Happy Halloween From Mickey!

 A Halloween Mash-Up I made years and years ago just for fun, combining the wonderfully spooky images from the 1929 Mickey Mouse short "The Haunted House" and the groovy beats of Jumpin' Gene Simmons "Haunted House". 

I always "saw" the images of the Mickey cartoon whenever listening to the Gene Simmons Halloween classic, and one day decided, what the heck, let's actually put that down onto video!

Though crudely edited, I think the two mesh together perfectly and I always dig it put for the season!!!

Haunted House

by

Jumpin' Gene Simmons

I just moved in my new house today

Movin' was hard but I got squared away

Bells started ringin' and chains rattled loud

I knew I'd moved in a haunted house

Still I made up in my mind to stay

Nothin' was a-gonna drive me away

When I seen somethin' that give me the creep

Had one big eye and a-two big feet

I stood right still, and I did the freeze

He did the stroll right up to me

Made a noise with his feet that sound like a drum

(Say, you'll be here when the mornin' come?)

Say yes, I'll be here when the mornin' come

I'll be right here, and I ain't gonna run

I bought this house, now you know I am boss

Ain't no haint gonna run me off

In my kitchen my stove was a-blazin' hot

The coffee was a-boilin' in the pot

The grease had melted in my hand

I had a hunk of meat in my hand

From out of space there sat a man

On a hot stove with the pots and pans

"Say, that's hot" I began to shout

He drank a hot coffee right from the spout

He ate the raw meat right from my hand

Drank a hot grease from the fryin' pan

He said to me "Now, you better run"

(And don't be here when the mornin' come)

Halloween House

 From facebook, a vintage house for sale that gives off some wonderfully autumn Halloweeny vibes!

Such a beautiful old place, bet it holds some wonderful stories within its walls....

Snoopy Gets a Retouch

 Awhile ago toy manufacturers Memory Lane had a wonderful Charlie Brown figurine promotion for “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” , and I grabbed up as many of them as I could get! For the first few years I displayed them in their boxes, but soon thereafter took them out to properly pose them on my shelf (right on top of my Complete Peanuts HC series), where they've sat since!

With the Halloween Season upon us, I thought it time to take them down and give them a little dusting and cleaning off to more properly display them for the Holiday. However, when I took them down, I was horrified to find that the head of the Snoopy figure had yellowed considerably. For some reason the head was molded from a softer vinyl than the rest of the body, and with the heat and humidity in my house, over time had become a concerning brownish tone.

Now, as  someone who is also a fan of those old Kenner Star Wars action figures, the white vinyl  of these toys are prone to discoloring over time, and there are many tutorials on how to restore them back to a more whitish color, with suggestions of Baking soda, UV lighting, and Hydrogen Peroxide soaks.

After watching a few videos (including one where they restored an entire X-Wing toy), I decided that Hydrogen peroxide was the best bet, and, taking out a full bottle of the stuff and an old Jelly jar, upended poor old Snoopy into the mix, and, as per instructions, left him out in the sun for a two-week treatment!

How did it do? Well, we just pulled Charlie Brown’s favorite beagle out of the drink, and, after letting him dry off in the sun, did a thorough examination and found that it did reduce the amount of yellowing by a small degree... 

It's not back to real whiteness, but when you compare the before and after side by side, you can see that this is still an improvement on the sorry state from before!

Reinstating a now brighter Snoopy back onto the shelf, it looks like my holiday display is all set for Halloween !

Tis the Season!!!

PS: Argh, I just noticed that after dusting all of the figures off, when I put Schroeder's piano back, I put it facing the wrong way!!! Gonna have to FIX that...he can't play Beethoven from THAT end of the piano, no matter HOW talented he is!

A Ghostly Halloween Coincidence

As some of you may know, I've been a huge, huge fan of October Project since first hearing their debut album back in 1993. I had strolled into Tower Records one night and perused the Listening station to check out some new music. As a big enthusiast of Halloween and all its spooky fun, the cover of October Project's debut album instantly caught my eye with its almost archaic looking photo of a little jack-o-lantern faced ghost on the side of a road, Trick Or Treating at dusk...

That piqued my interest enough to give the album a listen, and it just took one minute of lead singer mary's Fahl's haunting vocals and I snatched that album up and they'd go on to be one of my most enduring favorites.In fact, Mary Fah STILL retains a high place as one of my favorite artists even now!

