10/22/2003 Entry: "Five New Entries on the Halloween Countdown!"

Wow, Halloween is really creeping up on us now. I've got at least five articles specific to the holiday that kinda need to get done before the holiday hits, so looks like I'm gonna have to lock myself in here for even longer than usual to get it all done. My friends and I took a trip to Salem, Massachusssettesss this past weekend, and wow, it's a great town. Seriously, had I visited there in my teens, I probably would've made a bid to go to college there. I'm sure many would be a little disappointed in the touristy commercialism that's more than abundant, but hey, I like having four hundred different witchcraft and Halloween souvenir shops to choose from. People searching for something more "real" won't be disappointed though -- between the museums and the fact that you can pretty much stage a puppet show in the cemetery without anyone giving much of a shit, it's a cool place to get down with your inner ghoul. Askldksaeowewi. I've got a few pics of our adventures there, and s'more from a trip a few weeks back, so hopefully I'll have time to add 'em tomorrow. As for Salem, I'd have to say that the highlight of the trip was seeing a guy with a monster mask, scarf, and live parrot walk by without anyone batting an eye. The Countdown's been brought up to date with five count 'em five new entries...

Burger King's Universal Monsters Figures
The Horror of Dracula, Revealed
"Pet Tarantula" Gummy Candies
The "Bloody Blade" Halloween Accessory
Minty Mouth Blood -- my new favorite thing.

Chestnuts roasted by chad @ 10/22/2003 09:08 AM EST

Yeah, the last paragraph in the last one is repeated twice.

Chestnuts roasted by rizz @ 10/22/2003 09:45 AM EST

Matt was in Salem? Now, you should've made the trip to Lowell, MA. -there's some scary stuff here!
Salem is a very good time though. It's probably the best place in the world to be on Halloween, hands down. I love this time of year!

Chestnuts roasted by Avery @ 10/22/2003 10:09 AM EST

FIVE new entries!

hey Matt, have you tried much pumpkin carving this year? it's a little late for suggestions, but you could try out those jack o'lantern "template" kits of cartoon characters.

Wal*Mart bins = very cheap, plasticky, Halloween fun.

Chestnuts roasted by zann @ 10/22/2003 10:34 AM EST

I just bought a couple of pumpkins, cant decide what to do with them. I'm thinking maybe add some blood and gore. Any tips people? besides the always trite vomiting pumpkin, hahahaha. Yes I am a carving snob...

Chestnuts roasted by spazzamatic @ 10/22/2003 11:31 AM EST

Am I the only person that is super sad that Matt did not go to Wildwood this year?

Chestnuts roasted by Mindsuckr @ 10/22/2003 11:59 AM EST

Also, anyone intersted in pumpkin carving ideas...go here or click my name.

http://extremepumpkins.com/

Best...pumpkin site...ever

Chestnuts roasted by mindsuckr @ 10/22/2003 12:06 PM EST

5 New Entries, 5 New Entries. Matt, you are a workin' machine! If I had your dedication to....this....I wouldn't be here typing this instead of trying to volunteer at the music wing at my school. Yeah, I graduated. Halloween is 9 days away. Thanksgiving came and went. 9 times the fun. X-E.

Chestnuts roasted by Armagideon Time @ 10/22/2003 12:54 PM EST

13th comment...*shudders* my luck just isn't with me..

Chestnuts roasted by Mutant Ear Man @ 10/22/2003 02:01 PM EST

Who in their right mind would have the courage to eat a gummi tarantula? I've seen them in shops and have seemed to me the most revolting edibles. I can't imagine chewing on a leg, realize it's supposed to be tarantula, and as your teeth sink into the chewiness you have no problem swallowing after a few bites. Ewww. Now if they had fixed fake tarantula hair to the gummi, like with coconut--man I wouldn't even be able to look at those things.

SPIDERS ARE SATAN SPAWN! KILL ALL SPIDERS! (this message brought to you by Sam and Frodo)

Those Burger King toys were awesome. I had all but Frankie. The Dracula one I used to take with me all the time as like some sort of little friend I kept in a coffin. I loved how his hands were sculpted to look just like Bela's.

Chestnuts roasted by inkmage @ 10/22/2003 02:34 PM EST

I am ashamed of myself for noticing something like this, but did Matt have his tattoo altered? Didn't it used to be Pac-Man?

Chestnuts roasted by i was a lion @ 10/22/2003 02:45 PM EST

Ladies and gentlemen, Matt's Teeth! Or, more specifically, Matt's Overbite!

Chestnuts roasted by Mr. Mr. Mr. @ 10/22/2003 02:54 PM EST

Hey now, I'm showing you the bloodied upper teeth. Not an overbite I repeat not an overbite I repeat!

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 10/22/2003 02:56 PM EST

Pac Man's on one arm and the little Saturn is on the other. I'm still curious as to if there's a specific reason behind the planet tattoo?

Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 10/22/2003 03:29 PM EST

I think I still have the Dracula toy somewhere...those were the best Kids Meal toys ever, even better than those old McDonalds Happy Meal Beast Wars toys (the first one--the McDonalds TFs toys gto worse with each installment).

Chestnuts roasted by Who am I? @ 10/22/2003 03:38 PM EST

b loody hell the site is still rockin'

i dont get to read x-e too often now, since i have a new job. (im no longer the highest paid cleaner in Cambridge) im the poorest computer engineer in the world, but at least its a start on my career. anyway, im glad that x-e is still going strong, and that article about the vomit bag was slappy tastic.

keeeep onnnn bakin' maaan.

Chestnuts roasted by 'tin Man @ 10/22/2003 04:35 PM EST

my burger king has hamtaro halloween toys...

Chestnuts roasted by heeloyd @ 10/22/2003 04:41 PM EST

Heh, you were in my area, Matt - and I didn't even know. Yeah, Salem is fun - and Massachusetts, as a whole, is great...in my unbiased opinion.

And for the record, my mother DID go to college in Salem.

Chestnuts roasted by JC @ 10/22/2003 04:56 PM EST

Forget the tattoos for a second, guys! What I want to know is what exactly the Pet Tarantulas were sitting on? Was that a cartoon?

Also, Matt, the knife brought back awesome memories. When my parents went to London when I was in 6th grade, they brought back something from the Tower Of London that was quite the same, except it was a giant needle filled with Kool-Aid. It lasted a few days.

Chestnuts roasted by Dan @ 10/22/2003 05:57 PM EST

In the "can you top this" department; my mom graduated from Salem High a long, long, long, long, long time ago.

Huh huh huh...she's a baby boomer.
Heh heh m heh heh...Baby boomers are old!

Chestnuts roasted by MonsterDog @ 10/22/2003 05:58 PM EST

My mom has the frankenstein monster toy. I lost his table that he laid on. I forund some of that minty blood at my local Wal mart. I don't understand why people think hamtaro is scary. Maybe because they are too cutesy?

Chestnuts roasted by pikachulover @ 10/22/2003 07:35 PM EST

What's this about you not going to Wildwood this year? What about Fat Daddy? Huh? WHAT ABOUT FAT DADDY'S FEELINGS!?!
BTW the Golden Girls where Rose's pill addiction is discovered was on last night. She said "hell".

Chestnuts roasted by Applesauce @ 10/22/2003 07:41 PM EST

What's this about you not going to Wildwood this year? What about Fat Daddy? Huh? WHAT ABOUT FAT DADDY'S FEELINGS!?!
BTW the Golden Girls where Rose's pill addiction is discovered was on last night. She said "hell".

Chestnuts roasted by Applesauce @ 10/22/2003 07:42 PM EST

Rose: "GET OFF MY DAMN BACK!"

We didn't go to Wildwood this past summer, and yes, it sucks. My friends are mostly bored with the place, which is understandable since it's basically turned into a place for high schoolers who can't afford big vacations or for families full of small children; in either case, not the best scenario for a buncha twenty-somethings. I still love the fuck out of WW, though, and will def go back next year.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 10/22/2003 07:43 PM EST

Salem Mass.
So your an East Coast-er Matt...
Hmmm, makes sense.
Did you stay in one of those lil' bed n' breakfasts there? Two Halloweens ago me & my girl stayed at one in this really old house.(supposedly haunted.) The lady who ran it had all these horribly shitty lookin' cats! I like cats, but these were some ugly shits! (not like yours... really ugly!)
Even spookier than the house.

Chestnuts roasted by TheCleaner420 @ 10/22/2003 07:47 PM EST

Matt, you're just plain neat :)

Chestnuts roasted by Applesauce @ 10/22/2003 07:52 PM EST

Matt, you're just plain neat :)

Chestnuts roasted by Applesauce @ 10/22/2003 07:53 PM EST

I remember Pet Tarantulas. I loved them. But what I'll never forget is something else that my grandparents brought back for me after returning from a vacation.

First of all, let me explain that I had a pet rat that I loved very much. His name was Sonic (named after the famous hedgehog), and he was the coolest little dude ever. Well anyway, my grandparents return from their vacation (I think it was a cruise or something), and presented me with a large cherry-flavored gummy rodent entitled "Pet Rat." I kept it alive for awhile, but eventually the rat just got too tempting. So I sucked its guts out (I'll let you believe what you want to believe as to which rat it was that I had eaten).

Chestnuts roasted by Nate @ 10/22/2003 07:54 PM EST

Wildwood NJ?...
Matt you must live on the East coast!

Chestnuts roasted by TheCleaner420 @ 10/22/2003 08:02 PM EST

As do I. Yes, I reside in Wildwood, NJ, year-round, and spent more time than I care to admit this summer hoping to encouter a spiky-reddish-haired 20-something guy wearing sunglasses indoors, schmoozing with Fat Daddy (who is, indeed, still around, though on a different part of the boardwalk), and making fun of the 99 cent stores.

