DAY 13: BONUS POST

The result of an impromptu pumpkin carving.

Happy October 13th.

DAY 13: HALLOWEEN NIGHT

DAY 12: HOLLOW

"All these, however, were mere terrors of the night, phantoms of the mind that walk in darkness; and though he had seen many spectres in his time, and been more than once beset by Satan in divers shapes, in his lonely pre-ambulations, yet daylight put an end to all these evils; and he would have passed a pleasant life of it, in despite of the devil and all his works, if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more perplexity to mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race of witches put together, and that was - a woman."

And how, brother.

DAY 11: YOU ARE THE MANIAC! — THE ULTIMATE HALLOWEEN PARTY CARD GAME

Now this is cool.

Remember that scene in Friday the 13th: Jason Lives, when Sissy begins laying out the rules for a card game called Camp Blood? As she begins to describe (vaguely) the rules of the game in order to determine "which cabin Jason is in," the scene cuts away and the audience never hears the rest of the rules.

How many horror movie obsessers would have adopted such a game into their usual repertoire of things to do when friends come over, beer caps are popped, and everyone is around the table?

That's where Camp Blood is no longer necessary. Because now there's You Are the Maniac.

Taken from its creator Mythos Labs' publicity materials:

The Ultimate Card Game for Horror Fans

YOU are the Maniac! is a horror movie themed card game where you play as The Maniac. Gameplay is fast-paced with a surprising mix of strategy and dark humor. Slash your way through a horror film trilogy with 2 - 4 players, complete with a familiar cast of slasher movie stereotypes we hold dear to our bloodthirsty hearts.

A game consists of 3 movies. During each movie, 13 Victims, including 1 Final Girl, are lined up on The Wall. Players take turns playing Maniac Cards and capturing Victims. After the third movie, players tally up the body count. The Maniac with the most points wins!
 

YOU are the Maniac! is played with 4 game decks, featuring 120 unique cards

The Victim Deck contains 5 classic horror stereotypes: Bimbo, Athlete, Fodder, Suspect, and Nemesis.

The Maniac deck is where the game’s horrific scenes unfold. It also contains Instant Play cards which equip weapons and conceal your hideous deformities.

The Plot Twist Deck contains cards that alter the direction of the movie, in unexpected ways.

Saved for last, the Final Girl must confront The Maniac at the end of each round.

From a design point of view, You Are the Maniac is the tops. The artwork utilized on each card is beautiful, and those of us with an observant eye will see the classic Friday the 13th font utilized to full effect here. Additionally, the Final Girl cards are nice homages to Sidney from Scream and Nancy from A Nightmare on Elm Street. (No Laurie, though?)

Further, the Victim Cards also contain a bevy of homages to other films. Special attention must be called out to the psychiatrist Dr. Hooks, who is very clearly based on Dr. Loomis, right down to the tan trench coat collar peeking up from the bottom of the card. And I laughed at "Pete the Wonder Llama" - probably the first purposeful reference to Jason Goes to Hell I've ever seen. I selfishly wish each card could have been an exact character from a famous franchise, but obviously care was taken to ensure that trademarks were not infringed upon.

When it comes to game play, and once you master the directions and can play without them, this game is a real hoot. Think of it as a very very expanded version of the classic card game "war" where the high card takes the win, mixed with the interactive play of Monopoly. The idea is to possess all the Victim Cards to win, but hurdles will be thrown your way during game play, thanks to the various Plot Twist cards players must endure from time to time.

Because I am working with a preview deck here, and the game is still being fine tuned, my only real point of contention would be with the actual directions. I'm not the brightest bulb in the class for idiots, but it took me several read-throughs of the directions before we could even start the game, and even then I was still a little confused. (How is it the very first step in the game is optional?)

But who knows - could've been just me, folks. I'm usually the guy pushing on the door that says "pull."

Mythos Labs began a Kickstarter fundraiser to help bring this game to fruition, and as I write this, they are insanely close to their goal.

Check out the campaign for yourself, see more pictures of game play, and get more info. If this is something you'd love to play with your friends one Halloween night (it really is a perfect party game), then show some love and support. This was a game made, literally, for you.

DAY NINE: THIS ISN'T A MAN

"Apocalypse. End of the World. Armageddon. It's always got a face and a name. I've been huntin' the bastard for 30 years, give or take. Come close a time or two. Too damn close. You can't kill damnation, mister. It don't die like a man dies."

