Clicking on a linked title takes you to Amazon where you can order these fine movies. And if you're doing online shopping for the holidays, please use the affiliate links over on the right and I'll get a tiny percent of what you spend and we're all happy.
The American Scream (2012)
This Chiller channel original documentary follows three MA men and their families as they set up their annual yard haunts for Halloween night. Cool: I have nothing but respect and love for these people, the amount of work they do for one night is unbelievable Lame: Even though I'm only a coule hours away from these guys, I would never give up my Halloween night to visit their haunts Rating: 8/10
Thanks to Twitter user CRPechonick, I am now six steps closer to my plan of SLUG zombie domination! After exchanging some tweets and pointing him to my Toy Trading page, we figured out we could swap six figures that each other needed. And it's a good thing too since Series 1 only showed it's severed head in my area as the single blind packed figures.
Now I only need one more to get all the Series 1 that I want.
Since this was the first time I'd seen any of these in person, it was pretty exciting!
Cap'n Scurvy Jack - Not one of the most zombified figures in the line. If you painted him up right, he could look like McDonaldland's Captain Crook after a rough night...or Keith Richards, your call.
Inspector Bones - One thing I'm starting to notice with SLUG Zombies is that they have a habit of losing footwear. The Inspector is in fine form with his coat, pipe (which is holding the eye that popped out of his head!), deerstalker hat and cracked magnifying glass.
Eric the Dead - If there's any figure in the entire line that is less zombified than the Cap'n above, it's Eric. His eyes are buggin out a little but that's it. His clothes are in fine shape. If you cast him in the human flesh color, he could be a Viking zombie slayer. Note to Jakks Pacific: You can use this idea free of charge! I need more zombie hunters out of time.
Gutslingin' Grimm - Grimm has not had a good time post mortem. He's taken eight shots, most of which were through and throughs, except for the headshot and a shot in his right buttock. I love the characters from different time periods! At one time I had thought about collecting Playmobil warrior figures from different historic eras but realized it would spiral out of control quickly.
Decayin Dom - An obvious homage to Tarman from Revenge of the Living Dead, Dom is crawling out of a barrel of radioactive waste...or Trioxin. He's got great detail with the goop dripping from him and his brain showing through his head wound is awesome.
Neil Armgone - This was the figure I went the most crazy about when I saw Series 1 for the first time. As a kid I was always fascinated with NASA and astronauts. As an adult, I'm in love with pulp/retro scifi art. There's no question about who his name refers to and he's a zombie astronaut!
With turkey day behind us, we're now a little over a week away from Creepmas! I know in the Venn diagram of my readers there's a lot of overlap and you Halloween fiends are in touch with each other, but on the chance that you're wondering what Creepmas is all about...
Last year, on November 3, 2011, artist Chad Savage tweeted: "The incursion of Christmas into Autumn has me seriously
considering leaving my Halloween yard decor up until January. Christmas
scarecrows!" Shortly thereafter, he tweeted again saying his awesome
wife gave the thumbs up to keeping the scarecrows out.
The following day, I proposed Creepmas become a thing.
Within hours, the idea caught fire and here we are! The "Creep" is a
double entendre, referring to Christmas creeping into
Autumn/October/Halloween and to the "creepy" nature of what we're
proposing, here. CREEPMAS!
For more information, head over to creepmas.com where you can read a little more on how this got started and sign up to join in the fun. There's even some freakishly festive badges you can use on your site to promote Creepmas done by another creepy cool guy, Monsterfink.
Even if you decide not to participate but like the idea, you can help by spreading the ghoultide cheer on your own social platforms of choice. Last year we had around 55 people participate which is pretty good for a new holiday!
I know there have to be more like minded folks out there, we just have to find em!
