'Tis The Season

When you wait for something for an entire year, it can either reward you or make you cringe and cry tears of self loathing. Thankfully, that has not been me this year. After the disappointment that was Halloween 2011, I can say that Halloween 2012 is shaping up to be everything I had hoped it would be.

Let's give a brief update here. Almost all of the stores in my area have Halloween stuff up. Target and Wal-Mart are still being a little bit sluggish with most of their locations, but a few have put up their displays and I am quite
pleased with what I have seen (But not so much that I will be broke come October 1st).

The key causes for excitement right now for me is all the Halloween food. Namely, Oreos. If you have yet to see them, Target has begun carrying Candy Corn Oreos. And yes folks, they taste like candy corn if it decided to be squashed between two cookies. There are also various candies and treats out there to discover, so be sure to do so very soon.

I am still not on the internet yet, thus my this post is small and pictureless. I promise to post a few better more enticing articles soon. Just keep checking back!

More To See

We are still in the early stages of the Halloween season, but more and more stores are starting to get in their merchandise. While Target and Wal-Mart are only showing online offerings right now, other places like Marshalls, Ross, Michaels and a few other stores have their stuff in. Here are some pictures of my recent findings.

As most of you know, craft stores are the first place that Halloween stuff generally shows up at. It's always a safe bet that half-way through August, you can find some great spooky decorations there.

 

A lot of home stores have items as well. Kirkland's had some very nice stuff set out already.

And this prize piece of Halloween gloriousness...

This picture really embodies what I think about Halloween. It's not about the grotesqueness and macabre. It's about spookiness, not scariness.

Then of course there are the stores like Ross and Marshalls where you can find some really great, very diverse items.

 

 

It's certainly enough to get one excited for decorating. I picked up a few things that day, but I can promise you that I will be picking up quite a bit more as the season progresses. I can't wait for all of those Back To School sections to disappear.

It's Here...

Sadly, it has been a little over a month since I posted anything. Why? Because that spooky feeling just wasn't in the air. But today folks...I can tell you...

IT'S HERE

The long wait for the Halloween season to begin is finally over. The first indication came at my work, which is a liquor store if you didn't know, when we began getting in the Fall seasonal beers. It was nice to see, but it wasn't enough. Then the online retailers started to have Halloween stuff on their website, it was a good sign, but I was still skeptical. Then I went to the mall...and all that changed when I walked into Hallmark.

It was a beautiful sight. I won't lie to you, I basically freaked out in the store. I assume the employees thought I was crazy, but they can think what they want. I saw Halloween stuff and I was happy about it! But my joy didn't stop there...

I went to the mall specifically for Yankee Candle. Over the weekend, they had their Halloween event. Sadly, I worked, so I could not attend, but I knew I had to get down there as soon as I could. I was over joyed with the store. Not to mention the woman who worked their was a Halloween fanatic as well. Needless to say, I plopped down a good chunk of change at Yankee Candle. I am now the proud owner of that lovely black metal haunted house you see in the first picture. Worth every penny.

This is just the first step. After school starts (which is in the next couple weeks), Halloween will begin to appear at Target, Wal-Mart and everywhere else you could possibly imagine. So stay tuned everyone, as there is plenty more Halloween fun to be had over the next three months and I don't want to waste a single minute of it.

So It Begins...

Today, I have begun my preparations for this Halloween season. Last year, hot apple cider was a staple of my Halloween celebrating. This year, I decided to do it in style.

That's right. I bought glasses especially for cider. I did purchase a few beer mugs last year for drinking cider, but these are the real deal. I cannot wait to put them to the test, but I am waiting until it gets a little more spooky outside. Because where I live...I don't expect a chill in the air for some time.

Creepy Compositions

I haven't posted a Halloween song post for a bit, so I figured I would change that. Here are 8 more songs to add to your spooky playlist!

Devil Woman by Cliff Richardson

Monster Rap by Bobby "Boris" Pickett

Witches Promise by Jethro Tull

Monster by The Automatic

Ghosts by Japan

(Waiting For) The Ghost Train by Madness

Hammer Horror by Kate Bush

Norman Bates by Landscape

A New DCOM!!!

For five years, we have been waiting for the next spooky Disney Channel Original Movie. My Babysitter's A Vampire was a nice filler, but it wasn't a true DCOM. But one has finally been announced for this year!

Titled Girl vs. Monster, the flick is a true Halloween DCOM all the way. Not only does the film premiere in October, it is also set around Halloween. Here is an extremely-detailed plot synopsis.

The adventure begins on Halloween as Skylar, a fearless teenager with a powerful singing voice, prepares for the ultimate Halloween bash with her best friends, Henry and Sadie. The plan for Skylar to sing at the party — with rock band cutie Ryan Dean — is crushed when her parents make her stay home. Then, when she sneaks out of the house, she unknowingly unleashes a monster – Deimata – who is determined to change the fate of Skylar and her family forever. As Skylar’s world is turned upside down, she learns that her parents have been keeping a big secret – that she comes from a long line of monster hunters. Now, it’s up to Skylar and her friends to channel their inner strength and conquer more than just this monster. it's her long lost twin sister.

