Michael’s Madness: The New Spooky Town

Fans of Lemax and the Spooky Town series have a lot to love this year at Michael’s.  The whole village seems to be revitalized with all new lighting features.  The two standout pieces this year are The Mad Pumpkin Patch and The Haunted Mansion.

Lemax Spooky Town Mad Pumpkin Patch

 

The Mad Pumpkin Patch is a really phenomenal piece with super bright LED lighting, an awesome audio track, and an amazing twirling pumpkin on top of the silo.

Lemax Spooky Town Haunted Mansion

 

One of the dark horse pieces this year is The Haunted Mansion.  It is a quiet an unassuming piece under the harsh florescent store lighting, but the piece really shines when put on display.  This haunted home feature all new exterior lighting, which is a huge improvement over past offerings.  Here’s to hoping Lemax continues to create similarly spooky abodes that bring lighting to the next level.

You can check out the entire line of Spooky Town products at your local Michael’s.  However, you had better hurry, as they are almost all gone!

Michael Myers Halloween Model Kit

If you enjoy making Monster Models, there are a number of unique kits that have been released over the past few years, and a few that have just been released, including a brand new Creature from the Black Lagoon.

One kit really stood out to us.  “From the original John Carpenter Halloween, Michael Myers is yours to build!”

 

 

A flickering LED light and battery pack is included “to give the pumpkin a spooky glow just in time for Halloween.” This is a 1/8 scale kit, standing approximately 9 inches tall when completely assembled.  And when it is finished, it a real beauty!  We at the Big Scare highly recommend this kit, as it would make a great Halloween project for you and yours!

Countdown to Halloween Begins… Weird Walmart

Greetings, foolish mortals!  Our official 2017 Countdown to Halloween begins today.  But, we want to make sure you have seen our special September post for the Universal Monsters “Monsterville” line of decor and costumes at Target.  These are, hands down, the most exciting finds of the season.

Today, however, we are highlighting another major retailer…  Walmart.  This year, their selection of scares is a bit disappointing, but there are some real treasures hidden in the eerie aisles.

First, is this amazing vintage-style black cat mask.  It’s backlit and glows bright.  It is much larger than the traditional vacuform masks of yesteryear, but a bit smaller than the wall masks offered by Retro-a-go-go… and a lot cheaper.  At less than ten bucks, it’s an absolute steal.

Backlit Vintage Mask

 

Next, we have two very vintage figures.  These items are real gems and a perfect price, coming in less than three dollars.

Vintage Walmart Halloween Figures

 

And finally, check out this great unlicensed Universal Monsters Rice Krispies Treats kit!  We’ll let you know how they turn out in a few weeks…

Rice Krispies Treats Monsters

We’ll see you in a few days with another Halloween update.  Remember to stick with the Big Scare all October-long.  We’ll have more fun decorations, treats, and more that you will definitely want to add to your haunted house for 2017!

 

 

Monsterville: Target’s Universal Monsters Line

For those of you who don’t know, Monsterville is Target’s new line of officially licensed Monster Movie merchandise featuring the Universal Monsters.

I have managed to get mostly every piece I can find, and I can’t tell you how awesome they are. These are the best Halloween decorations I have found in a big box store in years! Not only do they have movie-accurate likenesses, but they play dialog from the films and trailers… Plus the stuff is just genuinely well-designed. Here’s what I have found so far.

First up is the Boris Karloff Mummy Head, probably the best piece. It moves side to side, the eyes light up, and it plays phrases from the movie and trailer when you walk by..

Target Monsterville Universal Monsters Mummy Talking Head

 

Next are the Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein Cloches (globes) The burning windmill is one of the best Halloween decorations I’ve ever owned. Such amazing detail! And the sound effects are great. The LEDs in these are super bright. They light up the whole room!

Target Monsterville Universal Monsters Bride of Frankenstein Cloche Globe

Target Monsterville Universal Monsters Frankenstein Cloche Globe

Target Monsterville Universal Monsters Frankenstein Cloche Globe

 

The Frankenstein, Mummy, and Creature Screamers are really awesome and a great steal at 5 bucks each! They each play about three movie phrases, lasting about 10 seconds each. The Mummy and Creature are my favorites. Really awesome little shelf-sitters! Again, these are crazy bright!

Target Monsterville Universal Monsters Frankenstein Mummy Creature from the Black Lagoon Screamers

 

The Frankenstein Door Greeter moves its eyes and mouth, says spooky phrases, and lights up as it greets Trick-or-Treaters at the door!

Target Monsterville Universal Monsters Frankenstein Door Greeter

 

Finally is another great piece, the Frankenstein Head in Dome. This is a really beautiful piece. Fantastic sound and lights, but an even better Karloff Monster sculpt. Sooooo cool! I cannot recommend these enough!

Target Monsterville Universal Monsters Frankenstein Head in Dome

Target Monsterville Universal Monsters Frankenstein Head in Dome

Feel free to post your finds here!

 

 

Halloween 2016: An All Hallows’ Toast

Thank you for joining us for the 2016 Halloween Season.  We hope to see you again next year.  Until then…

Mothers have a holiday.  Fathers do too.  Veterans, the United States of America, laborers, pilgrims, grandparents, and Jesus all have holidays.  But do the children have one, a day that is all their own?  Yes.  Yes, they do.

