The 2020 Halloween Party Music UBER MEGA-MIX!

Night has fallen, as have the autumn leaves

The wind whips loudly, as it travels through the wicked trees

The air is crisp, filled with the sounds of maniacal laughter

As the intensity of the Halloween season grows - it’s what we’ve all been clamouring after

Jack-O-Lanterns flicker, demons snicker, and witches lick their lips

And this can only mean one thing, you know, it’s the 2020 Halloween Party Music UBER MEGA-MIX!!

Halloween simply is not complete without filling your pointy ears with any and all Halloween and horror-centric music that one can find, and finally, after a 3 year HELLatus, I am thrilled to dust off and update my Halloween playlist! Filled with some of the best horror/Halloween songs you can imagine, you are sure to find yourself jumping up and down nonstop until the clock reaches the midnight hour on all hallows eve! So dig in, fiends, because this party is just getting started!

Hell House ‘92: A Haunted Attraction Unlike Any Other

While many people across America enjoy various types of haunted attractions during the Halloween season, there is a segment of the population who enjoy a very specific type of haunt that isn’t quite the same as what most of us are used to. Of course the goal of a haunted house is to put the proverbial fear of God into their respective patrons. However, some haunts, often referred to as Hell Houses, take that idea to a more literal level.

This is best outlined by a 1992 VHS release of Hell House ‘92. Presented by Christian Retreat Family Church out of Bradenton, FL, Hell House ‘92 is essentially a hype video aimed at Christians and likely other churches looking for an alternative to the traditional Halloween haunted attraction. The term “Hell House” is a blanket term, and is best explained by the video’s unnamed host as “a Christian alternative for the traditional haunted houses at Halloween.” Before introducing a series of clips of what can be seen in this specific Hell House, the host goes on to describe the experience as “a powerful evangelism tool,” which is maybe more frightening than anything that Halloween as a holiday can throw our way.

On the surface, the footage of the Hell House plays out like any old Haunted House, featuring creepy images meant to instill fear in patrons. Where things differ here, however, are the stories and the driving forces behind these horror scenes. Instead of set pieces featuring creepy clowns and chainsaw-wielding maniacs, the mostly teen audience is subjected to scenarios featuring suicide, abortion and interestingly enough any sort of partying. Essentially, the moral of each story is simple: be good, otherwise you will fall prey to the devil and end up dead and, worse yet, burning in hell.

Throughout each set piece, patrons are led by a demonic tour guide, who continually encourages each teenager in the various scenes to do whatever awful deeds that are being depicted. Their only savior is to follow the word of God, and this all comes to a head when, during the final set piece, the viewer is subjected to a depiction of Moses discussing the importance of the Ten Commandments, which is then followed by a crucified Jesus, who makes a plea for all the patrons to not let his sacrifices go to waste. The presentation ends with the host going over the fact that after the teen patrons go through the Hell House, they can speak with counselors. Though, I feel confident that they aren’t the kind of counselors that these kids will need after experiencing such indoctrination. 

The entire special only runs about 15 minutes. However, and this is noted at the finish of the presentation, there are a handful of TV news reports featured after the fact, which is actually pretty fantastic for someone who loves old news footage concerning Halloween antics, especially with the bonus of it being focused on something as insane as a Christian Hell House. Unfortunately, with this being such a niche thing, info about the video and access to it is essentially nonexistent, which is exactly why my photos in this post are of the VHS playing on my TV. There are, however, numerous clips to be found featuring similar antics, one of which I will share below to give you a taste of the pure insanity that is a Christian Hell House.

Chucktober Presents: Outdoor Halloween Decorations 2020

Halloween is in full swing ’round these here parts, and with that comes the final touches to our outdoor Halloween decorations! 

Much like what was done for the indoor setup, I made some of these decorations myself, and for very little money at that. A few of the standouts are the “Smell My Feet” sign, which I made by painting over an existing Dollar Tree Halloween sign as well as adding some dangling “witch feet,” which were also a repurposed Dollar Tree Halloween decoration. The other is the witch’s cauldron, wherein I made a teepee out of dowels and some crafting string, and like the indoor cauldron, made some glowing burning embers out of great stuff and battery operated LED lights. We already had the cauldron, so all in all this decoration cost very little to put together. 

