As darkness and despair begin to fill the Autumn air
A feeling of excitement overcomes with little else that can compare
The world feels a little darker, a little colder, a little grimmer
As the sounds begin to pulsate up and through your bones causing them to shake and shiver
There’s only so much one can do - there is no easy way to resist
As the speakers boom and blare the sickest sounds - it always brings out the most wickedest
The vampires dance, the witches cackle and the mummy throws a drunken fit
That can only mean one thing you know, it's The 2017 Halloween Party Music UBER MEGA-MIX!!
Regardless of the lack of time I have to post this Chucktober, no sick and Twiztid Halloween would be complete without my hand-crafted, sick and Twiztid Halloween Party Music UBER MEGA-MIX!! As is the case every year, I made a few minor adjustments to the order and added a few songs to expand upon the leanest Halloween playlist that one can find. This is all thriller, plenty of killer and most definitely no filter, so put on your dancing shoes (but please wear socks, ‘cause yo feet rank), because it's time to get this UBER MEGA party started!
Opening its doors to the public back in 1991, Spooky World is a Halloween horror theme park originally based out of Berlin, Massachusetts. Anyone who was lucky enough to visit this large-scale haunted attraction was subjected to what can only be described as a horror and/or Halloween fan’s dream, or should I say nightmare come true.
I’m originally from MA, so i was fortunate enough to make it to Spooky World with a couple of friends sometime towards the end of it’s run at the Berlin location (the park would relocate to Gillette stadium in 1998). Needless to say, as a lifelong fan of horror as well as being completely obsessed with Halloween, it was everything I had imagined and more.
This was probably about 20 years ago now, and while my memory of the experience is a tad fuzzy, I’ll never forget the overwhelming feeling of joy that came with being able to visit such a massive haunted attraction. It was my Disney World. Thankfully, however, with the help of a video tour VHS that Spooky World released in 1994, I can relive that joyous experience wherever I so choose.
Spooky World: A Video Visit to America’s Horror Themepark features some interesting horror talent behind the scenes. This 23 minute video tour was directed by horror/cult filmmaker Ted V. Mikels and produced by special effects legend Tom Savini. But the horror cred doesn’t end there, as this video is narrated by Jason Voorhees himself, Kane Hodder, who guides viewers on a behind the scenes look at what you can expect to find when visiting Spooky World.
During the brief runtime, the video features a live performance of the Halloween party classic, The Monster Mash, by Bobby “Boris” Pickett, something that was a staple of the theme park. From there the video moves onto the infamous haunted hayride, giving viewers a brief look at some of the insane set pieces, which includes decapitations, electrocutions and even a Troma-inspired section featuring everyone’s favorite Tromaville super hero, The Toxic Avenger.
Following the hayride, the video proceeds to give a short tour of Tom Savini’s haunted house, which is really nothing more than your typical indoor haunt. That’s not to say the haunt doesn't kick all sorts of ass, but having a name such as Savini’s attached to a haunt, the expectations are extremely high. These were my feelings when I went to Spooky World as well; I fully expected a gorefest of Romero proportions, but the haunted house was nothing more than what you would find at any number of haunted attractions. Surprisingly, the haunted hayride delivers the gory and violent goods in a way that Savini’s should have.
That’s pretty much the meat and taters of Spooky World: A Video Visit to America’s Horror Themepark. However, I’d be hard pressed not to mention one of my favorite elements of this video, and that is the absolutely awesome animations featured throughout. We’re talking the mid-90s here, and the animations totally have the look of something you’d see in a hokey video game cutscene. It fits in so well with the entire package, and this is especially due to the fact that the package comes wrapped in the form of a video tape.
While it’s marketed as a video visit, and it is that, Spooky World: A Video Visit to America’s Horror Themepark is most certainly a commercial for Spooky World, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it’s a pretty awesome thing. While this incarnation of Spooky World is no more, this video visit still lives on to remind us of how cool of a place Spooky World was while also working as a nostalgia trigger due to the retro nature of the content and format it was released on.
You don’t have to be bound by a VCR to check out this video visit for yourself, as you can give it a watch via the embedded video below. It’s only 23 minutes and certainly worth your time if you’d like a trip down memory lane, even if it’s not a memory you even have.
