Kirk Demarais's Blog

"MAGIC FUN SHOP" PHOTO BOOK

  Secret Fun Spot readers might enjoy this new photo book about the Magic Fun Shop— and not just because both names sound alike. Photographer Adam Wallacavage immortalized the defunct Philadelphia landmark with a collection of photos he took between 1995 and 2005. But they may as well have been taken in 1975 because the place was timeless. Sadly, I never made it to the Magic Fun Shop, but if feels entirely familiar. Every old school, big city novelty shop I've ever visited share the same earmarks, like mint green pegboard, hand-labeled boxes of essential gags, and stray, faded packaging from the mid-twentieth century. They came from the age when magic, jokes, and costumes got equal billing, unlike today's "Party" shops, which still struggle to survive. About 75% of the 90 pages feature dangling rubber masks that are fun to see, especially when distorted by clothespins and years of gravity. But I'm most excited by the pages that offer glimpses of the ancient behind-the-counter prank packaging. Even when the place was still in business, the leftover stock served as a dazzling historical exhibit.
The book is available on the Secret Headquarters site. SHQ also happen to be one of the best comic shops I've ever visited. Full disclosure: I too am working on a project with them, but even if that were not the case, I'd still be all over this book.

      

THE MADACY HALLOWEEN CASSETTE SERIES

 

Welcome back to Secret Fun Spot, your source for the latest news in Halloween audio cassettes from thirty-five years ago. This year I completed a set of five Halloween titles from a Canadian label called Madacy. Or so I thought! As I was finishing up this review, looking for audio links, I made an earth-shattering discovery. There are multiple versions of some (possibly all) of these tapes! 

The realization essentially ruined everything I’d written about them. Re-writing, and revising has been overcomplicated and confusing. As I look over my review, it still feels half baked and lacking the jokes and observations the that I like to make. But if I don’t post it soon, I could miss this year’s Halloween season.

I've been especially interested in this set because I bought the one called Horror at the Graveyard for my previous Halloween tape reviews and it may be my single favorite Halloween recording of all-time. When I figured out that it was part of a series, I couldn’t wait to hear the others. My curiosity intensified when I saw a video from a Youtuber named Zaranyzerak where he reads reviews of various Halloween cassettes that he wrote when he was a kid. Two of his highest-ranked picks are from this Madacy series. I put them in my ebay search alerts a couple of years ago, and finally, a string of affordable auctions let me assemble the five titles. I was already excited to be the first-ever human to review these as a whole, and that was before my stunning revelation about the different versions. So even though I only own half of the recordings I will proceed with my partial review.

Madacy was a Canadian record publisher that operated from 1968 to 2009 and distributed a wide variety of musical genres. They catered to bargain seekers, often utilizing public domain material. Their annual releases were sparse until the 1990s when their output ramped up. That’s when they (probably) released their first Halloween tapes. The five earliest Halloween titles feature unified cover art and typography along with the a warning not to listen in the dark. They also share the same group of voice actors. As with most Halloween audio, the artists, writers, and performers are not credited. The copyright dates of all the albums are equally mysterious. Discogs lists Sounds of Halloween as a 1990 release. While I have trust issues with some Discogs Halloween audio dates, that does gel with the Youtube video I mentioned earlier because he bought his copies in October of 1991. 

These five titles were each released with two different item numbers. The first sequence runs from #H-13 to #H-17, and the second one goes from #HA-20 to #HA-24. The ‘HA’ series features a white oval around the item number. My grand revelation revealed that the ‘HA’s are re-recordings of the content on the ‘H’ series. So with the help of online audio, I will attempt to do a tape-by-tape breakdown covering both recorded versions of each title. I’m going to list them in what I’m guessing to be chronological order.

*Halloween Tricks and Treats (H-13 version)

I bought a factory-sealed copy of this one, but I discovered that the cassette inside is labeled The Haunted House (H-14) which is another tape in this set. I thought they just put the wrong tape in the case until I realized that my legitimate copy of The Haunted House has completely different audio. I was unsure if a “true” copy of Halloween Tricks and Treat (H-13) even existed until I came across this archival list of Halloween audio that shows that there is indeed one. Inconsistencies like this one are making it difficult for me to achieve my singular goal of creating the greatest document on Madacy Halloween tapes in all of humankind’s collective knowledge. 

My The Haunted House that was in the Halloween Tricks and Treats (H-13) case has a story spanning both sides of the tape where a serious-sounding narrator tells of his experience in a mysterious haunted house that appeared out of nowhere on Halloween night. The tale is driven by the expected haunted sounds of laughter, footsteps, bats, creaking, eerie music, and such. It turns out that everything was just a bad dream. Or was it? It seems likely that random sound effects were gathered and then strung together with narration after the fact.

*The Haunted House (H-14 version)

To complicate things even more, this tape has The Haunted House (H-14) printed on one side, and Halloween Tricks & Treats (H-14) on the other! It too contains a story that takes up both sides. It’s about a group of kids who decide to explore the mysterious Dalton house that’s rumored to be haunted. It plays out in the Scooby-Doo tradition where a series of supernatural scares happen, followed by a natural explanation. The tale is told by a female narrator and the voices of the kids sound suspiciously like the same lady.

Sounds of Halloween (H-15 version)

The French cover version is Sons d’Halloween (HF-10).

I’ve only heard the H-22 version of this one (see below) so I’ll update this entry if I ever come across this version.

*The House that Died (H-16 version)

This one has a story on one side and sound effects on the other. It’s about a woman who inherits her uncle's mansion and attempts to walk through it with dreams of restoring the place. The house itself turns against her, cutting her tour short. Unlike The Haunted House, there are supernatural forces at work, and even the weather is affected. Some eerie moments could easily freak out a kid, like when the house whispers at her, but even scarier is her discovery that the renovations will be more expensive than expected.

Horror at the Graveyard (H-17 version)

The only evidence I can find that this version exists is that list of Halloween audio on this site. I’m ridiculously curious about what’s on it. The version that I have is listed below.

_________

Now we have reached what I call The Great Madacy Re-Recording. It would seem that the initial releases sold well enough to merit another retail wave, but for reasons unknown, the recordings have been updated with heavily processed, reverberating vocals, all provided by the same man. They also feature a new, original synth score. Different variations of the musical theme can be heard on the different stories, which I think is a nice addition. Aside from the new item numbers there is no outward indication that the products were “new and improved” which is a baffling choice. Unless it was some legal move to deny payment to the original voice actors, or something like that. Or could it be that it was a genuine effort to deliver a more sophisticated product? I certainly think the re-recordings are better. The cheesy, stylized storytelling is what puts them in a class of their own.

Halloween Tricks and Treats (HA-20 version)

Link to Youtube

The mysterious Dalton House from The Haunted House (H-14) is back, along with the young explorers, except in this re-recorded version, each kid has a different style of audio processing to differentiate their voices. They all share the same severe reverb that the spooky narrator has, which makes zero sense, plus it makes the dialogue difficult to understand. But these flaws only make me love it more.