In any event, it was hard to capture how the decorations look on video, as they look best at night when all the spooky lights are on, so I ended up making a video collage of images that nicely captures everything in a satisfactory fashion. I’m happy with how it came out, and I hope you take a moment to check out the video for yourself. If you do, then be sure to let me know your thoughts as well as what you’ve been up to so far this Halloween season!

Full Moon VideoZone: The Original Special Feature

In a time well before DVD and Blu-ray were the standard formats for cinephiles, there was the almighty VHS tape. Looked back upon with a fondness similar to that of a mother for her first born, especially for genre fans, VHS was where home cinema would truly come to fruition. It was the start of a revolution; a major evolutionary leap that continuously grows with each day that passes. Looking back at the VHS format now is a nostalgic romp, bringing many of us back to a time in our youth when hours were spent in front of a television, eyes fixated, with no more than the glow of the screen illuminating the room around us. This is a time when there was an innocence to watching movies and, in many ways, was the best time cinematically in our lives.

As much as I still love the nostalgic aspects of the VHS format, and even actively collecting it, can you imagine a world where special features didn’t exist? With the advent of DVD, Blu-ray and now UHD, cinema nerds have been filled to the gullet with multiple commentaries, trailers, behind the scenes, and anything and everything else you can think of. I doubt any one of us could fathom living without these “extras,” and it wasn’t so long ago where we settled for no more than a handful of trailers before our feature presentation (if we were lucky) after we pushed those beastly black beauties into our VCRs.

Nevertheless, before there was ever a Blu-ray disc, a DVD, or even a Laserdisc, there was Full Moon’s VideoZone. A bounce back production company that came after the fall of Empire Pictures, Full Moon Productions was the brainchild of Charles Band. Band had a clear vision for this new company: produce low-budget genre cinema with a polished look that the audience would associate with big budget productions. In keeping with the Sci-Fi, Horror and Fantasy elements found within the films that Full Moon produced, Band apparently wanted the company to have the overall feel of a comic book, which would tie into the birth of VideoZone.

Inspired by the positive response to the making-of segments that Full Moon had attached to some of their earlier films, VideoZone made its official splash in 1991 at the conclusion of a sequel that would prove to be one of the studio’s most popular flagship franchises, Puppet Master II. Occasionally introduced by Charles Band himself, each video magazine-style VideoZone featurette would come in at around 25 minutes and focused on the making of whichever film you had just watched. Filled with insightful and ambitious interviews with the cast and crew, a look at how certain makeup effects were done, and a chance to watch the film from the creative side of the lens, VideoZone was as groundbreaking as it was entertaining.

Growing up at this time, I simply loved the films that Full Moon churned out, and still very much appreciate the style of movie that the company brought to the table. However, as much as I enjoyed the features themselves, I can honestly say that the best part of any Full Moon production was the VideoZone segment. Being a kid that loved horror movies, it was quite incredible to be able to go behind-the-scenes with these featurettes. It was also something that worked as a learning tool for what would become a lifelong passion, which would be movies and the every intricate detail that goes into making them.

VideoZone played at the end of every Full Moon VHS release from 1991 to 2000, opening the door wide enough for fans to sneak a peek at how the films were brought to life. It also served as a great marketing tool for Band to hock Full Moon products and share the latest movie news, which was a brilliant way to keep Full Moon fans in the loop. Even though the innovative VideoZone is no more, the always market savvy (and maybe a tad sketchy) Band still keeps the interactive dream alive in the modern age with video blogs pimping classy cinema such as Evil Bong 3D and Gingerdead Man 3 and continuously promoting Full Moon on his social media accounts. And personally, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Chucktober Presents: Indoor Halloween Decorations 2020!

It’s October 1st, which means it’s time to kick off the sickest and twistedest celebration of all, Chucktober! 

A month-long celebration of all things Halloween and horror, Chucktober is guaranteed to make you shake and shiver! Though, I suppose that could just be speed wearing off, but there’s no denying the results. 

After finally having finished decorating the inside of my house for Halloween, I figured the best way to kick off this season of insanity is by sharing the results with you via this handy video posted on my YouTube channel, which I just know you are already subscribed to... RIGHT?!  

I’m pretty happy with how everything turned out, especially the witch’s cauldron and the spooky village, both of which were handmade by my own hands, both of which I was born with. Beat that. 