Oh, hey there. It’s been awhile. In fact, it’s been almost a year. I don’t feel like dwelling on the lack of content on this here ol’ blog over the past year, as it really all comes down to time, which I have very little of. But hey, I’m here now, and that’s all that really matters. Right? RIGHT?!! Don’t give me that look…
I honestly don’t really have any plans for what I’m going to do here during this fine month of Chucktober. Normally I would have a ton of stuff all prepped and ready to rock and roll your black little soul. But that’s simply not the case this year. However, regardless of not having anything planned, and regardless of not knowing what kind of content I’ll be doing, let alone how much I’ll actually be putting out, I simply cannot ignore the fact that it is my favorite time of the year, and Chucktober plays a fairly sizable part in that. Needless to say, I simply cannot let the month slide by without trying to do whatever I can to get some sort of content up, as minimal as it may very well be, as Chucktober has been a part of my Halloween celebration for 9 years now.
Anyway, seeing as it is indeed the season of scary, I figured I’d share a few photos of the Halloween happenings that have been going down in my life.
You may be familiar with Hallowbaby aka my baby, who is not much of a baby these days. In fact, just today when I asked her how she felt about being Hallowbaby, she was quick to inform me that she is not Hallowbaby, she is HallowBigGirl. Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. In any event, here are a few photos of Hallowwhatever enjoying a day of pumpkin picking and overall Halloween fun.
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I just recently picked up VHS copies of The Official Eddie Spuhghetti Halloween Companion Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 courtesy of Here Lies. To give you a quick history of these companions, each tape is meant to play out like a 6 hour block of Halloween-inspired television, complete with movies, Halloween specials, TV episodes, and kick-ass, retro Halloween/horror-centric commercials.
Vol. 1 is now completely sold out, but there are a few copies of Vol. 2 left if you still rock a VCR and have a hankering for Halloween. Just hit up OSI 74 to grab yourself a copy before it’s too late.
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Lastly, we finally got some decorating done outside. I went heavy on the spider webs, which I know I’ll regret come November. The lights at the top actually flicker. Because they’re spooky. They can also make exaggerated, Frankenstein electricity sounds if I so please, which is pretty cool. There is still more work to do, but I’m happy with what we have done so far.
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So for now I shall bid you farewell. As previously mentioned, I don’t know how much you’re going to see from me, but if I didn’t post anything at all, I would feel really sad. But sad I won’t be, because it is indeed Chucktober, so lets kick this party off on the FRIGHT foot!
It’s been many years since I have done anything Dumpster Diving for Gold related, but that doesn’t mean I’m not always out looking for a good deal. Be it on the internet or in the dreaded real world, I am still hunting hard for deals on VHS tapes, Blu-rays and the occasional DVD. Seeing as it is indeed the season of scary, on top of the fact that I have a sizable VHS collection of Halloween-set films and television specials, I thought it would be fun to share with all two, maybe three of you some of my very favorite Halloween-themed VHS tapes!
The Midnight Hour (1985)
Originally airing on ABC in 1985, The Midnight Hour is one of the very best Halloween movies and certainly a favorite of mine. I’m lucky enough to own three VHS copies of The Midnight Hour: the Anchor Bay clam, a German release and a sealed Vidmark screener. If you haven’t seen this one, and are even remotely into Halloween, then you need to get on that joint ASAP!
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Hack-O-Lantern AKA Halloween Night (1988)
Two names, two releases, one film, Hack-O-Lantern was released by Legacy Entertainment under the Hack-O-Lantern title in 1988. In 1990, the film was released by Atlas Entertainment Corps under the title Halloween Night. Both releases are quite hard to come by, especially Halloween Night, so owning these two tapes makes me want to throw up a set of awkward grandpa devil horns.
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HauntedWeen (1991)
While I adore all of the tapes featured in this post, I would have to say my favorites have to be these two copies of HauntedWeen. Self-distributed under the one-and-done label Consumer Video Distributors, HauntedWeen was a long-time holy grail tape for me, so to own not only one copy, but TWO copies is pretty rad. Furthermore, as you can see from the image, one of my copies was signed by director Doug Robertson, while the other copy is factory sealed, making things all the more rad.
Both of these copies of the supremely silly and equally entertaining Halloween-set Slasher flick, Hollow Gate, were released by City Lights Home Video in 1988. As expressed in my review from a few Chucktobers ago (link below!), I have a HUGE soft spot for this movie, and owning both of these VHS releases makes me so happy that I would almost consider not drinking alone in the kitchen while my pussy son embarrasses me with his lack of apple bobbing skills.
Seeing as Halloween is my all time favorite horror film, this final Halloween-related VHS tape holds a very special place in my heart. It’s also a bit of a conflicting one, as the slipcover of my copy is the 1979 MEDIA release – which is the second ever official VHS release of John Carpenter’s masterpiece – whereas the actual tape itself is the original (also 1979) MEDA VHS release.
