From Zombos' Closet

Halloween Rattlin' Shakin' Candy Coffin

This is actually quite creepy-cool: you pull on the skeleton's foot dangling out of the coffin and he shakes, rattles, and rolls like an Elvis Impersonator. The spider and web graphic on the coffin lid is a wonderful touch.

My Halloween: Halloween Addict

Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o'Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds...in between mouthfuls of candy corn...with Allhollow Steve of Halloween Addict who keeps his October Dreams in mind all through the year...

 

Why is Halloween important to you?

I think it's one of the few holidays that is really about fun. It hasn't been clouded by set-in-stone tradition, family politics, overcrowded holiday travel, gift buying stress, etc.  It's about the thrill of being out at night, getting free candy and treasures, dressing up in costumes, watching scary movies.

You can celebrate Halloween however you want: with loved ones indoors, traipsing through a corn maze at night, by the warm glowing warming glow of a television horror marathon, handing candy out to kids and families at your door, building a yard display for the community to walk by and see.  So many different things, and it's all about fun.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

My ideal Halloween would be waking up with a balanced Halloween breakfast of pumpkin pancakes and a bowl of a General Mills Monster Cereal. Then I'd be out the door embracing the crisp Fall day and off to the local pumpkin patch for pumpkin scrutinizing and picking. From there I'd head back home to read a little from my favorite Halloween tome "October Dreams" while sipping a pumpkin spice latte. With AMC's FearFest on, I'd spruce up my house with any last minute decorations and carve my jack o' lantern before the trick or treaters start showing up (I'll be the cool house giving out mini Jones Halloween sodas and full sized candy).  When the doorbell stops ringing I'll switch over to my annual tradition of watching Trick 'r Treat with the lights off. I'd close the evening with John Carpenter's Halloween.  Once the clock 'ticks to 12:01am on November 1st the magic of the night dissipates...

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

As a kid, I had a 55" classic Beistle jointed green-tinged skeleton that hung on my bedroom door every October.  I loved that thing.  When the skeleton got hung up I knew that candy wasn't far behind. As for collectibles/decorations I don't like, I'm not a huge fan of vintage Halloween collectibles. I think it comes down to the fact that I don't like googly-eyed jack o' lanterns. I like a traditional jack o' lantern with empty triangle eyes. There's something both friendly and sinister about that traditional look.

When was your very first Halloween, the one where you really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

I can't quite remember my very first.  I know that one of my very first costumes was a Collegeville "Tiger" but the one I really look fondly on was when I was in Elementary School and asked for and received a Ben Cooper "Darth Vader" costume.  My mom had this black velvet cape from a Halloween party she and my dad had gone to a few years before and I swapped the crappy, short vinyl cape that came with the boxed costume with the huge, black velvet one.

I wore it to school for the October "costume day" (when the teachers parade the classes around to each other's classrooms). In my mind I WAS Darth Vader. There was no more authentic looking Vader in that parade.  Didn't matter that I was still wearing the bright yellow vinyl suit part that said "DARTH VADER" across the chest, or that the cape was red on the inside (clearly more Dracula than Vader), OR that I was only 3 1/2 feet tall and not a 6' 5" David Prowse, OR that the mask had a rubber band holding it to my head.  Didn't matter.  I was rockin' that Vader costume.  Even had the "Imperial March" tune stuck in my head as I tromped around.  I couldn't have been happier.

What's the one Halloween question you want to be asked and what's your answer?

Clever answer:

Question: Do you want to see something really scary?

Answer:  [attacking] Raawwwwwwwwr!

Straight answer:

Question: Would you like to make enough money doing HalloweenAddict.com to quit your day job and live comfortably?

Answer: Yes. Yes I would.

My Halloween: My Ghoul Friday

Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o'Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds...in between mouthfuls of candy corn...with My Ghoul Friday who's the kind of girl you want to have around every day of the week, but especially on Halloween...

Why is Halloween important to you?

