Halloween TV Episodes 2010...

Warm up your TiVos and delete those Teletubbies episodes to make room, because this Halloween season has a metric ton of Halloween-themed episodes to go through.  Entertainment Weekly has a write-up on all the Halloween episodes airing for the next two weeks (yes TWO weeks... some are airing AFTER Halloween!) and there's quite a few of them.

Everything "network broadcast" is covered from ABC's Modern Family to CBS's Criminal Minds to NBC's The Office.  I believe the last to air on November 7th is American Dad's episode so there's your "season closer."

Check out the whole list on EW.com HERE.  BEWARE!  There be spoilers in them descriptions!

UPDATED! - CONTEST: Win A Full Set of Monster Cereals and a Trick or Treat Bag!

In the past 10 years, it seems like though the General Mills monster cereals are always available either in stores, via Amazon, or other online outlets, they really turn up in droves around October thereby becoming the unofficial breakfast cereal mascots of Halloween.

Candy Review: See's Candies SOUR BATS

When I first made a visit to the West Coast a friend asked, rather, BEGGED me to bring him back some "See's Candies."  Little did I know how wonderfully addictive I would find their products.  You know why?  Free samples.  Just like a drug dealer the first one's FREE.  "Would you like to try something?" the cute little old lady asked me.  How was *I* to know she was the big bad wolf... I'm off topic again.  Where were we?  Ah yes, See's Candies.

If it's one thing I can say about See's presentations it's that they're CLASSY.  Take their Sour Bats for instance.  A simple clear cellophane bag tied at the top with an orange fabric ribbon with the See's Candies logo and font stamped on it. The bag allows you to see the bats piled on top of one another only obscured by a classic Halloween-themed label in orange with black lettering.  The "S" in "Sour Bats" has some flourish, but doesn't smack of Halloween-overused-clip-art like dripping blood letters.  Flying dynamically in either corner of the "Sour Bats" title are black bats in pairs.  Simple.  Classy.

Yes, yes, yes but how's the CANDYCANDYCANDY?!
The bats are big and thick (check out my quarter scale pic for reference).  As for flavors, there are three:  Berry, Lemon and Tangerine (it says so on the label).   For clarification, although my scanner made one of the bats look red, it is indeed orange.

Detail:  The bats have very little detail on them and I believe that's because of two things: 1) they amount of sour powder on them obscures any stamping and 2) the thick cuts of the gummys makes detail hard to achieve. 

BERRY:  Purple in color, but not grape.  Which is good because before typing this post I've been eating them thinking "Boy this grape doesn't taste grapey."  Now that I have flavor comparison, it's still my least favorite flavor of the pack.  The sour powder overpowers the berry, but if you hang in there and wait for it to dissolve, you get a nebulous plastic like berry.  It's hard to place and not a berry-like flavor I've ever tasted before. 

LEMON:  If wood cleaners have taught us anything it's that lemon is yellow.  And it's LEMONY.  I'd almost say it's like biting into a fresh Myer lemon with some sugar sprinkled on it.  Great fruit flavor and the sour powder really brings it out.

TANGERINE:  When candy makers call an orange colored candy tangerine they'd better be bringing something to the table.  A tangerine candy should have a dry, more tart than orange flavor and this does.  The combination of the sour powder and the candy really gives you a more complex sour tangerine that's quite enjoyable.  My favorite of the bag!

Overall it's a good bag of candy.  Sour Bats are pretty dense (more bite than, say, a Chuckle candy and probably about 3 Sour Patch Kids thick) so I found myself only able to eat so many before having to tie the bag back up and live to fight another day.  The sourness is good-- probably a bit stronger than your standard bag of Sour Patch Kids.

If I had to pick a nit I'd say make the colors brighter (the purple was very dark and the orange and yellows were muted).  But then again how healthy can neon candy be for you?
I'd also enjoy a green in place of yellow for my Halloween colors (maybe a Sour Apple?).
And if having multiple shapes were possible I'd love a mixed bag of tangerine jack o' lanterns, berry bats, and green skulls (or lemon white skulls!).  Again, I'm just making a wish list.  