Both releases are hard to come by, but the MEDA VHS is definitely the rarer of the two. Both the MEDIA and MEDA releases are longtime holy grail tapes for me, so sort of having both is pretty cool, but it’ll be a lot cooler when I actually own the MEDIA tape and MEDA slip to complete the Halloween package. Who knows when that’ll ever happen, but the hunt for such things is always a huge part of the fun!
There was a time in the ‘80s where aerobics was so popular that the fashion and rhythmic aerobic moves integrated itself into anything and everything one could imagine. Naturally, this would eventually lead to aerobics making its way to film, specifically the horror genre. While there are plenty of examples of aerobics in horror (Death Spa, Aerobicide, Murder Rock, Slash Dance, etc), one of the most memorable comes from a small but incredible dance scene in Umberto Lenzi’s pseudo-zombie opus Nightmare City.
This scene in question takes place in a television studio, where a number of beautiful women adorned in powder blue leotards erotically erratically dance in a fashion that, despite their best efforts, lacks any sort of synchronization. I would assume the standards would be higher for TV, but then again, the fact that people actually watch a show where women wearing blue spandex perform aerobic inspired dance moves on a set designed by Milton Bradley only proves that people will watch anything. Considering that shows like MTV’s The Grind actually existed, I probably should have never even questioned it.
In any event, the song used for this moment is titled Sustain, and is provided by legendary Italian composer Stelvio Cipriani. The tune is gleefully upbeat in a fashion that makes one want to put on a pair of roller skates and glide through the streets of 1980’s New York while eating an ice cream cone. Of course, a bunch of nice looking ladies in blue onesies is innocent enough, therefore the song is quite fitting; however, things take a frightening turn when the dead body of one of the aerobiciders (that’s a fake word… feel free to use it) is discovered. At this point all hell breaks loose, as a gang of radioactively infected zombies come bursting into the studio, violently attacking everyone in sight and in a variety of grisly ways.
This scene works for a number of reasons, the main one being the fact that it’s so completely ridiculous. Regardless, it has a way of tapping into a fear; a fear of being overwhelmed by madness without any warning; a fear of being suddenly vulnerable in a place that should be safe, which in this case is at work. Sure, the “infected” are wearing bad suits and their makeup looks like puked up breakfast cereal smeared on their faces, but the dance sequence and subsequent attack scene are a highlight of a film that, despite my enjoyment, is a little uneventful.
Of all the many egregiously awful things one can do to a child on Halloween night, none is worse than leaving your front porch light on and not actually answering the door. Like, at what point in your day did you think to yourself, “hey, fuck Halloween and making kids happy with delicious treats, let’s skip it this year. In fact, let’s not only skip it, we’ll go ahead and leave the lights on so those little bastards think we are actually passing out candy!”
Listen, every single second of Halloween night is precious, and the fact that you are wasting a solid 3 minutes of a child’s time by tricking them into coming to your house, for no reason at all, when they could be at the “cool” house, makes you a turd of the worst kind. For your sins, I hope you suffer the worst that Halloween has to offer, including but not limited to: your house being toilet papered, egged, peed on, and burned down to the ground. With you in it.
After spending yet another Halloween night all alone, a young girl (Marlena-Marie Grubl) begins having vivid nightmares. When she awakens and hears noises coming from her closet, she fears that something may be out to get her.
Written and directed by Michael Winiecki, The Closet is quite short – coming in at about 4 minutes minus credits – and simple, focused on little more than a girl hanging out in her bedroom on Halloween night. While being simplistic in terms of narrative, the film succeeds through solid execution, conveying a level of professionalism that is always welcome with these types of short movies.
A notable element of The Closet comes from the ‘80s gothic punk tone it gives off. This comes through most obviously with the music choices and both the costume and set design. With her slightly pale makeup and penchant for striped clothing, the lead character, who is credited as “Goth Girl,” has a look that would indicate she's into Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus and other bands of that nature. Plus the fact that her bedroom is adorned with punk band posters certainly cements the style of character the filmmakers were going for.
The gothic overtones – which vibe in a fashion similar to A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night – adds a lot to the success of the short on a personal level. It makes the short feel as if it defies a specific time period. And that, mixed with strong camerawork, editing and sound design, make The Closet an enjoyable, albeit brief, Halloween treat that is more than worthy of your evening.
