31 Days of Halloween: The Halloween Movie Franchise

by Beth

As this post is going up on Halloween I figured I should make it good. Nothing is more Halloween-ie to me than the Halloween movies. Even if all of the sequels haven't been first rate it is one of the longest running horror film franchises, and deserves to be looked at for the sum of its parts. That being said, I thought it might be fun to look at each movie in the series individually. The original is one of my favorite movies of all time (and not just of horror movies either), and there's a lot of love behind my criticism of the rest. Okay - most of the rest. I know I've talked in the past about how much I love these movies, and the character of Michael Myers, but I've never gone this in-depth before. So join me on an extended trip to Haddonfield for the horror that is Halloween.

31 Days of Halloween - Spooky Toy Review – A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors Quarter Scale Freddy Krueger from NECA

By Dave

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors isn’t just my favorite Nightmare movie, it’s one of my all-time favorite horror movies.

Needless Things Podcast 184 – 31 Days of Halloween: Halloween III Needless Commentary

Part of an ongoing series – the Needless Things Irregulars gather in the Phantom Zone to provide their own unique commentary on classic genre films! October’s film was chosen via fan poll on the Needless Things Podcast Facebook Group!

31 Days Of Halloween - Devlin's Domain - Thundercrack!

Halloween is rapidly approaching and I've been struggling with what film to cover in this edition of Devlin's Domain. I needed something unusual, something disturbing, something nobody would expect. Of course disturbing and unusual are always expected here, which made this an even more challenging task. After racking my brain and tossing around everything in my collection, I finally came across a film with a spooky vibe and a Halloween spirit. It's a film few have heard of and even fewer would likely want to watch. For this Halloween season I found....a porno.

31 Days of Halloween - Spooky Toy Review – My Pet Monster NYCC Exclusive Glow-in-the-Dark Variant from Creepy Co.

By Dave

If you don’t know, Creepy Co. is an online retailer that specializes in nostalgia. They produce t-shirts, pins, and all manner of licensed collectibles that pay tribute to the franchises and art styles of decades past.

Last year Creepy Co. celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of My Pet Monster – a plush representative of the golden age of 80s gross-out/monster toys – with a collection of apparel, soon to be followed by a vinyl designer toy.

31 Days of Halloween: The Lasting Trauma of Horror Movies

by Beth

I'll go ahead and give Mr. Tibbs credit for this idea (he'll totally call me out publicly if I don't anyway). I was stumped over what to write about this week. I feel like I've said most of the things I've wanted to say about horror/Halloween already, and didn't want to write yet another movie review (though you will probably get one next week unless the little mister comes up with any more good ideas). I did watch the season premiere of The Walking Dead last night, but that didn't yield any ideas besides a further rant on how boring and predictable that show has become. Which in turn would make me boring and predictable. So rather than going off on what I now call The Speeching Dead (how many speeches did Rick make last night? 3? 4?) We're going to explore the actual phobias and fears that horror movies have left many of us with.

31 Days of Halloween: Zombie LARPing. Can YOU Survive the Apocalypse?

By Christina

Firefly is a great show.  An epic show.  One of my favorites, in all honesty.  Shepherd Book, played by Ron Glass (God rest him,) gave this quote in the episode “War Stories:”  “Did you ever read the works of Shan Yu?... He said, ‘Live with a man 40 years. Share his house, his meals. Speak on every subject. Then tie him up, and hold him over the volcano's edge. And on that day, you will finally meet the man.’"

Now, I don’t have anything in common with dictators or madmen.  Not that I am aware of, at any rate.  This quote, however, is a very true statement.  People can talk a lot of game, but until you put them through the ringer, you won’t know if they are made of the metal they claim to have been forged by or if they will turn into every scared and sniveling character that Rick Moranis ever played.  With the exception of the FBI dude in My Blue Heaven.  He was freaking scary-cool in that movie, people. 

Do you have a friend that you know is made of strong stuff and you want to see them in action?  Do you have a friend that you is talking a lot of smack and you want to put them in their place?  How do you “meet the man?”  These simple words:  Live-Action Zombie shoot-out.

Needless Things Podcast 183 – 31 Days of Halloween: Corpsewood Manor

This special episode of the Needless Things Podcast presents the exploration of Corpsewood Manor, the site of murders that shocked Georgia in the early 1980s. Dave, Ryan Cadaver, and Rad Ranger traveled to Trion, Georgia to examine the once majestic ruins of the ill-fated paradise.