Be sure to poke around the See's Website to see all their cool candy in classy packaging.  I really enjoy the look of the chocolate marshmallow jack o' lanterns, the milk chocolate jack o' lantern pack, and the black and orange vintage look of the box of the Halloween nuts and chews. 

You can check out all their Halloween wares HERE and their regular ol' chocolates and confections HERE (and when I say "regular ol'" I mean DELICIOUS).

McDonald's Mr. Potato Head Halloween Pail Happy Meals!

From the "I can't believe I almost missed this" file:  McDonald's has brought back a new incarnation of its legendary McBoo Pails in the guise of Mr. Potato Head Halloween Pail Happy Meals!

Recipe: Dexter Blood Slide Suckers!

You know what's delicious?
Bio-Hazards.
And glass shards.

Let me explain...

I just found this completely creative take on Martha Stewart's lollipops from Forkableblog.com HERE.  If you're a fan of the TV show Dexter (as I am) you'll totally get this edible homage to Dexter's portable trophy case. 
If you're not a fan of the show (check it out!) then you'll at least admire the craftsmanship of a delightfully creepy snack.
A super clever idea for your own Mad Monster Halloween Party, edible laboratory or a nice surprise for guests at your next Dexter viewing party. 
Check out the whole recipe on Forkable Blog HERE.

Halloween Viewing: October 2010 DVD Picks

It's October and that means the studios are droppin' horror movies left and right hoping for your hard earned dollars to be spent on their scary wares.  But with so much horror coming out this month both theatrically and on home video a little guidance might be needed for how to tell what's a treat from what's a trick.  Here are Halloween Addict's DVD/Blu-Ray picks for October 2010 (as always links to the Amazon clicks are at the bottom of the article.  And I get nickels when you clickles).

Your Halloween "Must Do" List...?

So here we are at 13 days to go before Halloween and I'm having a bit of a panic attack because that means I only have 13 more days to fit in all the Halloween fun I can.  Sure Halloween actually falls on October 31st (no matter WHAT Spirit Halloween says) but, really, the fun of Halloween lasts the whole month of October.  We start off with 31 days to get in all our Halloween favorites, and end on the 31st.
Like Elton John tells us:  it's the circle of life.
So with 13 days to go I had to take stock of the Halloween activities I've done and those that I still want to do and make my list of my Halloween Season "MUST DO"s!  So although I like to mix it up and try different Halloween activities every year, here are the things that I MUST DO every single year, no matter what.

AMC's FearFest 2010 FULL RUNDOWN, Schedule, More...

It's THAT time of year again!  Time for the FUN networks to start running horror movies and scary programming for the Halloween season.  Just about every TV net dips their toe in the scary pool in late October but there's only one that does a full-on cannonball:  AMC and their FEARFEST line of marathon horror movie programming.

Costume Quest COSTUME CONTEST!

You've already heard me gush about the upcoming release of COSTUME QUEST HERE. 
Well to prove the fine folks at Double Fine are funloving Halloween fans themselves they're putting on not one but THREE contests to win FREE downloads of the upcoming game (which releases THIS WEDNESDAY, October 20th). 

There's a Costume Quest contest, a Double Fine Costume contest, and a Pumpkin Carving contest.  THREE ways to win and show DF what a Halloween Addict you really are. 
Info on the contests is below and HERE AT THIS LINK. 

Costume Quest Costume Contest:
Post a picture of yourself dressed in an awesome Costume Quest themed costume.  What’s that?  You haven’t played Costume Quest yet and would like to see examples of said costumes?  Let me point you in this direction. 
Double Fine Costume Contest:
Perhaps you love Double Fine and have a closet full of Psychonauts and Brütal Legend costumes just asking to be worn and submitted into a contest.  For those of you who prefer dressing in non-Costume-Quest-related Double Fine-themed clothing, we give you the Double Fine Costume Contest. 
Costume Quest Pumpkin Carving Contest:
Ok, so you’re just not into clothing.  Here’s a contest where you can show off your amazing carving skills, and you don’t even have to be in the picture.  Post your Costume Quest-themed pumpkins here!

 Man I would totally do this if I could figure out how to safely set my head on fire dressed as the Pumpkin Hero (left)...