Halloween is the one season of the year when the general public gets on the same page as they engage in play, and they see beauty in the dark.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

That's really tough. My ideal Halloween might be a bright, crisp, but not too cold day that started with pumpkin flavoured coffee before heading to a pumpkin patch that had different types and colours of pumpkins and gourds. After choosing a wheelbarrow full of goodies, and maybe consuming some hot apple cider, I would make my way to a place in the country - maybe a cottage - where I and my closest friends (Oooo and let's throw in a number of fellow haunters I've always wanted to meet) would spend the afternoon adding the final touches to decorations (would be nice if there was a barn available). There would be cooking over a fire and music as we got closer to evening. And the night would be capped off with some excellent horror movies and perhaps a few games. I suppose that's a bit boring. Even if we added attending a Halloween fair or parade in the afternoon, my ideal Halloween doesn't get very fancy.

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

I have a plastic vintage black cat & pumpkin lamp I found at a second hand store for a dollar. It sits in my office year-round.

When was your very first Halloween, the one where you really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

If you've ever gone to my "About Me" page, you've read the story. It started when my parents let me spray paint a tombstone on the concrete wall of our basement for my Grade 4 Halloween party.

It was my first real Halloween party, and I wanted it to be great. I constructed a haunted house the length of the basement and led people through dangling, slimy snakes hanging from the ceiling - just one example of the many forms and obstacles waiting for them in the shadow. I hadn't gotten over my fear of the dark, and I was deathly afraid of being in the basement alone (never mind with the lights off), but to make sure I could see well enough to safely guide each guest one by one through the haunted space, I sat alone in the pitch black basement for 20 minutes before the party goers even started to arrive.

That's when she was born, the little ghoul in the basement. Since then, she has come back to me every year, usually in late summer, ready to build creatures for Halloween. Sure, she's there throughout the other months, peeking through my eyes at the newest horror film being released, or tickling my neck so I turn to see the brochure for the Festival of Fear coming to the city.

What's the one Halloween question you want to be asked and what's your answer?

Q: Can we, the general public, help you with time and donations to make your ideal Halloween come true?

A: And my answer is yes ;)

Halloween Howlin' Heads Light-Ups Pumpkin and Hooded Skull

Press the buttons on these Bowtie Pumpkin and Hooded Skull Howlin' Heads and their eyes light up while spooky sounds scare away the vampires while you eat the candy. I like candy treats that entertain you while you eat.

My Halloween: The Moon Is a Dead World

Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o'Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds...in between mouthfuls of candy corn...with Ryne who beams some Halloween rays from The Moon Is a Dead World to light up the night...

 

Why is Halloween important to you?

I can't remember when Halloween first became a staple of my life. Each Halloween in my younger years gets jumbled together into one big happy, spooky memory. I think, strangely enough, my love of Halloween began when I was eight or nine years old. My family was eating dinner in the living room on Halloween night when trick-or-treaters showed up at 5 o'clock! Trick-or-treating wasn't supposed to start until 7, and it was a surprise to us that anyone would begin so  early. For some reason, this memory sticks with me as the biggest reason of why I love Halloween so much. Maybe it was the fact that I was with my family on that fateful Halloween, or maybe it was the enthusiasm of the trick-or-treaters that visited so early. Either way, Halloween became one of my favorite times of year, and it still holds that magical feeling from when I was a kid.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

I prefer my Halloween spooky rather than playful, so the trick-or-treaters in my ideal Halloween would have to be decked out in scary apparel - no princesses or pirates allowed! Also, you know that scene in Trick 'r Treat where Anna Paquin walks down a forested path decorated on either side by jack-o-lanterns? That would be included as well, because the whole town gets caught up in the festivities.

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

This is a little embarrassing, but I really enjoy the old McDonald's Halloween Happy Meal toys they gave out in the '90s - the ones that feature the Hamburgler, Grimace, and Ronald McDonald, where their costumes can be interchanged. It's a nostalgic thing for me, I guess, because it reminds me of my childhood. We've had them for years, and still never hesitate to put them around the house each Halloween.

