A Nostalgic Halloween

Good evening everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Halloween is next weekend and what better way to remember the holiday than to watch some nostalgic Halloween movies? Think of this as yet another flashback entry – back to a time when you were a child getting ready to trick or treat in a costume either your parent made you or you bought from the store. It was probably something significant to you like Cinderella or a cowboy. With the spirit of Halloween throughout the month of October you couldn’t help but to watch some films pertaining to the season. Maybe some scared you and maybe some didn’t, but they are memorable programs. These Halloween films and specials are the same way for me and if you haven’t heard of them, by all means check them out.


5. “Scooby Doo on Zombie Island” (1998)


Because it can’t get any better than Hanna-Barbara’s classic animated series. To be honest, it was either “Scooby Doo on Zombie Island” or “Scooby Doo and the Alien Invaders” that made me so indecisive. But then I remembered one redeeming thing about this movie that not even aliens could replicate: zombie Shaggy and Scooby Doo.

The movie starts with Mystery Inc. finishing up a case and going their separate ways because they’re frustrated with not finding any real ghosts and monsters. They eventually reunite and after a series of mysteries, they get invited to investigate Moonscar Island home of the pirate Morgan Moonscar. From there onward, the gang realizes they get more than they bargained for and aren’t met with fake masks and cheap monster costumes. They encounter werecats, zombies, undead versions of their friends, bats, and oh so much more that make it all a perfect movie for Halloween.


4.  “Garfield in Disguise” (Garfield’s Halloween Special 1985)

Oh Garfield, I’ve read your comics in the paper every single Sunday morning when I used to get up early – even on the weekends. Yeah, I pretty much had no life back then. Regardless, this was a special I only recall seeing once in my childhood, but thank God for Youtube.

The plot is that Odie decides to trick or treat for extra candy and convinces Garfield to join him, causing him to fashion a pirate outfit. The two roam throughout the neighborhood getting as much candy as possible before going across a river and stumbling upon a haunted house. If that plot doesn’t scream Halloween then frankly, I don’t know what does.

3. “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” (1966)

Yes, most of you have seen this and at this point in your life you may be sick of it or still embrace it to satisfy the inner child. For me, it’s a tradition to watch this special every single year. Albeit, there were times I missed it due to life, but when I did manage to watch it, it reminded me of why I loved this special.

The plot is that Linus believes in a Santa Claus like figure called The Great Pumpkin who shows up on Halloween in a pumpkin patch to deliver candy to all. Everyone (except for Sally) doesn’t believe in The Great Pumpkin and go trick or treating and to a Halloween party.

It’s a plot that no other special has. Although The Simpsons did a parody of this in one of their Treehouse of Horror specials, it was nothing more than a parody. Thus the program adopted the special’s aspects and beliefs and gave it their own twist. Other specials do not share a plot reminiscent to this and if they do, then the main character(s) usually sees the rumored being. For example, in every retelling of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”(a classic Halloween story) the rumor is addressed (there is a Headless Horseman) and someone (usually Ichabod Crane) sees it. The same formula applies to most ghost stories and other Halloween specials, giving the media an overall air of eerieness. None of them have an outcome where the main character doesn’t see what they’re chasing and lacks the reality that “It’s a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” delivers. 

2.  “The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror” (The original, 1990)

By now this is something every Simpsons fan is familiar with. The Treehouse of Horror is a long standing Simpsons tradition in which three horror stories are performed by the show. I actually used to be scared of these when I was kid, especially the original. While there were three segments in this special, I always keep going back to “The Raven”. “The Raven” (the iconic Edgar Allen Poe poem) has been depicted and spoken by many voices, but this one combines the lovable nature of The Simpsons with something as strange as “The Raven”.

James Earl Jones (Darth Vader’s voice for all you “Star Wars” fans) read the narration of the poem. His vocals were soft but stern, addressing each word and verse with caution. His voice framed the literature’s eerie but serious nature, while allowing the Simpsons to go about their silly antics. It’s a timeless piece of animation that still makes me smile to this day in appreciation for a classic piece of literature and animation.

