Spook Spotter: Vintage Blow Mold Style Black Cat at Michael’s

Posted on July 24, 2019 by The Big Scare

Available now at Michael’s, what is sure to be one of the best finds of the Halloween 2019 season, this hard plastic black cat, designed to look like a vintage blow mold.

Black Cat Blow Mold Michael’s

The cat, like a traditional blow mold, is hollow, but the plastic is thick and there is no place for a light even if you were to consider lighting it. That being said, the design and paint is downright gorgeous, hearkening back to the decorations of Halloweens past. The black cat is an original design that incorporates a rather familiar face. The jack-o’-lantern on which the cat sits is the same face sculpt as the old Empire “Hobo Jack-o’-Lantern” blow mold. This one of a kind, 15″ throwback decoration is available at Michael’s stores now for the price of $18.00.

Bats in the Belfry and Movie Posters Come to Life: More Awesome Decor

Posted on October 29, 2017 by The Big Scare

Target Bat in a Cage (Center)

It’s almost here… Halloween 2017. But before we give up the ghost for the season, we had to tell you about a few more dazzling decorations for your haunted home. After all, there are only a few more days to make sure you have everything you need to scare the treaters…

First is the Skull in the Jack-O’-Lantern from Kroger which is quite reminiscent of the Halloween II movie poster. This is an amazing sculpture with super-bright orange-red LED lights. Right now, it is on sale at your local Kroger or Fred Meyer.

Halloween II Jack-O’-Lantern

Next up is a really amazing prop from Target that we failed to mention in our Monsterville post… This bat in a cage is really well-done. With a perfect soundtrack of thunder, lightning, and wing-flapping, this little devil comes to life when you pass by or make a loud sound. Its eyes light up, its wings flap, and lightning flashes, illuminating the true horror that is this little creature of the night…

Target Bat in a Cage

All that (Retail) Remains

Posted on October 12, 2016 by The Big Scare

There are a few more Halloween items we would like to let you know about before the end of this spooky season.

A creepy and cool item is this faux-flame jack-o’-lantern that is sold at Lowe’s. This ghoulish guy looks like one of those new age fireplaces when turned on, making for quite the lighted spooktacular. It’s like a Halloween bonfire is burning inside of him. Eerie and impressive all the same.

Lowe’s Faux-Flame Jack-o’-Lantern

SONY DSC Next is a very unique item from Dollar Tree. Dollar Tree and similar discount retailers are the ones most likely to have really cool items that other major retailers simply won’t stock. Take for example this beautiful 5 ft. jointed vampiress cutout. Now who could this possibly be? Looks like it’s Sam Dracula’s Daughter, a resident of 1313 Mockingbird Lane, doesn’t she?

This beautiful, fully-jointed homage to the classic monster sitcom is available for the modest retail price of $1.00. Here’s hoping more like her pop up in the next few years. We wouldn’t mind having the whole Munsters Family lining our haunted halls. Would you?

Haunting Your Local Post Office

Posted on October 1, 2016 by The Big Scare

They’re heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere! For the first time since 1997, the United States Postal Service is unveiling an eerie series of stamps just in time for Halloween! Check out these great jack-o’-lantern designs which have already made their USPS debut!

681404-l0

This is the first time the United States Post Office has released an official series of stamps for Halloween. You may recall the series of Universal Studios Monsters stamps that came out in 1997. While they were definitely set to be released during the season of the witch, they were never an official Halloween release. These stamps clearly are. So, head down to your local USPS to get this first book of Halloween stamps and celebrate this momentous occasion! The All American Holiday finally gets the recognition it deserves from an All American Institution!

The Meaning of Halloween | An All Hallows Toast 2015

Posted on October 31, 2015 by The Big Scare

Thank you for checking in with us during our 2015 Countdown to Halloween! We shall see you all 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!

Halloween Cardboard Die-Cut Gallery: Creatures of the Night

Posted on October 29, 2015 by The Big Scare

The Big Scare is proud to announce the final installment of this year’s Halloween Cardboard Die-Cut Gallery. We hope you have enjoyed all of the frightening images you have seen here. We will be back with even more images next year. Until then, take in the terror-ific sights of these Halloween frights. We’ll be back in two days with another post.

