Today in Halloween: Devil business (NSFW)

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devil and eve shoulders

Truth be told, I’m not sure why I’m including this entry in “Today in Halloween.”

I’m not sure that it’s truly a vintage Halloween-related image, even though I found it in a search of such images.

I’m guessing it’s probably an ad from Playboy or some similar magazine, sometime in the 1960s.

And that brings me to the other random element of this post: I don’t usually go to the blue material here.

So here’s a warning. The second of three pictures that I’m using in this blog entry shows a cartoon of a topless woman.

Below that image is a close-up from the image itself and the only reason I’m running this at all, because it’s just too weird not to single out.

Okay?

devil and eve

Here’s the full ad.

devil crotch

And here’s the weird little detail.

What the hell happened to the devil there? It’s okay to portray a topless woman in a drawing that’s so detailed you can practically count goosebumps but we neuter the devil?

Well, obviously so.

Comic classic sequel: ‘Hobbes and Bacon’

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2011-05-10-Hobbes-And-Bacon

I’m not sure how I never saw this until now.

Every few days, I mourn the passing, in 1995, of Bill Watterson’s “Calvin and Hobbes” newspaper comic strip.

I post Calvin strips every once in a while here.

But not until today did I see a reference to “Hobbes and Bacon,” a totally unofficial sequel to Watterson’s great work.

In 2011, the web-based comic “Pants Are Overrated” did a series of four “Hobbes and Bacon” strips that visits, more than two decades later, the household of grown-up Calvin and Susie, their daughter Francis Bacon and, of course, tiger Hobbes.

hobbes-and-bacon-2

The strips are wonderfully clever and nostalgic and guaranteed to bring a tear or two to your eye even while they’re making you smile.

And in light of the many, many, many bootleg and offensive rip-offs of Calvin, I’m guessing the famously reclusive Watterson wouldn’t terribly mind these tributes to his characters.

Today in Halloween: ‘Sassy’ Rick Grimes costume

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sexy rick grimes walking dead halloween costume

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!

hallow sassy female rick grimes

Yes, folks, here’s the “sassy” Rick Grimes Halloween costume, in honor of tonight’s season premiere of the show.

hallow rick costume

If you don’t want to show off your legs, here’s components of the male version.

Yes, these are the end times.

Today in Halloween: Dem bones decor

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hallow hands candy dish

Oh, sure, when that crazy family in “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” decorated their home with bones, you were weirded out.

hallow hands candle

But now a trip to Target turns up some pretty grisly stuff.

hallow skull candy dish

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.

hallow legs bowls

I really dig some of these bony accent pieces. Dig, get it? Ah, never mind.

Today in Halloween: Skeletal monkeys on your back

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hallow skeleton back

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.

hallow devil on back

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.

basketcase

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 ….

Today in Halloween: AMC has a little bit of Fear Fest left

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amc fear fest

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.

Today in Halloween: Collegeville costumes sign

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CollegevilleHalloweenCostumeSign

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.

Wonder Woman done right

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wonder woman fan film close

It’s puzzling how Wonder Woman has eluded film and TV makers.

Of course, we can’t be sure what Joss Whedon would have done with his Wonder Woman movie that got spiked, but we’ve seen DC Comics, Warner Bros. and other filmmakers stumble more than once in their attempts to do a live-action Wonder Woman.

I’ve always said the DC Comics animated universe treatment of Wonder Woman in the “Justice League” series could serve as a ready blueprint for how to make a serious, ass-kicking live-action version of the Amazon warrior princess and her world.

wonder woman fan film medium

It looks like Rainfall Films has, in its two minute Wonder Woman short, opted for a “Man of Steel” treatment, which makes sense since that’s the way DC and Warner Bros. are headed. By adding Batman to the “Man of Steel” sequel, maybe they’re building to a movie featuring the DC trinity – those two plus Wonder Woman.

At any rate, the short film would serve nicely as a model for the big studio.

And you could do a lot worse than having Rileah Vanderbilt play the role in a full-length movie. She looks great in the short.

As more than a few people have said online: Okay. Go do this.

Today in Halloween: Cute lil Darth Vader

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ben cooper darth vader

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.

hallow ben cooper darth vadar misspelling

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.