Retro Halloween Commercials Mega Mix!
Happy Friday, everyone! Hope it’s fun and freaky. Here’s something big to set the mood:
I went through my YouTube channel to make a playlist of almost 70 spooky TV commercials from the ’80s and ’90s. These are all ads that I personally saved from old VHS tapes. You’ve seen many of them on the site before, but there are some surprises in the mix, too. This will push all of your favorite buttons. Covers everything from old toys to old cartoons, TV specials, horror movies, junk food and more. Just let it play!
Let’s add a SURVEY tonight, too:
In the comments, name some of things you that simply MUST do before Halloween. Could be plans that are already set in stone, and could be stuff that’s still only in your head. Could be as big as a vacation, could be as small as carving a pumpkin.
Make a little list and post it in the comments. Be as descriptive as you feel like being — you might inspire fellow After Darkers to explore new horizons in the process!
The Sandman!
Tonight’s video was suggested by our pal TM. It’s new to me, but I have a feeling it won’t be new to all of you:
Get set for The Sandman, an animated short from 1991!
TM adds: “Here’s a super creepy (and Oscar-nominated) stop-motion animation film that I remember watching on MTV’s Cartoon Sushi in the late ’90s… which I rediscovered thanks to browsing Count Duckula’s production studio on Wikipedia after an After Dark discussion, of all things!”
Sounds good to me!
In site-related news, as much as I wanted to get four pieces up this week, I’m gonna have to settle on three. I have another article coming, which technically belongs to Friday, but I may hold off on posting until Saturday morning to give the video I published today more time to breathe.
Also, Disqus is having an issue that’s making every post say it has 0 comments even if it has a hundred. Looks like it’s affecting tons of Disqus users. So yeah, ignore the comment count until they fix it. 🙂
The Pagan Invasion!
Well here’s a lucky break. A few years ago, I wrote an article about Halloween: Trick or Treat, the first in a series of anti-fun religious propaganda videos collectively known as The Pagan Invasion. Though my article did include some video clips, I stopped short of uploading the entire thing. Someone else on YouTube had no such misgivings, so what the hey, let’s cash in:
Now to be clear, the message of this tape SUCKS, but it’s so over-the-top that you could almost believe it was a coy parody of religious propaganda. In any event, it’s still one of my favorite Halloween watches. No matter how much the hosts complain, it’s a documentary full of old costumes, VHS tapes and the kind of berserk satanist stories that even shows like Unsolved Mysteries wouldn’t run. Might be a bit much for a Wednesday night, but put it on your reserve list.
The Wickedest Witch! (Yeah, again.)
Here’s another video that I run on After Dark every Halloween season — even if, deep down, I know I’m in the minority of folks who really care about it!
Embrace the dark power of The Wickedest Witch, a made-for-TV special that aired on NBC exactly once back in 1989. It stars Rue McClanahan (Blanche!) and a horde of goblin puppets. I’ve come to adore this special, if only to see Rue in such an odd light. There’s gotta be some secret reason why the special only aired once and was never officially released, but for now, that mystery just makes The Wickedest Witch all the more interesting. Enjoy!