The cover of that October Project album always looked like one of the shady tree-lined back roads of Manoa to me, especially this one stretch of road which I always thought of when listening to them: I tried to make it easier for you to see what I mean by changing the color to the image to sepia and croppin it a bit...can you see the vibe I mean?

In any case, I ALWAYS got an October Project vibe driving through the groves of that street.

So a few nights ago, I'm driving down that long stretch of road, and looking up the road, I see this little blob glowing in the dark...

What WAS that? Getting closer to the yard,  I have to laugh out loud because it was a little GHOST, and right near the place where I'd always imagined that jack o lanterned trick or treater to be!

This had to be the most WONDERFUL coincidence ever! I tell you, it tickled me Halloween heart! And now, every evening I go home, I try to drive by that yard, just to see the ghost while it's still up!! Happy Halloween, everybody!

Favorite Halloween Stories: Dennis The Menace All Year Round

I already mentioned this in an older post about Halloween comics, but I thought this time I’d dust off and scan my copy of the excellent Fawcett comic “Dennis The Menace: All Year Round”, a seasonal special comic featuring that mischievous Hank Ketcham character that has been a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember!

  This 1967 Giant Dennis the Menace Special was divided into 12 chapters, one for each month, and its respective holidays, New Years, Groundhog Day, Easter, Mother’s day. Thanksgiving and Christmas each had its own tales to tell, but of course the one that I loved most was the chapter for October which focused on HALLOWEEN!
 The story of how Dennis and his pals “trick” grouchy old neighbor Mr. Wilson when he won’t “treat” them may not be recommended to impressionable youths to follow, but this story’s rustic, homey feel and good old 1950’s imagery totally captures the “feeling” of being a child and running around trick or treating with your friends in the crisp autumn evenings of October and whenever I read it I’m instantly filled with the nostalgic memories of my childhood!

Favorite Halloween Stories: "Danny's Luck"

One day years and years ago, I was visiting an old book fair to see if I could find any childhood books that I grew up with. This was back before ebay and online bidding, so it was purely by chance that you would come upon something you wanted at the used bookstores or swap meets. The Book fairs were a good (and cheap) way to find some Lost childhood stories!

 Sifting through the bins, I was immediately taken by an old childrens’ Halloween Book  called “Danny’s Luck” by Lavinia R. Davis and illustrated by Hildegard Woodward. The cover had an very antique looking feel to it, and I quickly stepped out of the crowded  shelves and stood aside to peruse this new find! 

I was completely blown away by how much the illustrations perfectly captured the innocent Halloweens of childhood, or rather, the classic autumn Halloweens promised to all kids dremaingof their first ventures out: crisp, autumn oranges and yellows, rustic  tress with bare branches and the smell of Pumpkin Pie waiting for you upon your return home! 

 Ironically enough, Danny’s luck has actually very little to do with Halloween itself as the story concerns Danny and his upcoming birthday, which just happens to fall in October. If it had fallen in December, Danny’s Luck could very well have been a Christmas story! 

No matter, October it was, and thus was born an amazing Halloween story, and it is lucky too, for there are too few of them out there. To me and the kids of my generation, naturally the best Halloween stories are the ones that were read to us growing up- these would be the ones published between 1950 to 1970, and to have found a book that time that I’d heretofore never heard of from was a treasure indeed!

Comics For Halloween

 When it comes to my favorite holiday Halloween, it’s all about the old-fashioned rustic orangey magic that only childhood memories can provide, and no one captured that feeling better than the old Dell and Gold Key comics of the 50’s and 60’s, so I was stoked to come across this great deal of old Little Lulu comics just in time for Halloween!

Ahhh, something about the way that these stories are told is just done so RIGHT, where the look and FEEL of the strip really takes you back to that wide-eyed feeling of trick-or-treating as a kid! Probably the earliest Halloween comic I remember loving was an old Dennis the Menace strip where Dennis and his pals try to put grouchy old Mr. Wilson’s front gate on his roof (since he heard his Dad had done the same as a child) as a "trick" since he didn't "treat" them, it’s wonderful visuals really MADE the story for me- the costumes, the porch-lit  doorways and that real 1950’s suburban neighborhood!

 I remember reading an interview with the Hernandez Brothers (of Love and Rockets fame) talking about how some of their favorite Halloween comics were the Walt Disney Comics and Stories featuring Donald Duck and his Nephews, and looking over those, I can TOTALLY see what they were talking about! These old comics just captured the moment in a time-capsule, for easy enjoyment as an adult!

Aw yeah, those old comics- It's Halloween done RIGHT!!