The Mausoleum of Madness, Part II!
Welcome to Dinosaur Dracula’s MAUSOLEUM OF MADNESS, PART II! Every day through Halloween, check back for another vintage creepy collectible – everything from deep cut toys to ancient store displays to at least one totally insane costume. Probably ten cereal boxes, too.
I won’t be plugging this on social media much, so you’ll have to remember to visit on your own. Maybe stick an orange Post-It on the fridge. (Yes, it must be orange.)
PS, if you missed last year’s Mausoleum of Madness, it’s over here.
#23: Kellogg’s Snack-Pak Ad! (1954)
Kellogg’s Snack-Paks were multipacks of single-serve cereal boxes. They’d later be rebranded as Fun Paks, which are still sold today. (The single-serve cups have become more popular than the boxes, but they’re still on shelves if you look!)
This magazine ad from the ‘50s pitched them as the perfect thing for trick-or-treaters, and I’m here to fully endorse that idea. When I was a kid, I would’ve loved to get a little box of cereal on Halloween. Maybe not from every house, but a few well-placed hits of Corn Pops and Honey Smacks would’ve been a welcome departure from the norm.
I’ve said it time and time again. We all had our favorite candies, and we knew which ones were “worth” the most in street cred, but working some variety into your treat sack was essential. Like, Snickers might’ve been your top pick, but it would’ve been pretty boring to go home on Halloween with nothing but those, right?
Seriously thinking about taking this 69-year-old ad’s advice and handing out cereal when the kids come knocking on October 31st. I have no idea if I’ll be heralded as a hero or vilified as the neighborhood idiot. In truth, they’ll probably just think I forgot to buy candy. I don’t care! I’m doing it!
#22: Walgreens Halloween Circular! (1989)
Here’s a positively stunning Sunday circular from Walgreens, which landed on doorsteps just before Halloween in 1989. Remember how Gumby could walk into books and live in their worlds? My version would be using old newspaper ads to teleport into pharmacies.
There are a lot of goodies on this page. If you haven’t noticed them yet, it’s probably because you’re laser-focused on that “HALLOWEEN” logo, magnificently misshapen and surrounded by bats. I don’t blame you.
Let’s start with the candy. Miraculously, every single one of those things is still in production. Even the 5th Avenue bars, which have somehow survived despite nobody referencing them in over 15 years.
Then there’s that swank Real Ghostbusters treat bag, which would’ve been the perfect Halloween accessory for any kid who planned to dress like Ray, Egon, or Murray the Mantis. (Though it did appear to have a construction more in line with gift bags, so I hope that shit didn’t rip while trick-or-treating!)
Finally, there’s a smattering of cheap horror videos. During the Halloween season, they were as common a sight as Tylenol in pharmacies. In addition to expected titles like Day of the Dead and Amityville 3-D, Walgreens decided that Rodan and Son of Godzilla fit the bill for Halloween. I won’t argue.
Your challenge: It’s 1989, and I’ve blessed you with $25 to blow at Walgreens. Study this page closely, and decide what you’re buying!
#21: Garfield and the Halloween Party! (1990)
God, this pushes so many of my nostalgia buttons. I lived for these square books as a kid, which spanned endless topics but always had this same shape, plus that irresistible bonus of “12 collector stickers,” affixed to a sheet right under the front cover.
Such books were staples of elementary school book fairs, and I couldn’t get enough of them. Course, it helped that so many of the titles would’ve grabbed my attention even without the promise of free stickers. From pro-wrestling to Ghostbusters, all of my favorite things seemed to have a book like this.
That included Garfield, who actually had several of this sort. This was easily the best of them, because by 1990, Garfield and Halloween were firmly established as peanut butter and jelly. (His creepy cartoon special had been running annually since 1985, and even five years later, it still ruled over the season.)
If you’re wondering what Garfield and the Halloween Party is actually about, let’s have Grade School Matt answer that question:
“I don’t know, I tore the stickers out and now I can’t find the book.”
#20: Horror Movie Prism Stickers! (1980s)
Available in vending machines at department stores and supermarkets, horror movie prism stickers had an outsized impact on our lives. There was an army of these in the late ‘80s, covering not just the huge films starring icons like Jason and Freddy, but some pretty obscure titles as well. I even have a prism sticker for Zombie Nightmare, of all movies.
I’m not sure if any of the stickers were properly licensed, but given how generally infringing the prizes in vending machines were back then, I doubt it. They certainly looked professional enough, with beautiful, colorful art that only added to the ghastly imagery’s punch.
You didn’t need to be a kid who’d seen The Howling or Return of the Living Dead Part II to realize that shiny stickers based on them were way cooler than gumballs. Blowing quarters on these was not an exercise limited to horror fans.
In fact, I dare say that for some kids, the stickers were a gateway drug towards horror movies. If you dropped 50 cents on a Jason Lives sticker on the way out of Kmart, you were probably gonna become more curious about the movie, right?
The vintage stickers are now hideously expensive, and the market is full of scamsters selling undisclosed repros. If you decide to start collecting them, just know that the hobby breaks people, and should only be pursued by those who truly cannot live without prismatic stickers representing The Gate and Monkey Shines. Read More…
Dino Drac’s Envelope of Evil VII!
Surprise drop! Dino Drac’s Envelopes of Evil are BACK FROM THE GRAVE. If you missed the memo, these are special, limited edition packages filled with creepy collectibles that are offered exactly once and then never spoken of again.
(These have nothing to do with the Funpacks, by the way. Totally separate thing!)
For the Envelope of Evil VII, a handful of flat (or flattish) items conspire to make your Halloween season just a little bit grander. The cost on this one is $40, and that includes shipping to anywhere in the United States.
Jump to the bottom for ordering info, or keep reading to learn about everything inside the Dino Drac’s seventh Envelope of Evil! Read More…
Dino Drac’s 2025 Eerie August Funpack!
Dino Drac’s Eerie August Funpack – the first of three all-spooky Funpacks for the 2025 Halloween season – is here!
This one is LOADED with all sorts of creepy treasures – everything from old toys to old cards to old stickers to old Ghoul-Aid. (Yes, you read that right.)
Here’s the scoop: All subscriber boxes have already shipped as of last weekend, and are either on the way or already delivered. As of this writing, I have *very* few spares leftover for any non-subscribers who want one.
If you’d like to get one, send me an email, and if I have any left I’ll send you the deets. As always, they’re $25, and that includes shipping to anywhere in the United States. UPDATE: Sorry, they are now sold out!
Now, let’s see what’s in the box! Read More…