it.

The soda will ship early if ordered through the HBO store so get on it.

A four pack will set you back $16 (that's four dollars PER BOTTLE) so be sure to SIP IT.

Costume Idea: Zoey from Left 4 Dead

It's July and if that little Halloween countdown counter is accurate, we only have 101 days 'til Halloween.
And like a good Hallowen Addict I believe it's never too late to start planning that ultimate costume now.

And if you're female and tired of the slutty-witch-nun-sexy-princess-nurse-thing how about mixing it up with a Zoey from Left 4 Dead costume?

As someone who only recently jumped on the next gen platform Xbox 360, I'm indulging in the myriad of horror games that the platform has collected in its 3 year existence.
As a fan of the Dawn of the Dead remake (AND original... so calm down, purists) I love me some good action horror and the game that delivers is certainly the simple and well crafted Left 4 Dead.

As all four characters are based on simple, yet iconic, archetypes they all lend themselves to excellent and simple costumes. In fact, you'll get lots of kudos if you can get a full party of four (3 men and 1 woman) to show up together.

The most difficult part of Zoey is getting the red sweatshirt right, but thank goodness someone with some craft experience has already done the work for you.

For a cool $65 + shipping on Etsy you can get a pretty darn frame accurate rendition of Zoey's sweatshirt. Throw on a black ponytailed wig and grab a shotgun and/or some pistols and you're good to go.

Guys can dress up as any of the other dudes and then just kick in the door to the Halloween party of your choice. (C'mon, how cool would it be to have your girlfriend run up to the bar, grab a brown bottle of beer and yell "There's molotovs over here!" I just might marry that girl.)

Uh oh... IDEA!
LEFT 4 DEAD--- THE WEDDING!

Universal Halloween Horror Nights 2009: Myers and Saw

I enjoyed the Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights back in 2007 when they shelled out the dough for the licensing of what I consider to be "the big 3" in iconic horror characters: Jason, Freddy and Leatherface. You can read my gushing HERE.

Then I went back in 2008 (read my pre-going excitement HERE) when they added The Strangers maze... which turned out to be the Universal Monsters maze with some unimposing half-assed teenagers wearing The Strangers masks. Boooo. (That is "dissatisfaction boo" not "scary boo.")

Though I didn't enjoy it nearly as much the 2nd time (my review and pics never quite made it to the blog) I still admired being able to step into iconic scenes from some of my favorite horror franchises.

I remember back in '07 thinking what a coup it would have been to have Jason, Freddy, Leatherface AND Michael Myers in the same park attraction.

Well I'm getting my wish... sort of.

According to one of my favorite horror sites BloodyDisgusting.com, the 2009 incarnation of Universal Studio's Halloween Horror Nights is said to have a Michael Myers from Halloween MAZE!
BUT... they've dropped Freddy, Jason and Leatherface this year.

I instantly flew to my keyboard and web browser to verify on the official website for USHHN but alas, there's nothing but some Saw/Jigsaw character...
Waitaminute...!!!

In what I consider a "duh, of COURSE" stroke of genius there will also be a SAW Maze!
I very much look forward to what the SFX masters at Universal come up with for our old pal Jigsaw to put us through.

I'm sure there will be some more news as the October dates get closer confirming dear ol' Michael. And I also have a sneaking suspicion it'll be the Rob Zombie version of Halloween rather than the Carpenter version. Which... is... fine... I guess.

My point: I'll probably go. Again.

Thriller Headphones

Had enough Michael Jackson coverage?

Ok, well then sneak away from it all and hide in these "Thriller Headphones."
Ha!
Tricked you.

Designed by Johnny Lighthands (c'mon that's not his real name...) for a Nokia contest, there's a blog that chronicles the making of the twisted headgear and has more photos.

Do I think they're awesome?
Yes.
Would I ever be caught dead wearing them?
No.
That is to say: I would literally rise from the dead and remove them from my head.
Rhyming!

Bad news: They're not available for sale, so just appreciate from afar.

In Case of Zombies: Wear Shirt

Ahhh summer. Far from Fall. But hey, you've gotta wade through the next 3 months to get to Fall, so enjoy it.
And what better way to celebrate summer than with a new t-shirt?

One of my favorite t-shirt companies Threadless has two new offerings for the discerning horror fan. Both feature homages to the hot-right-now but forever-timeless zombie.

You can get their TypeTee which has a bloody font scrawled across the front that says "Zombies Only Want You for Your Brain."

Or you can get the reprint of of "In Case of Zombies" which has a pseudo-instructional diagram of helpful tips for dealing with a zombie horde. Such movie-inspired nuggets as "Show No Mercy, She's Not Your Mother Anymore" and "Sporting Goods Can be Handy in a Pinch" will be right there on your torso for easy access.

I, personally, can't recommend more keeping your zombie instructions as handy as on your person. Because who wants to look for that stuff when you're running for your life and trying to find a shotgun and high ground?
Answer: No one.

Michael Jackson's Ghost? - Haunted Neverland Debunked

Jeez, I thought this would take longer.
I mean, the memorial service is TODAY... he isn't even buried yet.
But alas, someone on the wide wide world o' webs has posted a video claiming to have Michael Jackson's ghost caught on tape.

You can see for yourself, but it appears that CNN was at Neverland Ranch shooting a piece for their news and inadvertently caught a shadow of someone walking past a doorway. You can see the video HERE or embedded below.

After I scrubbed through the video to make sure it wasn't one of those practical joke jump-scare ghost vids that seem to circulate every so often, I'll be honest: I got a little chill seeing that shadow. That little kid in me who used to get terrified at the That's Incredible "Haunted Toys R Us" television show in the 80s really got worked up. But I've mentioned that before HERE.

But in my quest for the truth, I dug a little deeper and found THIS post that debunks the video.

I'm sure there are some out there who will believe that CNN is covering up the biggest supernatural story of the past century... but believe it or not... watch it for yourself.

July 4th Horror Movie Suggestions!

Happy July 4th to all the Halloween Addicts out there!

After you're full of BBQ and exhausted from frolicking in bodies of water I can't recommend more the act of decompressing in front of a horror movie tonight.

Finding a theme for July 4th is a little tough. Not too many films use the theme of our country's birthday as a backdrop for scary. But I DO have 3 recommendations:

1) Jaws

"You yell 'barracuda,' everybody says 'Huh? What?' You yell 'Shark' and we've got a panic on our hands on the 4th of July."

C'mon. This one's a given.
An eternal classic and it still works because of one reason that many horror films forget: you care about the characters.
Oh and there's a giant shark.
I watch this film every year.

PARTY IDEA: If you have a pool and want a different experience, set up a screen and digital projector (safely away from the water!) and watch this movie sitting on something inflated in the pool. That'll mess with ya...

2) Uncle Sam

"I want you... DEAD"
I've not seen this movie. But I think I know all I need to know just by looking at the box.
If your enjoy your horror with a heaping side of "bad," I think you should check this out.
Like I said: Not TOO many horror movies that revolve around July 4th...

3) Independence Day

Ok I'm reaching here.
But you get a lot of bang for your buck in this one.
Where's the horror?
Well, you get aliens... annnnd the world blowing up. That's pretty horrible. Um... did I mention the aliens?

I'll take any suggestions for other 4th of July horror-themed fare in the comments below.