INTERVIEW: Biography Channel's HALLOWEEN: The Inside Story

A few months ago, I read on DreadCentral.com about a new Biography Channel documentary in production on the making of one of my favorite horror films:  HALLOWEEN.  I quickly flew to the wide wide internets to find all the info I could which, at the time, was not much.
So why rely on others for answers when you can get them yourself?
Halloween Addict is on the case.

Vintage Halloween Movie Newspaper Ads

Twitter is good for many things:  Keeping up with what Ashton and Demi are doing (what WILL they photograph themselves doing NEXT?!), acting as a digital soapbox for unfiltered thoughts from the masses ("OMG Who made rainy days! :( ") and sharing vintage horror, sci-fi and grindhouse newspaper ads.  Wait whaaaaaa---?

I discovered a Twitterrererer called @StartsTodayFans who posts TwitPics of various black and white scans of old movie ads from newspapers. It's a digital time capsule that you don't have to bury in the ground... and then dig up to look at.

What caught THIS Halloween Addict's eye was that for the past week @StartsTodayFans has been posting Halloween-season-related ads of films running on or near Halloween in October.  Plus there's unknown gems like "Kung Fu Halloween" (which I just HAVE to find now) and, of course John Carpenter's Halloween midnight showings.

I can remember when I was a teen (tween?) checking the last two pages of my local paper's Entertainment section to stare wide-eyed over the movie listings and little fuzzy B&W images and tag lines and these really take me back to that time.
Click the pics for bigger versions (and to be able to read show times if you're driving a DeLorean time machine).  There's also a MySpace page for StartsTodayFans too HERE that has a Blog section to catch up on what has come before so you can check out more gems like Amityville Horror showings, Drive-In double features and more film geek goodies.
Now off to fine Kung Fu Halloween...

UPDATE:  The wonderful horror blog KinderTrauma.com did an interview with Lynn from Starts Today HERE!

Halloween Rap??!! JibJab Halloween eCards and Sendables

Normally when I hear the words "Halloween" and "Rap" in the same sentence I turn and run screaming from the room leaving a cartoon-like outline of me in the wall.  
But this is different.  No running.  No screaming. 


Comedy video magnate JibJab just launched some ghoulish new Halloween eCard videos including the "Halloween Rap," a hip hop Halloween eCard where you can cast yourself to rap as a Witch, Dracula, Mummy, Frankenstein or his Bride and it's just crazy enough to work.

Take a look at the still to the right and you'll see that all the Universal-like monsters are there complete with Karaoke sing along words on the bottom of the screen.  

JibJab specializes in these "Starring You" Sendables and make it easy for you to star in a JibJab video.  All you need to do is upload a picture of yourself either from your computer or Facebook, then using JibJab's simple tools crop the picture down to only your head and drag and drop it into the character of your choice. Blammo!  You're a rapping monster.  (I call Werewolf!  Nuh HUH.  I called it!  You be The Mummy.)  
You can then share your creation with others via email or Facebook, share the link anywhere you please like Twitter or MySpace, or embed it into your blog. You are also able to download to save it forever or upload to your YouTube account.

There's a bunch of different "Starring You" eCards to pick from:  like "Frankenstein in a Minute," "Night of the Living Deadish" and the forever Halloween song "Monster Mash."
  
"Monster Rap" is free and the song is catchy enough to remind you of a cross between Freddy Krueger's "Do the Freddy" dance hit and a C and C Music Factory song... by way of the Universal Monsters.  Total kitschy fun.  Check out all the Halloween eCards from JibJab.com HERE.

T-Shirt Tuesday: Crazy Dog T-Shirts and Costumes

We're mid-way through the month which means some of you are beginning to have heart attacks thinking "Oh my god I don't have a Halloween costume idea yet because I have no time/money/energy/care!" 
Well Halloween Addict is here today to give you a good Moonstruck-like slap, grab you by the shoulders, and point you in the right direction.  Enter today's T-Shirt Tuesday  CrazyDogTShirts.com. 

