Haul-iday Highlights 2025

 This used to be an annual tradition but it looks like I haven't done one since 2022. At any rate, here's a look at some of the goodies left under my holiday tree by various supernatural beings.

 

 We'll start off with these awesome gift tags that Mrs Dex found. Perfect for me!

 

 Sadly, this art print from Spooky Cat Press isn't a full comic magazine!

 

 Speaking of Krampus, here's a weird plush from the Pinhead Monsters line.

 

 Throwing this in here because it's on theme. This was a gift to myself after we saw the author, Jeff Belanger, do his "The Fright Before Christmas" show. It's just him and some slides talking about the origin of Christmas as a holiday in addition to all the weird dark folklore from different countries. Can't recommend this enough if you want to dive into the darker side of winter traditions.

 

 A great set of figures from Disney's Haunted Mansion. All the most popular characters are here and I found it interesting that they picked the mummy to round out the set.

 

 And to go with them, a Disney Racers Haunted Mansion Hot Rod! Love the details on this: Mdme. Leota's headstone on the front and the pipe organ in the back.

 

 The Indy Temple Trekker is sporting the famous hat and whip. The vehicle is based on the design used for the ride vehicle from the Disneyland attraction.

 

 While we're talking Disney, Mrs Dex got me this very cool Tron: Ares light up popcorn...bucket? container? It's pretty sizeable at just over a foot tall!

 

I was very excited to unwrap this Funko of one of my favorite Muppets: Pepe the King Prawn. There's not enough Pepe merch out there! And he's flocked!

 

 Rounding things out with a pair of Star Wars card games. This Solo Solitaire game comes in a tin that looks like Han in carbonite. It's basic "Patience" solitaire with a themed deck of cards. There's a Jedi Master mode where you add two additional cards: Carbon Freeze which "freezes" the lane when it reveals, preventing you from playing or moving cards there, until you play Save Solo on it to remove it.

 

 Finally is the Stay on Target card game, which I really wanted because it comes in that cool Death Star! Each player takes a squadron color and battles their way through Imperial defenses to take a shot at that exhaust port to score victory points.

Monthly Media Recap - December 2025

 Well, here we are at the end of another year. This was probably my lightest month for movies since I started keeping track. I was up for watching some so bad it's good holiday horror and ended up with a lot of coal in my stocking.I have no one to blame but myself as I rarely watch trailers to see what I'm in for.

 

  

Series

 

IT: Welcome to Derry (HBO Max)

I'm a King fan but only know IT from its film incarnations. The series started out a little shaky but quickly gained its footing. The kid actors are all great and their performances make each one endearing. Pennywise may not be in every episode (which is good!) but when he does show up, things are bound to get horrific and/or bloody.

 

The Creep Tapes (S2, Shudder)

On one hand, sometimes less is better. Seeing this much of "Peachfuzz" takes a little away from the films. On the other hand, watching Mark Duplass perform this role in all its unhinged craziness is a delight.

 

Movies 

 

 

Twas the Night (2023, Tubi)

I honestly couldn't tell you what this is about other than it's a holiday themed anthology. There's a wraparound story to supposedly tie everything together but like most of the rest of the movie, it fails to do what they want it to. I feel like the folks that made this had an idea in their heads that just didn't make it to the screen. For some reason, people in Purgatory are judged by Krampus?

 

Rating: 2/10 

 

 

I Trapped the Devil (2019)

It's a slow burn that could have used a little more fuel for the fire. There's a lot of atmosphere in the way it's shot and the actors are very good but I feel like it would be better as a 30 or 60 minute episode of the Twilight Zone or something similar.

 

Rating: 4/10

 

 

Krampus vs Vikings aka Pagan Warrior (2019, Tubi and YouTube) 

Hey, we have a Krampus costume and access to a castle, let's make a movie around that! Low budget, bland actors, laughable stage combat, and typos in the text opening aside, the biggest crime committed here is that Krampus is summoned by witches to help a Saxon get revenge on Viking invaders. That's not how Krampus works! There was at least one scene where the horns on his head were noticeably askew. 

 

Rating: 3/10

 

I remembered the Blumhouse "Into the Dark" Hulu series of holiday horror movies so decided to try my luck in that neck of the woods...

 

 

New Year, New You (2018, Hulu) 

I'm sure there's an audience for the type of movie this is, but I'm not it. I found it hard to get invested in most of the cast. It doesn't get off the ground for me until the second half and then it's a lot of chasing around in a dark house where I was never quite sure of the layout which made it difficult to keep track of what was happening where.

