Random Stuff

It’s time for the next batch of Classic Creepy Commercials! (If you read that in the voice of a game show announcer and hum happy music afterward, it becomes a stronger open.) Collected below are another five spooky TV commercials from the ‘80s and ‘90s, covering everything from to

(Available in the United States only!) Uh oh! Dino Drac’s September 2015 Funpack HAS ARRIVED, and in celebration of the Halloween Countdown, it’s stuffed with TERROR AND NIGHTMARES. If you’re new to the site, here’s the scoop: Every month, I mail a new Funpack out to all subscr

I adore the Halloween Countdown for a thousand reasons, but here’s one of the big ones: I get to bring back my Classic Creepy Commercials feature. Yay! If you’re new to the site, know this: I love old TV commercials, but I especially love old HALLOWEEN commercials. Growing up in a ti

The lasting appeal of The Real Ghostbusters owes to many things. Sure, “people still really like Ghostbusters” is the easiest explanation, but it’s also one that robs the cartoon series of its due praise. That was a plainly fantastic show, with themes, jokes and pure imagination that

It’s here, it’s here! Dinosaur Dracula’s August 2015 Funpack is available now! The scoop, if you’re new: Every month, I mail out boxes of goodies — “Funpacks” — to everyone who subscribes. The cost is $25 per month — including shipping — and you’ll con

($25 / MONTH SUBSCRIPTION. AVAILABLE IN THE U.S. ONLY!) Dino Drac’s July 2015 Funpack is available now! This is the twelfth Funpack, which means I’ve been at this for a full year. (It also means that subscribers who’ve stuck with this from the start have also been at this for a full

Last weekend, we attempted to help my mother tidy up her shed. It turned into quite the ordeal. It seemed as though nobody had been in the shed since my father died, and that was close to ten years ago. Only, that’s not entirely true: A closer inspection revealed that the shed had been

Today on Dino Drac: 1500 words about eight old trading cards. I’d like to say that I give people what they want, but nobody asked for this. The eight cards are from eight entirely different sets, spanning from the late ‘70s to the mid ‘90s. If you can stand a site like Dino Drac, the

($25 / MONTH SUBSCRIPTION. UNITED STATES ONLY!) Wheee! It’s finally time to launch Dino Drac’s June Funpack! You all know the deal by now, right? Probably, so I’ll keep it short: Every month, I mail out boxes of goodies. Selling these Funpacks is absolutely what enables

I’m a sucker for giant, ominous statues. If Easter Island had 7-Elevens, I’d live there. Quickest way to make me a fan of your movie or TV show? Toss in a giant, ominous statue. I don’t care if the statue is pure scenery or critical to the plot. Just stick it in there! Here are

Last July, I introduced you to The Ultimate ‘80s Sticker Album, which originally belonged to a complete stranger. One who really, really liked stickers. Well, I’ve found a similar album, which once belonged to another stranger. It’s not as jampacked as the album from last s

I found it, I found it. The most impossibly ‘80s thing of all impossibly ‘80s things. Ironically, for all I know, it might’ve come out in the ‘90s. This Sun Kids combo pack blends two things that perfectly bookend all of my other childhood memories: Cheap sunglasses with neon fram

Today we’re gonna get reacquainted with some very special books. If you’re at all familiar with these, you already love them. Published by Antioch in the ‘80s and ‘90s, they were commonly found at elementary school book fairs, and on those delightful Scholastic Book Club order fo

($25 MONTHLY, SHIPPED! AVAILABLE IN THE U.S. ONLY!) Dino Drac’s May 2015 Funpack is here! The quick-and-dirty version: Every month, I mail out a new Funpack. Subscriptions cost is $25 per month (that includes shipping), and you can cancel at any time. For as long as you remain subscrib

I found an old Toys “R” Us gift card while cleaning, and was happy to discover that it still had 59 bucks left on it. I hope the card enjoyed those eight months under our microwave. This left me with three options. One, I could save it until the Christmas season, when I’m due to blo

($25 MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION AVAILABLE IN THE U.S. ONLY!) Dino Drac’s April 2015 Funpack is available now! Hard to believe that the Funpacks are entering their ninth month. I never expected this to go for so long, and I’m insanely grateful for everyone who took the plunge and helped me j

This is the story all about how my life got flipped turned upside down… all because of a box of product samples given away by Blockbuster in the 1990s. See, I was planning to do a Deadsites entry on Blockbuster. After digging up a version of its webpage from 1997, something caught my

Assorted travels have left me with assorted trading card packs. I figured it was time to do something with them. …so I ripped open the six shown above, and challenged myself to name the best card in each of them. This wasn’t as easy as it sounds. For example, in the case of the Gre

Uh oh — the coffee cups are back! If you recall, I asked Dino Drac readers to submit photos of their weirdest coffee cups, owing to morbid curiosity and probably worse. That was back in July. Over a hundred of you accepted the challenge, and I was so overwhelmed the sheer volume of s

Over the weekend, me and Jay from The Sexy Armpit found ourselves in a church, or maybe an event center, or perhaps some kind of school. I’m not exactly sure, but some building in Clifton NJ had been commandeered for a comic book convention. A small comic book convention, I mean. This w

Dino Drac’s March 2015 Funpack has arrived, and this one is out of this world! It’s the Funpack from outer space, loaded with extraterrestrial awesomeness! As most of you know, these Funpack subscriptions have become the lifeblood of Dino Drac, so on top of getting boxes full of weird

Roseanne is a strong contender for my favorite sitcom, and I still watch it religiously. Only with hindsight do I see how good the show was at capturing its time, not just through its characters and situations, but through its settings. Didn’t we all grow up in houses that looked at le

Let’s say you’re bored. Let’s say it’s the weekend. Let’s say there’s no one around and nothing to do. I’m here to help! My suggestion may sound a little flat at first, but it’s something I believe in, and something I’ve done myself. All you’ll need is $10 and access to

Back when Pee-wee was just starting to catch on, he was a frequent guest on Late Night with David Letterman, taking part in bizarre bits that only further cemented his rise to superstardom. Since my own obsession began with Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, I missed the earliest of those appeara

Back in July, I asked everyone to send in photos of their weirdest coffee mugs for an upcoming Dino Drac feature. A whole lotta you did. In fact, I was so daunted by the number of submissions that I shelved the idea for months. During that time, I expertly handled any emailed inquires by p