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10/08/2004: Halloween Splats!

Just in time! The October 8th entry on the Halloween Countdown provides an in-depth study of Halloween Splats. They’re sticky slime heads fashioned after some of Hollywood’s finest monsters, like Frankenstein and Mumm-Ra. More coming this weekend…

Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

Discussion Thread: 47 comments

Matt, kind of a random question but what songs would you choose for the ultimate Halloween mix tape?

Ghosted by Kyven @ 10/08/2004 11:36 PM EDT

I’m probably not the best person to ask that, but a friend of mine definitely is. I’ll get his list on Monday.

Ghosted by Matt @ 10/08/2004 11:39 PM EDT

I didn’t think there were all that many Halloween songs out there. Mostly Christmas. But I have witnessed some "spooky effects" CDs that you can throw in the stereo for parties or just plain scaring the crap out of small children. I think I’ve honestly seen one that Martha Stewart put together.

Ghosted by 1drland @ 10/08/2004 11:45 PM EDT

The Halloween megamix song your friend made last year was outstanding!

Ghosted by Madd Matt? @ 10/08/2004 11:49 PM EDT

Yeah, that’s the guy I’ll be asking about the songs. I know he made a Power Hour Halloween mix last weekend. I’d put it up, but don’t think I want to incur bandwidth costs for a 60-minute mp3.

Ghosted by Matt @ 10/08/2004 11:50 PM EDT

Way cooler than Wacky Wall Walkers. Frighteningly enough, that Mumm-Ra one reminds me of my 8th grade algebra teacher, especially the purple-ish hair. Here’s a thought: Could one of those *ahem* bone-slingers be used as an effective back scratcher? Just a theory…

Ghosted by Jillybeann @ 10/08/2004 11:56 PM EDT

Bone-slinger….. pardon me while I go wash my mind out

Ghosted by Jillybeann @ 10/08/2004 11:57 PM EDT

Actually, yes, they would scratch backs very well.

Ghosted by Matt @ 10/08/2004 11:59 PM EDT

I remember listenening to an audio tape of "farm sounds" that’s supposed to calm people down. About halfway through, the tape goes crazy and starts playing stuff like what sounds like a huge pile of buckets crashing and a farmer off in the distance saying "Hey boy……. Whoa boy….".

Ghosted by RewolfJ @ 10/09/2004 12:07 PM EDT

Last year for Halloween ambiance, we played Rammstein.

Ghosted by Zorbs @ 10/09/2004 12:22 PM EDT

This is the first thing that I’ve read about on here for the Shoctober season that I haven’t seen in stores. Why do "farm sounds" calm people down? I saw a movie for the first time tonight that prolly alot of you have seen, a true 80’s movie: Bill and Ted’s excellent adventure. Oh man that’s what X-E articles are made of! Matt- I saw that rat the other day who’s pic was up yesterday, have you seen what they have outside Toy’s R US? The scarecrow? It was only up for a day, wanted to know if you saw it…

Ghosted by ANdrew @ 10/09/2004 12:25 PM EDT

Matt, I think it’s about time you answer the question everybody’s asking: WHERE THE HELL IS MADD MATT???

Ghosted by Namtab @ 10/09/2004 12:33 PM EDT

You know, the price seems a lot lower now that I know the bone slinger doubles as a bone back scratcher.

Ghosted by Ian @ 10/09/2004 12:37 PM EDT

That’s really…strange.

Ghosted by mushroom @ 10/09/2004 12:40 PM EDT

Agreed, where is Madd Matt?

Ghosted by ANdrew @ 10/09/2004 12:45 PM EDT

I’d put the song "Ghost Town" by the Specials on my halloween mis tape.

Ghosted by pikachulover @ 10/09/2004 12:59 PM EDT

I actually saw them last week at our local Dollar Tree. Dollar a pop, obviously. Sorry Matt =(

ANdrew, if you’ve just seen B&T EA you have to see Bogus Journey. Bill and Ted weren’t meant to study, they were meant to die and come back and fight the evil robot Bill and Ted. And Death plays bass. Stuff legends are made of.

"You may be a king, or a little sweeper
but sooner or later, you dance with the Reaper"

Ghosted by Knegative @ 10/09/2004 1:04 AM EDT

I spotted 3 cool Halloween items today at the mall.

I spotted some Madball masks at the halloween store. They had the baseball and the guy with the green head.

Another thing was a prop rat in a mousetrap. You clap to make it move. It looked realistic until you realize that the rat is the size of the Taco Bell dog.

But the coolest items were a modern version of those Halloween haunted sounds. But instead of a CD or audiotape it’s a DVD’s that has haunted faces on it that taunt you. You place the DVD’s in your player and turn your tv on it’s side. You then angle a piece of plexiglass and the faces will appear as holograms or in a crystal ball (depending on the DVD you get) if you place it near a window. I found it at Spensor’s Gifts. COOLEST THING I EVER SAW!