There exists one night each year when the children make the rules, when they use their imaginations to the fullest, when they are given free reign of their worlds, when every door opened offers the opportunity for reward.  That night is Halloween.

Halloween is the one day out of the year that truly belongs to the children, the ones ages two to twelve, and the ones ages thirteen to 102 who refuse to grow up.  Halloween is the one night of the year when it is all right for each of us to return to the fantastic world of childhood, when we can allow make-believe things to scare us, and when we can dress up, be silly, and be ourselves – just as the children do.

So, here is to the children, both young and old, to the fantasies of youth, and to the one night when imagination knows no boundaries.  Here is to our holiday.  Here is to Halloween.

Happy Halloween!

The Greatest Halloween Packaging of All Time

In the history of mass-produced Halloween decorations, there have been many remarkable boxes and packages that have housed decorations both stellar and less-than-stellar.  However, there is no artwork that matches this beautifully macabre scene.

Behold the morbid and the macabre!  What sort of heinous decoration could be housed in such a gruesome box?  There are bats, skeletons, zombie hands, graves, mausoleums, and spider webs…  and this is only the bottom of the box!

Gruesome Ghoul Artwork

Gah!  Look at that drooling ghoul in his eternal shroud!  And what is that, a toppled cross below him?  This must really be some sort of sick and demented decoration.  But wait!  There’s more!

Gruesome Ghoul Artwork

This must be the grimmest of reapers!  Look at that snake protruding from his eye socket!   He’s even wearing another serpent as a scarf!  Could whatever is inside this box be as terrifying as this?  Could it ever live up to the utter fear that this image inspires?

Believe it or not, this packaging is from a company called Funny Toys.  Funny Toys.  There doesn’t seem to be anything funny about this box.  Perhaps they should’ve called themselves “Great Packaging” instead.  Okay.  Okay.  You have waited long enough.  Here’s the big reveal, the “funny toy” that was inside of this petrifying packaging…

1990 Funny Toys “Spooky Coffin” Animated Figure

 

Behold the Spooky Coffin, released in 1990!  For 1990, this probably was a pretty gruesome Halloween decoration: a miniature coffin, a vampire rising from it, creepy creaking sounds, menacing music playing, and evil laughter.  Taking all that into consideration, it was pretty advanced for its time.  One thing is for certain, they don’t make ’em like they used to…  And that includes the packaging!

 

Pumpkin Season

October is a time for pumpkin patches and hayrides.  On this cool October day, enjoy this gallery of pumpkin photos.

A sea of pumpkins

Pumpkins in their natural state

Pumpkins forever

Field of dreams

Pumpkins of all shapes

A perfect pumpkin

Pumpkins and their friends

Ready to be picked

Scary Soda and Chilling Chips

There’s a spooky new soda in the city…  Halloween Crush: Eerie Orange!  Check out that vicious vampire and that happening haunted house.

And Pringles is getting in on the frightful fun!  Check out this box of Pringles Singles complete with tombstones.  With 24 single-serving sized containers in each box, these would be great for Trick or Treaters.

Halloween Pringles

The Creepiest Candy for Halloween ’16

With so much candy out there, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what kind of candy will be both satisfying to Trick-or-Treaters and those who treat them.  The best suggestion is to get candy that you and your family enjoy!

This year, there are a few really cool offerings as well as some classic candy that you can never go wrong with!  This year, Hershey’s has decided to add recipes and ideas to the back of their Halloween candy bags as part of their “Celebrate with Hershey’s” campaign.  As such, when you pick up that bag of Kit Kats, York Peppermint Patties, or Reese’s, you will also be getting a cool idea to take your treats to the next level.

In addition to the treat tips, Hershey’s has revamped some of its candy bags.  Check out the penguins on the York Peppermint Pumpkins!

2016 Halloween Candy Bags

Finally, Snickers is back with its ghost-laden X-Scream bars.  What is your favorite Halloween-themed candy?  Share it with us in the comments below!

The Best Halloween Decoration of 2016: Target’s Raven Clock

So what is the best Halloween decoration of 2016?  Well, there are certainly a lot of great ones out there.  But taking price, size, and novelty into consideration, The Big Scare has decided the title of “Best Halloween Decoration” for the year 2016 goes to The Clock of Doom from Tekky Toys.  Available at Target, this spooky clock houses a talking raven who predicts doom for all who pass his way.  When activated, the minute hand spins, the clock face lights up blood red, and a talking raven’s head emerges from inside the clockworks.  The bird gives an ominous warning and then retreats back inside its haunted home.

Target’s Clock of Doom

 

It’s a throwback to an earlier, simpler, yet more elegant type of Halloween.  More in line with the decorations of All Hallows’ past than the overwrought blood and gore of today, it really is a unique piece perfect for any home or haunt.  It also reminds us here at The Big Scare of The Munsters’ own spooky, kooky cookoo clock.  Retailing at $25.00, it’s the perfect price and size for any Halloween enthusiast.