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10/04/2006: Shrunken Halloween Heads!

Taking tonight off, but I’ll be back tomorrow fer shure. I need some quiet time to adjust to my newfound alien superpowers, or I’m just exhausted. I won’t leave you empty-handed, though. No, I’ll leave your hands full of heads.


I used to buy these really crude, plastic shrunken heads from Johnson Smith all the time as a kid, and my fascination with shrunken heads has stuck with me ever since. Not for real shrunken heads, mind you — don’t really care about where all that voodoo came from, but because it was the genesis for such cool toys, I respect the roots. Shrunken heads in general have become a bit more taboo in the world of toys as the years passed, but during the Halloween season, the coppers always look the other way.

Shrunken Head Dude #1 on the left came from Party City, and is part of a fairly large line of similarly rotted, disgusting, drooping eye heads with bits of lifelike hair. They’re nice and squishy like a doggy chew toy, stopping short of actually squeaking because they’re shrunken heads and shrunken heads aren’t supposed to be cute. I really like how Shrunken Head Dude #1 in no way, shape or form skimps on being ghoulish or gross. Usually, only the bigger, pricier Halloween decorations get away with being legitimately creepy. Shrunken Head Dude #1 is perfect for a bloodlust on a budget.

Shrunken Head Dude #2 is more of a “bust” than a “shrunken head,” but let’s pretend otherwise for the sake of me getting to call a toy “Shrunken Head Dude #2.” Found this guy at a craft store; again, he’s part of a larger line consisting of many different creatures of the night. The others in the set are probably more desirable (and recognizable), but I had to give this random lilac-skinned vampire dude the nod because he looked like the kind of guy who’d suck blood and play the piano at the same time.

Both are in the five dollar range, if not a bit less, and make for great around-the-house Halloween decorations that won’t require you to clear out four square feet of space to set up.

Survey Time, Survey Time: How have you decorated for the Halloween season? Best finds? Best heirlooms? Best shrunken heads? Lawn only, or indoors, too? Tell us about it and win a prize. Okay there’s no prize.


Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

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Discussion Thread: 57 comments

Ooooops!!! I forgot to de-bolden! I hate standing out like that!

Ghosted by MissJess @ 10/05/2006 8:55 PM EDT

I’m in an apartment in the back of a house, so the lawn isn’t mine to decorate, but I plan on putting up my indoor Halloween decorations tomorrow or Saturday. Most of what I have are cute cardboard hanging decorations – a huge ghost with weird eyes, black cats, spiders, pumpkins, etc. I have a Beany Baby ghost and a Beany Baby-style cauldron from Eckards when they sold Beany-type toys for Halloween and Christmas a few years ago, an orange-and-black tinsel garland, a small standing witch from the thrift shop where I volunteer, and a stuffed wobbly witch from a dollar store in Cape May County. General “fall” decorations (leaves, small pumpkins, Indian corn, non-scary scarecrows) went up a few weeks ago.

Ghosted by starwenn @ 10/05/2006 10:04 PM EDT

Wow Mystie, that is an awesome treat bag! I don’t think I ever got anything even close to that kick ass for halloween. I may have to drive to PA and doing some trick or treating.

Also, any other Canadians excited for The Trailer Park Boys move tomorrow? I’m going to see it on Monday when my husband has his day off, I’m hoping the theater wont be closed for Thanksgiving.

Ghosted by IHAQ @ 10/05/2006 10:06 PM EDT

IHAQ- I can’t wait to see the Trailer Park Boys movie! I think this will give the boys their big break in the States.

I live in an apartment now, and I am poor now as well, so the decorating hasn’t started yet. I HAVE however, picked out all the cool shit I WANT to buy. :)
Mostly I think I will stick to pumpkins and have a Jack-o-Lantern carving party to set the place up.

When I was younger, the best treat bags came from old people in my neighborhood- and they literally had different bags depending on whose kid you were. As soon as you got to the door, they would ask “And who are you? Whose your parents?” and if the answer satisfied them, you would get s “OH! I know your dad- he’s my sister’s husband’s cousin! Well, here YOU go then!” and you would get the reserved-for-family goodie bag= with homemade fudge, candy apples, BIG chocolate bars and cans of pop!

Yes, I lived in a town THAT hick. It was hard to find people you WEREN’T related to so you could date. Sad.

Ghosted by Muppet Baby @ 10/05/2006 11:17 PM EDT

I have a 4×4 purple-lighted, black spider-web stretched across a large mirror with various things tied to it- all kinds of Barbies (Kissing Barbie, an old Ken, Donnie from Donnie and Marie, Western Barbie, Barbie Beauty Secrets), a large, green fabric praying mantis finger puppet, two huge plastic spiders, one blue, multi-armed East Indian rubber finger puppet that has a necklace of skulls, fluorescent green and orange lizards (they’re attacking one of the spiders), a miniature Pikachu (what’s Halloween without a Pikachu?!), an old Darth Vader action figure and a pair of bendy Gumby and Pokey. I’ll just keep adding to it through-out this coolest of all months. Also, a small dish of candy corn on the table for eating while bored or high (the only frame of mind I can eat that stuff in), a wrought iron candle holder with five orange-peel encrusted, craft-type candles stuck in it (for that Roger Corman/Vincent Price feel), a pair of red-lipped wax vampire teeth that seem to migrate from one end of the house to the other during the weekends, a wooden “Black Cat Crossing” sign stuck in a plant by the black cats bed (a bit cutesy, but, y’know..it’s cute), a long clear plastic twirly-thing with pumpkin stickers hung over the deck..hmm. Probably missed a few things that will now be pissed off and stab me in the dark…heh-heh.

Ghosted by PerfectPrice @ 10/06/2006 5:46 AM EDT

Invader,

I have yet to take pictures because the yard is not complete. As soon as I think I can do no more, I will snap some pics and find some site to host them and send out the link.

Ghosted by Tigerfan @ 10/06/2006 9:11 AM EDT

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 4th, 2006 at 11:18 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.