The X-Entertainment Blog!

10/17/2007: Creepy Compensation.

As you’ve grown tired of reading about by now, I haven’t felt much Halloween spirit this season. Tried to beat the pissy out of my hizzy Sunday afternoon by going to a bunch of stores that I haven’t already scoured forty times since late August.

Aside from the usual run of department stores and pharmacies was Spirit, a Halloween store that I’ve only normally witnessed as a temporary resident in local malls. This year, they upgraded by taking over a long closed Toys ‘R’ Us on the other side of town. In the photo above, look close and you’ll notice the familiar TRU rainbow pattern. Well, I guess that’s not too familiar. This particular TRU was not fond of remodeling to franchise specifications. TRU stores haven’t had the bricky rainbows since the 1930s.

Spirit only utilized around an eighth of the store’s available space, using crude curtains to block off the rest. This sucked the punch out of my original notion: “A Halloween store the size of a Toys ‘R’ Us! Wow!” Still, it was ten times bigger than any of the mall stores, and they put the extra real estate to good use with at least 45 aisles worth of Shrek costumes in different sizes.

Halloween stores are generally very expensive considering the quality of the goods sold, and this was no different. Skull-themed squeeze balls that reveal fake blood and rubber maggots inside the eye sockets are a perennial favorite, but we shouldn’t be paying six bucks for them. We shouldn’t, but we do, because tis the season for being frighteningly frivolous. I didn’t come home empty handed, but at press time, I’m only willing to share a few of the purchased items with the general public…

A few of Spirit’s displays were dedicated to clearance items, where the thrifty have a chance to buy all of the Halloween stuff nobody else loves at discount prices. I was thrilled to find the neon pumpkin light above, which despite looking like something from a 1986 Spencer’s store, was actually only produced a few years ago. Originally retailing for 19.99, the clearance price was 6.97. I’m not sure if I would’ve bought it if it was 6.99. There’s something about that “97″ that always gets me.

There were other, cooler Halloween styles available, but I picked the pumpkin because it was the only one with a working “Try Me” demo button. I’ve been burned too many times on non- or mal- or some other three-letter-prefix-with-a-hyphen functioning clearance electronics, and really, there’s no point in owning a neon light if it doesn’t help your living room look at least a little bit like that shitty store Tootie built after Mrs. Garrett’s bakery burned down.

The batteries were included, and the end result is quite nice. I have the option of leaving the pumpkin on with a consistent glow, or if I’m feeling saucy, I can have him flash on and off until he drives everyone within sight distance into epileptic fits. My neon pumpkin also makes a perfect centerpiece for my Halloween Mood Tableâ„¢, as it’s capable of giving off light without running any special risk of burning the apartment down. My hand-shaped five-wicked candle cannot say the same. On the flip side, the neon pumpkin light is totally at a loss when it comes to dripping wax that looks like human blood. Perhaps, if they work in tandem, the world will be theirs.

I think this is the first piece of real neon lighting that I’ve ever owned, which is somewhat cathartic considering the amount of time I spent pining for such lighting as a child. Back then, even small lights like this were preclusively expensive, and the only way I could grab one was by blowing one of my “big” birthday or Christmas gift wishes. I wanted a neon light, but not that much. Now that I have this, I can move forward with completing the second biggest treasure hunt of my childhood: That choking hazard poster with the mitt-handed blue guy.

And then, somehow, I let myself buy the two cheap slime toys seen above, which were ludicrously priced at 2.99 each. All told, they cost me almost as much as the pumpkin light! Each toy consists of a plastic coffin, filled with a stretchy, rubbery monster figure who lives in a soup of cold, brightly colored toy slime. It’s the weirdest toy slime ever, too. Consistency-wise, it’s sort of like that smelly shit we used to squeeze out of those little tin tubes to blow noxious bubbles with using a tiny straw. I worded that last sentence poorly, but hopefully someone knows what I’m referring to. The toy slime feels just like that stuff, and it’s nowhere near liquidy enough to drip on any unsuspecting action figures who’ve gotten on my bad side. On the other hand, I was always warned not to touch dry ice, so I didn’t, but I’m pretty sure that this is what it would feel like, and it’s good to finally know! MOVING ON.

“Hot Spiced Cider” might sound a little Christmassy, but there are recipes for it in virtually every last one of my 5,000 Halloween craft/recipe magazines. I’m not really a fan of drinking alcohol for the flavor of it all, but rum seemed like it’d get completely lost in a sea of hot cider, and that’s right up my alley. Problem is, it’s been like 200 degrees out all month long. You can’t really drink hot cider when you’re already hot. Then you’re dealing with “double hot,” a term that could only be construed as positive if it was mouthed by some jackoff character in a Kevin Smith movie in relation to the ass of a nearby woman. So, I hungs a left on 2-1 and Lewis, and ended up with the next best thing: Cold Spiced Cider.

All you need is some store-bought apple cider and a nice bottle of Captain Morgan’s spiced rum. Technically, what I bought from the store isn’t true apple cider, but rather just the usual pasteurized apple juice under a more seasonal label. I don’t care; it says “cider” and that’s good enough for me. The official recipe calls for ten ounces of cider and two ounces of rum, but that’s a bit of a hard sell. You’d have to drink a gallon of cider before you felt anything approaching tingly. I went a little closer to 3.5 ounces of rum for every 10 ounces of cider, and by my third glass, most of what was on TV seemed a lot funnier. So did my sneakers.

I added a dash of cinnamon, along with a cinnamon stick from a jar that was very likely older than I am. I choose to believe that cinnamon sticks are incapable of going bad, and that there’s nothing wrong with stirring my drinks with a foodstuff that saw Carter in office. Despite my bravado, I abhor the taste of liquor, and the added cinnamon masks it well enough. I’d look up cinnamon on Wikipedia to try to come up with some metaphysical plusses in adding it, but the truth is, it’s just fun to dash cinnamon on stuff and pretend you’re some expert gourmand.

And speaking of haute cuisine, Ring Pop has unveiled their new Halloween flavor: Screaming Berry! It sort of tastes like blueberries, but the most amazing thing is that the black portions of the black & orange striped candies are actually black, and not that deep purple that so many candy companies try to pass off as black. I can’t believe that this hasn’t been heralded as a bigger breakthrough, but I suppose the people who give a shit about candy being black are a fairly silent minority.

The only downside is that truly black candy isn’t translucent, thereby robbing us of the usual joy of watching that little plastic “knob” attached to the plastic ring become ever more visible as we suck and suck and suck. But, since I only came up with that gripe so my Ring Pop review could be more than a single paragraph, I’m not sure if it should really count.

I feel like it’s been a year since I wrote words and shared them with people, so I apologize if there were any typos or other weirdnesses in the above. It’s all about baby steps. Tonight, writing. Tomorrow, proofreading. And the next day, a good excuse for why I won’t do either again for another two weeks.

I can’t believe you’re not feeling the Halloween season. Maybe I’m feeling it a bit more because I’m building a haunted house on my front lawn with my neighbor.