Many, many months ago while perusing the Hot Wheels at grocery store Stop & Shop (don't ask me why I shop for Hot Wheels at a grocery store, they seem to get the hard to find stuff) I noticed the line of Hot Wheels Motorcyles. The back of the card shows a very Tron-like vehicle called Light Rider. I hit every Stop & Shop around on a regular basis and have never found it. None of the department stores even carry the Motorcycles line. I finally resorted to Ebay and managed to get one for only retail plus S&H.
The next day after it came in the mail, the VERY NEXT day, I went to Kmart, which I rarely visit, and there it was on the peg. Oh well, a bike in the hand is worth two in the bush, right? Even without the name of Light Rider, there's no mistaking the Tron inspiration. It's hard to see in the photo but if you look, you can see the rider's arm, body and leg.
Something else I found at Kmart is a new blind bag toy series called Power Buggz from MEG Toys. This same company relaunched a new line of painted Monster in My Pocket figures a few years ago pretty much worldwide, except North America. Thanks for that, MEG Toys.
I like creepy things, no shock to regular visitors, but these are a
different kind of creepy. They're insect-like but they have distinctly
non-insect faces and their two front legs are arms that end in hands.
Sort of reminds me of the end of the original The Fly.
The Buggz packaging looks somewhat similar to Predasaurs so I was surprised to find they're made by different companies. The bag says there are 12 to collect, 3 each of Ants, Beetles, Spiders and Roaches. These creepy little things have wheels on the bottom and a pullback-and-release motor. Depending on how slick your floor is, they'll go between 5-10 feet. The site mentions there are others that have a ripcord motor, I bet those go quite a ways! If you're the pranking type, you could pull one back so it's ready to go and then place it behind or under something so when someone moves the object, the Bugg comes zipping out!
LEGO Cowgirl (for scale) tries to rustle up a Buggz ride
Each one comes with a cardboard punch out "target" card and game card. The site has four different games you can play, two with just the cards and two using the cards and Buggz. The ones using the Buggz have you pitching cards and trying to get your motorized bug to land on the defense side of the card and touch the highest point zones. The game cards are done in a surprisingly sturdy stock and aren't flimsy at all. For some reason, I'm getting images of people in various states of intoxication trying to get their Buggz to land on a score card or knock their opponents off.
Top-Bottom: Target punch-out card, Game card attack, Game card defense
Well, I tried last week to get Mail Order Monday back on track again and this week I have something else to post. Oh well! This weekend we went to an annual local comic convention called SuperMegaFest. We've been going to it off and on for a few years now and it's really starting to take off and grow.
When we first started going there were maybe a couple of artists, a handful of celebrities from the past and a dealer room. Now it's expanded to a few more areas in the hotel to accommodate more artists, and for some reason, lots of overly-busty models.
You can hit the show's site to see the full guest list this year.
I've been eyeing the LEGO Minifig display cases for sometime but I thought them a little pricey just for a place to put my minifigs. Now that my collection is getting a bit larger it's been harder to pass one up. A couple weekends back TRU had a sale and the cases were down to $18. My store had one left and as an added bonus, it happened to be black.
These large cases retail for $30 at the LEGO store...what?! The TRU site shows their normal price is $23 which is almost inconceivable. You'd think being a LEGO store that they'd be competitively priced on the product they make. The good news is the TRU site is still showing them on sale for $18. The bad news? Only available in store.
Some of the cases come with a minifig and it seems like different colored cases have certain minifigs assigned to them. That's cool so you don't always get the same one if you buy different colored cases. Here's the policeman that came with my case.
The case itself is pretty solid and looks like a tall, thin LEGO brick. It has cubbies for 16 minifigs and there is a thin plate in each spot that slides out so you can put your minifig on it and then slide the whole thing into place.
There is a clear plastic "door" that snaps shut to keep everything in place (and keep dust out!). The odd thing about this is the release for the door is right on top of the case. Naturally, the case is designed to so you can stack one on top of the other but it seems this would prevent you from accessing the door release. I don't have another case so I can't test this out. If you're strapped for display space, there are two slots on the back to wall mount it.