1. “The Addams Family” (1991)

The Addams Family is a family that every single person on this planet knows because of their iconic appearance and catchy theme song  (*snap snap*).  The original series was based off cartoons that Charles Addams had drawn and wanted to bring to life. When Charles drew these pieces, it was during a time when the typical American family was wholesome and too goody goody. Needless to say, his idea of a family was far from the norm.

Flash forward to the future and the trope still holds true in a society where families are “reality tv” or are branching out to different races or lifestyles. The movie is no exception – showing how The Addams Family engages with the real world while living in their own world which seems far more interesting than reality.  In the film, Gomez laments the falling out between himself and his brother, Fester. Gomez’s lawyer, Tully Alford attempts to loan shark a woman named Abigail Craven whose son looks exactly like Fester. The three team up to reunite “Fester” with Gomez in an attempt to infiltrate the Addams’ vault where unimaginable wealth is stored.  Along the way “Fester” initially detests Gomez, but begins to question if he really is Gordon as he slowly starts to remember the Addams’ way.

I’ve watched this movie since I was a child and every year it still manages to make me smile. The nostalgia I receive from this flick combined with the wondrous acting and the lovable characters makes it a fantastic film that I hope you will (or do) enjoy.

 Thanks for reading tonight’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel free to share, subscribe, comment, and/or critique.

So tell me, what’s your favorite Halloween movie?

The Devil's in Jersey

Welcome everyone to another Friday entry at the Magical Mystery Blog.

Halloween is filled with candy, frights, and of course, scary stories. Around this time, tales of ghostly hands on the back of car windows, headless horsemen, and other chilling legends come to light. As mentioned before, I’m a Jersey girl who happens to live not too far from the Pine Barrens. Around here, we have an urban myth of our own entitled The Jersey Devil.

Years ago in the county of Batsto, there was a woman who had nothing but daughters. On her final pregnancy she cursed her child to be a boy and when she delivered, she had a son. Regretting her words, she loved for the boy dearly and treated him like a little prince. However, the hex she placed upon the child surfaced as he sprouted demonic horns, cloven hooves, leathery wings, and other features that mortified his family. Without hesitation, he bared his glistening fangs, and proceeded to devour each member of his family. When he was finished his feast, he took off into the Pine Barrens to search for more victims. To this day, he still roams the forest.  

Throughout the years, people have claimed to have witnessed this devilish beast. Tons of shows like Ghost Hunters, Destination Truth, and Paranormal State would set off into the Pine Barrens, take footage, and analyze it to see if they captured the myth. Even locals and Jersey natives would search the Pine Barrens for this fabled beast; they still do so to this day. Others have based short independent films around this Jersey legend while others have written stories about it.

There are different ideas based on what the Jersey Devil looks like.  This is based on what people supposedly see, the legend itself, people’s imaginations, and their take on a classic beast. While I have not seen the Jersey Devil myself, I have seen various interpretations of the monster.

The most common image of the Jersey Devil is the illustration below.

wikipedia.org

Here he is trying out for the Pegasus sequence in Fantasia

The image was also used for an evolving item on the RPG web site, Gaia Online. Comparing this idea of the Jersey Devil to the legend, leads me to one unyielding question:  what the Hell?

This particular image makes the Jersey Devil look like a reject Pegasus with a goofy smile. It’s not scary, non-threatening, and makes Bigfoot look terrifying. Based upon the legend and what have people reported seeing of the Jersey Devil, it should be depicted as something that menacing, carnivorous, and horrifying.

Below are my top five fear inducing representations of the Jersey Devil.