Rage, you shouldn’t be able to see that. What kind of mutant eyesight do you have?

Matt im working graveyard thats why im still up, Whats your excuse? Dont you work tomorrow?

They used the exact same font as the title screen for Halloween 6: Curse of Michael Myers. How weird.

Timewaster: Eh, I kind of feel it. I feel it like a normal person would, I guess. I’m just used to tossing everything else in life aside so I can do nothing but feel it. However, I’ve been improving ever since getting the best pumpkin ever, which I will write about tomorrow even if you think I mean three weeks by “tomorrow.”

And I didn’t read that last part about proofreading until after I posted. I had an opportunity to get first post and correct an obvious error! I wasn’t going to pass that up.

By the way, while I have you attention, I’d like to ask where you bought that skull with the microphone you posted a few weeks back? You may have already answered, but I missed it if you did.

mjgrass: Office day was today. Tomorrow is a freelance day. Means I can wake up at 2 PM and then tell everyone I had a family emergency in the morning.

We have that Spirit store here in Omaha NE as well, but we went to Nobbies instead. I got a nice skinless fake leg for about 15 bucks. Its gonna be my date to a halloween party.

And don’t worry, I’m feeling a little Halloween fatigued as well. This happened last year– mid-October and I’m ready for Christmas. They need to stop beating around the bush and move Halloween to September 30th and Christmas to November 25th. I’m joking, of course, but these holidays have a one month, maybe one-and-a-half month shelf life at best, and when there’s something wrong with the world when you’re sick of pumpkins by October 17th.

I’ve found that the old William Castle “gimmick” movies have been very successful in getting me in a Halloween mood. That it has just rained for four days straight probably helped too, though.

my kids get me in the Spirit,I get to live vicariously through their excitement of everything.

I’m totally feeling the Halloween spirit - mostly because I’m making an effort to be so happy about it. My family is usually very subdued, so I’m trying to whip them up into some excitement - so far I’ve covered our entire living room and kitchen with spiderwebs, plastic spiders, Halloween decorations made in 3rd grade, and random bits of costumes. Oh, and a big plastic skeleton :). We don’t get any (ANY) kids, so it’s pretty much just for me. I’m trying to convince friends that they really need to come over and watch cheesy 80s horror movies with me.

And this enthusiasm comes despite the fact that my city has NO Halloween stuff to be found outside Hallmark Cards.

Awesome! Have you seen the Boo Berry / Franken Berry fruit by the foot flavors? I picked some Boo up at Wal-Mart, it’s pretty good.

In hoodoo, cinnamon attracts love, luck and money, and there’s your excuse to put it in everything you drink. Sugar also attracts those things, and rum is made from sugar, and therefore you should put that into everything you drink as well.

I’ve gotten e-mails about those Fruit by the Footsies but I haven’t been able to find them, because the only Wal-Mart within reasonable driving distance is fucking terrible.

I’ve tried the Targets too, but it seems like they’ve maxed out on Halloween. Haven’t seen anything new for a few weeks.

Have you tried Party City lately? They are already discounting some of their Halloween stuff and bringing in the late season items. The one close by has a cute pumpkin serving bowl that plays the Halloween theme (but it’s $20… so, uhm, no). The one further out has a six foot Dracula holding a serving tray that used to be $299 but is down to $69.99. Not sure what to do with a 6 foot Dracula when it’s not Halloween, but then again, what can’t you do with a 6 foot Dracula?

Great article Matt!! Just keep trying. You obviously have a large support group here to get you through this difficult time. Lean on us buddy, we’re here for you. How else can you explain all of us still being here? Showing up day after day?

I live in Japan and went the US for a few weeks in September and went to one of these fine establishments. While browsing the wares, I saw a Viking Helm that was really metal. The horns were plastic but I did not care. I paid the $30 and packed it into my checked luggage. Customs was interesting on the flight back, but i did not care.

Damn, the only neon light that I have is a martini glass that came damn near to burning my apartment down. Last night was the first Halloweenish night I’ve had this year. A 12 pack of Octoberfest and watched Slaughter High with a bunch of friends.

I’m pretty sure those smelly bubble things that you blow up with the tiny straw took years off my life as a child. In this day and age when you can’t even let a kid play with a little lead paint, we were putting this toxic stuff to our lips and blowing bubbles that smelled like nail polish remover. I was absolutely in love with those things as a kid and it probably had more to do with getting high off the fumes than it did with the crappy little bubble they produced!

Longtime lurker! The fact that I live a few blocks away from that Spirit store inspired me to make my first post. I gotta agree with Matt…I’m just not feeling Halloweeny. It’s frickin’ 75 degrees. The grocery store cleared out most of the Halloween stuff a couple of weeks ago and replaced it with Christmas crap. And my coolest Halloween decoration, a huge REAL spider that built the world’s biggest web next to my front door, disappeared. Sad.

that was wonderful! i loved seeing something new and great!! for some reason i am very much in the halloween spirit this year- i think because my job’s so boring i have a lot of time on my hands to think about ghosts and cats dressed like pirates.

but anyway- thanks for a great post Matt! as they said in grade school- keep up the good work!

I loves me some apple cider, but I hate how stores always lie about it. I have never seem a store which does not sell apple juice labeled as cider, come October. Then they jack-up the price for the season. Sorry to say it, but that is juice, not cider.

Due to a terrible cold, I took a hiatus from the Halloween spirit over the last week. But I’m better and just in time.

Here’s some Halloween Programming to motivate the spirit:
-Tonight there’s a new Ghost Hunters on Sci-Fi Channel
-Friday starts the “13 Nights of Halloween” on both Sci-Fi and ABC Family. Sci-Fi kicks it off with an 8.5 hour marathon of Tales from the Darkside!
-Monday starts AMC’s Monsterfest!

Looking forward to the pumpkin review. Getting my pumpkins is the only thing that kicked started my feeling too. Still got a way to go but getting there.

I was unimpressed with my Spirit superstore, but only because I’m just not feeling the Halloween. The secret to enjoying Halloween again is to have kids? Nooo thanks.
I *am* going to Monster Golf this weekend though, so perhaps that will put me in the spirit.
mjgrass - I freelance too; every day can be freelance day when you’re a writer.

Matt…I think you should put these blog entries in the Halloween countdown. I have really enjoyed them and I think they are worthy of the Halloween countdown and it will add more entries to the Halloween countdown for 2007.

I missed you, Matt!:( But I’m glad you’re back. It was a great article that filled my little halloween lacking heart with halloween filling joy.

As an interesting side note..I’m getting married on Halloween!:) So every time you write a new article or blog entry I get super more psyched about Halloween and the wedding:)

Can hardly wait for my first booze-infused warm cider of the year. I use whiskey instead of rum, but if you hate the taste of alcohol then you may be better to stick with rum… Did I mention I can hardly wait to get conked on hollowed-out coconut after hollowed-out coconut of whiskey-cider drinks?

mjgrass:
Ouch I hate to down a Halloween themed item but I’ve found that I can’t stand Booberry or Frankenberry. Count Chocula is only passable. Don’t get me wrong I love all that they stand for but the taste is now “Bleh”. I blame it on the fact they changed the cereal sometime ago and it no longer tastes (at all) like I remember it. In fact if you want to taste what Count Chocula used to taste like get a box of the Chocolate lucky Charms. Its not exact but it comes closer that the Count. It even turns the milk into Chocolate milk.