The Haunted House (HA-21 version)

I see pictures of this version online, but until I find a cheap one, I can only speculate on the contents.

*Sounds of Halloween (HA-22 version)

This is a better-than-average montage of music and sound effects that encompasses both sides. It’s the only album in this series that is entirely made up of soundscapes. There are so many subsequent versions of this one that Madacy released through the years that I’m too overwhelmed to thoroughly tackle its legacy here. This is the only version I’ve heard, so I don’t know if it was re-recorded. 

The House that Died (HA-23 version)

Thanks to the Youtube upload we know that this re-recording replaced the female narrator from the original with my favorite narrator, Mr. Reverb. More of that guy is exactly what I was hoping for when I started buying these. Being able to compare and contrast his performance to his predecessor is the type of experience that we geeks live for.

Horror at the Graveyard (HA-24 version)

Link to audio on Youtube

This is the one that kicked off my entire obsession. It’s the gold standard of Halloween audio. Told in first person, a man finds himself in a sinister cemetery where he is plagued by evil spirits. It’s less a story, and more of a loose sequence of events designed to showcase a variety of sound effects. For me, the droning storytelling accompanied by the thin synthesized score captures the essence of Halloween in the analog age. The final line of dialogue and the musical crescendo that follows never fails to delight me.

I enjoy fantasizing about the project origins of this line; the business meetings, and the creative process. Were these products purely driven by market data, or did someone wish to express their spooky side? Were they handled like just another Madacy album, no more or less special than their last Engelbert Humperdinck release? Or was there was a desire to explore the possibilities of compact cassette technology, in an effort to give kids fuel for their frightful fancies? I can’t decide if I prefer to romanticize the whole thing, or if it’s more fun to think of a bunch of work-a-day employees forced to whip up disposable ghost junk for the kiddies.

But there it is. Everything I know about these things at this point in time, presented to the internet at the request of nobody. Alas, I’m only halfway there; a thought that is both exciting and a bit exhausting. Perhaps we’ll have more to discuss next Halloween.

CONSUMING HALLOWEEN

As usual, I started celebrating Halloween pretty early this year, and when I say celebrate I mean hunting for Halloween stuff to mark the new season. I’m no longer alone in this. Data shows that peak Halloween buying has moved up by several weeks in recent years. There was a day this July that I visited four different stores which all had fully stocked Halloween sections. (If you’re wondering: Dollar Tree, Party City, Cracker Barrel, and Joanne’s Fabric.) ”Summerween” didn’t feel right to me at first, but my brain is adapting. The early product reveals add another chapter to the whole experience, and I’ll take it, because it spreads out the fun.

There are four tiers of Halloween consumerism for me: general retail, thrifting, the curated secondary market, and online shopping. The latter offers the best treasures while the earlier ones give the best experiences. This year, I’ve already taken part in all of these, and I will share some of my spoils with you here.

General Retail

I love the annual invasion of monsters in nearly every retail outlet. I go out of my way to explore shops all over my region. Hardware stores become well-lit spook houses, and routine grocery shopping suddenly involves a walk through a gallery of horrors. I don’t typically load up on new Halloween items, save for cheap dollar store offerings. I prefer old stuff. But Target got me this year with their new line of 80s-infused decor. They tapped into punk, Richard Simmons, shutter shades, clear telephones and a color palette straight from the carpet of a video arcade. But my favorite is a mayoral looking jack-o-lantern-headed blowmold. He’s one of several recurring characters like a green-skulled skeleton, and the mohawk skull. I appreciate the idea of Halloween mascots, even if they’re corporate. I mean, Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer was created for Montgomery Ward stores, so why not?

My Target purchases defied my usual taste for vintage things. But with each passing year I wonder how long I’ll continue to find things from thirty, or even fifty years ago. I’m ever thankful that holiday decorations tend to stick around longer than other home goods. They become part of tradition and turn into family heirlooms. There are dedicated Halloween storage bins in garages and basements across the county. That’s likely why this year didn’t disappoint in that area.
ThriftingThrift stores are such a unique experience; a marathon of drudging through discarded, depressing objects in hopes of finding the proverbial gems. It’s a numbers game. I make near-daily walkthroughs only to buy something about one in every fifty visits. But when it hits, it can truly be a proverbial jackpot. This year hasn’t yielded any white whales yet, but one of my local thrift stores had an inordinate stockpile of Halloween stuff that they’ve been rolling out for weeks, so there have been enough little finds to liven up my season. The best was probably a Telco battery operated Creature from the Black Lagoon for four bucks that I lifted off the clerk’s cart before it was shelved. There’s no picture here because I gave it to a spooky-loving friend. (I already own two.)
Among my favorite finds is this Con-tact paper from 1991. I relate to the original owner in that I’m not sure what to do with it, but I bought it anyway.

 

I’m particularly fond of this treat bucket from 1986 labeled Myrle’s Original that I got for fifty cents. It was covered in flecks of green paint and other gunk, but to my surprise it cleaned up great, so now it feels well-earned. 

 

It’s the sort of thing that begs me to consider its entire history, from production design to the day I bought it. I imagine someone at a drafting table in the mid ‘80s, poring over a book of clip art. They pause upon seeing a skeleton in a tuxedo. (And who originated that?) Tux-skeleton became the star of the bucket, while the spider and web were necessary to fill the space. The choice of typeface is perfect. I wonder if this container was ever used during trick-or-treating. Its utilitarian value likely ensured its survival in someone's garage all these decades. It sure came in handy when they wanted to paint something green. 
Then in this year of two thousand twenty-four, why was it finally time to let it go? The owner’s age? A move? Or just a thorough spring cleaning? Then it was my turn to become its keeper. I restored it, and now I get to honor and preserve it on the same internet that’s used by all the world’s governments and religions. After I typed all that, I spent a half hour on archive.org trying to find the clip art book where the skeleton came from, but no luck. Myrle’s (whatever that is) used the same skeleton in 1998 bearing a different message, and in color!

 

 The Curated Secondary Market

The region where I live has a wide selection of flea markets and antique shops, but this area doesn’t have the history, the economy, or the taste of places like, the northeast for example. The standard Pennsylvania junk shop is like a museum in my eyes. Many of my local flea markets are only slightly better than thrift stores. Most of the products are just marked-up thrift store finds. But that doesn’t stop me from frequenting them. This next item came from a northeastern flea market, and I actually got two years ago on a trip to VHS Fest, but I shamefully forgot to put out for Halloween until now. That slanted, dripping typography has such a sense of gleeful urgency. I can barely handle it! And I think the ghost has a tongue!

 

There is a category of Halloween items that I’ve long admired, but only recently got into. It’s the 1980s and 90s battery operated imports that I would usually see in drug stores and oddball shops, as opposed to the major retailers. They are decidedly off-brand, though Halloween doesn’t really have too many name brands. They often have poorly translated English, and the packaging usually shows a picture of the product in a monochromatic void.

