From Zombos' Closet

Target Animated Halloween Scenes 2020

I picked up these two, dare I say, cute Halloween animated scenes from Target's Hyde and EEK! Boutique. I'm a sucker for small, colorful Halloweenesque items that give you a wonderful feeling of the season's chills and thrills, along with the fun.

 

 

Target Halloween 2020

Target is getting smarter and putting up their Halloween merchandise earlier this year. They always have a wide selection of bones, costumes, and colorful Day of the Dead items. Some fun animations and decorations this time around, though I miss the excitement and glee I had the time they did the Universal Monsters items when that movie dud, The Mummy (2017), came out. However, the 5.5 inch animated Halloween TV and the 6 inch animated Halloween Pumpkin are to scream for. Dare I use the word "cute!" And I got one of them for a steal. Picture this: I come upon this cute Halloween animated TV scene; only one left and no sticker on it; the register person asks if I know the price--I don't,it was the last one on the shelf; she asks the floor manager (I'm presuming that's who the person was anyway); the floor manager turns it on, looks all over it for a clue, then says 5 bucks!; yup, a steal. Later that night I realized I could have (as well as that floor manager) just gone to the Target website, searched on Halloween, and found the item; I did! I saved 10 bucks! And I saw there was an animated pumpkin scene too; I ordered it online and picked it up this morning. Now that's a real Halloween treat , I'd say.

Here are some other highlights to drool over.

Tales of Voodoo Vol.3 Issue 3, May 1970

What says Halloween better than a cup of hot chocolate, sipped while reading a monster magazine as the autumn winds scuttle dead leaves throughout the gray day. Here are some Tales of Voodoo for you, printed in spendid black and white with heavy on the black; zombies, demons, and vampires, oh my!

ComicRack reader version: Download Tales of Voodoo v3-3 Magazine

Read more creepy magazines from Zombos' Closet.

Trapped (1949) Pressbook

Having just watched Murder is My Beat with Barbara Payton, I couldn't resist posting this pressbook for Trapped, with her and Lloyd Bridges. As soon as I can find the Murder is My Beat pressbook I'll post that one too. Film noir, like horror, requires a refined taste for classy and deadly dames, hardboiled stamina and worn-shoes detectives, and star-crossed victims. Horror, of course, abounds with star-crossed victims. Trapped helped her into the spotlight, followed by an ample contract after her performance in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye. Sadly, her presence in Bride of the Gorilla didn't boost her career, although her co-star, Raymond Burr, fared much better. A lot of bad relationships, drinking, and drugs trapped her into a downward spiral.

ComicRack reader version: Download Trapped (1949) Pressbook

See more pressbooks from Zombos' Closet.

Taxi Driver (1976) Pressbook

There are horror films and then there are horrors films. Taxi Driver is a horrors film. The horrors of a Travis Bickle, a walking wounded lifer, looking for meaning in all the meaningless places. Is he pushed or does he push himself to become a knight in shining armor, to channel his frustration against helplessness? Vigilantism was a cinematic peg hole for 1970s New York City. Between the crime, grime, and gaffiti, knights are hard to come by but often hoped for. Here's the 20-page pressbook for the movie, with many pages devoted to newspaper poster ads. By the 1970s, most pressbooks focused on the newspapers to sell the movie with poster ads; when people actually read newspapers. 

ComicRack reader version: Download Taxi Driver Pressbook

See more pressbooks from Zombos' Closet.

Spirit Halloween 2020

I met up with some nasties and ghoulies at Spirit Halloween recently. I'm not sure who does their production and art designs, but that person has some serious issues with clowns, kids, and holding onto sanity. Every time I walk into the place I find myself constantly looking around to make sure none of these monstrosities have left their pedestals (or stalking grounds). You never can be too sure in a Spirit Halloween store. I'm just waiting for them to finally have somebody dressed up as one of their pychotronic beasties and let the human-hybrid go after the customers. Just not when I'm in the store, though, please.

Here's a rogue's gallery of terror to whet your dreams. Or nightmares.

Home Depot Halloween 2020

Once again, Home Depot brings out the BIG Halloween novelties; the ones meant for your lawn but, damn, you wouldn't mind putting them up all year round in your home (if you had the room and a like-minded significant other, that is). Between Michaels, Home Depot, and a BIG wallet, you'd be in Halloween heaven (but possibly not your neighbors and house guests) for Halloween cheer all the year. And this year, more than previous ones, we need all the Halloween cheer we can muster.

Here are my favorite ghoulies and ghosties. I'm sure they'll be yours, too. The only people I know who would hate them are my lawn maintenance people. (Last year they mowed over a brand new haunted tree and ghosts blow-up. Let's see what mischief they can get into this year.)  The head-nodders and the singing raven are pretty nifty; just saying. And that alien is out of this world.

Michaels Halloween 2020

Michaels, once again, packs the shelves with enough spooky goodies to satisfy just about every taste. Year after year, they focus on helping you decorate the inside of your home, with Day of the Dead, vintage-styled, gothic-styled, and lots of skeleton-styled artifacts. If Indiana Jones went looking for Halloween, he'd find it here. Very crafty of them. Here are some highlights to savor as we wait for the ghouls and ghosties this challenging season.

Code of the West Pressbook (1947)

First filmed in 1925, Zane Grey's novel, Code of the West, was again filmed in 1947. Here's the two-fisted pressbook.  

ComicRack version: Download Code of the West Pressbook