Boo Berry is my favorite cereal ever with Count Chocula being my least fav of the 3. I picked up the Fruit by the Foots a couple of weeks ago at Wal Mart, the Boo Berry, again, was my favorite over Franken Berry.

I’m not much into the Halloween mood either, there must me something in the air. I am really looking forward to Christmas.

The ring pops look awesomely delicious! Sucks you can’t see the little nub peeking through as it shrinks, of course I didn’t know anybody else cared.

Mandi:
I got married on Halloween a few years ago! I put a mask and a tulle bag of candy corn at each seat. Pumpkins and a skeleton bride and groom were at the entrance to the ballroom. I made the seating chart out of one of those decorative tombstones. It was so much fun! But…within 6 months of my wedding, 3 of my guests died and 3 couples got divorced. Maybe the tombstone was a jinx.

Congrats on your upcoming wedding, Mandi!
Great update, Matt. I was watching an old How It’s Made yesterday and they mentioned that October is apple harvest time and that most juice/cider is made now. And Alton Brown is always trying to convince me that spices are practically as perishable as milk, but I choose to disregard it.
Nizz, are you even allowed to put anything besides rum in a hollowed-out coconut? Color me surprised

Hee, Jon Stewart just compared Fred Thompson to Frankenberry. “The Senator from the great state of deliciousness yields the floor…to Booberry.”

Sounds like fun…except for the after part :S My fiance is going to dress up like a zombie groom..I’m undecided if I am going to dress up as anything crazy. But what we are going to do is before the service (it’s a civil service..not a church wedding) I’m going to run up and say something that’s obviously not true like..due to a terrible case of untreatable polio..Adam couldn’t make it today..but we do have someone to stand in for him. And bring out zombie groom..he’ll then reach for my head and say “braaaaaaains” and I’ll slap his hand down and say “Man..where did they dig this guy up from?”

Thanks..though I’m extremely nervous:S We just got our marriage license yesterday

Huzzah, another awesome post! I agree that this should be part of the countdown.

Did you hear that Stephen Colbert announced his Candidacy for President? (or at least for “Favorite Son” of South Carolina) I think Alton Brown would make a a great VP. I think the pairing of them would make them unstoppable.

There’s a Spirit store near me, but in my case it took refuge in a closed-down Tower Records. Hell, it even covered the actual sign that was never taken down. It managed to take up the whole store, too.

There are a couple Spirit stores by* my house and they’re all over priced. I dropped $30 for a Robin Hood hat, mainly because of the relative high quality and the joke about my last name. (You’ll have to use your imagination ;D)

OH! I saw a girl on campus walking around with one of those ring pops!! I was a little too shocked to do anything but stare like a psycho as several questions went through my mind: Is that a ring pop? Is that an orange and black ring pop? She actually is wearing the ring and not using it as a pacifier? Why is an 18-2X year old sucking a ring pop and why do I not care? Where can I get one of those? Where can I get a bag of those?

Woooo! Im gonna go to the spirit store by me today i think. Actually, I have a problem with the smell of latex…its burns my nose and throat to no end. So i may not go. I went to Spencers the other day, and the smell of rubber caused my throat to close up and get dizzy.

Matt: When did your aversion to liquor start? It seems like everytime you do a vacation/trip article, half of it is what you did to get drunk that day.

I totally remember that bubble/straw thing you talked about. Do they still make it? It’s probably just sold in dollar stores and flea markets now.

I totally can not taste a difference between apple juice and cider. Could be I’ve never had real cider, just juice labeled as cider.

We actually browsed the various Halloween shops not too long ago. Kinda dissapointed me, as they we’re nothing more than costume shops with a few props thrown in (nothing neon or slime toys). Heck, the costumes themselves we’re kinda uninspiring, with nothing really standing out (unless you count the pig mask from the last SAW film and the clown from the 1,000 Corpses/Devil’s Rejects as interesting).

Heck, the best Halloween things I’ve seen this year aren’t even in specialty shops, but in hardware stores/craft stores/party stores.

Ah, glad to see Matt back in action! It looks like Halloween is back on track for us on X-E. And now, here’s something to get everyone in the Halloween mood: Dracula vs. Chuck Norris!!!! Rather than put a stake through Dracula’s heart, C.N. would use his fist. All you X-E-ers feel free to come up with your own ideas for this. In fact, let’s make it a survey: Dracula vs. Chuck Norris: who would win?

If it’s clear and yella, you’ve got juice there, fella! If it’s tangy and brown, you’re in cider town!

I actually worked at a spirit halloween store last year.
And just like the one in your article, we took over a closed store as well. im not sure what it used to be, but all I know is that it had been closed for atleast 5 years and they hadnt managed to upkeep it since. Man that place was a shithole. but we made it look relativly nice.
It was an ok experience i guess. Not as cool as I thought it would be considering im in love with the holiday. there really wasnt anything to do, so I usually volunteered for dressing room duty where i could talk to people and make the time go by.
The only thing that really sucked though were the things that made noise when you walked by them or push a button. everyone had to try, and after hearing the same gimmicky sound for a month it gets quite old.
I remember there was this talking skull that when you pushed a button it sang a blues song about how it had “no body” (get it?!). I swear after hearing that thin every 10 seconds all day i was ready to shoot myself. I felt like Paul rudd in the 40 year old virgin, having to listen to that same Michael Mcdonald DVD everyday for 3 years.

This is the skull singing the last 10 seconds of his song. Play that straight for a month and youl feel how I felt. Ahh.. good memories.

So awesome to wake up to a new article, it’s a Halloween miracle i tell ya! Thanks for the fun read Matt!

On A side note, I dont really trust most online reviews, so i figure id ask all you folks, Is Kingdom Hearts 2 worth picking up? I started playing KH: Chain Of Memories for GBA this past weekend and now im looking for more. Any suggestions? (Im looking at you Kneg.!)
Also, if any of you out there are fans of She Wants Revenge, I suggest you pick up the new album This Is Forever, Great, Highly Dancable, And Fun as all get out.

Wenthral: That’s how I feel about Cookie Crisp. I bought a box about two months ago thinking I could relive Saturday mornings with my dad. They tasted absolutely HORRIBLE! Like cardboard! It broke my heart.

I was never allowed to eat the “monster cereals” when I was a kid. It was always Lucky Charms or Rice Krispies and stuff. I’d never eaten Count Chocula until about two years ago. I’m addicted to the stuff now. I’ve had three boxes since Halloween season began. I think it’s time for another box…

Mandi and anniemagus: I’d like to hear more about your weddings! The fiance and I recently changed our minds from a spring wedding to a fall wedding and, since Halloween is our favorite holiday, I’m kind of wondering if we could pull that off. Anniemagus, did many people show up to your wedding? I’m worried all my friends will feel cheated out of their holiday.