 

I never bought these back in the day because I assumed they were poorly made and short-lived, plus they could be relatively expensive. But they are truly wonderful, and my appreciation has snowballed over time. So a couple years ago I picked up this Vincent the talking skull, and this “Wizard” candy container at a cool second hand toy shop. Both of them still work great, contradicting my theory about their quality.

 

 

The very name of this product seems to be mistranslated, and the instructions are poetic.

“…IT WOULD HAVE THE HAT OPENED

SLOWLY WITH HORROR

LAUGHT & GRINNING

LIGHTING EYES

ALL ACTIONS STOP PLAYING

UPON THE HAT BE COVERED”

 

Finding these two in the wild was an anomaly so this year, I turned to eBay after seeing a post from Trash Witch that clued me into the existence of the Pumpkin Monster! I found an auction for significantly less than the rest of the other high dollar listings, and bought it.

 

How I love the fact that the three figures all seem to be copied from other Halloween decorations of the time. (I may be reaching on the witch, but she's from the same Eureka line as the skeleton and she's got those same little symbols on her hat.)

 

 

Ebay

Sure, we all know about eBay, but let’s take a moment to appreciate this. 

I discovered an obscure Halloween item while sitting on my couch in the middle of the night as I half-watched some horror movie. It’s possible it wasn’t even sold within a hundred mile radius of my small town. But I was able to instantly go shopping at a dream store that isn’t bound by time or place. There I located a pumpkin monster of my own that still functions. It’s like I reached across the decades to grab it off the shelf of some arcane drug store. This type of translation has only been available to humanity for a couple of decades.

Fueled by this experience and my frothy greed, I searched for more lesser known Halloween stuff in this vein. I found the Boo Bunch creepy walkers from 1993. Once Heddy the pumpkin guy arrived, I noticed that he was branded specifically for K-mart and my heart turned into a warm puddle. 

 

There is one other way to obtain amazing Halloween goods that is superior to them all. Occasionally friends have gifted me wonderful items. Like this Living Skull key chain that my friend Eddie Guevera gave me years ago. It falls squarely into this ‘no brand’ type of stuff. I adore it and its blood-splattered grid. “When put it in your palm it will murmur with terrible sound & gleam in eyes.” Oh, that is the stuff.

Now that all of these items are hung, shelved, displayed, lit-up and full of batteries, I believe I’m prepared to venture into the heart of October. Stay tuned!

BLOGGING ON MY WEB LOG ABOUT THE HALLOWEEN OF 2023

It’s all coming back to me. I type about stuff that I like, and hopefully it will result in a handful of people finding some extra amusement during their lunch break. What’s in it for me? I, and future generations will have access to documentation of this year’s Halloween, at least until Google inevitably kills off Blogger.

For a variety of reasons it was difficult to invest much time towards spooky fun during the last couple of Halloween seasons. For a different variety of reasons this year presented more opportunities for me to engage. So that’s what I’ve been doing in as much as reality has permitted. Here is a collection of ways that I’ve been experiencing this Halloween season.
 

Some years are defined by a new, sought-after Halloween product release. A few years ago there was the twelve foot skeleton. Last year everyone was assembling the three Boo Buckets. This year, one item was able to overshadow even the new Carmella Creeper monster cereal; at least for me it did. In early August I saw a tweet from Sammy Hain that showcased a piece of wall decor that simply says “Halloween is Skeleton.” 

 

I laughed out loud in a rare, literal LOL moment. These are some of my favorite words, and yet I’d never seen them assembled in this baffling and hilarious new way. My questions were answered a couple of replies later when Graves Make RosesBloom pointed out a product from a previous year that said, “Halloween is Skelefun” that featured a more appropriate image. 

 

 

The misfire of a decoration shot to the top of my want list. I recognized the logo on the nearby stuffed pumpkin's tag from the Dollar General store, so the next morning before work I raced to the nearest location. Their Halloween stuff was only half unpacked but I saw a printed schematic taped to the shelf. No space was reserved for “Halloween is Skeleton.” There are two more Dollar General stores in my town (which says a lot about my town) but neither of those had the prize either. 

A second look at the Twitter thread revealed that the decoration came from a place called Popshelf. I would later learn that this is the “upscale” version of Dollar General, and it’s pretty new. I followed a link to their site and I happily added the piece of decor to my virtual shopping cart, yet soon I realized that ‘in-store pick-up’ was the only option for anything on the site. Useless! except for the fact that it shows the product availability at stores near me. They were plentiful, but unfortunately the “near me” was an hour and a half away. My afternoon plans changed in an instant, fueled by fear that this item would be recalled.

After my lengthy drive, on which I pondered why I’m like this, I found the Popshelf store. I trotted through the automatic doors and honed in on the Halloween section. It was quickly evident that Halloween was NOT skeleton in that place. I asked an employee if they had it and she directed me right back to the shelves I had just scoured. I mentioned the “in stock” message on the web site, and sheepishly asked if I could talk to someone else who might be in the know.

A few minutes later a manager emerged. I showed her the jpeg image and laughed nervously as I tried to explain my new obsession out loud for the first time. Then to add some gravity I found myself admitting that I’d just driven ninety miles for this one and only purpose. I can’t even imagine the weirdo vibes I was giving off, but to my shock, she agreed that it was funny, and seemed to understand my fondness. 

I know the concept of locating a missing product “in the back” is practically an urban myth, but I asked anyway. Suddenly more shock as she said to me, “Would you like to go in the back and look around for yourself?” This statement defied all logic. For retail workers (and I have been one of them) the back is a privilege, a bastion, and a sanctuary. It’s one of the few things that separates them from the masses, and I had an invitation.

I rambled on about how honored I was as I crossed the threshold. My delight faded when I saw a maze of tightly-wrapped Tetris-like boxes, on dozens of pallets, all at least eight feet high. The man arranging them said there was no way that we could locate a specific anything. I knew he was right. I went ahead and explained my absurd desire. Lo and behold, he too was sympathetic! He chuckled and his hopeless demeanor shifted. He started moving pallets around while describing the type of box it would be in, but I foresaw a lengthy search ahead. And while he seemed game, I didn’t feel right putting a halt to the afternoon’s business, regardless of how Skeleton Halloween may be. I think it’s due to my experiences growing up with some people who habitually abused the the kindness of store employees. I let him off the hook and asked if they would call me if they found it. As I wrote down my number (next to which I drew a large illustration of the product) I lacked any faith that they would follow through. I was already envisioning myself traveling to the next closest location on some upcoming weekend.