Jointed Skeleton

Beistle Werewolf

Eureka Vampier

Beistle Vampire

Beistle Grim Reaper

Owl and Moon

Skeleton in Window

Glow-in-the-Dark Skeleton

Beistle Flying Dracula

Halloween Cardboard Die-Cut Gallery: Jack-O’-Lanterns

Posted on October 25, 2015 by The Big Scare

Greetings, Boils and Ghouls! Today we continue our series on The Big Scare featuring images that will bring the Halloweens of Yesteryear to electric life! Today, we highlight the magic of the Jack-O’-Lantern. Enjoy these boo-tiful creations.

Beistle Scarecrow Head

Beistle Jack-O’-Lantern

Eureka Skeleton, Bat, and Pumpkin

Jack-O’-Lantern

Happy Halloween Sign

Halloween Cardboard Die-Cut Gallery: Witches

Posted on October 23, 2015 by The Big Scare

They call it the season of the witch, so what better Halloween character to feature in today’s gallery than that of the Wicked Witch!

Evil Green Witch

Today’s gallery features depictions of the craftiest old crones in the history of Halloween. The images seen here were produced from the early 20th century through the 1980s by a variety of manufacturers. There are certain traits that most of the witches share. Green complexions, long noses, warts, and capes appear on several of the witches in the gallery, and nearly all of them are seen riding brooms. (The association between witches and brooms stretches back the Dark Ages where the first images of witches riding brooms were depicted on elaborately illustrated manuscripts.) And while the broom is but one of a series of similarities, there’s really only one thing that all of the images truly have in common: the tall, pointy hat. That conical hat was first associated with witches in the early 18th century; it became popular in Victorian storybooks, was donned by the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz, and, as such, has remained a staple of the witch’s wardrobe ever since.

Now that you have been educated on the origins of these witches’ outfits, feel free to delight in the devilment of the delightful die-cut art!

Witch and Cauldron

Witch and Moon

Beistle Witch and Moon

Eureka Witch

Beistle Green Witch

Eureka Witch and Moon

Halloween Cardboard Die-Cut Gallery: Bats and Ghosts

Posted on October 5, 2015 by The Big Scare

Welcome back, foolish mortals, to our haunted mansion of the macabre! Today we continue with our series on vintage Halloween decorations! Our ghastly line-up today features die-cut images of bats and ghosts!

Beistle Ghost

Halloween cardboard cutouts reached peak popularity in the second half of the 20th century. There are a few companies that were quite well-known for manufacturing these paper masterpieces. The most renowned of these is The Beistle Company. Beistle was founded in 1900 and, since then, has produced some of the most iconic images of the Halloween season. Beistle is still in business today, and remains a giant in the party products industry, but the company’s current output pails in comparison to what was produced in the last century. That being said, they offer a limited line of vintage reproduction products called “Vintage Beistle”. The line-up is rather small and doesn’t delve too deeply into the massive catalog of products released from the 1920s through the 1980s.

Eureka Haunted House

Pumpkin Ghost

Beistle Flying Bat

Another manufacturer of macabre images is Eureka! Eureka created dozens of die-cuts that defined October in the 1970s and 1980s. Enjoy today’s images, many of which are of Beistle and Eureka products, and stay tuned for more devilishly delightful die-cut art!

Ghosts, Bats, and Pumpkin

Ghost and Haunted Tree

Ghost and Tombstone

Ghost Reading with Black Cat

Ghost and Cat

Ghosts and Haunted House

Halloween Cardboard Die-Cut Gallery: Black Cats

Posted on October 3, 2015 by The Big Scare

Greetings, Boils and Ghouls! Today we begin a new series on The Big Scare featuring images that will bring the Halloweens of Yesteryear to electric life!

Beistle Jointed Black Cat

We have created several galleries of vintage Halloween cardboard die cut decorations for your booing pleasure. In the 20th century, these paper cutouts adorned windows and walls in homes and schools during the month of October. The earliest ones started appearing in the 1920s. By the 1950s, they were staples of the season. Nowadays, there aren’t that many being produced, and the ones that are being created are nearly all computer-generated. Fortunately, we have nearly 100 years of cardboard die-cuts to draw from for our galleries. What’s more, every die-cut that will be featured in our galleries is hand-illustrated, designed by an artist or team of artists who captured the spirit of the season with old-fashioned ink and paint.

We launch our Halloween die-cut gallery series with images of one of Halloween’s foremost icons: the black cat! Enjoy! And come back in two days for more devilishly delightful die-cut art!