Also included are two "stand" bricks that the case can slot onto to stabilize it. When the case is in these stand blocks, you can't open the door but it's easy enough to lift it out.
The "door" is down in the shot below so you can better see the figures.
Sorta reminds me of the end of Cabin in the Woods
These must be a hot item because prior to picking this one up, my TRU had plenty of them and I haven't' seen them again since snagging this one. There's still a few more minifigs I need to get and with Series 9 coming in 2013, I definitely see more of these in my future!
As promised, here is a closer look at the SLUG Zombies Series 3 12 pack that I got from ConnQuest as part of the Great Pumpkin Exchange. The distribution model is the same as the previous two series: one 12-pack and four 3-packs. And the only way to get all 16 unique characters is to buy all the packs which will leave you with some duplicates. There's a few more generic types in this set than celeb-inspired ones.
The Deadlifter - Absolutely love the detached arms and his face kind of says "Oh well, what can you do?"
The Towering Terror - Anybody want a peanut?
Squeamy Sashimi - Good detail, right down to the body parts on his tray
Louie Fingers - Although his looks and profile make him to be a gangster, I am seeing the Stooges' Moe. There was one that looked like Curly in Series 2 and Louie only has the first two fingers on his left hand sticking out like he's ready for an eye poke. Double-Barrel Carol - Sort of a post zombie apocalypse Velma type. I like that we're getting more hunter characters. Extra Crispy - I think he prefers thigh meat...
Tragic Magic - Probably one of my favorites in this group. How can you go wrong with a decapitated rabbit head? Base-Hit Bones - Using his leg as a bat and a bat for his leg. Sa-wing, batter! Singer Mortis - Thank you, thankyouverymuch.
Jeet Kune Dead - Enter the Undead! There's just something about the ones that have parts of their bodies where they're not supposed to be that cracks me up. Johnny Two-Guns - The body looks like Chuck Norris, the head...? Zero Hero - Look! Up in the sky! It's a...wait, what is that?!
They've done another fantastic job with this latest series of figures. The poster showing the first 100 figures shows there's still plenty of good stuff coming: Ash from the Evil Dead, Shaun from Shaun of the Dead, a zombie dog, Ripley from Aliens, the Dude and lots more. The line is either doing well or has horrible distribution since I know people that still have yet to see any in the wild yet.
I'm still holding out hope that the rumored Aliens and Monsters lines will see the light of day because I know they'll be just as good as the Zombies.
LittleWeirdo from MinifigCollection has posted a photo on Flickr of Target exclusive Christmas 3-packs, which I'm currently hunting for. Looks like you get a repack hunter and two new holiday themed greenies.
Wow, I can't believe it's been two whole months since the last Mail Order Monday!
Today's ad is from 1956 and will let you and a friend poke out your eyes together!
For the low, low price of $2.98 (plus .36 shipping) you'll get:
a fencing instruction booklet
two 26" fencing foils with handguards and rubber-tipped points
Two elasticized clear plastic face shields
Two fencing club buttons
What? No cape? That kid on the right is clearly wearing a cape! Yes, I know he's also wearing that weird leotard with the heart "kill zone" marked on it, but do you really want that? It looks like they may have included the heart targets in the case, unless those are the fencing club buttons. But that would be like an NRA member wearing a bulls-eye button.
The ad promises a lot: mighty wrists (do you need that?), fearing no one in the world (as long as you have your foil?), moving faster than the eye can follow (why not become a magician?) and being welcomed and honored the world over by other fencing clubs and fencers (I'm no world traveler, but how many fencers have you met in your travels?)
I tried searching for more information on this item but wasn't able to find anything.
What I did find, was this lovely photo of the Huntsville Fencing Club's 2008 Christmas Party.
