10/30/2022 - GRIMEY

It's the day before Halloween! They do Trick-or-treating the day of here in town and it's always so intensely nerve-wracking watching the weather change over time. Will it be rain, snow, or summer? Luckily enough, it's looking like a 24% chance of rain and mid 60s for the big day; about as good as late October weather can get for PA!

Anyways, I finally made the big candy purchase. Usually, whatever I review for the season makes it’s way in the bowl but, unfortunately, most of what I reviewed isn't.... hand-out-able? So, off to the store I went to find the best bang for my buck variety of epic proportions and I think I did a pretty solid job! Before anyone gets any ideas, I know what you’re thinking and it’s not at all what it looks like. I’m not rich, I’m irresponsible; HUGE difference.

…. but just look at this absolute BEAUTIFUL spread! Got everything a kid could ever want and, even though I love them, not one piece of candy corn in sight! I wanted to cover all the bases; chocolate, candy bars, crunchy, chewy, fruity, hard candy, soft candy… the whole shebang! As you can tell, I was very upset none of these bags had Butterfingers swimming around in them. This is THE BEST time to get Butterfingers!

They’re amazing.
They’re FRESH Butterfingers which means that they don’t stick to your teeth and have a more airy bite unlike the ones that sit on the shelves all year long.
Did you read numbers 1 and 2? What more do you need?

Then, of course, the food I reviewed, which is indeed hand-out-able, made it’s way in (Ghoulish Green Snickers/Twix, Ghouls Mix M&M’s and those random Monster Marsh Stuffed Puffs). I don’t really know how many kids are going to grab for the marshmallows but, as long as you’re grabbing handfuls of sugar, who really cares as long as the majority is fun sized Skittles or Twix?

Then, if all that wasn’t enough, I decided to buy, not one but, two boxes of full sized candy bars from Hershey and Mars for those lucky few that make it up to me first. Listen, I go hard for Halloween and I want people to remember that! Don’t worry, the rest will get handfuls of bullshit to make up for not getting a full size bar; I’ll make it worth their while.

Wanting to relive my childhood, I carefully displayed one of each individual piece. It’s beautiful… breathtaking… it smells, oddly enough, exactly how I remember Halloween smelling after a long night of Trick or Treating; notes of chocolate, fruity candies, plastic wrappers and victory!

One more fucking day…. I can’t believe it’s here already. Oh and here is my costume featured in last nights Halloween party. I decided to be a butcher. I wasn’t very creative but I think it’ll work for the big day.

10/29/2022 - GRIMEY

Here is a prime example why I love this season. Last night, grocery shopping for a Halloween get together I have planned for tonite, I didn't expect to find anything I haven't already seen or gushed about this month. I didn't assume the night would turn into some fun mini Halloween adventure. However, turning the corner in Wal-Mart where they keep the high end collectible stuff (neca, pops, McFarlane, etc) I stumbled upon the entire fucking set of Charlie Brown Halloween figures from Super7!

It's strange how these things happen almost the exact moment we swear off unnecessary spending. So, in I went with more unnecessary spending. You should all give me credit, I only bought 2 figures (Lucy and Linus ghosts and Masked Snoopy) these called out to me the most. And at $20 a piece, I felt guilty enough with just those two. That Franken Snoopy pained me to leave behind.

I left work at 3 to be 45 mins away directly after and didn't eat so, naturally, I decided to stop at some random Market in the middle of nowhere on my way back around 8. With no cash, I was forced to buy a bit more than just a $4 hoagie to use my card. I stumbled on some cotton candy and raspberry blueberry Faygo. And, wouldn't you know it, they also had the returning Limited Candy Apple flavored Faygo. So, of course, these all came with me. Still not enough cash to use a card so I had to spend a tiny bit more. Head to the register and notice they sell Flavor Burst Ice Cream. And, to my surprise, they just happened to have a pumpkin flavor for the season.

So, what was suppose to be some boring grocery trip turned into me buying way more Halloween/seasonal junk than I had initially planned for. I cant believe there is only 3 days left of the season; they've already got eggnog and weird new cereal with some sort of menthol cooling ingredient in the mix (yes, I bought both). Enjoy while you still can!

10/28/2022 - DEREK

It’s been a minute, and what a whirlwind the end of this Halloween season has been! We’ve sure been cramming, between the final podcast of the season, shipping out Fun Packs & shirts, and just generally trying to experience all the season has to offer. Let me fill you in on a few things I’ve been up to over the last week and a half or so.

For starters, I wound up over at a plant store/farm stand that had this fun, cheesy little “maze”. It was really for kids, but what am I if not a big kid?

I absolutely adore little seasonal things like this. It’s so lame, but that’s the charm of it! Knowing that some employees got to take an afternoon off of their normal duties to put this little walk-through together absolutely warms my cold, dead heart.

After this, we picked out some incredibly overpriced pumpkins but it was all worth it. Believe it or not we checked out a semi-local, professional haunt after this (Spooky World) and honestly…was kind of let down this year by it. So much so that a week later I’m still thinking about the free maze instead!

