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Happy Halloween From The Darkside!


Happy Halloween! This year's Halloween Countdown ends, oddly, with a review of my favorite episode of Tales From The Darkside. Such a great show, and it gave me just the kind of last-minute spirit zapping I needed. I know most people did their big costume/haunting things this past weekend, but tomorrow is Halloween Propa. Do your best to enjoy it, however you can.


I really didn't want the season to slip by without getting to write about these, because they're great. Let me sum it up quick: Cars, in horror shells, fun times. Don't think that'll due, so, expansion: Remember those Matchbox Christmas Coal Cars I wrote about ten years ago? Same idea here. Regardless of whether your costume-wearing widdle-wons have been naughty or nice, they, and I and you will all revel in the glories of horror-shelled mystery Matchbox cars. Each plastic case splits open to reveal a toy car that is sadly not at all Halloweeny, but it's the cases that count, and these are great cases. Not sure which I like better, but it doesn't matter much; they're both mine.

They're coming to take me away, ha ha.

Posted by Matt on 10/31/2006. E-mail me!



Discussion Thread: 118 comments

The Tales from the Darkside episode that was burned into my brain was the “Black Widow” family who were eating Bible & encyclopedia salesmen. The story centered around their daughter who had no idea what was going on and was in the process of getting married to some hapless schmoe. On their wedding night, she transformed into a giant spider and eats him. The web is made out of clothesline with all sorts of cloths attached with clothepins. I loved that show.

Chestnuts roasted by Cerebulon @ 10/31/2006 5:23 AM

One minute your worrying if you are celebrating Halloween too early the next minute your dissapointed it’s all over.

Chestnuts roasted by Goob @ 10/31/2006 6:02 AM

Enjoy this, our last day n’ night dedicated to devils, death and doom.
Jingle bells on elves, sugarplums on thumbs and carols sung till lips are numb do loom!

Chestnuts roasted by PerfectPrice @ 10/31/2006 6:56 AM

Happy Halloween, you chaps. Over here it’s been and gone, and I rather pathetically didn’t even notice. One TV station made a bit of effort over the weekend, going so far as to prepare a lineup they dubbed ‘Splatterday’. It turned out to be Fear Factor, Sleepy Hollow, and Halloween Resurrection, but it’s the thought that counts, right?

I heart the Creepy Car boxart. That skeleton’s pissing himself at the sheer novelty value of a car ‘inside’ a pumpkin.

Chestnuts roasted by onslaught86 @ 10/31/2006 7:31 AM

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
It’s kind of sad to see another Halloween Countdown all over (it was great, of course). Have a good one everybody (and its still too early to be thinking of Christmas but it is sneaking right up on us…)

Chestnuts roasted by Jon @ 10/31/2006 8:20 AM

did anyone notice the credits with George Romero? Talk about an early work of brilliancE!

Chestnuts roasted by gracie @ 10/31/2006 8:54 AM

Happy Halloween!
Thanks for the countdown Matt. :)

Chestnuts roasted by Ralph @ 10/31/2006 9:02 AM

Hooray freaky old cannibal people.

All this talk about FFXII is making me a little bitter. Because Neverwinter Nights II is being released today, but since the magic smoke came out of my 3D card several weeks ago and I am stricken by college-induced poverty, I can’t play it. And this time around, the story was written by the same guy who wrote Planescape: Torment. So it’s as though my favorite writer just came out with a new book, only he won’t let me read it until I pay him three hundred bucks. That bastard.

Oh, well. Perhaps it’s fate. Not having a computer capable of playing modern games might just be the edge I need to break the 40,000 word barrier next month. November is National Novel Writers Month, kids, so fire up those typewriters and give the world some new stories. Until then, happy Halloween.