Crazy Dog is a one stop shop for both tees AND costumes AND tees that can become costumes. 
They're good at the subtle like the Camp Crystal Lake Counselor tee to the left.  Just throw on the tee, throw copious amounts of blood on you, and maybe glue/tape/affix a fake weapon embedded in your torso and BOOM--- you're an off-screen victim from any number of the numerous numbered Friday the 13th films. 

Too sublte?  Worried the drunk slutty-nun-cop-nurse-hooker won't get it?  Go over the top with a Rocky-inspired United States flag robe!  A quick trip to the sporting goods store for some boxing gloves (or wrap your hands in white tape), a black pompadour wig and POW you're the Italian Stallion.  Ask that cute Alice in Wonderland-nun-cop to open a beer for you.  (You've got boxing gloves on, remember?)

Not looking for a costume, just something for the season? 
How about a smiling jack o' lantern torso.  Simple.  Classic.  Classy. 

Check 'em out at CrazyDogTShirts.com HERE as there's much more than I've mentioned including clever sci-fi nods (Wayland Utani Aliens shirts!) and complete costumes too (inlcuding a sexy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle which is messing with pre-and-post pubescent sense of time and reality).

As an extra incentive:  HalloweenAddict.com has been granted a special coupon code to give you $5 off your order through October 31st!  Just enter the code:  HALLO5 and you're set. 

Halloween to be Moved to Saturday FOREVER?

Sure Halloween 2010 is making for a perfect-storm of Halloween fun by falling on a Sunday this year but what if EVERY year Halloween fell on SATURDAY?  Believe it or not, there is a push from Spirit Halloween's CEO Steven Silverstein to make it precisely that.  But what are the pros and cons to such a move?

First the backstory:  according to THIS article at the retail blog blog.nrf.com, Steve Silverstein (CEO of Spencer Gifts and Spirit Halloween) when asked about being an advocate of moving Halloween to the last Saturday of October and making it permanently "Halloweekend" said:

"Halloween gets lost when it falls during the week. Trick-or-treating in the dark, on a school night, has its problems for safety and homework."

That's a good point and something I hadn't thought of.  The act of having to get the kids out trick or treating on a school night presents parental logistical problems, not the least of which is a constant battle cry of "It's a SCHOOL night!"  Plus there's the extra traffic mid-week with people going grocery shopping, driving home from work, etc.

But, I know that the regular adult Halloween parties I attend are usually the Saturday before Halloween whether that be a week before or a day before.  I enjoy that as I can get my costume on and do the party thing, and yet still have Halloween to myself to do whatever I want on the 31st. 

Silverstein goes on to say...

"It’s also better for our industry and the economy to have Halloween on Saturday – revenues have ticked up by as much as 30% when the holiday falls on a weekend versus a weekday.

The retail stats about Halloween always seem to be slanted toward whatever point is trying to be made.  Sometimes I hear that Halloween sales are second only to Christmas, sometimes I read that that "fact" is a fallacy.  I think it depends on the economy.  If people are doing well, they'll spend well.  My point:  I don't think this holds much water.  
Back to Silverstein:

"And we’ve moved holidays before – I believe it was Franklin Delano Roosevelt who decided to make Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of November, at the request of the retail industry. Even though the states rebelled at first, eventually the holiday was changed. Regarding “HalloWeekend,” obviously we’re having some fun here, but it does make sense from many perspectives."

I didn't know the Thanksgiving piece of trivia.  Interesting.  I DO know that the town of Oxford, MA in 2008 switched Halloween celebrations to November 1st and there was proverbial "public outcry" over it.  But that was one town changing it, not EVERYBODY changing it.
 
Let's look at the bigger picture: the Halloween holiday is married to its date:  October 31st.  People have websites dedicated to it... people have gotten married on it... Halloween IS the 31st-- the last day of October! 
I'm sure I'm being a bit of a traditionalist by bitching about that, but it DOES mean something to ME.

Now let's all calm down for a second as this whole push may have just been a Spirit Halloween publicity stunt last year.  Most of the write-ups occurred in October/November of 2009, the Facebook page hasn't been updated since last year, and even the website the articles plug that was supposed to be dedicated to the crusade (spirithalloweekend.com) now defaults to Spencer Gifts. 