When was your very first Halloween, the one where you really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

My very first Halloween...like I said, my past Halloweens are all a jumble of memories, but I think I had to have been 4 or 5. I was Frankenstein, and I had a fuzzy, puffy Frankenstein mask and clogs to make me taller. We put something on my neck to look like bolts, although I can't remember what we used.

What's the one Halloween question you want to be asked and what's your answer?

Q: Trick, or treat?

A: TRICK! For me, it's never about the candy!

Halloween 2010: Skull-Top Potion Bottles

Picked up this trio of small ceramic skull-top potion bottles at Marshalls...

My Halloween: Fascination With Fear

Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o'Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds...in between mouthfuls of candy corn...with Christine of Fascination With Fear who tells us what else holds her fascination...

Why is Halloween important to you?

Halloween is my favorite day of the year.  Has been since I was small enough to know what a favorite is.  It's rather funny to think I love the holiday so much when I'm not really a big fan of kids (that alone should get me burned at the stake).  But it is such a fabulous time of the year.  In addition, October is my favorite month, and it's just capped off by the holiday.  Over the years, I've always tried to take off work on October 31st, and sometimes November 1st as well - as the horror movies run late into the night.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

Well I might piss the parents off here, but I don't have kids - so my Halloween is sans children.  Though I can very much appreciate kids in their costumes wandering aimlessly around my small town - I remember when I was a kid how much it meant to me.   But my perfect Halloween would consist of driving up to our cabin in the woods about an hour north of home (the one we lovingly dubbed the Evil Dead cabin, due to its similar look).  We'd have to take along our jack-o-lantern, cause that's only right.  I'd sit outside and read in the crisp fall air so I could smell the dead leaves and feel the last of the autumn sunshine, then I'd have the hubby start a campfire and we'd hang out around that toasting up some marshmallows and such.  Then of course, it would be horror movie central for the rest of the evening, capped off by a trip to the outhouse in the dead of night right at the edge of the (Blair Witch) woods.

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

My movie (DVD/VHS) collection would have to be my biggest horror/Halloween collection, but I do have a ton of Halloween decor. As I get older I cringe at the thought of putting it all away in November, so I haven't been putting out quite as much. But I love antique looking Halloween collectibles - things that look decades old. Oh, and I collect witches.  Lots of them.

When was your very first Halloween, the one where you really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

I grew up in western Pennsylvania, so sometimes it can actually snow around Halloween. I recall one year when I was quite young and wanting to be a veterinarian for Halloween (you know, scrubs and a stuffed dog -real inspired), but it turned out to be like, thirty degrees outside. Hence, my hunter costume. Yep, camo and a shotgun.  Unloaded of course, but this was back in the day when a seven year old could tote a gun around town without getting thrown in juvie. Oh well, that big coat held a lot of extra candy.

What's the one Halloween question you want to be asked and what's your answer?

Q: Why doesn't my town hold Trick-or-Treat AT NIGHT???

A: I've been asking myself that question for over thirty years.  Runs in my mind when I was small, we trick-or-treated at night.  Folks with the porch light on were handing out candy, if the house was dark you steered clear (or threw corn at it later on). Later in my teens, my town changed it to daylight only. From around noon till 4pm. And no, my town is not full of crime.  At all.  There is no real reason why kids can't trick-or-treat at night here.  It makes me so mad when I think about it, them taking away our fun and making kids even more afraid of the dark than usual.

Halloween Wolf Man Teeth

These teeth aren't as formidable looking as the Wolf Teeth appliance. They're more for nibbling rather than biting out chunks of flesh...

My Halloween: Spooky Little Girl

Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o'Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds...in between mouthfuls of candy corn...with Zombie Ballerina dancing at Spooky Little Girl all Halloween Night long...

Why is Halloween important to you?

