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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 on 10/04/2006. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 57 comments

Um, sad to say the extent of it is my PB cup and my Guy Fawkes Masque which is dangling from the support of my stereo shelf, awaiting the main event.

I suck.

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 10/04/2006 11:26 PM

I’m not sure what I’ll do this year in terms of decorations, to be quite honest with you…

Chestnuts roasted by Retro Playback @ 10/04/2006 11:28 PM

Hmmm…I’d like to put up some decent decorations, but my family seldom has the time/resources. We usually just put up an autumn wreath at the last minute. In previous years, though, I’ve toyed with the idea of making fake tombstones with real, humorous epitaths I read in Bathroom Readers. Maybe I’ll do it this year.

Chestnuts roasted by TB Tabby @ 10/04/2006 11:31 PM

havent had time to decorate the apt much yet, but there are some black lights and glow in the dark skeletons up that are just kind of here year round. did you see the totally awesome “shrunken head on a stick” collection at party city?? theyre so cool. they also have a really good new elm street glove out for 12.99. shiny plastic blades instead of dull gray rubber and the glove and “rusted metal” connectors look super spooky. thats my favorite buy of the season, for sure.

Chestnuts roasted by Eddie Lightning Frog @ 10/04/2006 11:36 PM

This link was provided by google, on this very page. Nice.

“You are not purchasing the exact shrunken head pictured, but one of the same style and quality.”

Shrunken heads made fresh, just for you. Alright!

http://www.salangome.com/shrunken_head.asp

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 10/04/2006 11:45 PM

Ooh, I love Shrunken Head Dude #2!

I have put up alot of my decorations already. A fake Flaming Cauldron on the mantle, with fall leaves spread out over it (the mantle), 2 wooden ghost things that me and my mom painted, and two purple candles. I know it sounds really odd, all together, but it’s pretty cool.

I put up some other hand-painted items, leaves, and spooky “shadow” candle holder things.

I have a few of those “foamies” kits from the crafts stores that I made, too. Two graveyards and a spooky house. I put two of those on the buffet in the dining room with a black spiderweb looking type of cloth underneath. Then I sprinkled tiny fall leaves all around and put some of the miniature tombstones and gargoyles I got from Michael’s.

I put some black bat cling-ons on the dining room window, too, and on the living room mirror, too. I’m not totally done yet – I have some more stuff I’m going to try to work out to make it look good, but I’m happy I got out most of it so far. :)

Chestnuts roasted by Ryane @ 10/04/2006 11:47 PM

I dont own many halloween decorations, but this year I doing a everytime I go out I buy something.

So far I have the blood dripping from the windows and a kick ass little skeleton dude hanging in the front door window.I have my ghost and pumpkin pillow and halloween blanket on my couch.

I still have to put up my little paper lights that have ghost faces on them and my “graveyard this way” sign I got at wally world.

I’m right into halloween this year, more than ever, its all because of this place! And maybe my son too.

Chestnuts roasted by IHAQ @ 10/04/2006 11:58 PM

I just moved into a dorm shortly before this Halloween madness started so I don’t want to freak my roommate out too much before I actually know her. Thus, I have very limited Halloween so far.

I did get one of those squeezy skulls from Party City with the bloody eye socket, and some small rat figurines. Two of them glow in the dark! Two of them I put into some sort of torture device I made with a paperclip! (School is really boring!)

Chestnuts roasted by Katherine @ 10/05/2006 12:00 AM

I have my standard Halloween decorations: The stretchy rat and spider. the vampire smore, the NBX figures, bloody mini tombstone candles, gargoyles and spectre on boingy seing. ^_^
On the neat side, My Mom got me a candle from Illuminations (the only store at the mall that can get away with selling candles shaped like carrots and pears) that is white and has shadows off spiders embedded in the wax, so when you burn a tea light in it…you see a bunch of spider shadows ^_^
So far, Target, Department 56, {arty City and See’s candy have been my Halloween must goes

Chestnuts roasted by Lost Lenore @ 10/05/2006 12:10 AM

I have nowhere to decorate. Five floors up at a temporary residence sucks. But I did pick up a big plastic door covering at a yard sale that I hung in my bathroom. It has a really aweful drawing of a witch holding a “Have a Happy Halloween” sign, over a cauldron with a black cat walking in fire with a haunted house in the background and two giant bats with huge claws flying overhead. It’s the stupidest looking thing ever, and that’s why I love it and why it’s going to stay hanging up long after Halloween ends.

Chestnuts roasted by Mattman @ 10/05/2006 12:18 AM

I started decorating on August 15th. The summers are so miserable here in Oklahoma that by the end of August I can barely live with myself, so I tried to offset the heat by decorating early. I live in a duplex so I can’t put lights outside and any lawn decorations would be destroyed by the landscapers, but the inside of my house is totally drenched in Halloween decor.