 Image source.

DAY EIGHT: TRICK-R-TREAT

"Samhain, also known as All Hallows' Eve, also known as Halloween. Pre-dating Christianity, the Celtic holiday was celebrated on the one night between autumn and winter when the barrier between the living and the dead was thinnest, and often involved rituals that included human sacrifice."

DAY SEVEN: RECOMMENDED VIEWING – THE HALLOWEEN TREE

I tried to make my recommended viewings a little less typical, but I couldn’t help but include 1993’s animated take on the Ray Bradbury novel of the same name. It just wouldn’t feel right leaving this one in the dust, considering that it’s so widely beloved by so many people in so many age groups, yet here we are in the dying DVD age and the damned thing still doesn’t have a proper DVD release. (I mentioned in an earlier post that it is available via the Warner Bros. Archive Collection on DVD-r only, which I guess is good enough. For now.)

I discovered Ray Bradbury late in life, roughly two years before the man passed away with disappointingly little fanfare while most “readers” were too busy masturbating to Fifty Shades of Grey through their granny underwear. (But I’m not bitter.)

As much as I enjoyed his novel The Halloween Tree, it wasn’t until seeing the animated movie of the same name that I fell in love with the story. I wish I could be one of those people who say “I’ve been watching that movie ever since I was kid, ” but sadly I can’t. I’m also that person who never saw It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown until many years out of my youth.

Once I did, my response was, “That’s it?” (Sorry!)

Fortunately, my lack of exposure to The Halloween Tree in my youth did not prevent me from loving it. It’s become yearly and required viewing for me, and since discovering it I’ve been depending on a crappy VHS rip burned to an undependable DVD. Thankfully, the recent Warner Bros. Archive edition offers a very good looking and sounding presentation. (Also, would it be wrong of me to tell you the entire movie can be watched on Youtube?)

As clichéd as it’s become to say, the whole family really can sit down and enjoy this production. Yes, it’s animated, but don’t let that scare you, cooler, older adult man/woman. It may be animated, but like Pixar’s filmography have proved, it doesn’t mean weighty themes about life and death, friendship and sacrifice, can’t be present, shared, and appreciated.

 

Ray Bradbury provided the teleplay adaptation of his novel (which earned him an Emmy award) and also provides the narration for his tale about a group of kids all set for a night of Halloween night trick-or-treating until they see one of their friends, Pip, being taken from his home in an ambulance. The kids are distraught, unaware of what to do or how to think…until they spot Pip somehow tearing ass through the woods. The friends follow after him and come across a dilapidated old mansion where they meet the very mysterious Mr. Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud (voiced by Leonard Nimoy) and see his very tall and very unusual Halloween tree – made of dozens of glowing jack-o-lanterns. They see Pip go AWOL with a pumpkin from the tree, and Moundshroud demands that it be returned, being that it now “belongs” to him.  A chase ensues, not across the town but through time itself – from the pyramids of ancient Egypt to the cathedrals of Notre Dame – each providing a bit of history on Halloween’s beginnings.

The Halloween Tree sees little change from its novel form to its teleplay. The number of kids shortens to four (one of them becoming a girl), and some of Bradbury’s more flowery and abstract descriptions are toned down to be a little more accessible, but the spirit of the story remains firmly in place.

Nimoy does a good job with voicing Moundshroud, though it’s peculiar he would choose to utilize such a strange, almost bird-like screeching voice instead of relying on the deeper, baritone voice for which he is well known. Still, odd choice aside, his voice acting is effective, as are the kids’.

Famed studio Hanna-Barbera provided the animation, and while it’s a reflection of the time it was made, it’s still certainly more than satisfactory.

Regardless of when you discovered this movie – whether in your youth or your adulthood – it contains the power to enthrall and fill you with that certain kind of nostalgia that only usually happens by accident. But The Halloween Tree works in this regard like gangbusters. It will fill you with the kind of melancholy that only occurs when revisiting your childhood, but you’ll also laugh and maybe tear up as you watch these kids tumble through different lands and time periods, all in hopes of saving their friend. By the end, you’ll be wishing your friends were as loyal and devoted as Jenny the Witch, Ralph the Mummy, Wally the Monster, and Tom Skelton the you-know-what.