Halloween '26: Group Photo #6

     Since yesterday’s Pet Sematary is the real deal in terms of serving up the chills, let’s go the other way today. 

    None of these mummies are scary. I’d argue that 1959’s The Mummy is actually boring. Brendan’s Fraser’s Mummy films are fun PG-13 action adventures. The same can be said about Tom Cruise’s film, but I don't know about the fun. My favorite mummies are in the funk band Here Comes the Mummies. 

    The only thing scary about these mummies is if they came to your town, and you missed their show.

Halloween '26: Group Photo #5

    Pet Sematary is the scariest book I have ever read. Full stop. I was in high school when I finished it very late at night, and I was terrified at the thought that Gage was lurking underneath my bed.

    It doesn't get more Halloween than that. 

    The Pet Sematary movies are fine. I like the original the most. I think I'll watch the remake tonight in the basement while Daphne and her sister watch something British upstairs. It's their weekly ritual. 

    Bloodlines is a prequel. Bloodlines was part of a used, two-pack DVD set, and I wanted a newer version of the original DVD (the new one has a commentary), so now I own Bloodlines, too.

    I found the Ramones Maxi-Single locally, which was fun. The vinyl soundtrack arrived via Discogs.

    I bought this worn, book club edition of Pet Sematary for a buck last spring. I like how its real wear and tear matches the faux deterioration on the DVD's artwork.

    

    FYI: It's hard to type "Sematary" with autocorrect messing it up all the time. 

Halloween '26: Group Photo #4

    I’m sticking with the architectural theme from yesterday’s post. So, let's see what's on the Holiday Horror shelf!

    The year is 1959, you are a teenager, and you’ve come with a few friends to see the new Vincent Price movie, House on Haunted Hill. The lights have been dimmed for the opening reels, and now the theater is completely dark for the main feature. The screen is absolutely black. Silently, in white letters, this appears in the bottom left corner:

Allied Artists

Picture Corporation

Presents

    Then the screen fades to black again and you expect the film’s title to appear. But it doesn’t. For eight seconds the theater is silent and pitch black. Then, through the huge theatrical sound system, you are startled by a woman’s ear-piercing scream! It’s followed by moans, another scream, maniacal laughter, creaking doors, chains rattling, and heavy footsteps. And all of this without a speck of light to be seen. 

    Then, after 30 seconds of this booming, horror soundscape, the disembodied head of Elisha Cook comes flying at you from the foreground to warn that, “The ghosts are moving tonight. Restless. Hungry…”

    It might seem tame today, but in 1959 that was a pretty effective way to scare the crap out of an audience. 

    That opening was so popular that the movie's "audio jump scare" started the “spooky sound effect records” craze. You can still buy similar sound effect/ Halloween music CDs today.

    40 years later, the remake of House on Haunted Hill did an admirable job of opening their film with a gut punch, too. That and the first scene with Geoffrey Rush and Lisa Loeb (!) in an elevator set the tone for the movie: This is going to be a wild and dark ride, and you can’t trust everything that you see. I also like Chris Kattan’s unhinged performance. I believe he was encouraged to go off script. 

    For me, the colorized version of the original is meh. I prefer the film in black and white. I bought this DVD for MST3K's Mike Nelson's commentary and for his signature.

    Return to House on Haunted Hill is a direct-to-video release from 2007. According to IMDB trivia, "The film was designed for use with the Navigational Cinema technology which allows the viewer to choose between two ways the story can go at certain times within the film, ultimately featuring 96 different story possibilities. The feature is only present on the Blu-ray Disc version of the film." It's too bad I only found the DVD at Goodwill. I'll keep looking.

    Waxwork Records released the soundtrack to House on Haunted Hill in 2024. It’s a combination of dialogue, score, and movie effects. The art work is really cool. At least I think it is. I haven’t broke the seal on this one, yet. 

Halloween '26: Group Photo #2

     I like how Google’s AI describes the plot of Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond (1981),"The narrative shuns traditional linear logic, opting instead for a fever-dream sequence of graphic, nightmarish set pieces (including acid attacks, blind spectral figures, and a famous, brutal tarantula attack).”