A pretty solid spy story, but is it James Bond? You'll have to decide
that for yourself. There's probably no other character in media with so
many incarnations that split its fan base, except Doctor Who. Everyone
has their favorite Bond(s) and I think everyone probably has their
favorite authors who write Bond as well.
I don't envy Deaver for
having to bring the most famous spy into a modern day setting but
considering he was handpicked by Fleming's estate, that has to count for
something. He knows how to tell a spy story, that's for sure, but I
have to say this could almost be any spy. I didn't feel there was enough
"Bond" in Bond. I like Bond best when it gets a little crazy and over the top. But this is a new start and could be setting the stage for Bond to be more grounded in this series.
I
did enjoy the story and the villains felt like proper Bond baddies with
their own quirks that made them memorable. I also liked the new allies
that we're introduced to as well but you may need a scorecard to keep
track of them until you can remember who is working for what agency.
There's so many agencies and acronyms that there's a four and a half
page glossary to help you out.
Deaver drops so much product
placement in places, I have to wonder if he's getting any kind of kickback. I
understand giving brand names for certain things helps set the mood and
immediately lets you know how "glamorous" things are but at the same
time it's almost beating you over the head in places.
The ending
of the book is where it gets really intriguing. You think the story has
reached its end after the climactic battle only to find you've got about
another 50 pages of plot twists.
There is an ongoing story arc setup about Bond learning what happened to his parents who were supposedly killed in a mountain climbing accident. I like the idea of giving this new series continuity and something
to make this more than an unconnected series of adventures.
Final verdict: If you're a Bond fan, it can't hurt to check this out. It's definitely worth giving it a chance. At worst, you'll have a good spy story.
Things are starting to wind down for this year's Great Pumpkin Gift Exchange. I'm still waiting on a few people to confirm they got their stuff but so far it seems like it was a success! A success not without its headaches and learning opportunities, but a success.
Here's what some of the participants got from their Great Pumpkins.
If I missed you, let me know and I'll link you up.
As for me, I got an unexpected bonus gift! This was courtesy of ConnQuest.
He makes all kinds of magnets, which are what those tiny movie posters and letters are. He sent lots of letters, like a 2" high stack! He also included a couple of patches that make me wish I had a denim jacket with the sleeves torn off so I could put them on the back of it.
Especially excited about The Crimson Ghost one. Most people associate his visage with The Misfits (and rightly so!) without knowing where it originated. It's a great old timey serial picture. Best of all is the SLUG Zombies Series 3 12-pack which I'd been wanting to get for awhile. They'll be getting their own post next week.
My "official" Great Pumpkin gift came from Tommy Day at Tophat Sasquatch.
Even the box it was shipped in had Peanuts Halloween stickers on it. My wish list included LEGO minifigs and I got three: a pirate, a Hamlet-esque actor with skull and a cowgirl with lasso. Also included was a ziplock of LEGO-like candy bricks that you can actually snap together to build something, four packs of 80s trading cards (Return of the Jedi, Jaws 2 and TMNT x2) and a Tophat Sasquatch t-shirt.
Huge thanks to ConnQuest and Tommy for putting together such cool packages!
I was wondering if I could go a whole week without posting...
Bravest Warriors is the latest toon from the brain of Adventure Time creator Pendelton Ward. While it may look identical to Adventure Time, I think if you watch this preview clip, you'll see the intended audience may be a bit older.
It originally started out as a short a few years ago, which you can watch below.
They also launched a new comic book series last week. There are four variant covers for the first issue but naturally I had to pick up this Star Wars inspired one.
It's already grabbed me like Adventure Time first did. Even though it's using familiar tropes, it's being done in such an original way that I'm all in.It does creep me out a little that one of the characters, Beth, looks like Marceline.
I've heard back from around half the people that signed up for the Great Pumpkin Gift Exchange. I'm going to send out emails to some of you regarding the below info but as I've found, a lot of people never received the initial emails from me and/or follow up emails. Hopefully, this will reach people my emails don't.