I’ve sorta been slacking on taking photos, so here - have this picture of this weird candle I bought for $13 at Bath & Body. It was the only one in the store and it smells exactly like stuffing!

A few other things that I’ve done recently: watch the new Trick or Treat Scooby Doo movie (it was pretty good!) and watch my overpriced pumpkins get absolutely destroyed by squrrels. Dang.

This upcoming weekend I’m planning on absolutely jam-packing with last minute spooky things. I think I’ll watch the new Wendell & Wild animated movie hitting Netflix, maybe Spirit Halloween: The Movie, of course Trick ‘r Treat, The Monster Squad and Disney’s Sleepy Hollow. Sunday, aka Devil’s Night, I have to watch The Crow and maybe even eat some nachos?

Should be interesting!

10/25/2022 - GRIMEY

Newest acquisition, a sealed box of The Addams Family Cereal from Ralston; complete with FREE reusable flashlight.

These aren’t rare, by any means; there are exactly 17 thousand of them on eBay as we speak and I simply chose one with my eyes closed and pressed “buy it now.” I’m assuming some shmuck decided to buy a ton of these thinking they would be worth something in the future. I think I paid a measly $15 shipped on this guy.

I figured since we’re 6 days away from the big day I better talk about this one before it’s too late.

10/21/2022 - GRIMEY

Helplessly, they hang

With pumpkins atop their heads

Forever rotting

-Grimey

10/18/2022 - DEREK

Today is the day people, Halloween buckets are finally back at McDonald’s! I really lucked out here, last night I walked into my local Mickey D’s on a whim to see if they had any of these out yet. While they only had the ghost pail (all of them only have the ghost right now, btw) the dude working the register was an absolute bro and hooked me up with one for FREE! I truly couldn’t believe my luck!

The bucket is so much smaller than I remember them being…I can basically palm it the way Shaq can palm a basketball. I kinda like it, it makes me feel giant in a way that I typically don’t - being only 5’ 7” and all. It’s fun!

I also went to see Halloween Ends last Friday and, well…yeah. If you want to hear my thoughts about that you can read them here.

10/16/2022 - GRIMEY

Got this sweet issue of Cracked Monster Party from the Summer of ‘95, which feels better suited for…. well…. now I guess.

I couldn’t tell you much about what’s inside the mag since I haven’t even… CRACKED it open but, I have to say it, I’m COMPLETELY OBSESSED with Bleedvis and Bolt-Head! If we ever need any figures of Beavis and Butthead made, it would without a doubt have to be these ones so I can proudly display them next to Midnight Wolf and Toony Terror Elvira.

10/15/2022 - GRIMEY

I’d just like to take a moment to point out how beautiful the season has been so far. We’re half way through October; Pennsylvania just passed the peak fall foliage mark and somehow it still looks incredible! We usually have a few epic wind storms by now which tends to rid all the trees of their rich and fiery garments super early. It almost feels like they were waiting for me to enjoy them this year.

I was able to take a few walks this week (which I haven’t really done yet this season) and all of the trees looked like they were set ablaze; It never seems to not grab my attention no matter how many times I’ve seen it. I have exactly 13,000 pictures of the same exact trees and they always feel so brand new to me.

So, I guess this isn’t much of a “Halloween” update as much as it’s a reminder to enjoy the season while you still can. It always seems to go by quickly and the magic disappears.

10/14/2022 - DEREK

Well hot damn, I lived out a childhood dream last night…I saw The Smashing Pumpkins in concert! On it’s surface it might not be something you’d typically associate with Halloween, but there’s more here than meets the eye. Let me explain.

Around this time of year, I want to say in 2006 or so, I had just started middle school. As with most middle schoolers, I started getting a little edgy and yes, I started playing the guitar. My dad really started to embrace this new wannabe rock star phase of mine, and started bringing home albums that he thought I’d like. One day he brought home Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and I was instantly hooked. To this day it remains one of my favorite albums, along with American Idiot, …Is A Real Boy and yes, the South Park movie soundtrack.

But, I digress. Yes, Smashing Pumpkins isn’t exactly “Halloween music” (though they do use their fair share of creepy imagery) but Autumn is the season that I usually come back to them. I think that’s the thing I really came here to say - Halloween doesn’t always need to be by the books. The season is what you make of it. The personal little associations, like Smashing Pumpkins for me, can conjure up even stronger feelings & emotions than the things that you’re supposed to listen to, watch, etc. Hell, around the same time I discovered my love for System Of A Down and now I can’t hear the song Sugar without jack-o-lanterns dancing through my head.

Oh yeah, I also posted about it over on Instagram but I might as well include it here too - I got that Ghost Pepper Halloween Whopper from Burger King!

I had been planning on doing a Silly Slammers post all year anyways, but when an orange bunned Whopper was announced I knew I had to combine my vision with the seasonal offering. I just cant believe that I took this photo and an hour later was sitting in my seat to see one of my favorite bands. Talk about a really good day!