I wasn’t really feeling it either but today I picked up The Monster Squad at Best Buy during lunch. My feeling of “it” has decidedly increased.

Monster Squad! We just had a film festival where they showed it on 35mm and had two kids from the movies there signing stuff.

This has probably already been hashed over a billion times by people who know a lot more about you than myself, but I want to chime in with my 2Â¢. I’ve followed your Halloween countdowns for the last couple of years, and I’ve been thinking about your unfortunate bout of Halloween ennui. I think it has a lot to do with X-E itself.

Last year I promised people on my site that I’d do a Halloween themed article every day of October, and that the whole month of October would be all about spooky shit, and it would be great (by the way, just so we’re on the same page, I totally stole the whole idea of a Halloween themed month from you; I just like to give credit where its due). But when it came time to do it, I kept trying to compete with the previous articles I’d written, and I just couldn’t keep it up. I was getting sick of writing this shit just to fill space, and it began to feel really dishonest.

I started the TV show and the website with a very simple philosophy that has worked well for us: “don’t bullshit the audience.” But I found myself writing a lot of filler that I eventually ended up scrapping. Instead of publishing sub-par work, I ended wasting a lot of time typing utter shit and then publishing nothing at all. Our first article didn’t get published until Oct. 10th, and I didn’t even write that one. It became harder to get the energy and to care about what I was doing, and, although I didn’t realize it at the time, it was entirely my fault.

My point is, I think its possible that you’ve done exactly what I did: taken something you loved and accidentally turned it into a chore. And I was just competing with stuff I’d written earlier that month. You’re competing with five or six years of well written, widely loved material. Whether you think about it consciously or not, that’s a lot of pressure. And when you add on top of that all the normal shit that life can throw at a person your age - demands of work, relationships, family, and the need for some time to yourself - it gets to be tiresome. I don’t blame you for losing the Halloween spirit. I was in the same boat last year. Your intentions were good (posting interesting original content based on often unusual or long-forgotten Halloween material that would appeal to your readers), but the result is that the whole thing becomes more like a job and less like a labor of love.

I don’t want to come off as an ass-kisser, but I think this year’s X-E countdown has been great. You haven’t posted anything dishonest (at least, nothing that sounds dishonest) and, although the entries haven’t been as frequent as we’re used to, they’ve been more than worthy of sinking one’s teeth into. So you take a week or two off this year. You keep us entertained and informed all year ’round, man; I think you more than deserve some time off if you want it.

Like I think a lot of others do, I’ve looked to your site and your writing more than a few times as a guide to the way a truly worthwhile website is put together. I consider that to be free advice to me that you didn’t even know you were giving. So I’m going to return the favor with some advice of my own that has worked so well for me that it has made both my writing and my ability to enjoy the things I do ten times greater. And, considering the very apologetic tone of your articles lately, I think this might come in handy. My advice to is, every once in a while, just decide “this one’s for me.” Don’t apologize. Don’t feel like you have to post every day. Don’t feel bad or hesitant to do something that would make a great entry for the site that you will never, ever write about. Just enjoy it and leave us out of it. You need that once in a while. Both you and X-E will be better for it. So we don’t hear about your Optimash Prime (I saw it hiding down there) or the next great eBay caper of yours; we’ll live. Don’t get me wrong, we want to know about the latest and greatest every Halloween season, or about your ability to make those weird Advent calendars somehow seem more interesting than they really are. But don’t ruin your labors of love with promises and deadlines. Take some time off and don’t stress about it. The more relaxed you are and the more fun you’re having, the better your writing and X-E are ultimately going to be.

And, as always, thanks again for all the great work. I’m going to take my soap box and go away now…

Matt. Is that cinnamon in a metal container? Didn’t they stop packaging it that way twenty years ago? Maybe I am just seeing it wrong.
I totally love the neon light. so much that I may try to find one.

Chris: Thanks for the words and sentiments. I’ve trained myself to not feel bad about being a loose webmaster, which was necessary during times when it wasn’t possible. Still, I do feel bad when I tell people to look for something and then not give it to them. :) But you’re right, time to be happy!

kb: Yes, it is…does this mean my powdered cinnamon is almost as old as the sticks? No wonder I feel like an alien today.

Is it really that warm where most of you are? Maybe its just me being a baby california, but 65 degrees is way to f-kicking cold for me. I just cranked out a midterm, and my Halloween spirit came right back.
Cinnamon is the winnamon.

Matt, don’t feel bent out. We appreciate the work you do on the countdowns, regardless of season. I’ve been trying to do it, and have fallen down a lot more for the first year (makes me wonder if I can handle a Christmas one; my friend wants me to join her in drawing a pciture a day). Whatever and whenever you bring to the table is great. Beats reading Hemmingway, like I’m supposed to.

When I got married, none of our friends or relatives had kids under the age of 12, and none of the adults did anything for Halloween other than giving out candy. So our wedding was actually really fun for them! There were over 100 people there. It wasn’t a costume party because we thought that would be a little much, especially for the old fogies. But we played some Halloween music, and all the flowers were orange (roses and Gerbera daisies). I really wanted to give out mini bottles of apple cider as favors, but I gave candles because that’s what my MOTHER wanted. And I wish my bridesmaids had worn black, or black and white. MOTHER thought that was morbid. She’d probably drop dead if she went to a wedding involving a zombie groom! That is such an awesome idea!

All 3 of my kids were born in the fall, and last weekend we threw a huge Halloween themed birthday party for them at the local outdoor carousel. We had a costume contest, and the prizes were Skeleton Pops for the boys and Halloween Ring Pops for the girls. The girls went nuts for those Ring Pops.

I live in New York. It’s almost 80 degrees and the birds are singing. It’s not normal!

Last January, there was an ice storm, and a day later I flew to LA, where it was sunny and 70 degrees. I was rockin’ the sunglasses and t-shirts, but the natives were all bundled up, complaining about how cold it was. It was so weird.

Ok, here’s a off-topic: Which TransFormers DVD is the better deal, Wal-Mart or Target? Target has the transforming box, but Wal-Mart has a extra disc with a bonus video. I’ll probably get the Wally one, mainly because Little Brother will probaly send another girly gift card for my birthday like last year. I used My Little Pony to buy the Transformers: The Movie 20th Anniversary DVD. Kind of a cross-Hasbro purchase.

We were married on Halloween too! (and here I thought we were unique). We had everyone come in costume and the bridal party dressed as the Addams Family. A friend who is a notary performed the ceremony dressed as Uncle Fester, complete with working light bulb.
And on the topic of mother costumes, mine came as a witch and my husband’s came as a mourner…

My fiance and I were on the fence about when we wanted to get married. We knew that we did..absolutely, but we didn’t know when or how. So about 2 weeks ago we were discussing how much we loved Halloween and he said “do you think we could pull off a wedding in a month?”. And being the hard little worker bee I am I said “Of course we can!!” and so we called everyone that’s coming decided what we were wearing and what the theme was. We got a justice of the peace to come in to preform the wedding (we’re having it at dusk..infront of a huge tree that kinda looks like the tree from poltergeist to add in that creepy factor). He’s dressing as a zombie groom and I’m going all retro with a black and white wedding dress, retro hair, retro makeup, retro shoes.