    Fulci was nicknamed the Godfather of Gore, and this movie was retitled 7 Doors of Death, given a new soundtrack, and was cut by about five minutes in order to get this Italian film into the American market with an "R" rating.

    From left to right: 

    Grindhouse Releasing’s uncut version of The Beyond on Blu-ray with the original soundtrack on CD.

    Also from Grindhouse, this is the alternate soundtrack for 7 Doors of Death on a blood-red LP. 

    I bought 7 Doors of Death on DVD in 2000 when it was released by Diamond Entertainment. There was a lot of buzz about this DVD on the internet forums because it was a cheap alternative to the much more expensive releases of The Beyond. There were also rumors that the DVD was actually the uncut version of that movie. 

    It wasn’t.

    I finally got the uncut version of The Beyond on DVD when our local Borders bookstore (remember them?) had a huge sale on their Anchor Bay DVD sets. I got this Beyond tin, but I still regret not picking up the wooden box release of The Wicker Man. 

    Back then I sold my Diamond DVD to Half Price Books. I think they might have given me two bucks for it. I paid about that at Goodwill to get this DVD back. When I first spotted 7 Doors of Death on the shelf, I embarrassed myself by saying out loud, “Hey! I know you!” 

    If I think an image on physical media cover might be a bit much, then I'll cover it up with my "The Frightened Mogwai" trading card. 

    Fun Fact: “Seven Doors Hotel” was the debut single by the Swedish rock band, Europe (remember them? “It’s the final count downnnnnnn”). The song was written by the lead singer, and the lyrics were inspired by The Beyond. The song was a top ten hit in Japan in 1983.

I'm with the Band, but I Watch Football, too.

        October is almost here, but I'm going to post something non-horror related real quick. Football season is a holiday season for a lot of people, so I think this fits on the shelf.

    

    When Varsity Blues came out in 1999, a lot of my high school students were making fun of James Van Der Beek's bad southern accent, "I don't want your life!".  I didn't know why they seemed so offended. He wasn't messing up our Iowan accent. 

    Yeah, there's a lot of high school movie clichés in this film, but it's an interesting sports film that flips the script to have the antagonist be the school's own football coach. Jon Voight does an exceptional job of being dislikable, despite all the people on the commentary saying how nice he was in real life.

    Also, the scripted football scenes are great. AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" got a new life in sport montages after the football actors, real life high school and college players, showed the director how they used the song to get pumped up for their own games. 

    I like this film so much I bought a West Canaan Coyotes jersey from eBay. It doesn't hurt that it's in UHS's colors.

    Like I said, we're with the band at every home football game. Daphne and I volunteer to be on the pit crew. I helped drag out and raise up that drum major podium on the right in the foreground. 

    Someone seems to think we did an okay job.

    Okay, one horror related thing (can't help myself). "In Creature, set in the seemingly idyllic corporate town of Silverlake, Colorado, the 1989 book centers on a high school football team that never loses and a sinister high-tech sports clinic." 

    In a way, this really does relate to Varsity Blues. Just saying.

Shark Week 2026: Group Photo #3

    For today's post I'm picking the soundtrack to 2021's The Suicide Squad due to the King Shark character voiced by Sylvester Stallone. You can see him there on the left.

    I think buying Blu-ray movies just because they have a slipcover is dumb. I thrifted 47 Meters Down because it came with a slip cover...

    One of my biggest thrift store pet peeves is getting stuck in the checkout lane behind someone who is is buying glassware. I found 47 Meters Down: Uncaged today at Goodwill, but the woman ahead of me ended up buying $93 in stemware. I was standing there for over 15 minutes while the clerk wrapped the glasses in brown paper. I hope the movie moves faster than that.

    1979's Up from the Depths was supposed to be a horror comedy, but Roger Corman had all the comedic elements removed in the editing room to make the film an outright horror piece. That didn't work. The VHS cover looks cool, though.