Halloween is, needless to say, my favorite time of year. It has an air of mystery and magic about it, and no matter how old I get, that magic never quite fades. I think Halloween gives people a great opportunity to have a little fun with "the dark side," something that is ignored or abhorred all too often throughout the rest of the year. During the entire month of October, there are things that appeal directly to my interests everywhere I look; even a mundane trip to the drugstore can be fun. TV programming is just a little bit better, there are haunted houses and horror movie revival screenings everywhere, and finally - finally! - it feels like everyone is on the same page as me.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

I would love to throw an amazing Halloween party in a quintessentially spooky old mansion. (Think 1313 Mockingbird Lane, or Hill House.) Someplace vast and eerie and unsettling. Themed food, including an array of pumpkin-based dishes, both savory and sweet. No one is admitted without a scary costume; no joke costumes or T-shirts that say "THIS IS MY COSTUME" allowed.

Ideally, during the course of the evening, myself and my partygoers would somehow manage to raise the dead, who would emerge from the backyard cemetery to perform an elaborately choreographed creepy dance, a la Thriller.

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

My boyfriend and I have a small but much loved collection of Spooky Town houses and similar Halloween figurines, which we display year round. I also have a soft spot in my heart for old school paper decorations - cutouts of Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Wolfman, etc., the likes of which you can buy at any party supply store for like 50 cents.

When was your very first Halloween, the one where you really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

I think I was around 3 or 4 years old. I remember piles of dead leaves and cheap black capes and crying when I saw how ugly I looked in my witch costume, with my carefully applied green makeup and spirit gum wart (courtesy of my mom). I remember trick-or-treating shyly and feeling intimidated by the older kids and their rambunctiousness, but I also remember feeling excited and intensely curious about what was going on.

What's the one Halloween question you want to be asked and what's your answer?

Q: What is your favorite Halloween-appropriate song?

And the answer is a tie: "Spooky" by the Classics IV (of course!) and "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult.

Halloween Werewolf Teeth

Great artwork on the card and big chompers to put the bite on Halloween...

Halloween Monster Teeth

And the best part is one size fits all...plus being non-toxic is a plus.

Halloween Ghostly Ghouls Door Poster And Frankenstein Face

These Happy Halloween door decorations set the mood rather well, don't you think?

 

My Halloween: Freddy In Space

Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o'Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds...in between mouthfuls of candy corn...Johnny Boots of Freddy In Space has this thing for Freddy and Halloween. Is it just me, or do you think this photo is as creepy as all Hell, too?

 

Why is Halloween important to you?

Because it's the one time of the year where everyone embraces the things that I embrace all year round and I love to see that. Stores I would otherwise never step foot in are loaded with cool stuff that's right up my alley, both new and old horror films hit DVD and the theatres left and right, and pop up all over television networks that normally show no love for the genre. People decorate their homes the way I decorate mine all year long - it's as if all is right with the world for a month or so out of the year.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

As much as one might expect that I go all out on Halloween and do all kinds of wild things to celebrate my favorite day of the year, my ideal way to spend the day is with my girlfriend, some pumpkin beer, a handful of horror flicks, and a bunch of candy to hand out to trick or treaters - and of course to feast on. That's all I need to have a great Halloween. I remember how thrilling it was when I was a kid to be given a big size candy bar or an extra little special treat in my bucket, and I love to give those little thrills to the new kids in town. It's for this reason that I try to stay home during the day and night of Halloween and always feel like I missed out when I end up going out for the night.

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

While I cherish each and every one of my Halloween collectibles - which my dad and I have amassed a ton of and proudly display most throughout the entire year - i've gotta say I really have a love for this weird squishy pumpkinheaded dude that my family has had since as far back as I can remember. He always puts a smile on my face when I pluck his tattered ass out of a bucket come mid September and just the sight of him really gets me in the spirit.  Unfortunately that's a sight that I at the moment cannot share because I can't seem to find him!

When was your very first Halloween, the one where you really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

The earliest Halloween memories I can remember were at my elementary school. We would have a parade every year where we all dressed up and walked around the gym or parking lot, depending on the weather. I remember loving that and cherishing the difference of it from normal day to day school life. Not a very exciting answer, but that's the first I can remember experiencing Halloween.

What's the one Halloween question you want to be asked and what's your answer?