5) It’s a Fall evening and boredom has consumed you. You decide to walk through the Pine Barrens, which so happens to be your backyard. You’ve lived here almost all your life and not once have you ever seen the Jersey Devil. At most you’ve heard falling trees and rustlings in the woods but brushed them off as nothing more than wildlife. You’ve taken walks through the forest as long as you remember and never before have you seen anything abnormal. Just as you start to head back to your house, you hear branches snapping like bones over your head. Tilting your gaze upward, the moonlight illuminates a horrific figure.

turtlepedia.wikia.com

You wonder how long that’s been in the Pine Barrens.

4) There’s a rumor that if you chant ‘Jersey Devil’ three times, he’ll appear; much like the Bloody Mary legend. On Halloween, you decide to put this myth to test. The Pine Barrens isn't too far from you, so you decide to take a ride. Driving out there seems much more different than normal. The wind propels your vehicle forward, encouraging you to execute your idea.  Within ten minutes you arrive at your destination and enter the forest until you’re completely surrounded by nature.  Leaves throw themselves at you, pressing you to chant. Jersey Devil. Jersey Devil. Jersey Devil. Silence hangs in the air before it’s interrupted by a howl of blood lust just over your head.

cryptozoo.monstrous.com

You regret chanting his name.


3) Camping out in the Pine Barrens seemed like a fantastic idea. Alone with the wilderness on a chilly, Autumnal evening; what could be better? You’ve heard the stories of the Jersey Devil around the camp fire and disbelieved every one. You’ve seen the programs and thought they were nothing more than entertainment. As you douse the fire, a shadow speeds by a cluster of trees in front of you. Disregarding it as a deer, you turn in for the night.

Snuggling into your sleeping bag, you stare at the pointed roof above you. A darkened being as tall as the trees looms over your shelter. From what appears to be its head, two antlers branch out into the night sky. A pair of lengthy bat wings protrudes from its back. Terrified, you grab your knife from your backpack and prepare for the worse as it tears into your tent.

usaonrace.com

You instantly wonder if those television programs were onto something.


2) So your friends dared you to go searching for the Jersey Devil and you accepted their challenge. It’s nine by now and you’re scouring the forest with nothing more than a backpack full of essentials, a flashlight, and a camera recording every sight you see. You’ve been marching through the woods for at least two hours and already you’re bored with this mission. There’s no such thing as the Jersey Devil you tell yourself, and trudge onward.

A half hour passes and by now you’re wishing you could call the whole thing off. As you start to text your friends, a branch snaps behind you. The noise sends tremors through the Earth and shivers beneath your sneakers. It boggles your mind as you quickly flash some light on the area. Your shadow dissolves as a large, fallen limb appears beneath a pair of ivory eyes and an icy wisp of breath.

wikipedia.com

You suddenly believe in the Jersey Devil.


1) As you walk through the shadow cloaked Pine Barrens, the Fall leaves crunch beneath your feet.  However, something seems off. In the distance, there’s another crunching that makes your hair stand on end, and piques your curiosity. CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH. As you near the destination of the sound, the crunching gets louder. CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH. Through the decaying trees, you see this monstrosity crunching on the bones of some unlucky victim.

Rushelle Kucala, deviantart.com

It’s the Jersey Devil, finishing off his dinner but he’s not completely satisfied. Before the rotting cadaver, the beast unleashes a ghastly shriek that pierces your ears. Whipping its head around, its crimson eyes lock with yours. Its gaping maw exposes fangs covered in gore from its previous victim.

You better run.

Ten Books to Tingle Your Spine

Greetings fellow readers and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

In the spirit of Halloween, I will be listing my top ten reads perfect for this season of foliage and frights. I've often found that reading beneath a tree slowly losing its leaves is often peaceful for reading, especially during the Fall. Even the air gets colder which adds more suspense to whatever story you have at hand. Throughout October, ghosts stories are usually read to heighten the Halloween mood. But my list is a compilation of the haunted, the beautiful, the imaginative, and the damned.

