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The Graveyard Gang is a THRILLA.

"Thriller" is one of the songs of the season, and to celebrate, here's a look back at the Graveyard Gang, a line of cheap bendy zombies from 1984 that quite obviously intended to capitalize on Michael Jackson's popularity without paying him a cent. For bottom of the barrel toys, these are actually pretty cool, and they came blister-packed with coffin-shaped plastic bubbles. For those around the same age as me, I hope the article doesn't resurface any memories of how freakyscared you were of the music video when you were a kid.

Posted by Matt on 09/24/2006. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 72 comments

Even today, I still think Thriller has some of the best horror makeup/effects ever. Great song, too.

But I got to be honest, I think The Jackson’s Five “Torture” video is scarier. Probably because the spiders creep me out and they have that scene where they take off their shades and have no eyes. Yikes.

I miss Showbiz Pizza. Yes, it was converted into a Chucky Cheese, but a singing bear mascot will always be better than a roller skating rat.

Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 09/25/2006 12:40 AM

Speaking of Weird Al, anyone watch tonight’s Robot Chicken?

In it, ANOTHER video premired: this time for an original called “Weasel Stomping Day” and it was hilarious. Al was also in a later sketch where kids get their wishes from a star coming true (his character turned into a giant Cylon and he went to tell the others)

Chestnuts roasted by Invader Norbert @ 09/25/2006 12:48 AM

I was always taught that gangs were bad — but now, I can totally dispute that! Score one for the marginalized pistacho colored skin/wears velvet shirt demographic. I know I’m a proud member.

Chestnuts roasted by Review the World @ 09/25/2006 2:08 AM

There’s a red plastic-leather jacket with tons of zippers at a pawn shop near where I live. I have considered numerous times purchasing it and going as zombie Jackson for Halloween, but I always decide against it as that would require me learning how to do some of the moves from the big zombie dance scene, and being white it is therefore impossible for me to do such.

Chestnuts roasted by Ronald MacKinnon @ 09/25/2006 2:42 AM

Sorry, I just can’t be scared of a music video for a song that was played during Revenge of the Nerds.

Chestnuts roasted by Mystie @ 09/25/2006 7:15 AM

I, too, was scared outta my wits of the Thriller video. I don’t remember the first time I saw it, but I still have a hard time watching it. Don’t bet me wrong I can watch it, but there is something about mike’s sunken-in eyes that cause me to feel like a 5 year-old all over again.

Chestnuts roasted by Geoffinsanity @ 09/25/2006 8:19 AM

I never knew much about Michael Jackson till his “Bad” years. We didn’t have cable until then and no one I knew listened to his music. I do remember having a babysitter who said she was gonna marry him. And my grandma would tell me he was a weirdo who slept in a coffin. So I thought my babysitter was weird.

Chestnuts roasted by kb @ 09/25/2006 8:57 AM

Oh, but I remember the premiere of the “Thriller” video well. We were all hunkered down around the TV, the cable box with it’s two dozen or so push buttons perched atop the set. I wasn’t so much scared by the concept, rather by the dancing zombies. Zombies weren’t supposed to dance. They were supposed to slowly shuffle after you and moan as they herded you toward the mall. Anyway, I particularly like the hands on these figures. They have that nice, rigor mortis-look to them.

Chestnuts roasted by LemurCat @ 09/25/2006 9:56 AM

I was petrified of Thriller! During that time period, I generally fled the TV at any mention of Michael Jackson between Thriller and his hair catching on fire (despite my mom’s assurances, I was always convinced they were going to show his head burning and that really freaked me out.)

Chestnuts roasted by Lori @ 09/25/2006 10:41 AM

mtV had a scary video countdown years and years ago for Halloween. I remember tuning in in hopes of seeing Helloween “Halloween” vid… I mean… how could you have a HALLOWEEN countdown WITHOUT it? And of course they didnt play that. And Thriller was their top #1 video.
poseurs.

Chestnuts roasted by kittycatgirl @ 09/25/2006 11:14 AM

If you’re still worked up about opening those, I’ll return your money for them. $25 ea

Man I remember the night that video premiered. I had no idea what “Thriller” was, because I had never listend to the album that far. I just thought it was the name of the album. So anyway, my cousin and I waited and waited for this video premier because MTV was hyping the shiz out of it. I think I was a little scared. It was really long.

So anyway, I got this crazy beast of a teacher for 6th grade and she had this message on the corkboard above the chalkboard that I couldn’t figure out for like a week.
“6th grade is a Thriller so Be a tit and learn”
I finally figured out that “be a tit” was “Beat it” with some unfortunate spacing due to the framing of the cork boards, and it corresponded to the Michael Jackson poster of the album cover for Thriller.