Here are the people that have confirmed they got their gift or that I have been able to confirm delivery for using the tracking info supplied by their Great Pumpkin.
ShezCrafti
BubbaShelby
Reis @ Dork Horde
Lisa @ Maple Grove Cemetery
Rondal @ Strange Kids Club
Ron @ ronsrandomstuff.blogspot.com
It Came From The Man Cave
Tommy @ Tophat Sasquatch
The Goodwill Geek
ConnQuest
Wes
Jason L
Duck
Monsterfink
Shawn @ Brandedinthe80s.com
The below folks I have no confirmation from yet.
I think some of you used return receipt instead of delivery
confirmation, which is totally fine but I can't check it through USPS.
If you got a return receipt back for anyone below, please let me know.
If you're listed below and got your gift, please let me know.
I am thinking Hurricane Sandy may have delayed some packages that were shipped out later.
Christopher Tupa
Tom Freak
SharePointJoe
And these people have their own twists to them
Tom Freak
Your gifts are being sent internationally.
Please let me know when you get them.
James-Michael Roddy
Your gift should arrive by 11/7 at the latest per your Great Pumpkin.
Brian @ coolandcollected.com
I may have made a huge mistake and sent your Great Pumpkin someone else's info.
I will get it sorted out and if this is what happened, I'll be sending you something to make up for my error.
BJ-C
I believe you are the person whose info I accidentally sent to Brian's Great Pumpkin so, if I have everything figured correctly, you should be getting 2 packages.
Please let me know when they get there.
I know a lot of this doesn't effect a good number of you but I wanted to be up front with all involved as to what's going on behind the scenes. I feel I owe it to you guys and hope things will end up working out. I learned quite a bit from my first stab at something like this and can promise similar events in the future will run smoother.
I'll also be posting my own gifts in the near future.
AEIOU may be taking a break this week to recharge from 31 days of posting.
Wow, October just flew by, didn't it? Amidst blogging every day of the month I fit in as many horror movies as I could. I didn't want to set a goal of 31 because I knew I wouldn't hit it. But I did manage a good amount! As always, clicking a linked product will take you to its Amazon page where you can order it (and anything else you want) and drop a few coins in my pocket.
Hotel Transylvania (2012)
I'm happy to say I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. It was funny and did ok by the classic monsters. Sandler's stable of friends actually worked well in their roles.
Cool: I could see this becoming part of the Halloween viewing rotation Lame: The old woman ("I didn't do that") feels like a forced attempt to create a catch phrase character Rating: 7/10, recommended for classic monster fans of all ages
The Revenant (2012)
What do you do when your best friend comes back to life after getting killed on a tour of duty? Help him become an undead crime fighter! I don't want to give too much of this one away but it's a great buddy comedy and horror movie twisted together.
Cool: It's gory and funny Lame: Even when you're undead, it stills hurts to get shot Rating: 7.5/10
Mongolian Death Worm (2010)
It wouldn't be a month of movie watching without a SyFy Original movie.The worm is a real world cryptid and you might get more enjoyment from following that link than watching the actual movie. It's not the worst SyFy movie but it's not much fun either.
Cool: Giant worms! Lame: Being "animals" they don't have any personality as a monster and aren't really scary Rating: 3/10, the monsters should be front and center in these movies but the "real" plot takes precedence
* Night of the Demons (1988)
I saw this back in the '90s. We had a movie party one night and my girlfriend at the time rented this one. There's so much WTF in this movie, we all thought it was horrible. I teased her about it for years. Now having a couple decades more horror under my belt, I can appreciate the weirdness.
Cool: Why wouldn't you go party at an abandoned mortuary on Halloween night and hold a seance? Lame: Have you seen my lipstick?; I really dislike Angela's demon voice. Rating: 6/10, it's a good time!