The next day on my lunch break PopShelf appeared on my phone screen. I repeated my journey, reveling in the absurdity of it all while trying to ignore the wastefulness of my endeavor. When I walked in the store, the guy spotted me instantly and yelled “Man, we already sold out of them!” During a long, breathless pause I decided that he was joking. And he was. They were happy to deliver the goods, and I picked up a couple extras for some other Halloween-loving friends who also understand pure greatness. I was also pleased to know that at the very least I had given the Popshelf staff something interesting to talk about over the last twenty-four hours. All of this is exactly why Halloween is indeed Skeleton.

 

 

  __  

As the season approached I ebayed a few more additions to my vintage Halloween cassette collection. I’d never seen T.A. Hamilton’s Terror Treats (1988) for sale before, probably because it was only available through the magicians’ black market. Though it warns that it’s “FOR HAUNTED ATTRACTION USE ONLY” somehow this copy found its way into the private sector. Presumably, the disgraced party has been ousted from the haunted attraction guild. 

 

I think the recording is better than most dollar store tapes, but some bold claims on the package set me up for disappointment. It says it’s the “single most diabolical Haunted House Soundtrack ever created,” “designed by experts in the field of Audio, Theatre and Illusion,” and contains “psychological stimulants and subliminal enhancements to produce desired effects.” Best I can tell that’s referring to some low oscillating tones throughout.

Spooky Halloween Sounds (1990) is my least favorite spooky tape approach, which is to say it strings together a series of isolated sound vignettes with pauses in between. It would be fine for an editing library, but it's not a great way to “Turn your home into a Haunted House!” I recognize some of the sound effects from other tapes, but I haven’t the will to do any cross-referencing. 

The best of the bunch is Halloween Tricks and Treats from the Madacy label. It’s a sister release to the beloved Horror at the Graveyard. My all time favorite narrator has another spooky story to tell, and I would listen to him read a multivitamin label. You can hear it here.

 

 

In the realm of vintage horror paperbacks, I had some fun finds over the summer. I managed to locate both Dark Gods and The Ceremonies by T.E.D. Klein in two different states within just a couple of weeks. He was once the editor for Twilight Zone Magazine which seems to have trained him in the art of originality and avoiding cliches of the genre. He spends a great deal of time fleshing out the worlds and characters before he introduces the horror. I saw a tweet by Matt Cardin that had this to say about The Ceremonies…

“Did you know that Klein's classic 1984 novel not only tells a gripping horror story but gives the reader what amounts to a mini-course in the history of weird, Gothic, and supernatural horror literature?In making Jeremy, the novel's protagonist, a graduate student and college instructor who is preparing to write his dissertation on Gothic and weird literature, Klein creates a narrative vehicle for conveying insightful reflections on many classic texts, presented as entries in Jeremy’s journal. These include the likes of:• The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole• The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) by Ann Radcliffe• The Monk (1796) by Matthew Lewis• Melmoth the Wanderer (1820) by Charles Maturin• Carmilla (1872) and "Green Tea" (1872) by J. Sheridan Le Fanu• Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker• Northanger Abbey (1817) by Jane Austen• "The White People" (1904) by Arthur Machen• "Ancient Sorceries" (1908) by Algernon Blackwood• Supernatural Horror in Literature (1927) by H. P. LovecraftThese same works—especially "The White People"—also form a thematic background to the cosmic horror at the center of Klein’s novel. This clever approach makes The Ceremonies a must-read not only for its own literary and entertainment value but as an instructional and inspirational text for both students and writers of supernatural horror fiction.”

 

This is why I’m currently reading that one.

I also found several titles by Clive Barker at my local thrift store, which is about as unusual as finding a cloven baker, or a clove burger on the shelf. Then I stumbled upon a new-to-me used book store in the area that has somehow escaped my google map searches for years. I picked up some cool stuff there too, especially during a buy-one-get-one-free sale. I finally reclaimed the first printing of The Shining paperback, a book I had foolishly donated to some lucky thrift store years ago.

 

 

__ 

A spooky project I’m working on sent me down a research rabbit hole of 1970s unexplained-type documentaries. I've seen many of these and I'm extremely fond of the In Search Of television series, but I was entirely unaware of The Amazing World of Ghosts (1978) written and directed by Wheeler Dixon. It’s a scattershot masterpiece of stock footage, library music, and truly unhinged speculation. The narration by Sydney Paul is both earnest and soothing all at once. The show puts me in a wonderful headspace, scratching an itch I didn’t know I had.

 

At times the disconnect between the subject matter and the upbeat, seemingly random production music triggers a combination of brainwaves in me that is extremely pleasant and entirely unique. It’s as if to say that ghosts and UFOs should be celebrated, and not feared. They’re exciting, not scary. It reminds me of one of my favorite recordings, the street audio from the defunct World of Illusions attraction in Gatlinburg, TN. If Amazing World of Ghosts leaves you wanting more, there’s an extremely similar “sequel” called World of Mystery (1979)

__

In September I finally completed The Last of Us Part II. It’s a great game that is made even greater with the inclusion of this Halloween shop environment.

  

Thanks to a tip from Trevor Henderson I started listening to Nightfall which is a horror radio drama that was aired between 1980 and 1983 by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. For the most part the writing and production value is great, and there are some truly chilling episodes. The stories are surprisingly potent considering that they were on the public airwaves. These have been my go-to for every dog walk and day trip, so I’ve now heard nearly every episode.

 

 

If there's time, I enjoy creating something Halloween-related during the spooky season. This year my friend, an artist named Rumwolf, invited me to show some of my work at a Halloween event at a nearby art gallery. This motivated me to create this new painting of a dime store display of Halloween stuff, a subject firmly wedged up my oeuvre. The rubber skeletons pictured are the first ones I ever owned. When I was a kid I won them at ski-ball at an amusement park. 

 

 

I displayed it with some older pieces and made a little sidewalk installation. The trick or treater represents my childhood fear of having to wear a winter coat over my Halloween costume.

__ 

For the last ten or so years I’ve frequented a nearby Halloween festival with various friends and family members. This year we decided to take things to the next level by driving to St. Louis to visit Creepyworld, a haunted park that boasts over 13 spooky attractions. 

 

 

The line just to enter the park was surprisingly long. It eventually rounded a corner to reveal a sea of people ahead of us, standing in the same line. This seemed to be the norm judging by the "Freakshow" production that was in place to entertain the queue. I grew concerned that we wouldn’t get to see all the spook houses during our dwindling time frame. The line finally filtered directly into the first haunted house which had a mental hospital theme. The actors, props, and environments made for a solid haunt, and as I approached the end I was eager to see what else was in store. The exit emptied directly into another line that led directly into the next walk-through. Thankfully it was much shorter. After exiting the next haunted house, the line continued into the next one, and the next! The entire park was one continuous line!