    I almost forgot to add this Flix Brewhouse picture from 2017 ----> link

    Today's outfit is courtesy of Snorkel Bob.

Shark Week 2026: Group Photo #2

    The Sharknado soundtrack is by a band named Quint. They are named after Robert Shaw's character in Jaws. The band is fronted by Robbie Rist who is an actor who played Oliver, a new and young character added to The Brady Bunch TV show's sixth season. It was an attempt to revive their dwindling viewership. That didn't work. The show really jumped the shark when Oliver showed up, but that's not his fault.

    The Holiday Horror Shelf is also displaying Sharknado, Sharknado 2, Sharknado 3, and a souvenir magnet from our vacation at Oceanside.

  Anymore, the only souvenirs I want to bring home when I travel are pictures, magnets, and thrifted t-shirts.

First Week of Summer 2026: Group Photo

 

    Happy end to the first week of summer! Let's see what's on the Holiday Horror Shelf!

    I'll let most of this shelf speak for itself. It's summer, and I'm feeling lazy.

    Slasher Summer came in the mail earlier this week, and I believe this will be my "vacation book." So, I can't say much about it, yet.

    Last week I found the DVD of I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer at Goodwill. I've decided that I won't say much about that movie, at all.

    Yes, I know the I Know What You Did Last Summer remake came out in 2025, but I haven't found a copy "in the wild," yet. 

    I fell confident that I will find one... hope your summer's going well.

Valentine's Day 2026: Group Photo

 

    Hey, not everybody loves Valentine's Day.

    1981's Canadian slasher My Bloody Valentine is good time, and I think I'll give that Blu-Ray in the middle a spin tonight since I'll have the house to myself.

    I probably wouldn't have bought the soundtrack on LP, but Waxwork Records slashed the price in half last Feb. 14, for a one-day-only sale. I thought that was pretty funny.

    For a long time the DVD on the left was the only way to see the uncut version of the film. Wow, this newer edit goes a lot harder than what I watched on HBO back in the day.

Halloween 2025: Group Photo #29

 October 29

    Here's a shelf for 1981's Halloween II. From left to right: a DVD actually purchased new from a big box store, Betamax tape from Goodwill, novelization from the Animal Lifeline Thrift Shop, I found this LP soundtrack at Goodwill at the same time I found the soundtrack for Halloween III. Trust me, I looked for the OG soundtrack, but had no luck. The Blu-ray came from Amazon (snore). 

    When I was growing up the kids in Rock Valley organized themselves into four TV camps: Camp C, Camp H, Camp S, and Camp WDHC. I was in camp H.

    C = Cinemax

    H = HBO

    S = Showtime

    WDHC = We Don't Have Cable

    I was in 7th grade when Halloween II came out on HBO. I had a couple of friends from other camps come over for a watch party while my parents were out for dinner. We accused each other of being frightened when the film got tense, and we all denied being scared at all after it was done. Halloween II ended at 8:30, and the night was very dark when we went outside. 

    My friends yelled and laughed defiantly into the darkness as they mounted their bikes and sped out of the driveway and into the street. Like me, they knew there was nothing to be afraid of.

    They did, however, make sure to only ride underneath the street lights as they pedaled home as fast as they could.

    I went back into the house, quickly turned on all of the lights, and hoped my folks would be back soon.

Halloween 2025: Group Photo #28

 October 28

    Spend a a few seconds Googling 1982's Halloween III: Season of the Witch and the first thing mentioned is how much fans hated that Michael Myers wasn't in this movie. Since then the film has been reevaluated and is now considered a minor classic... blah blah blah. Read the title, folks. It's "Season of the Witch." Did they think Michael was gonna fly in on a broom? 
    I had a couple of non anamorphic Halloween III DVDs that I got rid of after buying the Blu-ray on the left. I wish I hadn't, for the sake of this display, but what are you gonna do? Hindsight is 20/20. Much like how fans look at Halloween III today. 