Night of the Demons 2 (1994)
Despite being abandoned and the site of multiple murders, Hull House is still standing, waiting for more dumb college kids to visit on Halloween night. I don't know if it's because I revisited the original but I feel like this one takes the best from it and does it better.
Cool: A kick ass nun Lame: C'mon, haunted lipstick? Really? Rating: 7/10, two kills and nudity in the first five minutes? You know it's going to be fun!
Night of the Demons 3 (1997)
I don't know why, but for the last two movies I can only find German trailers.
As much fun as 2 was and did everything better, 3 goes way in the opposite direction. It's feeling tired and like a quick cash grab with little effort.
Cool: The effects and makeup have improved Lame: I guess Angela's been getting spooky fix-er-up powers from the people she killed because Hull House is looking more like new than abandoned Rating: 4/10
Re-Animator (1985)
I hate to say it, but I don't think I'd seen this before! I remember seeing a Re-Animator movie but it must have been one of the sequels. I saw this in a theater as part of this year's Feast of Flesh.
Cool: You can't go wrong with Jeffrey Combs; crazy over the top splatterfest Lame: Sleazy, creepy bad guy Rating: 6.5/10
Fright Night (2011)
This is how you do a remake/reboot of a franchise and do it well. Although it follows the original closely, it was still very watchable unlike the recent Nightmare on Elm Street which became boring quickly.
Cool: David Tennant is an absolute riot in his scenes Lame: Compared to the original, it seemed to jump into vampire territory quickly Rating: 7/10
Killer Party (1986)
Couldn't find a trailer for this one. It's all over the placein the first five minutes. You think you're watching one thing and then it breaks into a music video, then it goes into fairly normal slasher-land.
Cool: Wasn't familiar with hair band White Sister before this Lame: It's very odd seeing a music video in the movie Rating: 5.5/10, you could do worse for an 80's slasher film.
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
Even though I only saw the first one a few weeks ago, because Micah was behind the camera so much I forgot his name and what he looked like, which made this weird until I figured out it was a prequel.
Cool: They continue to do everything right they did with the first one and keep it scary Lame: Casting a known actress (Sprague Grayden) kind of ruins the "reality" of it Rating: 7/10
Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)
As much as I liked the first two, I was skeptical going in that they could bring it again with a third movie. They do! Cool: They take the creepy in a new direction; delving more into the origin of the original Lame: Try explaining the timeline of all three movies to someone Rating: 7/10
Cool: Decent effects; plenty of blood and toplessness Lame: Acting Rating: 4/10
Girl vs Monster (2012)
A Disney Channel original. I make no secret that I enjoy Young Adult fiction/movies so this was pretty entertaining.
Cool: Combines the high school of Buffy with the gadgets of Ghostbusters Lame: Having 15 years of fear catch up with you at once! The songs sometimes feel forced into the movie Rating: 6.5/10, good family Halloween fun
Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2011)
I've never read the comic series the movie is based on but I still liked it. It's sort of a noir supernatural detective movie.
Cool: Dylan's newly undead assistant is great Lame: Some of the facial makeups look like they came from the Buffy TV series Rating: 6/10
*Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Rewatched this one after listening to Now Playing podcast doing retrospective reviews of Romero's Dead movies and the remakes.Funny to see Ty Burrell (Modern Family) and Jake Weber (Medium) in this one now that they're associated in those TV roles for me.
Cool: It's a good zombie movie but Lame: I still don't like fast zombies Rating: 6.5/10
"Thanks" to Jaime at Shescrafti for pointing the next two out to me.
Midnight Hour (1985)
No trailer for this one, so you get the legendary dance number! This is an odd one to be sure. A bunch of kids steal stuff from a museum and unleash evil beasties (and one cheerleader from the 50s) on Halloween night.