Ghosted by JLAJRC @ 10/09/2004 1:05 AM EDT

STATION!!!!!

Sorry, couldn’t help myself =)

Ghosted by Knegative @ 10/09/2004 1:07 AM EDT

A better reason to watch bogus adventure is primus’s guest apearance.

Ghosted by Angry P. Thompson @ 10/09/2004 1:09 AM EDT

Agreed. Primus Sucks =)

Its nice to see the two extremes of bass playing represented in one movie.

Here’s to Les Claypool from a guy who plays like Mark Hoppus =)

Ghosted by Knegative @ 10/09/2004 1:16 AM EDT

I liked the ending best. A montage of funny headlines about world peace resulting from their music as KISS plays "God Gave Rock & Roll To You?" Sweet!

Ghosted by TB Tabby @ 10/09/2004 1:33 AM EDT

This band called type o negative they do like six songs about halloween. Like black #1, you may know. Perfect for any halloween tape

Ghosted by paperpuppet @ 10/09/2004 1:41 AM EDT

Huzzah to all of us with progressive views on house cleaning.

Ghosted by marioshoku @ 10/09/2004 1:44 AM EDT

Bauhaus – Bela Lugosi’s Dead. PERFECT halloween song. It started the Goth genre for a reason…

Ghosted by mindsuckr @ 10/09/2004 2:24 AM EDT

Seeing those Splats covered in debris makes me think of Katamari Damacy for PS2. In it, you roll a sticky ball around collecting all kinds of random shit to make new stars out of after your father, the king of the cosmos, destoryed them all on a drunken bender.

Christ, what are they smoking in Japan, and where can I get some?

Ghosted by A-wel Cruiz @ 10/09/2004 7:48 AM EDT

Man, those things are pretty gross. I bet my dog would love to chow one, though. He’s wierd like that. He actually ate and entire spilled can of fish flakes this morning (blame the mini-traj’s for their sloppy fish feeding skills).

I find the song River by Natelie Merchant to be creepy, but that’s probably just me. I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that it’s about the dead-for-11-years River Phoenix.
Hey, how about a mixed tape of songs about dead celebrities? What else would be on there? Transcending by the Red Hot Chili Peppers is also about River. Norma Jean by Elton John is about Marilyn Monroe. What else?

Ghosted by trajeal @ 10/09/2004 8:06 AM EDT

Matt, Why did you add paintshop pro water droplets to the image of Mumm-ra being crushed against the glass ?

Ghosted by Pablo @ 10/09/2004 8:42 AM EDT

Hey, great article!
I will have to check out the Halloween splats… If only I can have my dog and cat visit someone else for my playtime!
As for a Halloween mix, I would definitely include some White Zombie or a solo Rob Zombie.

Ghosted by Croww @ 10/09/2004 8:43 AM EDT

I would sell my soul to have one of those

Ghosted by Gaz @ 10/09/2004 9:02 AM EDT

I saw Splats on QVC a couple of weeks ago, a tomato and a egg. When fling’ed through the air with enough force, it splats like a cartoon splat. If they make a Splats that looks like an eyeball, I am so there.

For a good mixtape, add some King Diamond, "The Man in the Long Black Coat" by Bob Dylan, "Dead Man’s Party" by Oingo Boingo, that Alice Cooper song about the Black Widow. Mix thoroughly with your own choices, and add any dramatic reading of "The Raven" or "Tell-Tale Heart" and play not too loudly until you wet youself. Serves anybody within earshot.

click my name for Laibach.

Ghosted by kingklash with a bone-slinger @ 10/09/2004 12:41 PM EDT

Walken does an excellent reading of "The Raven".

I found some of those bloody window drippings at a local bargain type store today. They had STAY OUT only, as far as I could tell, and they ran about $2.79. I can’t remember what Matt paid, so I don’t know if this is a good price or not.

Ghosted by trajeal @ 10/09/2004 8:20 PM EDT

the best music for halloween, werkzued (I think) by tool (hates tool) why, it sounds creepy, it’s in german and when translated to english it’s really…. a recipie for cookies

Ghosted by bogeyb @ 10/09/2004 10:53 PM EDT

There’s actually several different brands of these toys, all with the same skeleton hands. Here you can get them in abundance from the 99 cent stores, but with sticky body parts instead of monster heads (just as gooey, though. The tongue one I got was so gooey, the coloring came off on my fingers) and each includes a fold-out paper target of some monster face. You’re supposed to make a party game out of it.

Ghosted by Scythemantis @ 10/10/2004 2:02 AM EDT

Forgot to add – yes, they do come in eyeball form at the dollar store. Fingers, tongues and ears, too, but eyeballs are where it’s at. Because they’re so easily ruined, though, I prefer to keep my sticky toys in their package.