I guess i'd like to be asked what I am doing for Halloween this year. Reason being, this will be the very first Halloween my girlfriend and I spend in our very own place. I absolutely cannot wait to decorate the place and to hand out candy to our own batch of trick or treaters. At the same time it's bittersweet because not only will I for the first time not spend the day in my childhood home, but my dog - who passed away late last year - won't be there to notify me when the kids are headed towards the front door.  She always bothered the living hell out of me on Halloween, but i'm definitely gonna miss that incessant barking now that she's gone.

Things will be different, but i'm highy looking forward to what seems like it'll be my first 'grown up' Halloween experience.  Rest assured though, come October 31st, I will still be as giddy and excited as the kids who come to my door looking for candy - this is something that I hope never changes.

My Halloween: The Halloween Blues

Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o'Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds...in between mouthfuls of candy corn...Sam Hain of The Halloween Blues let's it all hang out.

 

Why is Halloween Important to You?

Because it's one of the few holidays where it's okay for me to be a total a-hole to the people I love. I can also jump out of the bushes and scare little children without worrying about the cops arresting me.

Describe Your Ideal Halloween.

Honestly, I have no ideal Halloween. There is no one way in particular that Halloween is perfect to me.  Every Halloween is different. When I start the day I never quite know how it's going to end and that's the way I like it. Halloween should be more than just a planned series of events, it should be an adventure.

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

I don't have many relics of Halloween past, but there's this one mask that I've kept for a few years now that I don't think I'll ever get rid of.  Which is funny considering I bought it at the Dollar Store. I used it to scare the hell out of a bunch of my students for Halloween and they absolutely loved it. Now I use it mostly to scare family members and on occasion, my dog.  It has a lot of sentimental value, so I don't see myself ever getting rid of it. One day I want to scare my grandchildren with it.

When was your very first Halloween, the one where you really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

I have terrible memory, so this question is super hard. I think the earliest Halloween I remember was when I was like in 3rd or 4th grade. Yeah, that's how bad my memory is. That year my school was sponsoring a maze in their parking lot that featured blood and gore! The 90s were so awesome, people weren't as PC back then. The most significant thing I remember from that year is that I wore some fake blood around my mouth and some of it got inside, so I was tasting it the whole night. In fact, I can still taste it till this day, which is why I've never worn fake blood since.

What's the one Halloween question you want to be asked and what's your answer?

Q: Who is the Pumpkin King?

A: That's a good question...

Halloween Flying Witch and Happy Skeletons Paper Decorations

Halloween paper and diecut decorations are not in vogue these days. That's a shame. The earlier decorations have a wonderful sense of playfulness and macabre mixed into their bold colors.

Halloween Frankenstein Monster Fright Lite Pin

This Frankenstein Monster's growling face not only glows in the dark, its eyes blink a fiery red! Arrrrr!

My Halloween: Halloween Overkill

Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o'Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds...in between mouthfuls of candy corn...Halloween Man666 of Halloween Overkill keeps asking the questions "Can you really have Halloween overkill? Can you ever have too much of that October 31st  rush of candy, costumes, and creepy fun?" And he always comes up with the same answer: Hell No!

 

Why is Halloween important to you?

I think the thing that makes Halloween so important to me today is because of the memories I have of Halloweens long past and the feelings of past Halloweens that it invokes. The Halloween nights growing up where I was Dracula, and a ninja turtle, and the devil, and even a clown are all nights that I can still remember to this day. The smell of grease paint and scorched pumpkin guts. The smell of pumpkin seeds roasting in the oven and that smell of the plastic insides of those masks we used to wear.  Even that odd scent of burning fog machine liquid are all sensations I can actually smell right now if I try hard enough. I have these vague memories of it always being slightly rainy on Halloween growing up and now it just seems to be ice cold up in Michigan where I travel to be with my parents every Halloween. So mostly I think it is just reliving and remembering those memories of old Halloween's and my youth that makes Halloween so special to me.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

