Spooky Soda

The Universal Monsters and Pepsi have a long history together, but this year, the classic monsters joined the ranks of the competition.  This year, the Coca-Cola company featured images of the iconic monsters on its Fanta line of flavored sodas.  While we were not able to track down any of these near us, perhaps you had better luck…

 

And 7-Up returned with more monster sodas this year.  These creepy little dudes have been on 7-Up products for a few years now, but we at the Big Scare believe these are the best incarnations of them so far…

Halloween Party Supplies: Now and Then

Throwing a Halloween Happening this year?  You’re probably going to need a few scary supplies.  The Big Scare hit the pavement looking for the best Halloween paper products on the market this year…

If you are looking for something classic, elegant, and spooky, look no further than JoAnn Fabrics.  The creepy craft store is offering paper plates and napkins with this devilish design.

Halloween Party Supplies at JoAnn Fabrics

 

However, The Big Scare does not believe only in looking to the present for scary supplies for your spooky shindig.  We managed to dig up some paper plates from 1993 featuring this fantastic phantom…  and some pretty nifty neons.

1993 Unique Halloween Plates

 

To be honest, we can’t decide which is better, so we’re going to offer both and let our ghosts… er… guests decide.

 

Halloween Activities Revisited | Rice Krispies Treats: Halloween Pumpkin Kit

The following does not constitute an endorsement of any product or retailer.   It is for information purposes only.

In our follow-up to our Halloween Activities Week, we’re bringing you another wise idea from our friend, Eek the Owl.  If you haven’t already viewed our previous family Halloween activity suggestions, you can do so by clicking here.

Today’s wise idea involves Rice Krispies Treats.  While they can be purchased pre-made in the store of your choice or made from scratch, an alternative is the official Rice Krispies Treat Kit.  This year, Snap, Crackle and Pop have concocted a pumpkin-themed kit to entice Halloween-lovers.  So we purchased it and tried it out.

The kit includes two “3D” pumpkin molds (both in the same container), Rice Krispies cereal, mini marshmallows, 2 icing pens and orange food coloring gel. It says it makes 14 pumpkin treats.  As usual, the yield was actually less…

The kit itself seemed easy enough.  And, for the most part, it was.  The challenge came with the whole bit about melting the marshmallows.  As simple as that process may sound, it’s really not — especially if one is not a seasoned expert.  One would think these things would just sort of melt.  They don’t.  To describe the experience would prove futile.  Just be warned, non-marshmallow-melters, this is not an easy undertaking.

Fortunately, things became less complicated after the “melting” was over.  While the Rice Krispies weren’t exactly thrilled about being glued together with our marshmallow paste, they eventually gave in.  Molding the Krispies Treats is a lot easier than I thought it would be.  In fact, we had all 8 – not 14 – done in a few minutes.  The experience proved to be more work than I bargained for, but the reward followed when it came time to decorate the pumpkins.  That was unparalleled fun.

When it comes down to it, there are probably simpler methods of putting funny faces on desserts, but we were glad to have done it this way — at least once.

Halloween Activities Week: Monster Movie Marathons

One of the best ways to spend a chilly October evening is watching Monster Movies.  If you have a home video collection filled with the Macabre or access to Netflix or a similar video-streaming service, this is relatively easy to do.  You can either plan out a schedule of films to watch or select them in a spontaneous manner.  After all, who hasn’t said, “It feels like a Creature from the Black Lagoon kind of night?”

Now, if you don’t have access to the Diabolic on demand, there are a number of alternatives.  Throughout the month of October, movie channels will be featuring a variety of fright flicks.  You can catch Pet Sematary and Halloween IV on AMC in the days leading up to Halloween.  Or you can spend your entire Halloween day plastered to the living room couch, watching  Horror Classics on Turner Classic Movies.

Beginning October 11, AMC will feature a variety of films that are sure to cause a fright.  From Cujo to Friday the 13th, there are a slew of Horror flicks worth watching.  Check out the schedule here.

And then, every Wednesday in October, Turner Classic Movies is featuring our favorite Monster Movies.

Here are some highlights:

PLEASE NOTE:  THESE ARE HIGHLIGHTS.  THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER MONSTER MOVIES SHOWING ON TURNER THROUGHOUT OCTOBER.  ALL TIMES LISTED HERE ARE FOR VIEWERS IN THE PACIFIC TIME ZONE. ALL TIMES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.  CONSULT THE TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES SCHEDULE FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION. 