My kitchen table is set up with a black table cloth with a sheer spiderweb table cloth over it and assorted Halloween-themed kitchen items (haunted house cookie jar (full of Halloween Oreos with orange filling), talking Spell Book candy dish (got it at Hallmark last year–definately my favorite find!!), spiderweb candle holders, etc).

In my living room I have my two witches’ brooms behind the front door (one for me, one for my cat) and a little graveyard scene on my shelf/coat hooks. I have large Target light-up pumpkins (bought about four years ago) on either side of my tv stand, pumpkin spice candles on either side of the tv, and a few horror movie posters hanging up and some sitting on the floor–looks really cool that way (they’re classic horror movies like “Bride of Frankenstein” and “Dracula” that I got for $1 a piece at Dollar Tree–there are six of them and they’re definately my favorite find for this year!)

My bathroom is decorated year-round in Nightmare Before Christmas with a NBC calendar, shower curtain, toothbrush holder, trash can, Jack-face rug, a pumpkinhead Jack doll on the hand towel holder, and various action figures still in their blister packs hanging on the wall. Oh, and my Sally music box sitting on the back of the toilet next to my Bloody Pumpkin Fountain found at Spirit (my favorite find from two years ago!). And a Halloween nightlight my grandma gave me with a pumpkin and one of those bubbling bulbs coming out of the top of it.

My bedroom just has Tim Burton movie posters all over the walls and those stay up year-round. I’m a bit obsessed.

And then there’s my cat, Nyxie, who is black, so she’s kind of like a living, breathing Halloween decoration all year long and she even dresses up (she loves wearing a bandanna for some bizarre reason). And she has her favorite orange and black-striped Target fleece blanket on the chair by the window.

So that’s my house! And I’m not done yet! I still have to hang the purple and orange lights wrapped in mummy gause from the ceiling and make the life-sized witch prop to go in my window. I’m entering a contest my complex puts on every year where if you come up with the best decoration for your window you get a $50 gift certificate to the Haunted House Restaurant. I am SO going to win it this year!!

Chestnuts roasted by broomstickjockey @ 10/05/2006 12:35 AM

Oh! And I decorate my car with bat window clings, so if you can’t decorate your house, maybe you could at least decorate your car!

Chestnuts roasted by broomstickjockey @ 10/05/2006 12:37 AM

So far all I’ve put out is “The one and only original vanilla cappuccino broom” I mentioned yesterday, but I also have some photos and keepsakes and assorted skeletons I put out for Dia de los Muertos as well. Planning on decorating outside as well, hopefully this weekend.

Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 10/05/2006 12:41 AM

So far I’ve put up two different string of lights, one purple and wrapped with Halloween garland (pumpkins, bats, tinsel.. a beautiful combination!) and the second a strand of jack-o-lantern lights.

On my entertainment center is the headless horseman riding DareDevil (the horse, not the blind guy, though that IS a thought begging to be drawn) with his sword out. He’s accompanied by a little snow globe I got of the Haunted Mansion at Didneylan’. Plays Grim Grinning Ghosts. :D

Flanking the Horseman is, of course, my Halloween ponies. I also have post cards of hitch hiking ghosts and dead pirates strewn about up there.

I have a wee Halloween tree that you can decorate with tiny vampires, ghosts, etc that my sister gave me for my birthday. What makes it really funny is that I wass born in August. ;)

Assorted knick knacks on the coffee table, and my true love, my jointed paper skeletons are alternately doing the Charleston (front door) and jazz hands (hallway door).

Skeleton windchimes, spider baskets, etc. I so love this season!

Chestnuts roasted by LemonWitch @ 10/05/2006 12:49 AM

Alright, new game. It’s dumb fun, but very dumb fun. If that makes any sense. Trust me you’ll want to buy all of the products featured it in. And, no sadly it’s not Target, it’s Kmart.

http://games.mvm.com/halloween/index.php?sid=V02

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 10/05/2006 2:07 AM

shrunken heads, much more manly.

i’ll toke to that

Chestnuts roasted by drbong @ 10/05/2006 2:12 AM

I played as the demonic Jester, and cursed only the controls. Digital control in an isometric 3/4 game, the bain of my gaming existance. Which is why it’s surprising that back in the day, Solstice and Equinox were two of my favorite games. My kingdom for an Equinox ROM. I’m sure they’re out there, I just have looked.

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 10/05/2006 2:13 AM

When I think about shrunken heads, I automatically think of the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not mueseums.