My ideal Halloween would be waking on a warm autumn Saturday Halloween to the smell of doughnuts from Blake's Apple Orchard and the scent of cider coming from the kitchen at my parents' house. My wife and I would finish setting up the front yard haunt that we do every year at my parents' house. A few people would show up for a small Halloween party and after it gets slightly dark outside we would kick it into high gear with the theatrics and fog machines and makeup and masks. The yard haunt would run for a few hours during which a few more close family members and friends would all show up to celebrate and watch the madness unfold on the front lawn.  After the actual trick or treating is done we might pile into the car, speeding away from the city lights into the eerie darkness of the farm countryside to enjoy a professional haunted house and hayride. When all that is done we would all come home to a nice warm pizza, a few gallons of pop and a few pounds of candy. We would relax watching all of our favorite Halloween classics on the t.v. We would all stay up past midnight (I haven't missed a Halloween midnight since I was about 5 years old). Then we would all wind down and say goodnight as everybody heads home.

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

The Halloween collectibles I cherish are the ones from my youth. The '70s and '80s Halloween decorations are the best, and I consider them collectibles. Aside from that I have many different little Halloween trinkets I've collected over the years which I hold very dear to my heart. The Halloween collectibles I hate are some of the more modern ones that are too cutesy (such as the bejeweled skulls) for the holiday, although there have been a few modern collectibles here and there that I would proudly add to my collection. I'd have to say one of my all-time favorite Halloween collectibles was actually featured right here on Zombos Closet: the Halloween Haunted House Nite-Lite, which can be seen here.

When was your very first Halloween, the one where you really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

I think the first time I knew that Halloween was "THE day" was the year I was dressed up as Dracula. I can still remember my parents helping me put the makeup on and helping out with the costume and the accessories. To this day I don't know how, but I can replay most of the night in my head as if it had just happened yesterday.

Here is one of my most cherished pictures of me on that night (photo top right). That is my dad behind me in the chair and I don't know what it is about the picture but as an adult it just tugs at my heart strings to see myself as a little Dracula boy and my dad behind me growling and showing off his "Vampiric" side as well. I often credit my parents as being the ones who I can blame for my Halloween and horror obsession and this picture reminds me of that.

What's the one Halloween question you want to be asked and what's your answer?

Q: Hi Jason, would you like to come work for our Halloween mask/decorations/haunted house/design/screenwriting company?

A: Hell yes I would!

By the way that's my wife and I (photo right). Trick or Treat!

Movie Review: Targets (1968)

 

Zombos Says: Sublime

Listen to this Movie Review

Our times have indeed changed.

Our psyches have succumbed to accepting serial killers and terrorists walking the daylight hours just as easily as Dracula hunts through the night. The simple truth is we no can no longer be scared by the black and white monsters of yesterday: or spook show scared by mad scientists and marauding apes; or Frankenstein's Monster scared; or stalked by Bela Lugosi through a cemetery scared. We need victims suffering more pain and more terror in movies now for our scares: we need to see their limbs and minds pulled apart  in ever more creative and disgusting ways to lessen the real horrors snarling at us daily, ready to pounce without warning. We've overdosed on real fear as it constantly gnaws away at us like Lovecraft's rats in the walls, until we need another fix that's stronger than the Wolf Man's bite or seeing baby zombies dancing on YouTube.

The monsters no longer live on Maple Street: they moved in on my street, and your street, and every other street in the world. They began moving in sometime around 1968, after the Vietnam War had taken its toll on our senses while it held us prisoner by its extensive primetime television coverage, giving Dracula and the Mummy serious competition for our scares.

George Romero shocked us with a visceral, unrelenting horror lumbering ever closer to our homes, but even before him directors like Herschell Gordon Lewis were upping the body count and buckets of blood with gusto; or telling us Uncle Charlie isn't the person you think he is until we finally believed it. Blame Alfred Hitcock's Shadow of a Doubt and Psycho for instigating this change from our comfortably distant monsters to the normal-looking family dismemberer, or the quietly deadly person next door with long pork in his fridge, or the nascent mass murderer down the block with the huge gun collection.

