Fan of “The Walking Dead?”
Fan of Andrew Lincoln’s portrayal of Rick Grimes, the show’s lead?
Want to go dressed up for Halloween as Rick Grimes?
Have the secondary sexual characteristics of the female of the species?
No problem!
Yes, folks, here’s the “sassy” Rick Grimes Halloween costume, in honor of tonight’s season premiere of the show.
If you don’t want to show off your legs, here’s components of the male version.
Yes, these are the end times.
Oh, sure, when that crazy family in “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” decorated their home with bones, you were weirded out.
But now a trip to Target turns up some pretty grisly stuff.
Not really. But it is kind of funny that what once would have been considered horrific or at least in bad taste is considered kitschy fun.
I really dig some of these bony accent pieces. Dig, get it? Ah, never mind.
Because I need some Calvin and Hobbes today.
Thank you Bill Watterson.
Here’s the home of Calvin and Hobbes on the web.
You know what we’re doing here, right? I haunt the Halloween stores and costume aisles at Big Box stores and take pics of interesting masks, costumes and decor with my iPhone. Then I post ’em here.
So what do you guys make of this one? It comes in two versions, skeleton and … uh, devil skeleton?
And … appendage?
Maybe they’re going for a “Basketcase” thing here.
Remember that crazy 1982 horror flick about the deformed twin surgically removed and carried around in a basket? Remind me to tell you about my “Basketcase” surgical mask sometime.
Wait, we were talking about ….
You know, I’m a big fan of today’s AMC. What’s not to like? “The Walking Dead,” “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad.”
But this time of year I miss the old AMC, the all-movie network that couldn’t really compete with Turner Classic Movies … except for the last couple of weeks of October, when AMC programmed virtually non-stop horror movies.
From the old Universal Monsters classics to Hammer horrors, AMC made me want to sit in front of my TV 24-7.
Well, a lot of the classics have fled elsewhere – I’m guessing TCM – and there’s a preponderance of “Friday the 13th” and “Halloween” movies during the final two weeks of October on AMC now.
But that’s okay. Cause you can never see John Carpenter’s classic “Halloween” too many times. And none of us have seen the offbeat “Halloween 3” often enough.
And yes, I’ll stop and check out a “Friday the 13th” movie, if only long enough to determine if it’s the one with Kevin Bacon.
There are a few schedules online for AMC’s lineup this year. True, too many of the timeslots are filled with inferior stuff.
But beginning with a “Walking Dead” marathon over the weekend leading up to the new season premiere at 9 p.m Sunday and great movies like “Slither” on tap, AMC will still give us some Fear Fest this year.
During the month of October, you’ll find a few references to Collegeville and Ben Cooper Halloween costumes in this blog and many other spots on the Internet.
As much as I enjoy the wide array of Halloween costumes and decorations and makeup and … well, stuff in general that’s available today, none of it has the charm and nostalgia that most of us of a certain age feel for the two top Halloween costume makers for a half-century, Ben Cooper and Collegeville.
Here’s a sign, not unlike you’d find in a Woolworth or W.T. Grant or some other store, advertising Collegeville Halloween costumes.
Collegeville, operating out of Collegeville, PA, was maybe the lower-rent of the two companies. Ben Cooper costumes were officially licensed and featured characters from “Star Wars” and comics and TV shows.
Collegeville costumes were a little cheaper – still the standard rubber mask with a string, but a little more generic – but just as dear to our hearts.
Halloween wouldn’t have been the same without finding this sign at your neighborhood store, letting you know that the promise of finding the perfect costume for trick-or-treating was just down the aisle.
Who’s a cute Little Darth Vader? Who is? You are!
If you were the appropriate age to wear Ben Cooper Halloween costumes in 1980, and if you were a “Star Wars” fan, chances are good you wore this Darth Vader costume, offered by the company that year.
“The Empire Strikes Back” had come out that summer and Ben Cooper, the maker of half the nation’s Halloween costumes, had Darth Vader, just in time for you to tell the younger kid down the street who was dressed up like Luke Skywalker that you were his father.
Of course, the whole thing didn’t go off without a hitch.
Check out the spelling of Vader in the Cooper catalogue, here courtesy of plaidstallions.com.
Oh well. Not like it was the most popular movie series in history or anything.
I think I might have to break down and get these.
Readers of this blog might know that Captain America is, in some ways, my favorite superhero.
My earliest comic-book experiences revolved around a copy of Avengers 4, the milestone silver age comic in which Cap returns from the dead, given to me by a neighbor.
Cap’s costume in the big-screen movies often includes some kind of cowl/mask but often features just helmet and goggles.
You can get Iron Man or Spider-Man versions of these goggles, but really, they only make absolute sense for Cap to wear.
Or Halloween-night versions of Cap.
If I could only find a set big enough for my big Roysdon-sized noggin.
Is it just me, or does this Today in Halloween look like something from one of the best ever episodes of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer?”
Maybe it’s just me, but I swear this ventriloquist dummy mask I spotted tonight in a Halloween store is very suggestive of the ventriloquist dummy masks worn by the henchman of the dancin’ demon in “Once More with Feeling,” the musical episode of “Buffy.”
Okay, maybe it is just me.
Anyway, looking up details of this very special “Buffy” episode reminded me of things I’d forgotten.
Did you remember that it aired Nov. 6, 2001, less than two months after the Sept. 11 attacks? I didn’t.
As Count Floyd would say, “Oooo, that’s scary.”
There’s something about a lone figure in the distance, in the darkness, that prompts chills.
That’s never been more true than when Michael Myers is lurking in “Halloween.”
I’m of the opinion that John Carpenter’s 1978 classic horror film “Halloween” is one of the best fright flicks ever.
A big part of that was Carpenter’s “less is more” approach to showing Michael Myers. The killer was forever slowly fading into sight from a dark doorway or standing motionless across a street or down a sidewalk or in a backyard.
Or, even worse … approaching slowly from that distance.
Goosebumps.
keithroysdon 