What do you guys think? 
Would Halloween still be Halloween to you if it were on a date other than the 31st? 
Would you like a consistent Saturday Halloween so you can sleep in after a night of taking the kids trick or treating or partying with the other creatures of the night? 
Sound off in the comments below!

Candy Review: TARGET'S Freaky Treats

In my first venture to Target to take in their "Halloweekend" offerings, I picked up a package labeled "Freaky Treats:  Gummy Candy Filled Party Boxes." 
Not only because I wanted something representative of the art, theme and characters Target had chosen for their 2010 season without breaking the bank... but also because, frankly, I was hungry. 
I figured four different kinds of gummy shaped and flavored candies can't be too bad and all for the low-low price of $2.99.  (Please forgive the orientation of the photos.  After scanning them all, I can't for the life of me figure out how to SAVE the orientation of the pic.)   
Here's the rundown:

FRANKEN FOOD - Blueberry Gummi Brains:  This is my favorite of the characters in the Freaky Foods lineup because it reminds me of Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) dressed as Frankenstein's monster.  The box has a nice Halloween-season-orange background with a few bats flying around.  Makes me smile. 

The candy?  The brains are half blue, half white, which makes some sense in that they're supposed to be "BLUEberry gummy brains" but I would rather have had green "Frankenstein brains" that were still blueberry flavored, just green in color (I don't need flavor/color synchronization).  As far as the actual flavor goes, it's more "nebulous fruity flavor" than "blueberry."  I WAS surprised at the size of the brains in the package.  Due to their size you really only get 5 in a package, but they were pretty big compared to a standard gummy bear size (I use the metric Haribo or Black Forest as my gummy yardstick... or in this case-- a quarter.  Warning:  Quarters are NOT edible.). 

MUMMY MORSELS - Grape Gummy Bats:  Box is fun.  Again, if you told me Calvin was dressed as a mummy I'd believe you.  A cool light green background with the same bat pattern but the Mummy gets a shower of candy corn.  Lucky mummy. 
The candy bats seem HUGE.  Bigger than I thought they'd be and there's even some sharp detail on the top of the bat for a graphic mouth/head/wing-veins thing. 

The standard grape flavor is there though it almost feels spray painted on.  After a few chews you're left with more gummy than "grape" flavor.  But it's definitely artificial grape-- that same mystical purple color we've all been eating since childhood in everything from Kool-Aid to Icees and have all accepted as "GRAPE."  My current favorite unless it gets trumped by the other two....

GRIMIES GRUB - Fruit Punch Gummy Eyeballs:  My least favorite box only because I feel like we should have a werewolf and not a... tree? 
Sure there's a jack o' lantern and a full moon layered over a purple box with a font medley of "Yikes!  Eek!  Boo!" etc. 
But seriously, where's another CHARACTER?  If four kids came to my door and I handed out the four boxes in this pack, you can imagine the kid who got this box saying in a oh-so-Charlie-Brown-I-got-a-rock-WAY "I got a tree." 

The candy DOES make up for it in appearance, though.  You pull out that baggie and you've got 5 eyes staring at you in TWO colors: orange and green (for the record I had 2 orange and 3 green).  
The taste?
Seriously when I popped that first eyeball in my mouth my first taste sense-memory was:  cat pee.  I almost thought the cat had somehow peed inside the plastic.  Like my cat has the ability to teleport-pee.  Tele-pee. 
After the initial urge to spit it out the gummy DID in a few seconds morph into a "pineapple-like" taste.  Not so much "punch."  I consider Hawaiian Punch to the be the "punch benchmark" here and what I got was cat-pee-pineapple.  LEAST FAVORITE.  Mummy morsels still have the lead...

VAMPIRE VITTLES - Strawberry Gummy Fangs:  Would totally be my favorite box if it were an orange background.  You've got Dracula... you've got those same damn bats... you've got Drac carrying a jack o' lantern trick or treat bag!  Bam!  Extra points!
But on a yellow background?  Meh.  Doesn't do it for me. 

