Claymation Comedy of Horrors!
Suggested by Jason H., here’s Will Vinton’s Claymation Comedy of Horrors, from 1991:
Totally great pick, because while I’ve long been aware that this had a following, it’s not something I’ve seen. You guys are helping Dino Drac After Dark broaden its horizons!
Jason adds: “This one is tied into one of my most favored Halloween memories. Basically, one night when I was like 9 or so (must have been around 1992), my dad took me to a Halloween ‘zombie walk’ maze out of nowhere, unannounced and unprompted.
“While we waited in this tented waiting area for the tour to begin, we watched the first half of ‘Ghoulies 2’ on one of those school A/V TV setups; I don’t know where they got it. (I also never figured out what the movie was for like two decades afterwards.)
“After the walk ended, we ended up going to Taco Bell for dinner, in order to snag some of those ‘Monster Eyes’ eyeball straws they were hocking at the time.
“Then we went home, where he managed to produce a bag of Halloween orange-and-black M&M’s for dessert, which I had never seen at that point (for whatever reason) – I thought that was the coolest thing. To top it all off, we got back just in time to watch this, which I believe was airing on the Disney Channel that night.
“I don’t know what prompted all of this Halloween-osity out of my dad, but it was one of the best nights of any Halloween season I’ve ever had.”
America’s Scariest Halloween Attractions!
Uh oh! We’ve entered what I call the “Halloween lull,” which is a thing that happens every early October. I’ll explain!
These days, the majority of Halloween enthusiasts start celebrating in early September, if not late August. Over the last few years, that’s become the norm.
Everyone’s super happy when October 1st hits, but after that, it’s “Halloween lull” time. For the next week or two, many people will seem comparatively mellow on the season, at least in part because they’ve already been celebrating it in a big way for a month already.
As someone who has dedicated himself to putting out Halloween content nonstop even during that lull, I’ve learned not to take it personally. Like I said, this happens every year. By the middle of the month, everyone rebounds, and the season wraps up with as much excitement as it started with.
My point? Don’t worry if you’re feeling a little fatigued. It’s perfectly natural. Just use this time to do some of the subtler spooky things that will seem too mundane when you’re in Halloween crazy mode. Draw some pictures! Read some books! Marathon a movie series!
On the other hand, if you want something that’ll throw you back in the mood in a hurry…
Tonight’s pick is another from vhslvy, who really killed it this season with her great suggestions. It’s America’s Scariest Halloween Attractions, a Travel Channel documentary/infomercial from 2006.
Who cares if some of the info is obsolete? It’s still fun to watch, and this is exactly the type of Halloween programming that will make you feel the season.
Terrifying Tuesday Survey!
Let’s do a survey tonight!
In the comments, answer one, two or all three of these questions:
1) What’s the scariest movie you’ve ever seen IN THEATERS?
2) Name your favorite *friendly* monster, from all walks of pop culture.
3) It’s Tuesday, October 31st. What’s for dinner, besides candy?
Random Ep of Unsolved Mysteries!
Here’s a totally random episode of Unsolved Mysteries, from the Dennis Farina era:
When I say random, I mean it. There are tons of the Farina eps on YouTube now; I picked this one totally blind. (My feeling is that there’s no such thing as a bad Unsolved Mysteries episode.)