I expect I’ll have the outdoor Halloween decorations finished in the next few days, and when I do, I’ll be sure to share my results with you here. Until then, please enjoy the video, and happy Chucktober, friends!

If you'd like more amazing Chucktober content, CLICK HERE!! 

Halloween Happenings

While some elements of the Halloween season are and will continue to be hindered by the ongoing apocalypse we are currently going through, the great thing about the season of spook is just how many fun things there really are to do. And really, when it comes to Halloween, some of the most enjoyable elements are those little things, from lighting that dusty Pumpkin Fart Dollar General candle that’s been sitting on your bookcase since last October, to the dangerously dark shit you get from eating too many Halloween Oreos. 

As is the case every season, I’ve been witch’s tit deep into all things Halloween, and whether you like it or not, I’m going to share some of what I’ve been up to with you right this very second. 

HallowBaby Halloween training continues...

The decorating process is still, well, in the process, but this year I decided to start creating some fun decorations of my own, which is something we hadn’t done since 2013 when I posted these two videos (Indoor Halloween Decorations Outdoor Halloween Decorations). 

So far this year, with some inspiration from the Demon Queen of the Demented (better known ‘round these parts as my wife), I hand cut this Haunted village out of poster board, which as you can see will be backlit by some seriously spooky orange lights. We plan to do more with this, but this is the main theme for the mantle, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. 

We also decided to do a witch theme this year, which will be highlighted by a not-quite-started and more complex cauldron for the front/outside of the house, and a more simple cauldron for the fireplace inside the house. The inside cauldron was done by encasing a set of orange LED lights in some expanding foam sealant to create the look of burning embers, and the cauldron is simply a $1 cauldron with some green LED lights inside and some spider webbing around the edge to make it look as if a bubbling brew is boiling over. Once everything is all said and done, I plan to post a video of how it all looks. 

I don’t think I need to go into detail about the state of the cinema in 2020, but while things have been pretty bleak on the multiplex front, the drive-in made a bit of a comeback this Summer, and I am lucky enough to have a couple drive-ins near me. As a result, I have been able to take in a ton of movies at the drive-in, which really kicked off at the beginning of the Summer with a viewing of Jaws. Following Jaws came some family friendly drive-in trips to see ET and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, both of which are big favorites in my household. 

As cool as all that was, things really kicked into gory gear over the last month, where I was able to catch a double feature of A Nightmare on Elm Street paired up with The Lost Boys and a double feature of The Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2. It was all pretty awesome getting the opportunity to see movies that are so integral to my development as a horror fan on the big screen, and at the Drive-in no less. Hopefully they’ll keep the goodies coming throughout October. 

There’s plenty more I could go over, but at this point you’ve probably begun to decay due to boredom. So with that being said, I hope you have found some nice Halloween silver linings to keep your spirits up so far this season, and if so, I’d love to hear all about it!

Salute Your Shorts: Saw Misgivings

A suburban housewife mistakenly gets her head stuck in a Saw-inspired death trap while trying on old clothes in the attic earlier in the afternoon. As unfortunate as that may sound, things become worse when she learns that she cannot remove the device because her baby accidentally swallowed the only key. While the trap is a tad uncomfortable and, more importantly, could possibly rip her head open at any given moment, her biggest concern is getting dinner ready for her judgmental in-laws, who are due to arrive sooner than she expected. 

Directed and produced by David Lilley and written by Mark O'Connell, Saw Misgivings is 7 minute short film that takes a very humorous look at the II headaches that would come as a result of having to wear a Jigsaw inspired death mask while performing the day-to-day tasks of the stereotypical average housewife. How would such a device hamper normal undertakings such as going shopping, drinking coffee, showering, and other various daily tasks? Worse yet, how is she even supposed to get this thing off without digging into her baby’s belly for the key? Worse worse yet, how long does she have until the thing goes off?!

As a whole, Saw Misgivings is a rock solid and humorous tribute to the Saw franchise, successfully lampooning the iconic traps as well as the kinetic style found in the series. All of the jokes perfectly hit their mark, which is certainly the biggest challenge with a short, no-budget film like this, and the performances by stars Vicky Album and Steve McNeil are spot on. Whether or not you are a fan of the Saw films, you will certainly enjoy this brilliant little short, so please take a moment and check it out below, then let me know what you think afterwards! 

PS - Be sure to keep watching after the credits!