As for the candy, they're weiiiiiird. 
I don't know why I find gummy fangs odd to eat.  Maybe it's the combination of two things in the real world that would be soft AND crunchy:  teeth and lips.  The other gummies could very well be gummy in real-life-consistency, but something about fangs and lips being gummy weirds me out a bit.  Plus take a look at them. It's like they're "O" shaped worms.  With teeth on their bodies.  I expected the gummy to be a solid fang smile.  Instead it's a circle.
And in case you're wondering, there's no way to wear the fangs.   I tried.  I thought maybe if I bit them the right way I could get a passable vampire fang thing (like making fangs with candy corn... yeah like you've never done it...). 
But all weirdness aside, this is certainly the tastiest.  You can't really go wrong with artificial strawberry and that's what you get here.  Plus the size of the "O" worm fang-gummy-thing makes it feel like you're getting a whole lot of candy.  Kudos. 
And the Vampire Vittles pulls it out in the end to be the WINNAH!

I forgot to mention that each box has a tiny sticker inside that simplifies the cover box artwork it's contained in and adds a "Happy Halloween" greeting.  As the stickers are about a quarter of the box-size, and there's a lot of plastic bag inside it's easy to lose the sticker in the euphoria of tearing into a box of brains/fangs/eyes/bats.

So the real question:  should you pick them up? 
Hmmmm... not to just munch on.  There isn't enough candy contained in all that packaging to make it worth your while.
But if you know you're getting only few trick or treaters, it might be ok.  The boxes look cool, and there's just enough candy that's BIG enough to make it seem like some good loot. 

Kodak Moment of the Month: Halloween Photo Contest Winners October 2009-10

That pic to the left is one of the winners of the Kodak Moment of the Month for October 2009.  A pretty great shot that encapsulates the spirit of the season by embracing the friendly and spooky that makes Halloween night so special.  The backstory of the image from the photographer:

Photographer: Hilda Burke.  STORY:  I took this photo last Halloween as my kids were crossing the street to go Trick or Treat at this house. The house was the best in the neighborhood, it looked very spooky with the fake smoke all around it. The relation to the theme is obvious, it's a spooky photo taken on Halloween ;) It's a Kodak moment because it makes the viewer understand and feel instantly what's going on in the photo without any explanation.

To see the rest of the 2009 winners you can head over HERE to the Kodak Moments website.  They range from the spooky (above) to the cute (a child asleep in a pumpkin patch).  Each photo has a pop up with a story by the person who took the pic... sort of like DVD director's commentary on a still frame.

As for this year's winners, feast your eyes on the Day of the Dead tribute to the left.  Also a great one.  From the photographer:

For 2010, Kodak instead went with a slideshow presentation which you can see HERE. 

PHOTOGRAPHER: Christina Preiss  STORY: I captured this creepy image of an amazing art piece during the Dia de los Muertos celebration at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. Culturally, natives viewed death as a continuation of life. To them, life is a dream and death is a true awakening. After the festivals and parades, people gather at cemeteries to pray for deceased loved ones.

Winners win the prestige of a spot on the Kodak Moments site and maybe some Halloween Addict blogging about it years later.  So start snapping away now so you can submit it next September HERE.

Costume Idea: The Bear Jew from Inglourious Basterds

So you decided your costume this Halloween is going to be Sgt. Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz from Quentin Tarantino's violent WW2 epic Inglourious Basterds (thank you spellcheck I KNOW it's misspelled).  You've watched the film a dozen times looking for the detail, but you're wearing out the DVD on lengthy pauses. 
What to do?!
Fear not, for the man who played the bat-wielding Bear Jew, Eli Roth, is here to help you out this coming Halloweekend...

DIY Costume Idea: Milk Jug Stormtrooper Helmet

I admire creativity. 
And recycling. 
And Star Wars. 
So I give you a LINK TO THIS Milk Jug Stormtrooper helmet over on FilthWizardry.com. 
Not much more to say other than it looks pretty easy and pretty cool.

What is the Best Trick or Treat Bag for Carrying the Most Candy?

The guys over at MyScienceProject.org have too much time on their hands, and God bless 'em for it.

Through detailed experiments they already answered the question of "What's the best way to keep your jack o' lantern from rotting?" which I posted about last year HERE. 