31 Days of Halloween: Christina Reviews Betrayal at House on The Hill

By Christina

I’m a gamer that likes change.  I like being kept on my toes and like replay value in the form of an ever-changing platform.  It’s why I love Until Dawn (check my review here at Needless Things) because of not only the various endings, but the multiple ways you can get to the various endings.  It’s why I love Final Fantasy VII because the materia gives you the ability to customize weapons and magic in so many different ways.  It’s why I love games like Forbidden Desert  and Dead of Winter because you never know how the game (and game board) will shift and change and who will end up with you, either in your party or even surviving to the final roll of the dice.  I had heard of Betrayal at House on The Hill; I watched it played on Wil Wheaton’s Tabletop show and had various friends recommend it.  But we hadn’t gotten our hands on it until this year’s DragonCon when we snagged it from the CoolStuffInc booth in the America’s Mart.  This was probably the best purchase that we have made all year.

My game review for the Needless Things’ 31 days of Halloween is going to focus on this survival-horror masterpiece that never stays the same and makes sure that no one at the table knows who the betrayer is going to be.  Not even the betrayer themselves.

31 Days of Halloween: The Frightening Michael Rooker

by Beth

Am I cheating by putting a Dragon Con interview here in the 31 Days of Halloween? Possibly, but not really. I mean it took forever to figure out how to get the audio to even the poor quality you'll hear, but I have been working on it for some time. I've ordered a new recorder/microphone for future use so we shouldn't have this problem next year. My web hosting site has file size limits (cause it's free) so I spent ages learning to use audacity to break it into two parts, and try to up the voice of the actor while turning down the voices of the reporters. You guys aren't here to listen to me after all.

31 Days of Halloween - Spooky Toy Review – Alien: Covenant Neomorph from NECA

By Dave

Maybe you liked Alien: Covenant. Maybe you didn’t.

Some of us liked it.

Some of us did not.

Whatever your feelings about the movie, there’s no denying that there were some cool new creature designs and interpretations of one of the most well-known movie monsters of all time. I knew going in that NECA had the license and would be producing new toys. They were super-secretive about them, too. If they released images before the movie was actually released, it wasn’t by more than a week.

Needless Things Podcast 182 - 31 Days of Halloween: Friday the 13th

It's a celebration of Friday the 13th!

31 Days of Halloween: Death Note

by Beth

A new live action (and very Americanized) version of beloved anime Death Note has come to Netflix, and I'm watching it just in time for Halloween. Sure imdb lists it as action rather than horror, but take a look at the Japanese death demon that Willem Dafoe voices, and tell me that's not horror. Plus, literally hundreds of people are brutally murdered. A guy getting the top half of his head chopped off by a falling ladder is pretty damn horrifying.

31 Days of Halloween - Spooky Toy Review - The Nightmare Before Christmas Pumpkin King from Diamond Select Toys

By Dave

“Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back

And scream like a banshee

Make you jump out of your skin

This is Halloween, everyone scream

Wont' ya please make way for a very special guy

Our man jack is King of the Pumpkin patch

Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King

This is Halloween, this is Halloween

Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

In this town we call home

Everyone hail to the pumpkin song”

Needless Things Podcast 181 – 31 Days of Halloween: The Horror of Kane

LIVE from Dragon Con 2017, but the perfect way to kick off 31 Days of Halloween on the Needless Things Podcast, Dave talks to one of the most notable horror icons in the history of professional wrestling – the Big Red Machine, Kane!

Comic Book Wednesday – Previews October 2017: “Getting It In Before Christmas”

By Dave

It’s early in the month, but it is here that we must take a break from our spooky activities to see what Diamond Distribution’s terrifying tome has in store for the future…

If you don’t know, Previews is the catalog that Diamond Comic Distributors use to offer the products they distribute to comic book stores around the country. This is where you can view and order (through your favorite Local Comic Book Shop) comic books, trade paperback collections, t-shirts, books, media, and toys and other collectibles from hundreds of different vendors that deal in geek-oriented merchandise. The genius part is that you actually have to pay for your copy of Previews for the privilege of ordering other things to pay for.

It’s like the Ren Fest except without the horse poo smell.

So every month a new edition of Previews is sent out to comic book stores. Contained in the pages within are products that might be currently available or could be released anytime in the next year; but are typically about two months away. Most of this month’s offerings are scheduled to ship in December.

Now it’s time to discuss a few of the weird and/or wonderful items offered in this month’s edition!

Dragon Con 2017: Casper Van Dien and Patrick Muldoon Interview

by Beth

Yeah, I know. It's 31 Days of Halloween time. I've still got these interviews to post though, and the last 2 are people who've been in horror movies (or TV shows) so I'm counting it. This next interview was with Casper Van Dien and Patrick Muldoon from Starship Troopers. They've both done SyFy channel horror movies too, and are even working on a new Werewolf movie together called Alpha Wolf. See, totally fits with the Halloween theme.

31 Days of Halloween - Spooky Toy Review – CALABRESE Dayglo Necros Figure

By Dave

You know a great way to celebrate the Halloween season?

Spooky rock n’ roll music.