From the 1980s on, the G.I. Joe franchise has been built on a unique combination of military and sci-fi design sensibilities. Even so, plenty of Halloween-appropriate elements tend to slip through the cracks. In keeping with the spirit of the season, here are 10 of the spookiest G.I. Joe figures to ever hit the toy aisles.
I've been spending quite a lot of time with family this year. While it's often firmly in serious business territory, a bit of fun rears its head now and then. The best example I could possibly provide lies on the shoulders of the handsome Halloween dummy above. Don't mind the googly-eyed felt spider; he's cool.
Street Fighter V might be right around the corner, but the crazy costume packs for its predecessor are far from over. Available now for every platform under the sun, the Ultra Street Fighter IV Horror Costume DLC packs have to be my favorite add-on yet. For your viewing pleasure, I've taken the time to highlight some of the best new outfits below. Let's get freaky.
Pumpkin Spice Oreos are here to grace grocery store shelves yet again! I never spotted them during their initial run in the 2014 Halloween season, and I assumed I may have missed out entirely. Not one to let second-chances slip by, I'm pleased to take the plunge and see what these bastards are all about!
The end of August is always a magical time. Summer and its nasty humidity-filled heat are slowly dying down, and the Halloween season is right around the corner. I'm about to friggin' squee.
In fact, the glorious fall holiday has already begun to rear its head. I'm seeing beautifully tacky decorations and fun candy assortments pop up all over the place. It would be impossible to keep my excitement in check, so I might as well share it with the internet! Here are some of my first spooky sightings of Halloween 2015!
As Halloween unfortunately draws to a close, it seems fitting to go out by highlighting some of this year's awesome costumes. The dedication it takes to pull this stuff off makes every single repost very much deserved, so please excuse me while I join in on the fun. Vicarious dress up frenzy, engage!
Yes, that was me rocking a store-bought Spider-Man Halloween costume at some point in the late 80s or early 90s. Spidey was my favorite comic character at the time, so of course it was a thrill being able to masquerade as him in exchange for Tootsie Rolls and Skittles for a night. Even so, I can confidently say that this was not as good as it would get.
I'm pretty sure I was 9 years old the last time I actually went trick-or-treating, and it was very much a last minute affair. My mother and I were unexpectedly invited to tag along with my aunt and her step-kids early in the evening. With no other plans in place, we were happy to accept.
Most people around my age are likely to have had great fun with the original run of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures. Given the series' overarching theme of mutation, Playmates was able to fill its toyline with all sorts of oddballs and monsters. Looking back, some of the releases were straight up disturbing. Let's stroll through memory lane and take a look at 5 of the freakiest oldschool TMNT toys!
At face value, wickedly winged scientist Baxter Stockman is actually rather creepy. That grin is nothing short of unsettling.
Even if they don't realize it, Transformer collectors likely have all the makings of an exceptional Dinosaur Dracula-style Halloween mood table. The core concept behind the TF series already falls right in line with the holiday, and the evolution and experimentation of its toylines has delivered plenty of spooky/scary bots over the years. If I were to assemble a Halloween-friendly Transformers display of my own, it would absolutely have to include the following:
Autobot double agent Punch is able to transform into Counterpunch: a completely different persona that the Decepticons foolishly accept among their ranks. It's like the ultimate Halloween costume contest.
Given their two-month-per-year sales window, General Mills doesn't need to get overly fancy with the packaging of their Monster Cereals. I'm pretty sure plain white boxes with the names scribbled on in Sharpie would sell just fine. Even so, they really went for the throat this year.
Everyone's heard the horror stories of Christmas music blaring in Walgreens and CVS stores as early as August. I've always assumed these accounts might be exaggerated, but signs of the holly and jolly do tend to turn up a bit earlier than I'd like. This year, the first blow was dealt by none other than Cheez-It crackers. Out of nowhere, I noticed the normal stock had been replaced by packages drowning in snowflakes.
Come on, man. It's not even past Halloween yet!
Of course, even more ubiquitous than decorations, toys, and even costumes are reams and reams of candy assortments and other tooth rotting delights. Just about every snack food you can think of tends to get doctored up in bat-riddled orange and black packaging around this time of year, even those you probably wouldn't naturally associate with it. (I'm looking at you, Goldfish crackers.)
Despite the commonality of it all, there are at least a few that I absolutely adore seeing return to the shelves each October. I think I smell a list-post coming on! Here are 5 sugary standbys of Halloween:
I'm sure you've heard more than enough praise for Batman: Arkham Asylum by now, but I can't help commenting on the exceptional timing of its inclusion as a free Playstation Plus title for October, 2014. Many of us are already getting into the Halloween mood, and the Batman franchise fits the holiday perfectly. Its titular character is a dude that parades around the shadows dressed as a bat, for crying out loud!
It's hard to believe that October is already upon us, but I'm certainly not going to complain. The breakneck pace of time is usually grounds for disgust, but I almost find myself wanting to give it a (temporary) pass if it means the wait between each Halloween only feels momentary. Halloween is easily my favorite of the major holidays. It's hardly as stressful as the rest, and its embrace of all things macabre is great fun. As the weather finally begins to cool and storefronts fill with gloriously tacky skeleton and jack-o'-lantern decor, I find myself in a much better mood than most other times of the year.
Regardless, my personal celebration of Halloween is generally low-key. I usually get around to watching a horror movie or two, fall down the Monster Cereals rabbit hole, and vicariously revisit spooky old games, but that's about it. It may seem a paltry list of activities, but it's almost enough to get by on.