Now they tackled the issue that every trick or treater has pondered at some point in their trick or treating career: how can I obtain and carry the most candy?  I'll go to the bottom line on part of their study:  Something you sleep on everynight is the ideal vessel for hauling maximum treats.
A PILLOWCASE.   Seriously. 
MyScienceProject.org has tackled this tough issue and has hard facts and crunched numbers with more detail on why a pillowcase is the best trick or treat bag, along with the best way to GET maximum candy in a neighborhood.  It's all HERE at MyScienceProject.org.  Go.  Learn.  Then catch the fly with the chopsticks. 

T-Shirt Tuesday: Fright Rags for a Good Cause & RIPT

Today's T-Shirt Tuesday has Fright Rags and the Bride of Frankenstein doing good deeds.

Fright Rags has a brand new shirt called "We Belong Alive" with ALL proceeds from the sale of said shirt going to help a friend of the Fright Rags crew who is currently battling a serious aggressive breast cancer.  You can read more about Leisha over on the Fright Rags site HERE where you can also pre-order this cool shirt which parodies the infamous Janet Jackson Rolling Stone cover.  Only $19.95 and you can help someone in need by ordering a sexy cool tee.

Also worth checking out for the next 8 hours that it's available is RIPT's new t-shirt called "Autumn Cometh."  It's simple and is sure to brighten the days of those of us who love the coming of Fall.  As a reminder:  RIPT shirts are only available for 24 hours and there's only 8 hours left to order the $10 tee.

The Legend of Stephen King's Halloween Campfire Ghost Stories...

I don't know if it was my Aunt who lived in Maine, or that I had read it in Fangoria Magazine, or my other Monster Squad buddies who, like me, thought 'Stephen King Ruled,' but somewhere, SOMEBODY told a kid-aged-Me that Stephen King would tell scary ghost stories by a campfire at his house every Halloween.  

Halloween Recipe: Meat Hand

I've seen a number of these types of recipes.  When I say "these types" I mean "gross looking but potentially delicious" Halloween recipes.

As I was saying 'til I was interrupted by my quantifying self:  I've seen these types of recipes and believe they're awesome, but can't imagine eating them myself.
Don't get me wrong:  I love meatloaf... I love gross horror movies... but I can't... I can't eat this... without some Heinz 57 or somethin'...

BUT YOU CAN!

Thanks to the fine, fine folk at NotMartha.org, you can learn how to make meatloaf with cheese on top in the shape of a monstrous hand... and then eat it.
The presentation of the hand on the mashed potatoes is great.  I could almost see Swanson putting out a line of "Halloween TV Dinners" every October featuring mini Salisbury steak Meat Hands pushed in taters, a side of carrots (they're orange!) and a pumpkin pie desert square.  Hmmm... not a bad idea.  Dear Swanson, you're WELCOME.
But the real nail in the coffin (ha!) of awesome is the onion used as exposed wrist bone.  Inspired.  Truly.
Check out the whole recipe with in-depth how-to pics HERE at NotMartha.org.

Richard Belzer's The Vampire Song

A new Dracula song by the guy who played "Detective Munch?"
I kid you not.
This is just too weird to not mention.
Just in time for the Halloween season actor and comedian Richard Belzer performs something called "The Vampire Song."

The video (which you can watch below) is chock full of imagery of various vampire movies, present and past, and The Belz sporting one fang, singin' along, and shakin' his money maker to the beat.

It's actually kinda catchy and I found myself singing the refrain later in the day after watching the video.
Hm.  Might be something to add to the ol' Halloween Music Mix this year.

You can buy the single for less than a buck (.99 cents) right HERE at CDBaby.com.

But the Vampire... Loved the ladies...

Interview: Kenny from The Myers House North Carolina

A couple years ago I happened to read about "this guy" who was building a full-scale replica of "The Myers House" from the classic horror film John Carpenter's Halloween.
When I read it, I couldn't believe it.  My skeptic brain kicked in:  "It's all talk" I thought.  "No way he'll finish it."  I had these thoughts because I didn't want to be let down.  I wanted to believe.
Surely if this were to happen, it would be the coolest shrine to, what many consider to be, the very first (and best) slasher film.

Well, he DID it.