My mom is surprisingly okay with a zombie groom. She’s a cool mom with a mouth like a sailor and a Social Worker by profession…:) She’s cool with anything

His mom is a bit less easy going about things…oh well..Halloween Wedding Mom Death Match!!:)

your wedding trumps mine for sure *shakes tiny fist*. Oh well..there is lots of room for hysterically funny Halloween weddings..as proved by all the cool kids on X-E getting married on Halloween

There’s a few Toys R Us’s in VA with the rainbow brick print! And they’re still open!

That halloween neon is adorable. All you need is a whitish/purplish ghost to go with it/be friends with.

The Halloween Express I went to in Richmond was in a long gone big department store..like Sears or something…but they used the entire damn thing! Granted there was lots of room to run amok, do cartwheels and try on costumes without getting caught.

Mandi - props to you for one of the coolest weddings ever. You should link us to some pictures when it happens! And congratulations!

My brother and his wife got married on Halloween. he assembles professional looking haunted houses for shits and giggles. And builds coffins and guillotines in his basement. I love his house.

I go to Spirit every year; they always take over the nearest abandoned storefront. But this year the selection of the one nearest me was a HUGE dissapointment. Very slim pickings on the costume, and they didn’t even carry the one I was dead set on buying before I went there. I ended up finding it at Target instead.

Maybe some spooky stories or jokes might help out the Halloween spirit, or lack thereof.

A man was walking home alone late one foggy night when, behind him, he hears Bump!…. Bump!…. Bump! He looks back and through the fog he makes out the image of an upright casket banging its way down the street towards him.

Terrified, the man begins to run towards his house, the casket bouncing quickly behind him.. Faster!.. Faster!.. Bump!.. Bump!.. Bump!

The man makes it home and runs inside and slams the door. Boom! The casket crashes through the door with its lid clapping. He frantically rubs up the stairs with the casket right on his heels.

The man runs and hides in the bathroom and crashing through the door is the casket. Desperate, the man reaches for anything to defend himself but can only feel a bottle of NyQuil.

The casket comes even closer, so the man throws the bottle at the casket and all of a sudden……

You aren’t the only one feeling a bit blah this Halloween season. Normally it’s my favorite time of the year, but unemployment coupled with a left eye gone haywire has made this Halloween season less than enjoyable.

Kat, anniemagus and Mandi: You guys are awesome! Now I’ve got all these ideas floating around in my head…

why thank you!:) we thought we were pretty damned cute going for the spooky route for the wedding. My maid of honor (my sister) is wearing black-out contact lenses and dressing up as a vampire. She just confirmed today!:) My fiance wants to ask the justice of the peace to wear a grim reaper’s outfit..to poke fun at the parallels between death and marriage! Haha. I’m okay with that..just as long as the justice doesn’t back out cause she thinks we’re creepy satanists wanting to get married to mock the “sanctity” of marriage and sacrifice tiny animals to our “dark lord” (TM).

well..as of today you have 2 weeks to put together a Halloween wedding. Go go go! You can do it!!!

the last one was obviously me..for some reason I just guess I forgot how to add my name into the nice little boxes conveniently designed to add my name too

Matt:
I too have an aversion to tasting booze. I don’t see the point in drinking stuff that tastes like crap- unless it’s SUPPOSED TO TASTE LIKE CRAP. You know, like Chartreuse.
*drools*
The cider, it sounds nummy. Now that it’s chilling up over here, maybe Cider is in the cards this evening.
Oo- or Mulled MEAD!
F*ckyea.
*dances*

fistpittingnork:
Nice Joke! I’ve never heard that one- I loves me some bad jokes.

A vampire bat came flapping in from the night covered in fresh blood and parked himself on the roof of the
cave to get some sleep. Pretty soon all the other bats
smelled the blood and began hassling him about where he got it.
He told them to knock it off and let him get some sleep but they persisted until finally he gave in.
“OK, follow me,” he said and flew out of the cave with hundreds of bats behind him.
Down through a valley they went, across a river and into a forest full of trees.
Finally he slowed down and all the
other bats excitedly milled around
him.
“Now, do you see that tree over there?” he asked.
“Yes, yes, yes!” the bats all screamed in a frenzy.
“Good,” said the first bat, “Because I DIDN’T!”

Ahhh, novelty lighting…that’s one of my weaknesses. During any given holiday I’m typically grabbing stuff that has fiber optics, a strobe, or is just bizarre and lights up. By the way, during my adventures in novelty lighting I’ve found that I like Glitter lamps over Lava lamps. They make nice watery patterns on the walls.

Just saw this…it may or may not be of interest to F13 fans. Apparently, Jason will kind of be making an appearance on the show ‘Supernatural’.

“Executive producer Eric Kripke confirms that Friday the 13thâ€™s hockey masked wearing killer Jason Vorhees will make an appearance in this season’s tenth episode. Kripe says “We have cleared the rights to actually use Jason. We have a twist on it so it is not really Jason out there, but we found an interesting way to bring him in so Sam and Dean fight Jason from Friday the 13th”.

I too am having problems getting in the halloween spirit. I am starting to blame that damn charlie brown think you talked about. The second I watched the video I found my self feeling christmassy. CHRISTMASSY!

I too am starting to feel christmassy. I mean- I was visiting Kmart Sunday cause their masks were half off, and on once side of their seasonal sections were the racks of costumes- and you had to be careful of backing up cause their CHRISTMAS TREES were already f*cking up.

Now I hate christmas.
But I love christmas trees.
So… I was enamored.
Poking fake pine needles with one hand, and a severed head in a bag squirming away in the other.

“Now that I have this, I can move forward with completing the second biggest treasure hunt of my childhood: That choking hazard poster with the mitt-handed blue guy.”

It’s not that it’s rare for me to giggle out loud while reading XE, but that made me guffaw. That poster scared the crap out of me as a kid - there was something so WRONG with that guy! Of course, now I get that he’s blue because he’s choking, which also explains the horrible rictus-face he had going on, but what about the hands?!

If I ever manage to steal one of those things, as I’ve often plotted to do (if I only had the noive…), it’s all yours.

I think the bubble thing was called Bubbaloons but I could be mistaken. I still love them though!

I too am feeling the Halloween let down. I just can’t seem to get into it no matter how hard I try. My daughter wants to see every monster out there and you would think this would make me giddy but it is annoying me for some reason. I just don’t want to try anymore this year. I think it is because I keep seeing Christmas decorations everywhere I go and it is killing my Halloween lust. Why do they have to friggin’ mess with my holiday schedule? Why can’t they just let me have Halloween and when it is over follow it up with some fall fun or Thanksgiving junk and then when that is done ease me into Christmas? Is that too much to ask? Let me know and love my holidays as individual treats…not some clustered ball o’ whimsy.