It took Peter Bogdanovich's Targets to solidify this change. At a time when major political figures were being assassinated, social unrest had hit its deadly zenith, and the Mai Lai Massacre unraveled moral certainty, Targets' spree-killer Bobby heralded the new monster model, the kit Aurora never got around to making: the unassuming neighbor with a wish for death on his lips—lots of deaths—and a fetish for guns. Lots of guns.

The greatest fear is the one breathing down your neck with its hands in your pockets. You can ask all the questions you want, but no answers will come. They never do. So you make up your own answers to satisfy yourself that you know WHY. But you never really do. There is no real WHY. There's only how, and when, and who will be next.

Clean cut, upper middle-class Charles Whitman went on a shooting spree at the University of Texas at Austin, indiscriminately killing or injuring anyone he could target in his 4x Leopold Scope, mounted on his hunting rifle. Why he did that on an ordinary day in August of 1966 is anyone's guess.

Maybe he had a brain tumor. Maybe he had a ruptured family life with a domineering, perfectionist father. Maybe he had an unhappy marriage. Maybe he had too many guns.

Bobby Thompson (Tim O'Kelly), the indiscriminate, sniping murderer in Targets is Bogdanovich's Whitman. Bobby's unhappy but he doesn't know why. Bobby wants to murder his family, but he's not sure why. Bobby needs to shoot as many people dead as possible. We don't know why.

Not knowing why is the true horror in Targets, and a brilliant understatement by Bogdanovich. The remaining horror is death; all the death Bobby deals through his targeting scope and the fear of death the aged and tired Byron Orlok (Boris Karloff) feels breathing down his neck. Roger Corman may have insisted Bogdanovich use Karloff's contracted time, and the extra minutes of footage from Karloff's movies (The Terror and The Criminal Code) to pad the movie's running time, but Bogdanovich turns this budget thriller into a masterpiece of terror by incorporating those minutes as essential extensions to his story while allowing Karloff's notoriety to flesh out Orlok's credibility. They enhance the movie's theme of fait accompli death; the irreconcilable one brought about by Bobby's hand and the impending one soon to overtake Orlok, who, at the end of his career is closer to Death's hand and now questions the worth of his life and career. Both men are preoccupied with death, but Orlok turns inwardly to shut off his future while Bobby turns outwardly to shut down his past.

Orlok doesn't want to do any more movies. He turns down Sammy's (Peter Bogdanovich) next script and suddenly decides to retire from the screen. Bobby doesn't want to keep living the way he does so he starts planning his family's murder and his killing spree. A glimpse into his car trunk reveals an arsenal of firepower, lovingly arranged like butterflies stuck on needles in a glass showcase to be admired. From a gun shop Bobby examines his new gun scope closely. He chances on seeing Orlok across the street and lines up the famed horror actor in the crosshairs. Afterwards, Bobby eats candy bars and blasts his car radio while he drives around to find the perfect killing ground along the Reseda Freeway. Orlok heads off to enjoy a quiet dinner, celebrating his retirement from movies where, as he says, anyone can be painted up to scare the audience these days.

Remember how Karloff felt when the Frankenstein Monster became a prop that anyone could dress up as? He gave up the role after Son of Frankenstein because of that.

Sammy persists. He shows up in Orlok's hotel room, script in hand. He gets drunk with Orlok as they watch The Criminal Code. Both sleep it off. Orlok's assistant Jenny (Nancy Hsueh) convinces Orlok to reconsider Sammy's movie offer. And Orlok finally agrees to do the personal appearance he promised for the Reseda Drive-In for the screening of one of his old movies, The Terror.

 Orlok quickly becomes annoyed by the questions and answers prepared for him by the interviewer  for the screening (Sandy Baron) and recommends he tell a story instead. Bogdanovich pulls the camera in close as Orlok, now really Karloff the Uncanny, relates the ironic twist of fate in An Appointment in Samarra. Not only does Bogdanovich pay homage to a master craftsman, whose name is synonymous with horror cinema, but he uses this wonderful opportunity to further his theme of death; and Karloff tells this story in one take (the production crew clapped when he was done).