Chestnuts roasted by Jedoc @ 10/31/2006 10:22 AM

Hi Matt,

I haven’t been here in eons, but I was thinking of you today since I know how much you lurve Halloween. And I wanted to stop by and wish you a very happy, gory, candy-filled one. God, I wish I had time for this site these days! But I’m always thinking of you this time of year and I wanted you to know. :)

Take care,
The Nicole for Whom You Saved Christmas

Chestnuts roasted by Nicole @ 10/31/2006 10:40 AM

As if it hasnt been said enough, HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I love this holiday, it just brings out old fun memories as a kid, and really has a certain energy in the air, doesnt matter how old I get. Big thanks for keeping up the countdown, it always gives me a good laugh when I come into work, and thats something I really need to make the day go by. :) That and Im an 80s kid so I know what its all about :) Whats your costume this year?? Im going as Boxy Brown from ATHF. XD

Chestnuts roasted by Romus @ 10/31/2006 10:50 AM

So I actually did play it last night. Then I got 2 hours of sleep before my 8am class. Good times. It plays almost like XI, which is cool, cause I really liked XI during my 3 month online stint with it. The cities feel bigger and beautiful though (or at least the first one, anyway). I just had a blast running around that city. You can’t invert the camera control, so I’m still adjusting. It’ll be alright.

On a related note, the special edition guide has random covers for all the playable characters. I didn’t even think about praying/hoping/making human sacrafices at the time, but I got Penelo anyway!!! I already love her. That shouldn’t be surprising given my Rikku and Selphie fandom. Anyway, enough about XII.

Happy Halloween, everyone!!!!! :D

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 10/31/2006 10:52 AM

Matt, I just wanted you to know how much I’ve enjoyed your site for years, although I’ve never commented. I’m sitting here at work, the only damned person in a costume among hundreds, reading the final entry on the countdown and feeling much better!

I know it’s been hard for you to find time for the site lately, and I want you to know for every person that tells you how much they love it, there are thousands of us out there reading and enjoying that never say a word. And if you don’t post something every day, it just makes the days you do post even better gems. Don’t feel badly because the Jones soda bottle is half empty. We’re all glad it’s half full.

Thanks for another great countdown, and Happy Halloween!

Chestnuts roasted by Lara @ 10/31/2006 10:58 AM

Kudos to Matt and his Hallowe’en haven known as XE. I’ve spread the love many times before, and I am gonna do it again- Thank you Matt for all that you do. Your site is the best on the net, and is so, so appreciated. Make sure it keeps making YOU happy too- don’t let it be a chore and don’t listen to the morons who give you a hard time. You fill my heart with the good stuff of the holidays. :)

Today I was driving around listening to my local radio station, and they have been playing audio clips of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” all morning. Excellent.

Chestnuts roasted by Muppet Baby @ 10/31/2006 10:59 AM

I’ve never posted before either, like Lara, but I’ve been on the site religiously for the past two months, and plan on keeping it part of my daily routine well into the future. Matt, I’ve seen the sites doing the same stuff as you and there’s a reason I only read yours.

I remember being haunted for years by an episode of Monsters called Holly’s House. It was about a creepy freakin’ doll that hosted a kids show. If I remember correctly, the part that really got me was when the doll cuts out the heart of “Mr. Mailman” with a pair of scissors and stashes him in a closet on the set. That and the commercial for Ghoulies messed me up for years…

Chestnuts roasted by Jason @ 10/31/2006 12:03 PM

Happy Halloween

As much as I’ve been ready for Halloween to come and go by now so I can’t start getting into Christmas, it feels awesome that it is Halloween.

Great Countdown Matt

thank you, now please, have a fun sized Snickers, eat some Pop Rocks, and turn on a horror movie, you deserve it

Chestnuts roasted by Fox @ 10/31/2006 12:16 PM

I absolutely love this site and I’m always sad when the Halloween season and Halloween countdown comes to an end.

I wanted to ask a few people about Trick or Treat. I have noticed Trick or Treat starts around 5:30PM in my area (Ohio) in the last few years.

I remember when I was a kid, Trick or Treat would start after 7:00 PM in the DARK. That’s what Trick or Treat is all about…getting scared and going in the DARK. Now it is still light out when kids are going out and it makes me sad that they will not have the same spooky experience as I had as a kid.

Are other areas where you all live still doing Trick or Treat later in the evenings? I’d love to know.

Take care and thanks again for another great Halloween year Matt.