I don't blame your buddies for not wanting to come here. If Salem is "commercial," Wildwood is the definative tourist trap. This doesn't bother me. I grew up in the slightly classier "historic" tourist trap to the south, Cape May, so I'm no stranger to gift shops every two blocks. Matt's complaints about it only being popular with families and high schoolers during the summer is all too true. Some of those "high schoolers who couldn't afford big vacations" stayed in the apartment two doors down from me and were a total pain. The families who stayed in the hotel next door were more fun; I used to listen to them splash and play in the hotel's pool (which my kitchen window overlooks).

The "lil' bed and breakfasts" are mostly in Cape May. There are a few in North Wildwood, but I don't believe there are any in Wildwood City.

Don't come here now, BTW. The season is most definately over. There are some hotels still open, but everything on the boardwalk except for one of the arcades (the one with the 25 cent cranes) is closed, as are most everything else in town but a few necessary stores and a couple of local restaurants popular enough to survive the winter. If you wanna come down during the off season, you might want to try February (if we don't get a blizzard again) or March.

Chestnuts roasted by starwenn @ 10/22/2003 09:42 PM EST

My elementary school took us to Salem a few times for field trips. The wax museum with the recreations of the witch trials freaked the hell out of me as kid.

The main guy is Godsmack is Wiccan and had that "official" witch lady of Salem in one of their videos

Chestnuts roasted by Michael @ 10/22/2003 10:22 PM EST

I meant in the band Godsmack.

Chestnuts roasted by Michael @ 10/22/2003 10:24 PM EST

The tooth baring image in the Minty Mouth Blood, article reminds me of Fight Club. Just need a board room meeting.

Chestnuts roasted by Aconite @ 10/22/2003 11:45 PM EST

Salem is scary, yes. And even Lowell, MA (my birthplace) is scary, with all them crazy Asians everywhere. But nothing can prepare you for the horrors that exist in WV. I'm dead serious, folks. Don't believe me, come and see for yourself. Mwahahahahahaha

Chestnuts roasted by SHANE! @ 10/23/2003 12:06 AM EST

The Minty Mouth Blood actually reminds me of the time I got my impacted wisdom teeth taken out September last year. I just kept on bleeding for a couple of hours and had to chew down hard on gauze and Kleenex, but, ya know, sometimes I had to open my mouth, especially with my nose congested from hay fever, and the teeth photo is pretty much exactly what I looked like when I looked in the car mirror. I'm glad the cops didn't pull us over since I looked like something right out of Lifeforce. (Actually, no, the Lifeforce "zombies" were technically energy vampires from space and sucked the blue lightning-like life energy from people; I just like plugging Lifeforce here.)

Bottom line, kids: don't do like I did and wait until you're 28; save yourself a lot of pain and get your wisdom teeth extracted when you're still in your teens.

Chestnuts roasted by Steve Brandon @ 10/23/2003 04:04 AM EST

Wow, I remember loving those BK Universal Monsters figures, I might have to look for some on eBay. You mentioned not knowing what Taco Bell's Halloween toys were; interestingly enough, they are figures almost exactly like the BK ones, except they're generic instead of Universal. I think they have a vampire, werewolf, frankenstein, mummy, and zombie. They each come with a crypt that they rise out of like the BK Dracula did.

Chestnuts roasted by Bandini @ 10/23/2003 04:07 AM EST

Is there anyone here with old commercials on tape from the Boston area? I keep thinking of the ultimate 80's robot store from Waltham, Mr. Big's Toyland. This would be one of the stops for a X-E trip if it still existed, so if you have a commercial please send it to Matt. I dreamt of going to this hallowed place as a kid, but never made it to Waltham.

Here is what I could find:
Scroll down to the second use of red font on the left and there is a still from a commercial
http://darkstar_013310.tripod.com/
This collector guy never went to the store either
http://www.collectiondx.com/collection.asp?ID=20

Chestnuts roasted by Michael @ 10/23/2003 09:36 AM EST

I want to make out with you, Matt. Especially if your mouth is full of Bloody Mouth Minty Mouth Blood. Mmmmm. . . tasty.

Chestnuts roasted by megan @ 10/23/2003 02:01 PM EST

How could anyone here not be aware that Jack In The Box had the toys from Burger King plus a couple more last month?

Chestnuts roasted by Chemosh @ 10/24/2003 11:17 PM EST

Matt, you said mine... are you from Southern Pennsylvania? Because from what I understand, that's Southern PA dialect.

Chestnuts roasted by Sheep @ 10/31/2003 01:25 AM EST

Is that Mr. Big's Toyland place still there? I haven't been the in ages. Sorry no commercials tho...

Chestnuts roasted by Flashboy @ 03/19/2004 06:59 PM EST

i live in waltham mass, and no mr.big toyland is all gone. it went out like 15 years ago.

Chestnuts roasted by my little radio @ 10/22/2004 05:24 PM EST