While it does sound like a ploy to have one of their stars sing songs on the network, that is really not news of any sort as it's extremely common place. I am extremely out of the loop with who stars on The Disney Channel, so I am clueless as to who any one in the cast is, but that is also a moot point.

I can barely contain myself about this! It's been a long time coming and hopefully it does so well that Disney decides to make a new spooky movie every year. I for sure will be tuning into this one. I suggest you do the same!

Some Personal Favorites

Horror is an interesting genre. It has more peaks and valleys than the others and it's currently in transition. Around Halloween is the perfect time for horror movie marathons. You can always watch the classics or you can try some new fare. Here are a few films from the past few years that I have found to be worthy of your time.

1408 - An adaptation from Stephen King is generally a must watch for me. I didn't catch 1408 in theaters, but I did buy it as soon as it came out on Blu-ray. I rather enjoy kind of claustrophobic movies like this one and John Cusack being the lead actor just made this a great film for me.

The Mist - This poster paints the film rather differently than others, but I think it's pretty cool looking, so I will use it. Another claustrophobic film from the mind of Stephen King, it's a rather spooky movie. I think the best part is that it's a man vs. man film as well as man vs. monster.

Dance of the Dead - I stumbled upon this movie as a result of someone gifting me a Blockbuster gift card for my birthday. As I don't really rent movies and didn't find much used I wanted, I picked up Dance of the Dead. I think zombie films are rather overplayed, so for me to like this as much as I do means something.

Trick 'r Treat - Warner really didn't know what they had with this film and still don't. In the same vein as Creepshow before it, Trick 'r Treat is an anthology film that takes place on Halloween. That's two great things right there! Then when you look at the casting and how good the script is, it's just a winner all around.

The Cabin in the Woods - A recent addition to the list as this is still fairly fresh into its theatrical run. Suffering from a similar issue to Trick 'r Treat, the movie was actually filmed in 2010 and has been languishing since as MGM went bankrupt. Thanks to Lionsgate, we have finally seen the film. We tend to owe them a lot recently.

Drag Me To Hell - From Sam Raimi, the creator of The Evil Dead franchise, comes Drag Me To Hell. It was a rather interesting film and one that really excited me. It had been around 20 years since Raimi made a legitimate horror movie. If you love Evil Dead, this is certainly one for you.

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil - Another film that took a lot of time to get to us. About two years to be exact. A really funny movie that surpassed my expectations and it truly one of the best horror movies to come out recently. It's a shame it didn't reach the masses in theaters.

Zombieland - Like I said earlier, I really don't love zombie movies. Zombieland was funny, scary and well acted. It's interesting to kind of see that it had such a strong following for awhile, then it just vanished and we haven't heard much about it since. It's rather weird as it was all people could talk about for months in 2009.

Paranormal Activity - I liked this movie. It was creepy and effective. You can bash on it all you want, but the people who seem to bash on it most are the ones who complain that horror has no original ideas. I mean, it's not an original idea now as there are soon to be five sequels (Including a Japanese film called Tokyo Night), but when it came out, it was worthy of every piece of praise it got.

There aren't many things in this world as good as a lot of people huddled together in front of a TV being scared out of their wits by a good horror movie. Just don't forget the popcorn.

Candy Corn

My favorite kind of candy is, without a doubt, candy corn. It's the perfect Halloween treat as not only is it delicious, but it's the trademark candy of the holiday. But in addition to the standard orange, yellow and white candy corn; there are various other types as well.

Indian Corn - Without a doubt, Indian Corn is the most standard variation of candy corn. It belongs to the fall and Thanksgiving, who can help but think of the season when you see those dark fall leaf colors?

Reindeer Corn - Christmas might be invading Halloween's season earlier and earlier each year, but Reindeer Corn is at least helping to ease the pain a little bit.

Cupid Corn - Wouldn't you rather get a whole bag of Cupid Corn on Valentine's Day instead of a box of chocolates? I know I would!

Bunny Corn - The interesting thing about Bunny Corn is that there is no third color. It's simply the two. Why does Easter have to be so different!

But there is a lot more to candy corn variations, there are also quite a few different flavors that accompany candy corn. And when I say quite a few...I mean it.

Apple Cider

Blackberry Cobbler

Candy Cane

Caramel

Caramel Apple

Cherry

Cinnamon

Creme Brulee

Dulce De Leche

Pumpkin Spice

Raspberry

Raspberry Lemonade

Tangerine

I wasn't kidding when I said there were a lot. Kind of blows your mind to see just how many different flavors candy corn can come in. Some sound tasty, while others I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

Anyone else craving some candy corn right now?