Yep, I open all my action figures, but hang dollar store sticky toys on my walls in "mind condition". The "grosser than gross" pack I got at wal-mart looks so awesome.

Ghosted by Scythemantis @ 10/10/2004 2:04 AM EDT

MINT* condition, damnit.

Ghosted by Scythemantis @ 10/10/2004 2:05 AM EDT

enough!
1)yes, where is mad matt?
closer to the actual holiday, he’ll reveal himself, i’ll wager
2) matt, have you seen the gooey filled peeps? these are a must for the countdown, peeps filled with ooze, how can it get any better?
can’t remember exatly where i saw them, but if we have ‘em down in new orleans, i can’t imagine you don’t have them in the big apple yet……i’m just sayin’

Ghosted by tampioca @ 10/10/2004 4:10 AM EDT

and if you can’t find them there, i will personally go out and search for them and send them to you, just let me know, the people must know about goo filled peeps!!!

Ghosted by tampioca @ 10/10/2004 4:13 AM EDT

just one simple question…

WHERE
IS
MAD
MATT?

Thou best reveal himself soon….

Ghosted by Blakula2k @ 10/10/2004 8:38 AM EDT

I spotted the goo filled peeps at my local Walmart, up here in Timmins, Ontario. Didn’t try them… just spotted.

Croww

Ghosted by Croww @ 10/10/2004 9:18 AM EDT

I am now the proud owner of a tongue.

Oh that song is called Die Eier von Satan. Its a recipe for Deviled Eggs.

I probably spelled some of those words wrong though

Ghosted by Knegative @ 10/10/2004 11:22 AM EDT

Wow, oozing peeps? All I’ve seen this year are peeps "delight-fills", marshmallow pumpkins with chocolate centers. Haven’t seen the return of coco-bats at all

Ghosted by Scythemantis @ 10/10/2004 12:25 PM EDT

This is an outrage! I just went to 3 different grocery stores looking for some of the Halloween-themed cereals Matt’s been talking about and NOT ONE of them had ANY Halloween cereals- just the boring, regular versions. The only conclusion I can come to is that they won’t carry them here in the Bible belt (I’m in NC). THIS SUCKS!!!

Ghosted by Jillybeann @ 10/10/2004 12:46 PM EDT

I on the other hand have boo berry aplenty

Ghosted by bogeyb @ 10/11/2004 12:18 PM EDT

I don’t know if anyone is still reading this, but here is my list of what music you should play for ambience on Halloween. They’re obscure, but you should be able to find them if you look around.

Coil’s "Unreleased Themes from Hellraiser" is an excellent choice. The songs on this record were written for use in the movie Hellraiser, but the studio rejected them because they said it was too dark. The record is out of print, but can be found on their "Unnatural History II" CD.

Brighter Death Now’s "The Slaughterhouse." If there is any album that should be played at a haunted house, this is it. Despite what the name and song titles–ie, "Death Party," "Cadaver," "Dead Bones"–would lead you to believe, this isn’t metal. Instead, it sounds like a recording from an assembly line in hell. Lots of distant mechanical noises, wailing, and electronic screeching. It might be out of print, but there should be copies out there somewhere. DBN’s other albums like "Necrose Evangelicum" and The Great Death trilogy are worth checking out as well, but the early stuff has the most Halloween-esque atmosphere. (Go here for samples from "The Slaughterhouse." Check out here for sound samples from other BDN albums.)

Schloss Tegal – "The Grand Guignol" and "Black Static Transmission." "Black Static Transmission" has lots of EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) samples, which are supposed to be the voices of ghosts recorded on tape. Most of their other albums are good, but not as eerie. Avoid their third album, "Human Resource Exploitation" because it’s kind of boring. I should also mention that ST member Richard Schneider wrote the music for a couple of the levels in the game Unreal 2. (Visit their website for sound samples.)

Any of the albums by In Slaughter Natives. ISN sounds like something that would belong in an artsy European horror movie. Their (or rather, his) music is best described as orchestral industrial. All four albums are out of print, but were re-released in the "Re-Enter Salvation" 5 CD box set.

Other stuff to check out: early (pre-1988) Current 93, Megaptera, Slogun, and Archon Satani. If those are too weird or obscure for you, go with the Misfits, Rudimentary Peni, Bauhaus, or Christian Death.

Ghosted by Astro Zombie @ 10/11/2004 10:25 AM EDT

I don’t think anyone is reading this anymore, but I have to add All Hallow’s EP by AFI. Two awesome songs, an excellent cover of the Misfits Halloween and possibly the greatest song ever TOTALIMMORTAL!!!!

Please, no one listen to the godawful Offspring version, for the sake of your sanity.

Ghosted by Knegative @ 10/13/2004 10:16 AM EDT

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