While this was a bombshell for me, it wasn’t all bad. Mainly because if you’re in that line before they close shop, you are guaranteed to see every single thing in the entire park. But I’m still perplexed. It seems like the sort of idea you’d come up with at an elementary school sleepover. “What if there was an amusement park, and it only has haunted houses, and it’s all just one giant line.” Creepyworld has been going on for twenty-five years, so I’m sure they’ve learned a lot. Still I was surprised at the lack of opportunities to buy snacks, or souvenirs, or just wander around, or go to the bathroom, or even sit down. We opted for the additional hayride package, and getting to sit was worth the price of admission. I was also surprised that there was no pre-entry mention of this whole system. (Unless somehow we missed it.) Well, consider yourself warned. 

 

 

We stopped by Half-Price Books on the way out of town, and I must give a huge shout-out of gratitude to my friend Kyle for pointing out a book that I had walked right by. Haunted Houses by Larry Kettelkamp was in my elementary school library and frightened me like no other! It has photographs of ghosts. So why do people continue to debate the issue? This is a major relic of my spooky existence.

 

 

 

The last time I threw a Halloween party I was in my mid-twenties, and it ended with a house fire. At this stage in life my entire assembly of local friends could only constitute a “gathering” at best (which is not a bad thing.) However, this year some of my former students who share my aesthetic wanted to have an old fashioned Halloween party at my place. This gave me an excuse to deck things out more than usual, and we had a great time. One of the highlights for me was getting everyone in a darkened room and putting on my Dr. Druid’s Haunted Seance album. The first side is all about unifying the group for the spiritual task head, so he goes through a bunch of old parlor tricks that make it appear that everyone is all-knowing and powerful. The crowd totally got it. Then I played a chilling story called Mr. Fox by The Folktellers, followed by The Haunting, a short record from 1971 (which was sold through comic book ads) that’s designed to be played in the dark for a group of kids. It creates the illusion that a blood banshee is moving around the room devouring little boys. It was magical to hear these recordings played and appreciated by people in the year two thousand and twenty-three.

Other random tidbits: 

As usual, throughout the summer I started piecemealing physical media to be enjoyed in October. This year I was drawn to movies that involve haunted attractions, be it dark rides or walk-throughs. These include titles like The Funhouse, and Ghoulies II for their dark ride content and haunt-centric films like The Houses October Built, Haunt, and Hellfest. I can overlook countless cinematic shortcomings if a movie feels like Halloween

One of the movies with the strongest Halloween feels is the WNUF Halloween Special. I ordered a new version of the blu ray slip cover, (the first time I've ever ordered a slip cover for a film I already have.) which is silly since the existing slip cover is one of my all-time favorites. 

I thrifted this Boogymen DVD, which is something I’ve been aware of for decades but had never watched. It’s exactly what I expected.

I bought one of these little skeletons at Target because they are gorgeous.

There is an odd trend this year of products breaking from the traditional Halloween color scheme with a palette that leans towards Easter. I'm not a fan of most of it, but here's another one that I liked enough to get.

Well, that’s my report so far, and there’s still some time before the big night. Sadly, I’ll be teaching a two and a half hour software class to college freshmen that evening, so it’s a good thing I’ve already been able to do so much celebrating. 

Happy Halloween!

THE SECRET FUN SPOT IS DEAD. LONG LIVE SECRET FUN SPOT!

Imagine being a painter and one day all that you've ever painted suddenly disappears. The canvases are still there but the paint has turned invisible. In a way, that's what happened to me after I deviated from traditional artistic materials and chose a new kind of "paint" called Adobe Flash.

In the year 2000 I worked for a subsidiary of Hallmark making newfangled greeting cards that could be sent and received instantaneously. And the pictures moved! And they were interactive! And they were free! We called them e-cards. All those innovative features were made possible by the program Flash.

When I was off the clock I used my knowledge of this powerful new medium to improve the rest of the internet by enhancing my website SecretFunSpot.com with image galleries of things like vintage bike decals, old Halloween photos, and a couple animated shorts. This was before "web 2.0" where everyone started contributing their own photos and memories via sites like Flickr. So for a long time if you wanted to see an image of Kenner's Hugo, Man of a Thousand Faces, my site was one of like, two places to see it on the world wide web. Thanks to Flash, you could virtually disguise him right on your screen!

Then the iphone came out. In a calculated move to dethrone the format, it didn't support Adobe Flash. This kicked off a decline that eventually resulted in the total demise of Flash in early 2021. Suddenly, the Secret Fun Spot became extra secret when all the content was shrouded in error messages. (My seven hundred plus e-cards had already vanished years ago.)

Truth is, I understand the problem with one company having total control of a format. Though it's amazing that Adobe created something so advanced that practically the entire web became dependent on them. I'd say that's still the case with much of the design and publishing world's reliance on the Creative Suite. The current monopoly isn't a good thing. We have to pay their monthly subscription to maintain our livelihood. (Yes, there are alternative programs, but Adobe is still pretty universal.)
Now that we're living in the future, it's so strange that artists and designers must be cautious of overnight obsolescence. With a flip of a switch a ton of the world's most recent creations became practically inaccessible. (Oh, how I miss orisinal.com.) Meanwhile the pyramids of Giza are over there scoffing. And seriously, how long will things like JPEGs last?

But I'm not here to lament Flash, or even the end of Secret Fun Spot. (I stopped updating it nearly twenty years ago.) Today as I finally cancel my web hosting, I'm reflecting on the ways that silly site literally changed my life. It exemplifies how creating projects for the love of it can connect you with others, and turn into work that will feed your family. The bulk of my creative life including my books, writing gigs, art commissions, gallery shows, and film projects can be traced to the Fun Spot in some form. The culmination of these projects and personal relationships have amounted to countless life-enriching experiences. All of that helped me get into my current visual arts faculty position at a university. At last my work is no longer in danger of iphone compatibility issues or going out of print. 

The Secret Fun Spot reached over 2.5 million "sessions" since its inception in 1998. Over the years I've received hundreds of emails from people who were thrilled and touched by the journey it took them on. J.J. Abrams even mentioned it in an interview in Rolling Stone magazine! (May 15, 2008):

So now I'm going to redirect the Secretfunspot.com domain to this site. (Not that this site is seeing much attention from me these days, but still.) So I offer a hearty thank you to those of you who ever paid a visit to the Secret Fun Spot, and especially those of you who ended up sticking around with me. It's been fun and that's no secret! (ingenious!)

I'll leave you with a memorial image gallery of some of the image galleries. Don't try clicking the buttons because you shouldn't poke at dead things.

THE DO���S AND DON���TS OF SELF-TITLED RECORD ALBUMS

 

 

 

This article originally appeared on Monkey Goggles, a sadly defunct project from the gang at Archie McPhee.  Of all the things I've ever written, this is one of my favorites. So here it is, back on the internet where it belongs.

The Do���s and Don���ts of Self-Titled Record Albums

We humans have only been able to record our music for a hundred-something years, but in that short time we���ve arrived at some standard practices. For instance, recording artists sell bundles of 10 to 15 songs at a time, and these collections are called albums. Cover artwork and a title are carefully selected and assigned to each album; in many cases this happens well before the record is leaked online.