I say no to the clustered ball o’ whimsy. Don’t be a cad. Commit to my individual holidays and show them the love they deserve.

Also, I have been the victim of a theft recently and it sucks. I got this really cool business card holder 3 years ago as a gift and it has an engraved plate that says “Thanks Lisa” on it so I keep it at my desk. It has a spinning ball in it that gives you an answer when you ask it a question. I keep it at my desk and everyone loves it. I went to lunch the other day and when I came back it was gone. GONE I SAY!!! A client came in to make a payment and apparently since her name is also Lisa she felt it should be hers. Bitch stole my card holder! I can’t very well call her and accuse her so I have to fester and stew in my anger. I know it was her because I used it before lunch, but there is nothing I can do about it. The really crappy thing about this is that she comes to my office every month to make payments so now I have to look at her and smile despite what I know. I am thinking about making a milk carton and putting a picture of my card holder on the back of it. I will put it where it used to be and maybe one day it will come back to me. Thoughts?

Oooh, I just went to my local Spirit store last night and saw those very slime entrapped monsters. They took over half of an old Eagle (grocery store)though.

Hah, my parents have tons of those metal-container spices in their cupboard. They have been there at least as long as I have been alive. From what I understand, spices don’t go “bad”, but they lose their flavor and potency over time. My solution to that is to buy my spices in the “bulk” section of Whole Foods - you can buy a teaspoon or a giant bag full, and it ends up being a lot cheaper than buying every spice you need in a full-size container. And sometimes they let you have them for free if you get such a tiny amount that the bag won’t register on the scale, hehe.

That said, my housemates and I are planning on carving pumpkins this weekend, and I am making other attempts to feel more Halloweeny, including watching It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and the Garfield Halloween special.

Though it did get a bit warmer here in Southern New Jersey, it’s not quite as horribly hot as a few weeks ago. I’m feeling fairly Halloween-y, especially since I’ve finally decided on my Halloween costume - I am going to be your basic Halloween cat. I just need to see if I can get a pair of decently priced (or slightly too high, but what the heck) cat ears from the “Spirit”-esque Halloween store near the Library in Haddon Township. (Yours took over an old Toys ‘R Us. Ours took over what had previously been a swing-set store. The store isn’t nearly as big as an old toy store and it does use the whole store. I’ve only taken a brief look in there earlier. Now that I have tomorrow off, I’ll do some real shopping.)

I was just reading up on all the Halloween countdowns and I found this bottle of blood entry:

Cool, I have a bottle of blood too. Matt says it’s thicker than what looks in the picture so I just HAD to try it. He is no liar ladies and gentlemen. I took the picture with my iPhone so excuse the quality:

Thanks countdown of yester-year. It does leave a horrible red paint looking stain on you and he didn’t lie about that either.

Matt - Glad to see a new article posted. I think as the temperature’s begin to cool a little more you will probably find yourself more in the Halloween Spirit. Driving home yesterday I noticed a lot of the trees were already changing colors, making me more ready for fall.

Nicely said, Chris. I have to thank you for saying what I’m tempted to say everyday, and what I wish people were saying instead of bitching for the next update. Also, I have to thank you for this choice mental image (from your site): “Mystery Flavor Dum-Dums are what it would taste like if Michelle Rodriguez and Kristanna LÃ¸ken were both made of sugar and had sex on your tongue.”

We’ve got metal spice containers around still too. Now I’m worried about them, I had no idea they were outdated. Should I be throwing them out?

we used to make “apple cider shots” at all of our college parties in the fall.we didn’t put in actual cinnamon though- we’d just dump in some goldschlager along with the rum. that’s probably not a good idea for someone who’s sensetive to hard liquor though.

also, congrats to everyone who’s getting married/ celebrating anniversaries soon! i actually have a wedding the saturday before halloween (its the bride’s favorite holiday)but she’s just having a regular old wedding, nothing scarey or halloween-y. i’m actually kinda bummed about that- if they’re making me miss a bunch of actual halloween parties ( which means no costume either!),they should at least go all out and camp it up, right?

JLA: To answer your question from far, far above, I like my wines and my beers, but I don’t particularly care for the taste of liquor. When I drink it, it’s more like a means to an end than an outright enjoyable experience, hence why my olive brine outweighs my vodka by a 2:1 ration.

As for shots, I kind of feel like they’re supposed to taste terrible, and don’t mind if they do.

Last year I made a pretty good orange vodka punch that was both decorative and able to get you drunk enough to accidently pee in the closet. It was tastey with just a slight hint of the alcohol.

Well, I doubt you’ll die from old spices. I think they just lose some flavor. Once again, working in the food industry for too long brings this knowledge about.
I know I may be alone, but I am somewhat glad about the lite version of the countdown. I have spent the bulk of my online time the past two months reading scolarly journals and writing reports for school. Ugh. So I have been able to somewhat keep up on the countdown based on the lack of daily updates BUT, my classes end December 5th, so I am looking forward to both the end of the semester and the advent calender as early Christmas presents. I miss Knacks and Kuse.

Just wanted to remind anyone that this Saturday, October 20th, is Bela Lugosi’s birthday. Honoring the man who essentially invented the modern image of Dracula should be a good way to spice up the Halloween Countdown. Besides, it’s also MY birthday!

I survived Savannah! And I think only a few spirits followed me home :). If you want to seriously get into the creepy spirit, nothing will do it like walking the streets of the most haunted city in America while learning history and hearing ghost stories; I mean, come on, a two hundred year old cemetary is a friggin city park - people walking their dogs and having a picnic with a tombstone a few feet away - just damn spooky. Plus, if you believe in such things, we got so many ’spirit orbs’ in our pics it gives me the heebie jeebies with just the thought that it ‘could’ be true. Finally, a huge high light was a midnight to 4am walk through town with a Shannon Scott, who used to host a show on the Discovery and Travel channels about haunted places. And the spooky pub crawl…good call on that one Bill…if anyone is nearby I highly recommend a weekend visit; such a cool, laid back and great old southern city….

Anyone else watch “The Lost Boys” last night on TV? Good times, and Halloween-y, too.

I decorated my balcony for Halloween tonight….the only decorated patio on the entire building. I rock.

Matt: I understand. I’m not a big alcohol drinker myself. Granted, it’s limited to just a few sips of beer here and there, but what I have tasted reminds me of mouthwash. Never gotten drunk and have no desire to ever be drunk.

When I looked at the picture of this store I said to myself, “Why does that store remind me of Toys R Us??? Oh, those rainbow brick stripes!!! It’s the same as the old Toys R Us stores!” Then I read that the building was indeed a former Toys R Us store. It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart

well..as of today you have 2 weeks to put together a Halloween wedding. Go go go! You can do it!!!

I wish! haha Actually, I mentioned the discussion we had about it on the way home from dinner tonight and the first words out of his mouth were “That would be awesome!” So I may wind up planning one for next year… who knows? haha

Damn you New York City! I feel like I’m at a disadvantage for getting into the Halloween spirit because I have limited mobility due to lack of an automobile. The only Target that I know of is out in Brooklyn and the closest K-Mart is…well… to paraphrase Dustin Hoffman, K-Mart just plain sucks.