    The LP soundtrack came from Goodwill, and the air freshener is from my buddy Boris. 

    If you ever encounter a Silver Shamrock mask tag (in front of the Blu-ray), please don't poke it with a hairpin. 

    Just trust me on this.

Halloween 2025: Group Photo #24

 October 24

      I've always thought Trick or Treat (1986) was a fun heavy metal horror movie, and the DVD forums lit up when Platinum Disc released the movie as a budget DVD in 2002. This release was a Best Buy exclusive and was seemingly always sold out in the Des Moines area. I finally scored a copy when Daphne and I were visiting Kansas City. 

    The DVD is on the right. The video image looked better than VHS, but screen ratio was full frame. Dang! Gene Simmons (of KISS) has a small role as a DJ, and Ozzy Osborne makes a cameo as a televangelist. Both are featured on the cover despite their brief screen time.

    The Blu-ray in the middle is an Italian import from eBay. The title Morte a 33 Giri translates to Murder at 33 rpm and is a reference to the haunted LP that brings deceased demonic rocker Sammi Curr back from the dead. This bare bones Blu-ray allowed me see Trick or Treat in anamorphic widescreen for the first time.

    The Blu-ray on the left came out last March. The transfer is a "1080p Blu-ray of a 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative approved by Director of Photography Robert Elswit" (Amazon). The Blu-ray looks great and is packed with extra features. 

    I bought the record at Half Price Books back in the 90's when kids were listening to grunge and wearing flannel. No one wanted anything to do with hair metal.

Halloween 2025: Group Photo #23

 October 23

    I agree with this IMDB synopsis. 

Halloween 2025: Group Photo #21

 October 21

    When I saw the trailer for PG: Psycho Goreman, I was really impressed. The movie looked hilarious. I shared the trailer with some like-minded friends, and we all laughed. I even ordered the soundtrack from Waxwork Records before actually seeing the film. 

    One of my friends bought the DVD as soon as the film was released. He promptly gave it to me after watching it, "You don't have to give it back to me, either. But I won't tell you why."

    Curious, I watched PG: Psycho Goreman later that week, and I had to admit I didn't like what happened to the kid Alasdair. Even with the purposefully bad FX, stuff like that bothers me. My buddy agreed. That was the exact reason why he didn't want the movie back.

Halloween 2025: Group Photo #17

 October 17

    You couldn't throw a stick in an 80s video store without hitting a slasher film on VHS, but by the end of the decade the genre was played out. Thanks to Wes Craven's Scream (1996), the slasher was back. 

    Like the classic Halloween (1978), the success of Scream inspired a slew of imitators that had the look, but didn't have quite the same firepower. The I Know What You Did Last Summer films fall under that category, but they're still fun. 

    The IKWYDLS screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson (he also wrote the screenplay for Scream), and it was based on Lois Duncan's young adult novel. Several movies were made based on her books.

    I'd vote for this Lois Duncan novel as having the creepiest cover. The face reminds me of Captain Howdy in The Exorcist. 

    Wes Craven (Scream) directed the TV movie Summer of Fear in 1978, and a grown Linda Blair (The Exorcist) starred in the film. Weird how these things connect.

Halloween 2025: Group Photo #12

 October 12

    I'm really glad Trick 'r Treat found an audience so I can at least watch it at home. This has to be one of the best "direct-to-DVD" Halloween movies ever made.

Wanna Have an 80's Movie Party?

Just stop by the local thrift store to pick up your supplies. 

If you eat too many Bagel Bites and handfuls of Mr. T Cereal, you can always work out with Richard Simmons with the TV volume turned down and the Footloose soundtrack turned up.
 

Put Your Hair in the Air

It's Troll (Hair) Thursday!

Daphne did a great job of getting Char trollin' this morning.

I surprised Char by playing this golden oldie on the way to school. 

Char told me as she got of the car, "Trolls was a pretty big movie wasn't it? I mean, it wasn't as big as Frozen, but it was still pretty big."

I took Char to Trolls two years ago. Ahh, the memories: link