Chestnuts roasted by Review the World @ 10/05/2006 2:15 AM

Actually, WAL-MART has some surprisingly good shrunken head busts this year. They are supposed to be the hanging/floating monster things but their capes are kinda crappy so I got rid of them and kept the busts.
I will have to post some pics of the Halloween classroom…

Chestnuts roasted by The Manimal @ 10/05/2006 6:29 AM

Yeah we aren’t really so much decorated for Halloween as we are for Fall. Leaves, pumpkins, gourds, corn, that kinds shit. Another unfortunate thing about having to live at home, but sadly I just can’t make it on my own because my company is fucking cheap as shit and I don’t make enough to live on. They’ve already informed me their plan for the Holiday season is not to hire help for the administrative tasks, but to have me work more weekends, evenings, and overtime. Unbeknownst to them, my plan for the Holiday Season is to find a new fucking job.

My mother used to decorate the outside of our house with a jumbo spiderweb made out of yarn with a big inflatable spider in the middle. She hasn’t done it in forever, claiming there isn’t enough time. I proclaim one might mysteriously materialize within the next week or two.

Chestnuts roasted by Mystie @ 10/05/2006 7:34 AM

Sadly i gotta say i’ve never been a shrunken heads kinda guy. I stop when i see in em in the isle, i think they look cool, but i just can’t imagine the use i’d find for sittin em on a table or something. I dunno.

But yeah the house has been HALF decorated since about the 18th Sep. I would have gone all the way but i wanted to leave a lil something left for me to do when it was closer to the vent in October.

But so far i’ve got

Orange plastic tablecloth w/ Clear spiderweb plastic tablecloth over it for, as you guessed it, orange plastic spiderweb tablecloth effect, like the package suggested. (Partycity)

2 Pumpkin carvin kits at the ready. A big one from Kings and a smaller one from Wal-mart.

Porcelain pumpkin candle holder (Hallmark)

1 Pumpkin (for now)

One of those skelton hands that holds a glass candle holder (Wal-mart)

Pumpkin faced tea-tree candles (6) (Wal-mart)

And a collection of Halloween foods i got so far, mainly from Stop n shop, some from Wal-mart, including such usuals as candy corn, that $10 Nestle Ultimate Scream bag, Gummy Body Parts, a pumpkin with popsicles inside, Halloween edition Pringles, Halloween edition M&M’s (coolest packing EVER), Halloween edition Sprite 6 pack (i would have NEVER bought it if it was just standard Sprite, i mean i like sprite, i order it at restaurants, but i’m not much of a soda person at home, either beer or water, trailing off here)

But yeah as you can see i’ve just got the small table decoration type things out at the moment, i’m waiting until the time ‘feels right’ to bust out the 5FT graveyard scene setters (Partycity) the pumpkin garlands (PC) the multiple different ‘Happy Halloween’ banners, the paper plates, cups, napkins and orange plastic knives and forks lol. (I got almost like every different design they had in Partycity) the blacklight bulbs, and oh yeah, window decorations, already got them up.

Anyway big post, just wanted to share my decorating style, would be nice to see if anyone picked up anything similar from those places.

If anyone else has decorated that is lol.

Chestnuts roasted by Dan @ 10/05/2006 7:40 AM

Halloween’s weird in Germany, so my tiny Halloween decor additions aren’t much to be proud of. On the plus side, I’ve got a mannequin dressed up as Jason Voorhees up in my living room year round, so that’s got to count for something.

By the by, when’s the Halloween Art showcase going to be?
-jared

Chestnuts roasted by OhGodtheRats @ 10/05/2006 8:19 AM

No decorations yet here…I tend to not really get into Halloween until the week of the actual event…

Chestnuts roasted by Cameron T. @ 10/05/2006 8:31 AM

I live in TX so we dont really get a fall season here…I used to live in TN where all the trees turned awesome fall colors, and dead leaves coated the ground. I remember crunching my way from house to house on Halloween night as a kid…good stuff. It really added to the ambiance.

Anyway, here in TX the trees just go from green to bare/dead…so it just doesnt ‘feel’ like Halloween when the time comes around. Ive always decked my house out with cool, scary shit (I’m the kind who remembers Halloween as SCARY, not ‘spooky’, and still treat it as such). The more fake rotting corpses I can have partially crawling out of the ground the better. I try to go all-out…fog, lighting FX, etc. If I see a family and their kids shy away from my lawn, I know Ive done my job right.

However, the sight of those multicolored leaves falling from the trees, blowing around in the wind, crunching under my feet and getting stuck all over my costume is just one of those things that MAKES Halloween, so no matter how many dead guys I throw in the yard, its just not the same.

Chestnuts roasted by Romus_Z @ 10/05/2006 8:33 AM

I sadly admit that the site is more decorated than our apartment, but now that it’s October, maybe I’ll be inspired the let the neighborhood know that I worship Satan.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 10/05/2006 9:38 AM

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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.