Cool: Plenty of familiar faces Lame: It seems like the beasties are killing the kids to turn them into monsters but when evil is vanquished, the kids are all ok? Rating: 5.5/10, the balance of horror and "comedy" is uneven
The Brain Eaters (1958)
Coming just two years after Invasion of the Body Snatchers, this low budget take is boring. Robert A. Heinlein sued the production for plagiarizing his story, The Puppet Masters, which was settled out of court for $5,000.
Cool: There is an original twist to the invaders Lame: The whole thing is pretty humdrum Rating: 2.5/10
Dark Shadows (2012)
Not having seen more than a few minutes of the TV show, I had no bias going into this one. And I have to say, it was pretty enjoyable! Depp was great, as always.
Cool: It wasn't nearly the goofy comedy that the trailers make it out to be; supernatural beings fighting Lame: It didn't feel like there was enough focus on the love story; supernatural beings gettin freaky Rating: 6.5/10
Detention (2011)
I can't say too much about this one without giving away how crazy it is. It sounded like another teen slasher but it is so much more. It's like the Dude, Where's My Car? of slasher movies.
Cool: The weird twists; very original teen slasher Lame: Possibly the most terrifying image of Ron Jeremy with clothes on you'll ever see Rating: 8/10, do NOT find out anything about this one before seeing it
Cool: Using the biblical plagues to kill people; the finale which is obviously an inspiration for Saw Lame: There are a lot of unanswered questions if you start thinking about it Rating: 7/10
Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)
Phibes is back, this time in Egypt and killing those that get in his way. This one is even more like a classic pulp than the first. Even though Phibes is killing people left and right, you can't help but cheer for him because all he really wants is to bring his wife back to life.
Cool: Phibes' methods of murder are always entertaining; returning characters create a great continuity Lame: New actress playing his assistant Rating: 7/10
The Night Walker (1964)
Not the usual gimmick cinema William Castle is most remembered for, this one is a psychological suspense thriller. This is the kind of bizarre you can only get from this time period.
Cool: Music by Vic Mizzy (The Addams Family); Keeps you guessing what's really going on Lame: Why does a blind man have a lab where he does experiments? Rating: 6/10
Well, another Halloween in the books! I'm still waiting to hear back from people confirming they've gotten their Great Pumpkin Gift Exchange gifts. Once everyone reports in, I'll put up a post on that.
We had a fantastic night. We must have had close to 25 or 30 Trick or Treaters before leaving the house. It may not sound like a lot to some of you but on average I'd say we don't see more than 20. One kid was dressed as Dipper Pines from Disney's Gravity Falls cartoon. I wish I'd gotten a photo of him! Here was one of the most unique groupings that came to our door...
It took us an extra 10 minutes or so to leave the house because there were so many kids out. We've never had this "problem" in the past. It was good seeing so many out in the neighborhood. It brought me back to what I remember Halloween being like as a kid.
Salem wasn't as packed with people as it was Saturday night. I'm guessing the combination of it being the middle of the week and Sandy may have reduced attendance. It was similar to last year where we were hit by a blizzard the weekend before Halloween.
It's actually kind of nice with it not being so crowded. There are some parts of the pedestrian mall where you're literally shoulder to shoulder with people no matter where you go. Last night, there was plenty of room for taking photos with people. Below are just a few great costumes. There's plenty more over on Flickr. I can't take credit for most as my costume prohibits photography so big thanks to my wife and mom for these shots!
This zombie herd was amazing and it's probably only about half of their group! When they would take pics with people, they would swarm around them as if attacking. One of them had a sound effect loop running that sounded pretty gruesome.
Best Tin Man costume I've ever seen.
And what would Halloween be without a little Charlie Brown?
And here's a couple of me as The Salem Creep. I picked the name because the most common response I get to the costume is "That's f'n creepy" from girls and guys. When guys say you're creepy, you know you've got it right! A lot of people asked if I was the Slender Man this year.
And just in case you needed something to think about as you're going to sleep tonight, here is my new favorite photo of The Creep. Aww, it's like he's waving at you.
which is all about the Phibes movies. These are 