Chestnuts roasted by Todd @ 10/31/2006 12:30 PM

Did anyone watch How I Met Your Mother last night? It was the slutty pumpkin episode, a total rip (or is it omage?) of The great Pumpkin. Of course, once again, noone I was with had ever seen The great Pumpkin Charlie Brown so had no clue and I had to explain it (again). *sigh* the younger generation just isnt watching charlie brown anymore from what I gather (im like three or four years older than my friends – a bigger gap than Id like to admit)…

Anyhoo noo parties for me but I am surfing the web while wearing bunny ears (!) and will watch the Winnie the Pooh Halloween movie with my daughter later. So that should be fun… and will most likely break out Castlevania: SOTN as is the Halloween tradition.

My FFXII is scheduled to arrive Friday.. so it will be like a mini Christmas then. Hooray!!

Chestnuts roasted by kittygirl @ 10/31/2006 1:44 PM

Happy Flippin’ Halloween everyone!
Thanks for the article on Tales From The Darkside. I love watching that show because it always stars some middle of the road star from the eighties. Like that the kid who played Evil in “Fright Night” or Christian Slayter when he was a 13.

Chestnuts roasted by Billy @ 10/31/2006 2:07 PM

SOTN: Second best Castlevania. For me anyway, Simon’s Quest will always rule the roost (Hey, what ever happened to Nighttrekker 0_o ?).

In fact, that’s my answer to the earlier survey about what costumes have you always wanted to pull off. I remember pouring over Oriental Trader magazines to find stuff that was close enough to the 5 pieces of Drac.

All I needed was the ribcage of one of those very solid skeletons you hang in trees. Perfect shield, and I just never bought one.

Also, before I die I wanna be Constantine. I was so close last year. I have EVERYTHING (including Robitussen DM) but the inkjet temp. tattoo paper. I forgot to order it. I’ll get it eventually, cause I have what has to be the only jpeg of the Perfect Red King on the internet. Who knew the Sulfur of the Philosophers was so scarce. :D

What a horrible night to have a curse

Chestnuts roasted by K- @ 10/31/2006 2:15 PM

And thus, it is upon us again. Time to apply outer shells of cloth, latex, greasepaint, plastic, cardboard, and tinfoil. Time for Jack O’Lanterns, peanut butter kisses, and counting slutty costumes. Here in Anadarko, Oklahoma, the fun starts at 5:00, which means, as usual, I have to pop out of work early to make sure the homeplace is set up all proper-like. The new H*R Hallowe’en cartoon is up, I got Great Pumpkin on tape, Night of the Living Dead on DVD, Manheim Steamroller on CD, a song in my heart, and the Devil in my pants. And I haven’t reached critical mass yet! Ohboyohboyohboyohboy!!! I’m going to take kids out for a bit tonight, with Army Sister’s youngest boy (11 years) in the Pizza Fred costume. Always dress up when you take the kids out, sometimes you get candy just for making the effort. Wheeeee!

Chestnuts roasted by It's the Barking Pumpkin, Kingy Klash! @ 10/31/2006 2:16 PM

CEREBULUM: If you were freaked out by that episode, you should check out the “Monsters” episode “A Bond of Silk.” I am still terriefied by that one 16 years later. It’s on Youtube.

Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 10/31/2006 2:27 PM

Mark Borchardt and Mike Schank of American Movie fame are hosting Night Of The Living Dead tonight! Live from Wisconsin! 8:00 p.m. Eastern on G4 yesssssss

Chestnuts roasted by Jawesome @ 10/31/2006 2:38 PM

Right now, Elvira is hosting the ‘E True Hollywood Story’ of Scream Queens- it’s pretty good, actually. They just finished up Sissy Spacek and Jamie Lee Curtis, and next up is Mrs. Vorhees.

Yeah, kids are trick or treating WAY too early lately. We used to make mom wait until it was DARK outside, to make it all the more fun. My mom would park at one end of the street, we would do the entire road, and she would pick us up at the other end. Sometimes, we were pretty freaked out and quite glad to see mom’s car!

Chestnuts roasted by Muppet Baby @ 10/31/2006 2:56 PM

Just want to echo everyone else’s sentiments here. Happy Halloween! Thanks for the fun ride, Matt. Another awesome Halloween Countdown. Can’t wait till next year!

Chestnuts roasted by Chris Martin @ 10/31/2006 3:14 PM

Happy ‘Ween all!

Chestnuts roasted by Mara @ 10/31/2006 3:41 PM

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 31st, 2006 at 1:05 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.