 

Rating: 4/10 

  

 

A Nasty Piece of Work (2019, Hulu)

At least I ended the year with a winner! This thing has more twists than a multi-story parking garage ramp, you know the corkscrew ones? Julian Sands (channeling his best David Warner) and Molly Hagan are wonderful as a rich couple with an epic love/hate relationship. How far would you go to get that promotion?

 

Rating: 8/10 

 

Letterboxd tells me I logged 93 movies this year but my on going total only shows 92. I wonder what I forgot to post about?

 

 

This Month

New: 5   Rewatch: 0

Year to Date

New: 82   Rewatch: 10

Merry Creepmas from Blackcraft Salem

Blackcraft in Salem is one part Goth gift shop, one part coffee house, and one part haunted attraction. I caught wind that Krampus would be there and was bringing along some seasonal specialty drinks so we just had to visit for a dose of Creepmas.

 

 

 

 Blackcraft has been in Salem for about three years and despite me always seeing stuff about them on social media, I've never visited.

 

They have the distinction of having the largest witch statue in town, which you can see hanging from the ceiling here. The store is huge and there's a lot of fun stuff to see. In addition to the clothing (they have their own brand!), coffee, and other ghoulish gifts, they go all out decorating for the spooky holiday vibe.

 

 Blackcraft is in what used to be a bank. The former teller windows have had the glass removed and serve as the checkout counter. An employee told us of  a particular spot at the counter where the floor dips slightly from people standing at the teller window over the decades. Here you can see the vaults.

  

 This life-size (not made of) gingerbread house has got a lot going on. There's some gingerbread punks running along the top and gingerbread bats hanging from the roof.

  

 I mentioned earlier, Blackcraft is also one part haunted attraction! During the off season, you can do a walk through and take all the photos you want. During Halloween season, it gets a little more intense by turning down the lights and adding scare actors. Definitely need to check both versions out when I have time.

 

 In the back corner of the store is Blackcraft Coffee that has a witch's cottage design aesthetic. They offer the usual coffee house drinks but also have a variety of other offerings, even a couple inspired by local personalities like the Good Witch of Salem and Borah. Aside from that, they also have seasonal specialties like gingerbread lattes and some Krampus themed hot cocoa.

 

 They have candy and treats for sale too including these Movie S'mores with some creative name/flavor combos.

 

 I went with "Black Christmas" which is hot cocoa with toasted marshmallows, whipped cream, and a chocolate lump of coal. It was delicious! The cocoa was really good on its own. I hate when you get it somewhere and it just doesn't give you that joy of hot cocoa.

 

 And then we got a photo with Krampus because how do you not? He was definitely a more beastly Krampus that didn't speak and communicated in loud grunts and howls. While we were waiting for our drink orders, he stormed up to the register, grunted something, and the cashier told him they were out then he got mad and stomped away.

 

 As usual, I've got more pics on Flickr if you want to have a look.

 

 

 Merry Creepmas! 

 

Krampus in Fortnite

 Hey, where do you go for two year old news? Right here!

 

I'm just dipping my toes into Fortnite since they added the Mandalorian in-game items. I had tried playing once before but on an iPad and it was not a good experience. Definitely more at home sitting down at my PC to play this and I'm having fun with it. Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't check it sooner when they had the Marvel event going on.

 

Anyway!

I was poking around the item shop when I came across this very cool (not so cool that I'm shelling out cash for it) Krampus skin originally released in 2018.

 

 I'd LOVE to see them make this into a figure. Probably be a little hard to get him to stand on those cloven feet but it'd be pretty sweet!

His back bling is a little sack with children in it. Okay, they're little doll children.

And of course, Krampus has a custom glider called Krampus' Little Helper. This thing is absolutely wicked in motion!

Not Krampus related but they've got a male and female nutcracker skin and this is one of the variations of the male one that I think is Creepmas appropriate. Actually, all the variations are appropriate, a human-sized nutcracker is pretty creepy!

Check out all the Creepmas participants by clicking below!

Haunted Holiday at Netherworld

The Travel Channel recently posted this very appropriate video.

The Netherwolrd haunted attraction in Stone Mountain, Georgia opens its doors for once night on December 14th inviting you in for a spooky holiday.

This looks like it would be a lot of fun! Their website says it's a limited capacity event and groups will be lead through six people at a time, which sounds awesome because the actors will be able to focus on each group going through.

Stick around to the end of the video to see the great prop museum Netherworld has.

Be sure to visit the other Creepmas celebrants by clicking below.

Merry Christmas, Krampus

There's a Krampus children's book currently on Kickstarter called Merry Christmas, Krampus.

Merry Christmas, Krampus is an independently published children’s book that tells the story of legendary Christmastime creature Krampus and how one child from Santa’s Naughty List teaches him that all “bad” children have some good in them.