Likewise, certain conventions have emerged in the realm of album titles. Titles are usually a short phrase or a single word that corresponds with the theme or tone of the music. They can be poetic and profound, consider: Rubber Soul, Loveless, Urban Hymns or Nevermind. Some records are named after a song that appears on the LP; examples include Pet Sounds and Thriller. Others are simply named after music in general, such as Madonna���s album Music as well as Music, the first CD from the band 311.

Many artists have chosen to name albums after themselves; these are known as self-titled or eponymous records. R.E.M. actually called their 1988 singles compilation Eponymous, which was pretty cool. (Though it should be noted that The Alarm did this five years earlier, which deducts some of that coolness.)

At its best, the self-titled record is an act of elegant simplicity; at its worst, it becomes a baffling ordeal. Let���s explore the possible scenarios of self-titling with hopes that future bands might avoid pitfalls such as Santana Syndrome or Weezeritus.

THE SELF-TITLED DEBUT: DO

If you���re ever going to self-title, then your first album is the perfect time to do it. It makes an efficient, dignified statement: This is us and this is our music. The eponymous debut album is a respectable move that will place an artist alongside some of the most influential musicians in history. The seemingly endless list of acts who have carried on this rich tradition includes Wilson Phillips, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, The Doors, Rush, Black Sabbath, Van Halen, Kraftwerk, Queen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Aerosmith, The Clash, The Smiths, The Eagles, The Cars, Duran Duran, Journey, The Ramones, The Stooges, Violent Femmes, Madonna and ���Weird Al��� Yankovic to name just a handful. (Sorry, I really cracked myself up starting that list off with Wilson Phillips.)

The only act who has ever made a mistake in releasing a self-titled debut is Hoobastank. That name should have been avoided entirely.

SELF-TITLED DEBUTS BY SELF-TITLED BANDS: DON���T

Groups like Huey Lewis and the News and the The Allman Brothers already took the easy road when they named their band, so a first album title with a little pizzazz would have been nice. (Granted, Huey gets some credit for making up a stage name; he was born Hugh Anthony Cregg III.)

As lame as it is to self-title everything, the efficiency is undeniable. There was a time when Jon Bon Jovi could answer the questions who are you, what���s the name of your band and what���s the name of your album by simply flashing his driver���s license.

THE SELF-TITLED ALBUM THAT���S LATE IN THE CAREER: USUALLY A DON���T

Why wait until the third, eighth, or twelfth album to go eponymous? Sometimes it���s meant to indicate reinvention, like when Heart transitioned to a more pop oriented sound on their album Heart. Other times it proclaims the end of artistic integrity, as is the case of Metallica���s fifth album Metallica.

Bands deserve a pass if there is a legitimate reason behind the decision. Take The Beatles, the ninth LP by The Beatles. The record was to be named A Doll���s House until a British group called Family released the similarly titled Music in a Doll���s House. Despite this effort, many listeners still struggle to tell the two bands apart.

Smash Mouth held an online contest inviting their fans to name their third album. Their followers managed to come up with the winning appellation: Smash Mouth. The disgrace was completed by the fact that more people named the album than actually bought it.

The stupidest possible time to self-title is on the second album. (Unless it���s the first release in the States, i.e. Elton John.) It gives the impression that all creativity has been depleted by round two. Prince did it, and so did Collective Soul. What a bunch of goobers.

This practice doesn���t necessarily mean that a band has declared creative bankruptcy; The Velvet Underground, ABBA, and The Carpenters all did it on third albums which weren���t too shabby. But there���s really no method to this practice. Kid Rock went eponymous on his fourth release, Echo & The Bunnymen on their fifth, and The Cult waited until their sixth. Wilco���s seventh album is called Wilco (the album). The Cure held out until album 12 for some reason, and The Beach Boys self-titled their 22nd and final studio album as if to announce that they had officially hit the bottom of the artistic barrel.

MULTIPLE SELF-TITLED ALBUMS: DON���T. PLEASE��� JUST DON���T.

A shocking number of recording artists have decided to put out more than one, and in many cases several, self-titled albums. Fleetwood Mac, Diana Ross, Duran Duran, Cher and Cheap Trick are all guilty. Whether their intentions were rooted in profound artistic statement or just plain apathy, it causes grief among the fans. It makes it confusing to discuss an artist���s career and it can even make it tricky to buy their albums. The worst offenders are Seal and Weezer, each with three self-titleds apiece, and then there���s Peter Gabriel, who didn���t bother naming his first four records.

A word of warning to any artist considering mid-career and/or multiple eponymy: fans just won���t put up with that crap. Listeners refuse to go to the trouble of calling a CD ���Metallica���s self-titled fifth album��� and rightfully so. They avoid this rigmarole by collectively assigning their own title, like ���The Black Album.��� Trouble is, the public will look to the most obvious visual cues available for inspiration, and the results are predictably dull. An album���s color, for example, is a no-brainer. It started with The White Album and continued with unsanctioned names like They Might Be Giants��� Pink album, Collective Soul���s Blue album and Weezer���s Blue, Green, and Red albums.

If colors aren���t an option, then fans will go with a prominent object on the cover. When Pearl Jam didn���t come up with anything better than Pearl Jam for their eighth effort, the fans looked to the inexplicable chopped avocado featured on the cover. Voila! The Avocado album. The Cult wanted to get back to basics with a self-titled sixth album ��� title overruled! The Black Sheep record was also renamed for its cover art. And in what is perhaps the only clever instance of this phenomenon, the self-titled Alice In Chains was nicknamed Tripod based on a three-legged dog on its jacket.

Fans used the same technique to deal with the Peter Gabriel debacle. The cover photo on his debut shows Peter in a car. It became Car. Peter���s fingers appear to leave scratch marks on his second album cover. This became Scratch. Can you guess what they named the one where half of Mr. Gabriel���s face is melting? Mr. Melty Face? No, just Melt.

By album number four, the powers that be were through screwing around and released the record with a sticker on its cover that said Security. Gabriel seemed to take the hint and started naming his records. His lack of album-naming practice was evident in the fact that his subsequent three records were respectively named So, Us, and Up.

Some artists like Chicago, Scott Walker, and Led Zeppelin put out multiple self-titled LPs, but they had the courtesy to number them. Seal forced his appreciators to do this, and he further convoluted the situation by giving his third record a proper name. So his unofficial discography goes: Seal I, Seal II, Human Being, Seal IV and so on. It sounds like a horror movie franchise.

Fan-named titles have also spawned from year of release (Cheap Trick ���97) and song names (Genesis, the Mama album). The point is, if you don���t name your album then everyone else will, and you���re not going to like it.

MULTIPLE SELF-TITLED ALBUMS BY A SELF-TITLED ARTIST: DO NOT!