I remember when I was a kid the kickass thing to do would be to check out all the local haunted houses. You’d wait for like an hour and the anticipation would build and build. Fear would consume you when you were next in line. Then, when making your way through, the horror turned in to laughter. You would occasionally jump, but mostly just tried to recognize the people behind the masks as citizens of your local town. Those were good times.

I haven’t been able to do anything like that in years. There are a few of them in NYC, but they cost like $50 and have multiple hour waits. That’s just ridiculous. Plus it would probably be annoying high schoolers trying to be tough. I wish I could make it to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Florida this year as they now feature Jason, Freddy, and Leatherface. That is something to get excited about! Click on my name and it’ll link you to a site where you can download video from the opening night. It’s kind of cool in a hella-cheesy way.

Cold spiced cider? I didn’t think it could be done! You’ve blown my mind once again!

My Spirit Halloween store is where a Comp USA used to be. Those Spirit stores get crappier every year. You take away their mass amounts of slutty outfits and gay vampires costumes and you’re left with giant plastic costume accessories and some wigs.

Wenthrall: Lucky charms cereal is awesome, but maybe its all the sugar they use in franken berry that I like so much. Still nothing can beat my Christmas crunch. Also any one remember the smurf cereal from back in the 80s? That stuff was the shizzle!

Jessica Marie: I dont think having children is the secret to enjoying Halloween again, since iv always been some one who enjoyed the “Holiday” Its just so much fun to see it again from some one whos never experienced Ghost Stories, and that first time entering a cheap themed Haunted House. Or picking out a costume for the year. The anxiousness of waiting for the day they can go trick o treating. Its an indescribable difference.

lol interesting stuff as always Matt. I wanted a lava lamp when I was about 16 I had enough money to get one but when I was at the mall looking at them my Grandma brought up the point that there was a huge risk of one of my younger cousins knocking it over and breaking it, where would you put one? I promised to think about it even after months of saving up (the one I wanted was about 35 bucks) I never came back to get one.

Ned Flanders: Ho ho ho, suckin’ down the cider, uh? Hey, word to the wise -
[shows Homer a card]

Ned Flanders: season pass. It pays for itself after the sixteenth visit. You know, most people don’t know the difference between apple cider and apple juice, but I do. Now here’s a little trick to help you remember. If it’s clear and yella’, you’ve got juice there, fella. If it’s tangy and brown, you’re in cider town. Now, there’s two exceptions and it gets kinda tricky here…

Homer’s Brain: You can stay, but I’m leaving.
[Homer's brain floats away]

Ned Flanders: …can be yellow, if they’re using late season apples. And, of course, in Canada, the whole thing’s flip-flopped.
[Homer collapses]

I actually enjoyed the Jones Halloween flavors this year. Gruesome Grape makes for a great ice cream soda.

But, today is supposed to be 75 degrees. (Ohio) Sooo I’ll bring in my pumpkin so he doesn’t melt! Apple cider and apple picking just doesn’t feel right in this heat. Believe me, I’ve tried both.

A few years back when I lived in a frat-like house with a few friends I used to make an awesome Halloween punch (I actually made it for our summer parties, but whatever). It’s quite simple and is made from: any clear liquor (vodka will do just fine), 7-up or Sprite, and orange sherbert. The cool thing is that the sherbert kind of floats on top giving it a gross appearance which is perfect for Halloween. It was by far the most popular thing at our parties and we always ran out of it quickly. I highly recommend making it if you’re having a Halloween party this year. It tastes great too.

wayyyy off topic i know.. but lately for some reason i’ve thought about ’spot’ and fido-dido from the 7-up ads from way back when… even the spot game for the NES… anyone else remember these guys and other older mascots for soda’s?

Primus - I totally remember the 7-up spot. They ran that contest where you would win something if you found “the cool spot” at the bottom of your can of 7-up. I even have an old diary with an entry about how awesome it would be to win the cool spot. Something about “no parents, no rules”. But I was a dorky kid.

I’m sure you’re already aware of it, but just in case you’re not, have you seen the old 1988 7-Up Christmas commercial Matt has listed under “80’s Ads”?

For Matt and the rest of the wrestling fans lurking out there, here’s a slightly Halloween-themed link: a frightened Hulk Hogan enters the spooky lair of the Dungoen of Doom before receiving a beatdown by the debuting Giant. Otherwise known as the infamous “It’s not hot!” segment:

Funny thing percocets…I’ve been on them on and off the last week for sinusitis pain.

They have caused me to partake in the internet form of drunk dialing, by leaving cryptic incoherent emails and messages to my AIM buddies or Myspace. I logged on to a favorite chat of mine for video games, and could do nothing more than type a smiley face and tell everyone how much I loved them. Repeatedly. I even wrote a lengthy love letter to TacoBell via Planet Feedback about their cheesy beefy melts and Baja Blast mountain dew. I even wrote to nintendo and blatantly asked for a new wii since i had to sell mine due to financial problems. click my name for the Taco Bell letter

Primus - I totally remember the 7-up spot. They ran that contest where you would win something if you found “the cool spot” at the bottom of your can of 7-up. I even have an old diary with an entry about how awesome it would be to win the cool spot. Something about “no parents, no rules”. But I was a dorky kid.

Hell ya, I remember this. One of my earliest memories was watching a 7-Up ad on some tape I had that I taped some show on, where the Spots ambushed a Game Boy and stuck their game into the slot.

From that point on, I wanted a game boy. I don’t think I ever found the game, though.

Who wants to see my love letter to Taco Bell I composed while high on Percocets during a bout with sinusitis?

Spot for NES is strangely addictive. Sometimes I have to make it four players just so I can see all the colors. I haven’t played that game in a few years, but I’m totally feeling it now.

Funny, when I hear about 7-Up advertising the first thing I think about is that “Nevah had it, nevah will” guy. I’m not sure why. That’s when I was pretty young. Still, somehow he managed to beat into my impressionable little mind that it was The Uncola, and I maintain that perception to this day.

sorry to have all the same post….the first one didnt post instantly and usually does, so i thought i deleted it somehow…

Clockwork:
Oh, the sherbet punch. I loves punch. The booze, it’s so sneeky!
I know of one called Cruzan Punch.
One bottle of Cruzan in each flavor- Mango,Pineapple,and Coconut, and Hawaiian Punch to taste. Fruity, boozy goodness!
*snickers* its amazing what you learn when you work in a liquor store…

mandy: Not your fault, it went into the approval bin for some strange reason. (The spam progs I use sometimes snag real comments.) If anyone ever notices that their comments aren’t showing up, please e-mail me. I check e-mail much more frequently than the spam log.

By the way, Spirit is owned by Spencer’s. Spirit has a competitor in the form of Halloween Express, though I’ve been unable to find any corporate info on that seasonal store.