October 10

5:00 PM PST – The Haunting (1963)

7:00 PM PST –  The Uninvited (1944)

9:00 PM PST – The House On Haunted Hill (1959)

October 17

5:00 PM PST – Horror of Dracula (1958)

6:30 PM  PST- Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

8:00 PM PST – The Mummy (1959)

October 24

5:00 PM  PST – The Raven (1963)

6:45 PM PST – Murders In the Rue Morgue  (1932)

8:00 PM PST – The Black Cat (1934)

October 31

3:30 AM PST- London After Midnight (Restoration) (1927)

4:30 AM PST- The Ghoul (1933)

6:00 AM PST – House of Dark Shadows (1970)

11:30 AM PST – Last Man On Earth (1964)

1:00 PM – Devil Bat  (1940)

2:15 PM PST – White Zombie  (1932)

3:30 PM PST- The Body Snatcher (1945)

5:00 PM PST – Frankenstein (1931)

6:30 PM PST – Son of Frankenstein (1939)

8:15 PM PST – The Wolf Man (1941)

9:30 PM PST – The Mummy (1932)

11:00 PM PST – The Mummy’s Hand (1940)

November 1

12:15 AM PST – Island of Lost Souls – (1933)

1:30 AM PST- The Invisible Man (1933)

Halloween Activities Week: JELLO Halloween Mold Kit

The following does not constitute an endorsement of any product or retailer.   It is for information purposes only.

For years, Jello Jigglers have been a holiday treat enjoyed by young and old.  This year, however, Jello has released a ready-made family fun kit to help with the Jiggler-making process.

The Jello Jigglers Mold Kit is available at a variety of retailers, from supermarkets to Walmart.  It comes with almost everything you need to create your own Jack-O’-Lantern, Bat, and Ghost Jigglers.  Included is an orange rubber-like mold tray that yields six shapes, one 6 oz. package of grape gelatin dessert mix, and one 6 oz. package of orange gelatin dessert mix.  Cutout instructions are provided on the back of the box.

What are some other Halloween food kits you have seen this year?  Share your finds in the comments section below!

Spook Spotter: Dollar Finds: Paper Monsters Play Set

The following does not constitute an endorsement of any product or retailer.   It is for information purposes only.

While browsing through the 99¢ Only Store, we stumbled on a most amazing phenomenon…something so incredible, we mistrust our own judgement.  Look!

What you see above is a very unique item featuring great looking monsters and a cool haunted house.  And while we aren’t entirely certain what it is supposed to be, we decided to call it a Monster play set.  Despite the fact that the package insists this is not a toy, we are uncertain what else it could be.  Oh, of course, they can call it a “centerpiece” all they want, but with 8 stand-up monster figures and a haunted house, a paper play set is more likely.

Included with the haunted house are small cutout figures: a vampire, werewolf, Grim Reaper, witch, mummy, skeleton, scary scarecrow, and a Frankenstein Monster who will look awfully familiar to many a monster kid.

Take a look at this beauty for yourself at your local 99¢ Only.  Well that’s a wrap for September.  Join us next week as we kick off October with The Big Scare’s Halloween Activities Week – 2012 edition.

Spook Spotter: Dollar Finds: Halloween Plates

The following does not constitute an endorsement of any product or retailer.   It is for information purposes only.

What Halloween party would be complete without some creepy paper eatery?  Every year, we here at The Big Scare try to track down some of the best looking plates and napkins for our haunted gatherings.  But this year, we had been having some difficulty.  It used to be that Target would be our go-to place for our Halloween party supplies.  Of late, however, their selection has been dreadfully disappointing.  This year, we carried our search from store to store with few positive results.  That was until we went into the 99¢ Only Store…

While their variety of Halloween paper eatery was nothing to scream about, one design captured our little black hearts: The Technicolor Cat Print!

This groovy, yet Hallow-chic, design was just what the Witch Doctor ordered!  What a purr-fect combination of Halloween Hip and Traditional Gothic Goodness!

Where do you usually go to gather your Halloween party goods?  And what theme will your Halloween party taken on this year?