It���s true: Santana released Santana in 1969 and Santana in 1971 (which was the band���s third album, no less), proving that Carlos Santana is the laziest rock star in history.

THE DO’S AND DON’TS OF SELF-TITLED RECORD ALBUMS

 

 

 

This article originally appeared on Monkey Goggles, a sadly defunct project from the gang at Archie McPhee.  Of all the things I've ever written, this is one of my favorites. So here it is, back on the internet where it belongs.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Self-Titled Record Albums

We humans have only been able to record our music for a hundred-something years, but in that short time we’ve arrived at some standard practices. For instance, recording artists sell bundles of 10 to 15 songs at a time, and these collections are called albums. Cover artwork and a title are carefully selected and assigned to each album; in many cases this happens well before the record is leaked online.

Likewise, certain conventions have emerged in the realm of album titles. Titles are usually a short phrase or a single word that corresponds with the theme or tone of the music. They can be poetic and profound, consider: Rubber Soul, Loveless, Urban Hymns or Nevermind. Some records are named after a song that appears on the LP; examples include Pet Sounds and Thriller. Others are simply named after music in general, such as Madonna’s album Music as well as Music, the first CD from the band 311.

Many artists have chosen to name albums after themselves; these are known as self-titled or eponymous records. R.E.M. actually called their 1988 singles compilation Eponymous, which was pretty cool. (Though it should be noted that The Alarm did this five years earlier, which deducts some of that coolness.)

At its best, the self-titled record is an act of elegant simplicity; at its worst, it becomes a baffling ordeal. Let’s explore the possible scenarios of self-titling with hopes that future bands might avoid pitfalls such as Santana Syndrome or Weezeritus.

THE SELF-TITLED DEBUT: DO

If you’re ever going to self-title, then your first album is the perfect time to do it. It makes an efficient, dignified statement: This is us and this is our music. The eponymous debut album is a respectable move that will place an artist alongside some of the most influential musicians in history. The seemingly endless list of acts who have carried on this rich tradition includes Wilson Phillips, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, The Doors, Rush, Black Sabbath, Van Halen, Kraftwerk, Queen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Aerosmith, The Clash, The Smiths, The Eagles, The Cars, Duran Duran, Journey, The Ramones, The Stooges, Violent Femmes, Madonna and “Weird Al” Yankovic to name just a handful. (Sorry, I really cracked myself up starting that list off with Wilson Phillips.)

The only act who has ever made a mistake in releasing a self-titled debut is Hoobastank. That name should have been avoided entirely.

SELF-TITLED DEBUTS BY SELF-TITLED BANDS: DON’T

Groups like Huey Lewis and the News and the The Allman Brothers already took the easy road when they named their band, so a first album title with a little pizzazz would have been nice. (Granted, Huey gets some credit for making up a stage name; he was born Hugh Anthony Cregg III.)

As lame as it is to self-title everything, the efficiency is undeniable. There was a time when Jon Bon Jovi could answer the questions who are you, what’s the name of your band and what’s the name of your album by simply flashing his driver’s license.

THE SELF-TITLED ALBUM THAT’S LATE IN THE CAREER: USUALLY A DON’T

Why wait until the third, eighth, or twelfth album to go eponymous? Sometimes it’s meant to indicate reinvention, like when Heart transitioned to a more pop oriented sound on their album Heart. Other times it proclaims the end of artistic integrity, as is the case of Metallica’s fifth album Metallica.

Bands deserve a pass if there is a legitimate reason behind the decision. Take The Beatles, the ninth LP by The Beatles. The record was to be named A Doll’s House until a British group called Family released the similarly titled Music in a Doll’s House. Despite this effort, many listeners still struggle to tell the two bands apart.

Smash Mouth held an online contest inviting their fans to name their third album. Their followers managed to come up with the winning appellation: Smash Mouth. The disgrace was completed by the fact that more people named the album than actually bought it.

The stupidest possible time to self-title is on the second album. (Unless it’s the first release in the States, i.e. Elton John.) It gives the impression that all creativity has been depleted by round two. Prince did it, and so did Collective Soul. What a bunch of goobers.

This practice doesn’t necessarily mean that a band has declared creative bankruptcy; The Velvet Underground, ABBA, and The Carpenters all did it on third albums which weren’t too shabby. But there’s really no method to this practice. Kid Rock went eponymous on his fourth release, Echo & The Bunnymen on their fifth, and The Cult waited until their sixth. Wilco’s seventh album is called Wilco (the album), perhaps they should further patronize fans by renaming themselves Wilco (the band). The Cure held out until album 12, and The Beach Boys self-titled their 22nd and final studio album as if to announce that they had officially hit the bottom of the artistic barrel.

MULTIPLE SELF-TITLED ALBUMS: DON’T. PLEASE… JUST DON’T.

A shocking number of recording artists have decided to put out more than one, and in many cases several, self-titled albums. Fleetwood Mac, Diana Ross, Duran Duran, Cher and Cheap Trick are all guilty. Whether their intentions were rooted in profound artistic statement or just plain apathy, it causes grief among the fans. It makes it confusing to discuss an artist’s career and it can even make it tricky to buy their albums. The worst offenders are Seal and Weezer, each with three self-titleds apiece, and then there’s Peter Gabriel, who didn’t bother naming his first four records.

A word of warning to any artist considering mid-career and/or multiple eponymy: fans just won’t put up with that crap. Listeners refuse to go to the trouble of calling a CD “Metallica’s self-titled fifth album” and rightfully so. They avoid this rigmarole by collectively assigning their own title, like “The Black Album.” Trouble is, the public will look to the most obvious visual cues available for inspiration, and the results are predictably dull. An album’s color, for example, is a no-brainer. It started with The White Album and continued with unsanctioned names like They Might Be Giants’ Pink album, Collective Soul’s Blue album and Weezer’s Blue, Green, and Red albums.

If colors aren’t an option, then fans will go with a prominent object on the cover. When Pearl Jam didn’t come up with anything better than Pearl Jam for their eighth effort, the fans looked to the inexplicable chopped avocado featured on the cover. Voila! The Avocado album. The Cult wanted to get back to basics with a self-titled sixth album — title overruled! The Black Sheep record was also renamed for its cover art. And in what is perhaps the only clever instance of this phenomenon, the self-titled Alice In Chains was nicknamed Tripod based on a three-legged dog on its jacket.

Fans used the same technique to deal with the Peter Gabriel debacle. The cover photo on his debut shows Peter in a car. It became Car. Peter’s fingers appear to leave scratch marks on his second album cover. This became Scratch. Can you guess what they named the one where half of Mr. Gabriel’s face is melting? Mr. Melty Face? No, just Melt.

By album number four, the powers that be were through screwing around and released the record with a sticker on its cover that said Security. Gabriel seemed to take the hint and started naming his records. His lack of album-naming practice was evident in the fact that his subsequent three records were respectively named So, Us, and Up.