Any children's book featuring Krampus would be fun but what makes this one a little more special is the way they're creating the images. They're actually building the characters and sets, then photographing them.

The folks creating this have worked for Jim Henson's Creature Shop, Disney Imagineering, and Disney Animation! There's still 22 days left for them to hit their funding goal and I'm really hoping they make it. I'd love to see the final product.

There's some open Early Bird pledge spots open where $30 will get you a copy so head over to their Kickstarter page and check it out.

Dreadful Decorations

Fright Rags has some officially licensed Krampus goodies, just in time for Creepmas.

They have a shirt and socks but the clear winner is this set of die cut decorations.
The whole set is $20, you can't beat that!

They have holes at the top so you can hang them with a tack or string them all together for festive garland. Bonus! They're double sided so if you put them in a window, they can be enjoyed from both sides.

Vintage Spooky Company is at it again with a new die cut and a series of ornaments.

The Creepy Cracker measures 17"x11" and is sure to keep the spirit of Creepmas in your home throughout the holiday season. How cool would it be to have an actual physical nutcracker based on this design? I really hope Vintage Spooky keeps making Halloween inspired decorations for all the big holidays.

They've also shrunk down some of their Halloween die cut designs so you can hang them from your tree. Or wherever you hang things from at Creepmas.

The die cut is just $10 and the ornaments $5. If you do head over to Vintage Spooky, be careful. Those $10 die cuts add up quick!

Happy Krampusnacht

Just as the night before All Saints Day is Halloween, the night before the Feast of St. Nicholas is Krampusnacht.

From Wikipedia

"Traditionally young men dress up as the Krampus during the first week of December, particularly on the evening of 5 December (the eve of Saint Nicholas day on many church calendars), and roam the streets frightening children with rusty chains and bells. Sometimes accompanying St. Nicholas and sometimes on his own, Krampus visits homes and businesses. The Saint usually appears in the Eastern Rite vestments of a bishop, and he carries a ceremonial staff. Nicholas dispenses gifts, while Krampus supplies coal and the ruten bundles."

Krampus has been getting more traction in the US year after year and that is awesome. I look forward to a day when I can go to a Krampusnacht celebration. I know they do happen in parts of the country, just not in my part yet...as far as I know.

Need more Krampus?

Head over to my Pinterest Krampus board!

Advent Calendar of Horror

If you were a regular during the Countdown to Halloween, you may have seen my interview with spooky artist Chris Raimo. If you didn’t follow him back then, you’ve been missing out because he’s started an Advent Calendar of Horror!

Find him on Facebook and/or Instagram so you don’t miss any!

Click the badge below to visit all the Creepmas bloggers and search #Creepmas on social media for even more horrific holiday antics. 

 

Merry Creepmas 2018!

It's the most horrible time of the year as we begin the 8th annual celebration of Creepmas! If you've somehow found yourself here and don't know what Creepmas is, let's lay it out.

The 13 Days of Creepmas is an online Celebration of Seasonal Spookiness from December 1 - 13. The idea is to bring a macabre twist to Christmas and the holidays. Get creative and post on your blog, website and social media - share your twisted yule visions with the world and be sure to tag them #Creepmas and/or #MakingCreepmas!

 While I do have a few things I'll be sharing here during Creepmastime, I won't be doing new daily posts this year. But I will be reposting some Ghosts of Creepmas Past on the blog's Facebook page as well as on my Twitter and Instagram.

Click the image below if you still need to grab a Creepmas badge and to see the list of participating blogs.

Krampus Kollectibles

If you're a fan of the movie Krampus, then Entertainment Earth is going to be your new best friend! They have all sorts of goodies to deck your halls with Krampus spirit.

First are these two sets of Beezle-Baubles. These ornaments are 8" in diameter and are perfect for sprucing up your tree (get it?). At the time I'm writing this, Set 1 is temporarily out of stock and Set 2 is very close to joining them. But it's never too early to order for next year, or whenever you want to display them. Leave them up year round if you want, I don't judge.

Speaking of decorating your tree, wouldn't this lovely Cherub Tree Topper look great atop your tree? I think she'd need a couple extra lights right below her to highlight the claws and creepy face.

My favorite item would have to be this Dark Elf statue. He's 1:6 scale, standing just over 10" tall. He's got a single candy cane hanging from his belt, but that's only for the good little kids. The bone saw might be for the other kids.

Are ornaments and statues not your thing. Do you just want something to cuddle with on the cold winter nights? This Klaue Teddy Bear might be the thing for you! You can even peel back part of his scalp to pet his brain! What a good little bear.

See all the Creepmas celebrants by clicking below.