10/13/2022 - GRIMEY

I know I talk a lot about the Universal Monsters like the OG movies were this huge part of my childhood. They weren’t, but the fact remains that somehow, they managed to stay current in several items aimed at children of the late 80s and early to mid 90s. Which brings me to my latest acquisition; a beautiful sealed box of official Universal Studios Monsters Cookies!

I’ve been searching for one of these bad boys for a decent amount of time now and the wait has finally paid off. Sure, I would’ve been happy with just an empty box in decent condition but this one is sealed and looks like it just came off the truck, onto the shelves and into my grocery cart. Not a single dent, wave or even color break in sight. Hell, there’s barely any whiting of the cardboard creases.

I know the cool thing would be to open this guy up to show everyone the graphic details of disgustingly aged food and that was my original intention but I can’t bring myself to do it. It’s too perfect. So, here it is; a box of old spooky cookies that will sit in a bin on my shelf and never see the light of day again. You’re welcome.

10/12/2022 - GRIMEY

Confession time; I have NEVER tasted Frute Brute Cereal! There, I said it. Boy, it feels good to get that off my chest! But, cereal-sly, I was either too young to have had it or I wasn't paying attention enough to cereal when it was out and I did have the chance. Until now.

Before, it was just Count Chocula, Boo Berry and Franken Berry for me. In that order. Never hated any of them in particular but had my favorite among the 3 I've tried. I must admit, Frute Brute may have taken first place for me among the four. How many cherry cereals have you had? This is the only one for me as far as I can remember and it's delicious! I noticed the last time I went to Wal-Mart, there was nothing but Frute Brute left.... is he the underdog? Do people not know how amazing Frute Brute is?

So now, it goes Frute Brute, Count Choc, Boo and then Frankenberry. 10 out of 10. I love the Brute. I have no idea what a "Kaws" is but I'm stoked it was reason to bring 1 of the 2 rare Monsters back. Here's to hoping next year I can finally try Yummy Mummy!

10/11/2022 - Derek

Hey y’all, Derek here. Seeing as we’re about a third of the way through October, I figured it’d be as good a time as any to check in here and share some of the spooky happenings I’ve been getting into!

First up is the Salem Witch Museum! If you’ve been following along on the Facebook group, you may know that my trip to Halloween Horror Nights 31 had to be canceled thanks to Hurricane Ian and it’s impeccable timing. Instead, I decided to take a few, local-ish day trips, one of which included wandering the streets of Salem, Mass.

While the museum certainly was a thing I did, the real fun came from wandering the streets like a tourist and trying to find some of the better known Hocus Pocus landmarks. In our travels we actually stumbled upon a wedding happening in a public garden and it was officiated by a person in a full on Wicked Witch costume, makeup & all!

While on vacation I also got a chance to stop off at my favorite record/movie/video game/comic shop called Bull Moose. The brand new Rob Zombie Munsters movie had just come out so I decided to roll the dice and bought a copy of it on blu-ray. I actually really enjoyed it way more than I thought I was going to! It’s so bright and vibrant, and it really feels like the perfect movie to play during a Halloween party. It wasn’t “perfect” by any means, but its definitely something I can see myself revisiting many times in the future.

I also found out that DVD Netflix is still a thing, and decided to give it a go. I have my reasons for doing so, but the important thing to note here is the absolutely stellar Halloween envelopes they have been sending. Worth the price of admission alone to find fun spooky envelopes in the mail every week!

I got out to my first haunt of the season during the first weekend of October, one of my favorite local events called Witch’s Woods! There’s quite a lot to do there- three haunted houses, a haunted hayride and even a few carnival rides. The hayrides are always my favorite part of any haunt though, there’s nothing quite like riding through the woods at night and having teenagers in face paint stumble alongside your tractor. Bonus points if they have a cheesy story line/narration, and this one did!

Yes, I did get one of those Cactus Plant Flea Market “adult” Happy Meals. I know later this month we’re supposed to be seeing the return of the Halloween buckets which is awesome, but there was something drawing me to this meal in particular. I can’t say that I love or really even understand the art style going on here, but there was something so comforting and dare I say, Halloweeny, about getting a Grimace toy?

Happy Meals are something I heavily associate with the Halloween season, and not even for the reason that most people would either. When I was a kid, more often than not my mom would bring us to Mickey D’s before Trick or Treating just to get food in us quickly before sending us off to collect out candy. I know its not good for me, but its good for the soul, so leave me alone doc.

Finally & most recently, I hit up the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at Roger Williams Zoo. This is something I’ve been doing since I was a wee little lad, but every year they seem to top themselves. This year’s theme was a “History of Television”, so we got to see TV themed pumpkins from the 1950s through now. I loved this theme!! It’s not every day you get to see a Max Headroom jack-o-lantern.

As usual, there was an absolutely staggering amount of pumpkins on display. I’m really not even sure how they manage that many - what do they do when they inevitably start to rot? Are they replacing pumpkins weekly or do they know the secret, elusive key to keeping a pumpkin preserved for an entire month? So many questions, such mystique. Love it.

Hopefully I come back soon with some more fun & spooky events before the end of the season. Halloween Ends comes out this week, so I need to be back at least one more time, if only to update my Halloween Ranking article.