Some bands like Chicago and Led Zeppelin put out multiple self-titled LPs, but they had the courtesy to number them. Seal forced his appreciators to do this, and he further convoluted the situation by giving his third record a proper name. So his unofficial discography goes: Seal I, Seal II, Human Being, Seal IV and so on. It sounds like a horror movie franchise.

Fan-named titles have also spawned from year of release (Cheap Trick ’97) and song names (Genesis, the Mama album). The point is, if you don’t name your album then everyone else will, and you’re not going to like it.

MULTIPLE SELF-TITLED ALBUMS BY A SELF-TITLED ARTIST: DO NOT

It’s true: Santana released Santana in 1969 and Santana in 1971 (which was the band’s third album, no less), proving that Carlos Santana is the laziest rock star in history.

THE HUNT FOR 'SIDE A'

The photo above is the result of a three-year-long hunt that began when I was reviewing a series of vintage Halloween cassette tapes in 2017. The Chamber of Horrors by TONY (USA) has carved its spooky face into the Jack-O'-lantern of Halloween history thanks to its unique, 'decent into madness' approach to sound effects. (See my original review.) But the common release of the recording is literally only half the story. 

Chamber of Horrors was originally the B-side to a more elaborate production called The Haunting: A Horror Story. The rarity of this edition, and the obscured "Side A" and "Side B" markings (see photo below) suggest that it was discontinued and reissued with the Chamber of Horrors sound effects repeated on both sides. Was it it simply too terrifying for young Halloween consumers, as some have suggested?

The second edition containing the same effects loops on both sides

The elusive variant with its perfect ghost and haunted house artwork became the object of my obsession. My hunt didn't involve trips into the wilderness, or even the act of leaving the chair where I currently sit. However, it was an ebay adventure in perseverance and timing. I laid 'email search alert' traps, but the delay from inbox to web site amounted in two painfully lost auctions. I resorted to compulsively live searching whenever I found time. This went on for two years. It was ultimately a late night ebay visit where I, armed with a litany of generic search terms, found it in a nondescript lot, and finally "buy-it-now'd" my way to the grail. The joyous victory was intensely magnified by this year's harrowing months of uncertainty.

Now I share my delight with you. After years of being conspicuously absent from Youtube, I have uploaded the precious Side A. Please enjoy it and use it to help make yours the happiest possible Halloween!

THE RETURN OF THE GIANT HALLOWEEN MASKS

In 2003 my all-time favorite graphic design team, the Charles Spencer Anderson design co., created the phenomenal marketing materials (as well as some products) for Target's Halloween campaign. This was the crossover of the century for me— CSA versus Halloween! To make matters better, they used vintage Ben Cooper masks as source material, and enlarged them to be taller than I was as a trick or treater! In fact, I wore the identical Frankenstein mask in 1981.



In 2007 I wrote this blog post about the campaign, where I shared some photos that I took back when photography was forbidden in stores, and when I was still using film. I also lamented my failed attempt to acquire the masks after the season. (Customer service claimed they were to be donated to a local school after use.)

Well, the internet heard my wish, and over the past twelve years I've received a continual trickle of emails about the masks. They came in three categories: those asking me to assess the value of their masks (my lone blog post made me the leading authority on the internet), those offering to sell me their masks (these were the most common), and even a few emails from kind people offering to just give me the masks. I perked up at the latter, but soon discovered that shipping five foot faces can cost hundreds of dollars. A personal pick-up option was offered once, but they were located more than a day's drive away, again amounting to a major chunk of money and time.

About a year ago I received another generous free offer from a woman named Kat. Kat actually worked on the Target marketing team and helped make the campaign a reality! Her set of masks were a job perk, and she'd been using them as Halloween decorations for years. But the time to "pay them forward" had come, and my writing convinced her that I'd provide them with a good home.
I could immediately tell that Kat lives her life with vigorous heart and soul. She initially gave me a list of rules to agree to, should I accept the gift. The first rule was that I too must pass them on freely when my time with them is over.

I loved her approach, but I explained the issues I'd encountered before. Kat persisted. Every couple months she told me about another possible shipping method she was researching. Whenever one thing didn't pan out she would move on to the next. This went on for nearly a year. Eventually she offered to drive someplace near me to make a hand off, even though places near me are far from her.

In July my family took a three hour jaunt to Kansas City to meet Kat. She ended up driving about eight hours (one way) to meet us there in order to give us some free ginormous masks!! Kat invited a good friend of hers to go along on her road trip, and she made the perfect suggestion to meet at the Nelson-Atkins museum of art. We met, and she's exactly the kind of person who would make a sixteen hour round trip to give someone giant masks. For the record, I was bestowed with the princess, the fireman, and yes, Frankenstein's monster.



We talked for about an hour before the museum kicked us out at closing time. We have many shared passions and our careers overlap. Before we parted Kat offered to give me her ongoing advice and perspective in relation to my role as a creative, and an educator, and that's even more valuable than giant costumes. Thanks Kat for being the best possible type of human being! Happy Halloween!

THE HALLOWEEN O' 2019

Once again, I assembled a list of Halloween activities and then followed my list.  Here is what that looked like this year...

1. Decorate for Halloween
Here's my latest innovation...



2. Make Halloween mood table
This year's theme: Mcfarlane Monsters



3. Change phone wallpaper
This is from a 1970s blacklight poster



4. Seek out new Halloween decorations and spooky toys
This year I made a startling discovery that rocked the Twitterverse.
"Attention Spooky folks: these decorations from Dollar Tree are essentially the Silver Shamrock masks from Halloween III!"



5. Read one of my vintage horror paperbacks
I ended up listening to the first book of Blackwater by Michael McDowell.
 

6. Play a spooky video game



7. Watch pre-selected pile of Halloween entertainment
I found the bulk of these over the past year at thrift stores and flea markets. (Though a few are perennial watches.)  My greatest score was the entire In Search Of series for $7. Over the past two months I've made it through all of these. Well, not all the In Search Of episodes.)

 

8. Subscribe to Shudder and watch stuff



9. Make a fire in the backyard fire pit



10. Create a horror playlist. Listen while walking/driving around.
I really just copied a couple peoples' existing lists, and then customized them to my liking.



11. Seek out some of the seasonal stuff that like-minded people are tweeting about
This year it was the Mountain Dew mystery flavor (i.e. Candy Corn), the blow mold decorations from Michaels, and the Universal Monster Bend-ems from Walgreens.

  

12. Write a blog post















13. and 14. Go on an October day trip/Go Halloween shopping in another town
I've been able to do a lot of this, thankfully. I make it a point to travel roads I've never traveled if possible, and go through towns I've never visited. Naturally I picked up lots of goodies.












15. Spend Halloween with my family 
And this will happen Thursday.

For me, the scariest thing about Halloween is the thought of letting the season slip by without doing whatever I can to enjoy it. This year I have nothing to fear.
Happy Halloween!