Both Orlok and Bobby have an appointment to keep at the Reseda Drive-In.

Orlok arrives in his limousine and waits for his interview. Bobby sees an opportunity to evade the police and hides behind the big screen after his earlier rampage sniping at drivers on the Reseda Freeway is interrupted by the police searching for him.

One by one he begins to shoot people in the audience, until someone notices what's going on and spreads the warning that there's a sniper. Cars begin to leave, prompting Orlok to joke how much they enjoy his movie. Bogdanovich shows scenes of Orlok in The Terror in-between scenes of Bobby killing drive-in patrons, contrasting old horror with new. One scene, the one which upset me when I first watched Targets—and still does—involves a dome-lighted car interior, a crying youngster, and his unfortunate father. We see the youngster's face first, the tears, the terror on his face; then we see his father shot through the head: unexpected death in an unsuspecting place. In this single moment, Bogdanovich shows us the most important thing we need to know about true horror, which doesn't come from seeing the monster, but from seeing the monster's aftermath.

Orlok, seeing Bobby has a rifle, goes after him with his cane. Bobby, confronted by an approaching Orlok on the drive-in screen behind him and the real one in front of him, becomes confused. Orlok knocks the gun from Bobby's hands, asking himself "Is this what I was afraid of?"

As the police handcuff Bobby, he boasts he rarely missed. And isn't that what we are all afraid of?

Halloween Frankenstein Monster Glow Pin

I love Halloween items that glow. This pin is about an inch and a half high.

My Halloween: Slammed and Damned

Five questions asked over a glowing Jack o'Lantern, under an Autumn moon obscured by passing clouds...in between mouthfuls of candy corn...Slammed and Damned's Theron tells us what just is his childhood. And it starts with the letter "H."

 

Why is Halloween important to you?

Whoa, how to answer this? Halloween epitomizes everything I love. It’s monsters and autumn and childhood memories and scary movies and jack-o’-lanterns and candy and Ben Cooper costumes, and the joy and wonder in the eyes of my children. It’s everything that’s good about living, I suppose. To me, Halloween is about being a kid—being hopeful, alive and in awe. Sure, adults have co-opted it, but that’s why. Halloween allows us to get back in touch with those feelings, if only for a night.

Describe your ideal Halloween.

I suppose it begins before Halloween, because the atmosphere must be created. There are decorations to arrange and pumpkins to carve. Then, Halloween evening, the air fills with a palpable excitement as the kids put on their costumes and prepare for the night’s festivities. The candy is put into a bowl by the door in anticipation of the ghouls and goblins to come. We take our littlest out for a quick tour of the neighborhood while the older one goes out with friends, but we have to make it back with plenty of time to hand out some treats. Then, when the trick-or-treaters have slowed down, we all gather and unwind by eating gobs of candy and watching some classic Universal horror until the little monster is asleep, at which point we ramp it up and watch something that’s more fun for the big kids—Kevin Tenney’s Night of the Demons is always a Halloween fave.

What Halloween collectibles do you cherish, or hate, or both?

All I have of consequence are those memories, which are more than precious.

When was your very first Halloween, the one where you really knew it was Halloween, and how was it?

I’m not exactly sure, but what comes to mind is a Halloween when I was around 8 years old. This  was back in “the age of innocence,” when young kids could roam the neighborhood without adult supervision. It was a cool, dark night and my friends and I were running from house to house, not paying attention to anything but the next score. We were whipping through yards without thought and had given up using walkways and sidewalks—they just slowed us down. As I raced through one unfamiliar yard, I ran face-first into a virtually invisible chain link fence…which answers that age-old question: What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? Answer: An 8-year-old kid with a sugar rush ends up flat on his back, sporting a bloody nose and surrounded by scattered candy. Good times…

What’s the one Halloween question you want to be asked, and what’s your answer?

Question: What is the best Halloween-themed entertainment?

Answer: There is but one answer. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is the alpha and the omega.