The Spirit location here took over an empty gym adjacent to a local mall. Halloween Express has a location in our fair city’s newer yet dead, dead, dead mall. It’s housed in a location that was formerly an Abercrombie & Fitch (the store still has the look of its former tenant, complete with black wood facade and red and green plaid carpet).

Ok, I need some help remembering the name of a toy from the 80s, it’s been killing me all day, and google hasn’t turned anything up…

It was a playset for cars (like hotwheels or matchbox… but i dont think it was assosiated with either) that was designed like a canyon of some sort- brown plastic rocks and dirt. It was filled with obsticles, like falling rocks and barricades to break through. It had a commercial that i remember was pretty popular, or at least i saw it all the time on my “Garfield In The Rough” tape I got off TV. It had to be around 1984-85. I’m thinging it was called something like “Danger Canyon” or “Danger Zone” or something like that…

We had a early dinner tonite of McD’s. The dinner included both types of their pies, apple and pumpkin. Now usually I love everything pumpkin, but this left unsatisfied. I think it had something to do with it being warm. I think some things just taste better cold, or at least room temperature. Pumpkin pie is one of those things. The apple pie was awesome, though.

The Spirit store is on the other side of town, so I haven’t been there. But we do have a Halloween Express and a Halloween Bootique. The Express is located in one old Coachouse/Hallmark type place, while the Bootique is in an old auto parts store.

There’s a Halloween Express in Norman in the old Just For Feet, but I haven’t had a chance to check it out. I won’t get to do anything for Halloween anyway, so I’m really not feeling in the spirit of things…

jlajrc
You have 3 halloween stores?
*bes jealous*
We don’t even have ONE in TOWN!
That Spirit I mentioned earlier is 1/2 hour away!
*pouts*

That’s okay though… I hope to hit up a punkinpatch this weekend and make a mess of a few unsuspecting squashes!
*giggles*
see, that’s the fun part of livin’ in tha country.

squee4242 - You’re welcome. I like to help folks out with the mental images however I can.

Man, that’s cool about Jason on Supernatural. I always meant to watch that show, but never got around to it. Guess I will now.

Anybody else a fan of Friday The 13th: The Series? I just started rewatching it. Man, I love that show. Like the X-Files sort of without all the conspiracy stuff.

It’s nice to see some form of halloweenery outta you, Matt. If you need to take a break, go right ahead. You just did the Summer Megaparty that lasted up into September, anyone would need some time off after that.

Wow… this day’s getting more Halloweeny by the minute! I come home with a claw machine witch with a toupee (the hat-wig fell off and I got it separately.) and now a new entry! This day can’t be better unless the Kool-Aid man burst through my wall, gave me fruit punch and repaired my wall for me! Freakin’ awesome!

Im feeling a bit Halloweeny even if the weather is a gruesome 90 degreees here in the hawt south. This year I actually have a house to decorate, and did a bit on the porch. For ten bucks I managed to cover the whole front porch with spider webs, three newspaper stuffed pumpkins and eight bats hanging from the top. It needs some more stuff though but looks much more festive than most places here in this town.
AHhh and I raided Walmart for Halloweeny cookie cutters, sugar cookie mix and all kinds of neato sprinkles/ They have a ghost mix this year that has little white ghosts and purple thingies and a pumpkin mix with tiny pumpkins and leaves and stuff. Soooo cool…

I’ve just discovered I’m in love with Meg White.
Well… I had a dream about her last night, nothing dirty, and now I can’t get her out of my mind. I saw ONE stupid video of that band right before bed, and now this. I know this is completely off the subject of Halloween, but Damn!
I guess I just trust you guys…right?
Has this ever happened to anyone else?
My Woman is not too cool about it either.

I thought they banned cinnamon in a can after the discovery it was the leading cause of priapism?

Priapism is a persistent, usually painful, erection that lasts for more than four hours and occurs without sexual stimulation. -taken from a Google search.

Great article. I actually have a similar toy to the slime coffins, except mine is a sarcophagus with a clear back and grey front, with purple sparkley slime and a mummy inside. Well, it used to have slime, until it turned to stone because there was by no means an airtight seal. Mine came from the Franklin Institute’s King Tut Gift Shop.

Also, here in Philly, it’s apparently a big year for ole’ Count Dracula. There’s a Dracula Ballet approaching that, judging by the adds, seems to be a dark comedy. Also, there’s going to be a Dracula parade in the park at Rittenhouse Square. Definitely going to have to check those out.

Oh, and also, there’s a stubborn Toys R’ Us near me that still bears that very same retro rainbow. Also, the building used to be white stucco, but it’s NEVER been washed, and you can see the years of black and green filth from great distances. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Why in the world are they starting the Tales From The Darkside marathon on Sci-Fi at 8 a.m. today? I was looking forward to this all week, figuring it was playing at night, only to find out that it will be over well before I’m off work. Any other day of the week and I could just not go to work, but of all days, I gotta be there today. This is a horrible blow to my Halloween spirit, but I deserve it for not paying attention to small details like time.

20 (Canadian) degrees up here in Canada and probably not much cooler in Jersey… Oh, Spirit of Halloween why have you not arrived??? I’m trying, but C’MON!! Carving a couple prelim-pumpkins, drinking some hot cider and whiskey, and cranking the 2005 X-E Halloween juke tonight… I just hope the spirit of Halloween finds me, and finds me soon… or may Samhain have mercy on us all.

I…I’ll never forget you. I wish things had turned out differently. You know, with less fire. More cake.

Although every waking moment will now be tinged with regret and shame, I’m not sorry I met you. And I forgive you for telling me that I should stab myself all those times. I know you were under a lot of stress. I probably deserved it anyway. You were always right about that sort of thing.

I’m sorry for what I did. I didn’t have a choice, you understand? No choice. But I’m still sorry. So sorry.

Isn’t the cure for your Halloween blues obvious? Matt, you just need to bust out RAWHEAD REX and put it on an endless loop somewhere in your house.

Also, I think the next countdown entry should be on Halloween. It’s a lot easier to count that way.

The “smelly shit we used to squeeze out of those little tin tubes to blow noxious bubbles with using a tiny straw.” was SUPER ELASTIC BUBBLE PLASTIC….. Wiki sez:

As for getting into the Halloween mood - I’ve always found watching “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” while carving a pumpkin helps immensely! But that’s just me….

For the record my brother and I spend years blowing those poison bubbles in each others faces…

You guys want to hear something depressing? I was at the grocery store today and they were already selling eggnog. Now, I LOVE eggnog, but even I thought it was too early to get any, so I didn’t.

But I did buy a slew of pumpkin products today. I bought 3 boxes of Little Debbie Pumpkin Delight Cookies, a thing of Archway Soft Pumpkin Cookies, a pumpkin creme cake, and some pumpkin donut holes.

Jedoc - I just played Portal last night for the first time. Holy shit, what a great game! Great post, man; I didn’t see where you were going with that at all until the very end. Funny as hell!

JLAJRC - Not sure if you’re interested, but I’ve just published a review of some pumpkin foods, including Little Debbie Pumpkin Delights. Click my name to check it out if that sounds like your kind of thing.