Countdown to 10/31 - It's Time!

Happy Halloween!!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween!

I'd like to thank each and every one of you that's stopped by this month, linked to my blog, left comments and/or tweeted with me. When I started this blog a few months ago I felt like I was Trick or Treating in a neighborhood with no lights on. Now, lights are on, the houses are decked out and people are waiting on the porch for me with bags of candy. Now that I know someone's entertained by what I have to say, I'll keep at it.

Here's some photos from around Salem the past few weekends to give you an idea what it's like here. On October weekends in Salem, everyday is Halloween!

I'll be posting more photos from tonight over the next few days.

 

Click to view the photos

I hope you enjoyed the Halloween posts this month. Be sure to stick around at least for the rest of the week. Tomorrow will be the final Countdown post for this year. Also I have an idea I've kept under my hat for a couple years and now that I've made connections with other Halloween freaks, I want to see if we can get it rolling.

Here's my final goodie for you virtual Trick or Treat bag. You can't have Halloween without the Monster Mash, Ghostbusters and Thriller, right? Well now you'll have a few different options to listen to so it's not the same old thing all the time.


Thriller & Monster Mash

Bustin' makes me feel goood!

Countdown to 10/31 - Hot Wheels

For the past several years Wal-Mart and Target have each had their own exclusive Halloween themed Hot Wheels. I have to give a slight edge to Target because they always package their cars in a 5-pack which makes it easy to get all the cars at once.

If you want to see what's come before, our pal Monsterfink did a great two part history with photos over on his blog: Part 1 & Part 2

Since he did such a bang up job covering those releases, I'm going to post about some other non-Halloween Hot Wheels cars. That's right, it's the day before Halloween and I'm making a post about non-Halloween branded toys! We also got a little snow last night. Dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!

Every time I'm in the toy aisles (which is at least once a week) I always check out the Hot Wheels to see if there's any that I feel would be at home in my Halloween Garage.

These aren't specifically branded for Halloween, but I think you'll agree the look the part.
These are all 2011 releases. Bottom to Top they are:

Skull Crusher - First released 2010 as a Color Shifter Demon (turns different colors when it's hot or cold). I like the metallic gold on this one much better.
Hammerhead - First released 2011. This car was designed by NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Orange & black, you can't go wrong!
Custom '53 Chevy - First released 2007. I really like this one because it's in the secondary Halloween colors (purple & green). The hood is also transparent.
Evil Weevil - First released 1986/WalMart Fright Car 2008. It's a giant bug on wheels!

Not quite Ghost Rider but very cool! You can see the rider's brain and arm/leg bones. The translucent blue gives him a very phantasmic look.

You may be thinking "Gee, there's something missing here." And you'd be right. Our favorite flavored Frankenstein has his own van but I haven't been able to hunt it down in stores yet.

This spooky tour bus is the only entry not from this year. It's actually from the 80's. I came across it on eBay while hunting for other Halloween Hot Wheels and it was too cool to pass up!

Countdown to 10/31 - The Price is Right

Originally, I was going to do an entire week of Vincent Price related posts but things got in the way. Instead, here's one semi-lengthy post, my contribution to the Vincentennial.

Our first stop is Rue Morgue Radio Podcast where Feedback recently interviewed Vincent's daughter, Victoria, at this year's Festival of Fear. This interview makes me just a bit sadder that I'll never have the chance to meet Mr. Price. Most people only know him from his acting career, but he was a real Renaissance man who was also passionate about art and cooking. You can listen to the interview here.

I don't recall my first introduction to Vincent although I'm fairly certain it was his appearance on the Muppet Show. Is it a coincidence that Uncle Deadly, that creepy Muppet who made his first appearance in this very episode, is also one of my favorite Muppets? It could be...it could also be that I'm just into weird things.

I also grew up on Creature Double Feature on Saturday afternoons, they probably played The Fly at some point but I may not have realized it was the same person. Although now a fan of 50s/60s horror and scifi, I was generally more interested in kaiju monsters and aliens in my movies. My next memorable encounter with Vincent was not until Thriller in 1982. I'm sure I saw him on Hollywood Squares between Thriller and Edward Scissorhands...I was a game show addicted kid.

I didn't really start getting into (and collecting) his movies until the early 00's but once I did, I was hooked. I can't tell you how many Midnite Movie Vincent Price double feature DVDs I own! I find him fascinating to watch. No matter what role he's playing he owns the screen when he's on it.

Here's a clip from one of my favorite movies. The Comedy of Terrors which also starred Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone. Price and Lorre are undertakers but business is bad so Price decides to start "creating" new customers!

I couldn't find the clip of a favorite scene where Price is telling a woman she's become a widow, but it goes something like this...

Price (elegantly, referring to her former husband): I'm afraid he's made his final journey to that Stygian shore.
Woman: He what?
Price (deadpan): He died.

Here's a few of his movies that I recommend: Shock, The Last Man on Earth, The Dr. Phibes movies, Witchfinder General, The Pit and the Pendulum (heck, pretty much every Poe movie he did), The Raven and Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (oh yes, I went there! But only see this after you've watched all his Poe movies).

And what would a post about Vincent Price be without a little audio to go along with it?

A Hornbook for Witches