Ever see the “Thriller” video done in lego? I have it somewhere on my hard drive.

Chestnuts roasted by klatubaradanikto @ 09/25/2006 12:23 PM

Kudos for avoiding the obvious pedophilia references. There’ll be no cheap jokes on THIS site, thank you very much.

Chestnuts roasted by Uncle Lumpy @ 09/25/2006 12:59 PM

Yeppers, Michael was right. He wasn’t into the occult, just little boys. Take that, Lumpy!!!

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 09/25/2006 1:08 PM

That is SO Tim Curry on the packaging.

Chestnuts roasted by Hotblack Desiato @ 09/25/2006 1:17 PM

Are you the same Uncle Lumpy that’s the poet laureate on Comics Curmudgeon?

I plugged in my VCR into the “av in” jack on my digital camera and recorded “Weasel Stomping Day” to play from time to time today. I’m watching it now!

What would Vincent Price’s “rap” sound like if read by Christopher Lee? Or Christopher Walken?

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 09/25/2006 1:41 PM

I somehow managed to not see Thriller until I got older (I was ten or so) so it didn’t scare me. Although if I saw it as a little child it probably wouldn’t have scared me either. I was a strange child with a weird obsession with ghosts and skeletons. Dancing zombies would have fit in nicely.

However the “Torture” video DID scare me, especially the part where one of them (I think Jermaine but I don’t know for sure) looked down and there was an eyeball IN HIS HAND. That stayed with me for awhile.

And I second what Uncle Lumpy said. Thanks for avoiding the cheap jokes most people would have made, they’re too easy to make and not very funny.

Chestnuts roasted by jazzy @ 09/25/2006 2:16 PM

Correction: Jermaine wasn’t even in the Torture video. Here’s the link, for anyone interested.

Chestnuts roasted by jazzy @ 09/25/2006 2:19 PM

Well, I second myself. Just be lucky it wasn’t a shot of Michael’s hand. Shudder to think what he would have been holding!!!!

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 09/25/2006 3:36 PM

I remember my family having the betamax copy of the Thriller video with behind the scenes making-of stuff on it. I think we had it only becuase of my older sister. She had the Thriller album and stuff like that. Between that and a betamax copy of Raiders of the Lost Ark,we watched those so much they got worn out,Raiders more so.

Chestnuts roasted by Overlord @ 09/25/2006 3:37 PM

Duh, K-. A tinker toy.

Har! Har! Har!

Thriller was great. I remember renting the behind the scenes VHS for it, that was only 30 minutes long, I believe, over and over and over again. I’ve always had a hard-on for zombies.

[INSERT RIGOR MORTIS JOKE]

Chestnuts roasted by ColonelCatsup @ 09/25/2006 3:43 PM

Was that video supposed to be scary? Something cumming on his hand may be scary for him, but for Michael? All in a days work!!!

I’ll be here all day, folks. Just remember the 7:30 show is completely different from the 9:30 show!!

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 09/25/2006 3:58 PM

Don’t say anything, but the zombie eyes still scare me.

Chestnuts roasted by NIC @ 09/25/2006 4:16 PM

I am having the worst month of my life- my Crohn’s Disease kicked it into overdrive AGAIN and I just got out of the hospital after a 6 day stay…3 of which I was not even allowed to drink water, so food was out of the question. The only good part about this is that I now have lots and lots of XE goodness to read while I recover.

Chestnuts roasted by Muppet Baby @ 09/25/2006 4:39 PM

Faces fill with joy and cheer,
What a magical time of year!
Howdy-ho, it’s Weasel Stomping Day!
Put your Viking helmet on,
Spread the mayonnaise on the lawn,
Don’t you know it’s Weasel Stomping Day?
All the little girls and boys
Love the wonderful crunching noise!
You’ll know what this day’s about
When you stomp a weasel’s guts right out!
So, come along and have a laugh,
Snap their weasel-y spines in half.
Grab your boots and stomp your cares away!
Hip-hip hooray, It’s Weasel Stomping Day!
People up and down the street,
Crushing weasels beneath their feet.
Why we do it? Who can say?
But it’s such a festive holiday!
So let the stomping fun begin,
Bash their weasling skulls right in!
It’s tradition, that makes it OK!
Hey everyone! It’s Weasel Stomping…
We’ll have some fun on Weasel Stomping…
Put down the gun, it’s Weasel Stomping Day!
Hip-hip hooray, it’s Weasel Stomping Day!
Weasel Stomping Day! HEY!

Chestnuts roasted by Your Local Weasel Stomping Council @ 09/25/2006 5:23 PM

Hey, that IS a zombified Tim Curry on the packaging!!!!

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 09/25/2006 5:37 PM

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This entry was posted on Sunday, September 24th, 2006 at 9:16 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.