10) Paul is Undead by Alan Goldsher

The title is a play on the famous Beatles hoax of ‘Paul is Dead’ and tells the story of the Liverpool Lads through various Q & A sessions by those who knew them.  Keeping in tune with the past year’s zombie craze, all The Beatles are turned into zombies except for Ringo Starr who is the only ninja in the group.  The book touches on major and minor events this band experienced from the banned image where babies (organs in this case) are draped all over their bodies for an album cover to the Ed Sullivan Show.  It also shows how the band met and how one by one they created a group that would climb to the toppermost of the poppermost.

This book did its job by living up to the zombie hype and even customized the zombies by means of region and bodily functions. Here zombies weren't just walking moaning remains. Instead, they had the power to hypnotize for a specific amount of time and had many other abilities. The images at best were unnerving a bit while the writing was all right. If anything, the zombies were designed more for comedic humor and gross effects. It wasn't that scary but it was good for laughs.

9) Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H Winters

It’s a monster mash when the classic tale of Sense and Sensibility meets the minions of Lord Cthulu. Set in a Bioshock-esque setting of hidden secrets and untamed sea monsters, the Dashwood sisters set out on a quest to find true love. Following the original Sense and Sensibility plot, the only difference is the setting and the half human/half beasts.

This story lived up to the hype of combining a classic with something new and unique. It’s a common form of literature nowadays. This book is a bit unnerving, imagining beautiful girls dating savage unsavory sea beasts. The imagery paints a nautical romantic picture, sure to give your imagination quite a treat. It’s an okay read, perfect for  the chilly months to come.

8) Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz 

To be honest, there’s really nothing horrifying about the writing of this book. The stories are average at best and don’t really pack much fear factors behind them. The only story I can remember that confused me for the longest time until my college years was a witch turning a woman into a horse and riding her. Seriously, I do not see how that’s scary. If anything, it sounds like some lesbian porn gone wrong.

However, I will admit the pictures of this book still haunt me to this day. I have no idea what sort of drug the illustrator, Stephen Gammel, was on or what traumatic event occurred throughout his life to make them draw the things in this book. But good Lord, I have never seen anything so terrifying.

Some people are able to withstand the illustrations and to them I give my utmost respect. But for those like me who can’t, welcome to the club. If you want to know what I am talking about then Google the book yourself. I would post the illustrations here but I’m too mortified to do so.

7) Gill’s All Fright Diner by A Lee Martinez

Duke is your average werewolf and Earl is your every day vampire. While passing through Rockwood, they come across a diner, and decide to grab something to eat. However, no sooner they bite into their meals the trouble begins. With zombies on their heels, a ghost looking for love in their heads, and so many other otherworldly oddities, the duo are bound to one dynamic adventure.

This book is just like a cat: quirky and fun, even while it scratches up your arms. It has humor like that of Paul is Undead but with better writing and a goulash of fantastic concepts. While there are no illustrations scattered throughout the pages, none are needed. This book provides enough ghoulishly glorious imagery to satisfy your imagination.

6) Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

It’s a beautiful Fall day in a Midwestern town and it just so happens that the carnival is in town. But this isn't your typical carnival of shimmering lights and specialty foods. It’s a carnival from the other side where the owner bears tattoos of his victims, a carousel has the ability to progress your age or decrease it, and unusual beings roam the grounds.

Two boys, Jim Nightshade and William Halloway, are drawn to this mysterious carnival. With every visit to the fairground they find themselves more attracted to the strange, the beautiful, and the dangerous. Not only does this story boggle the mind and raise some goosebumps with its terrifying imagery and unique characters, it also tells the coming of age story between two youths.  With every chapter, they struggle with the changes which are ultimately resolved in the end. If you want to know how, go pick up this book.

5) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

It’s the classic horrifying story of a scientist creating something from out of a crypt. With the brain of a deceased citizen and a lifeless body, man plays God, and gives this monstrosity life. Bored of his days in the lab, the beast escapes to discover life, to find himself, and to understand the ways of man.

When written in 1817, it was originally started as a horror story. The technology and even the idea of giving life to something dead was terrifying to people in the past. Nowadays, we just see it as something awesome. Today, some people may see this story as the cornucopia of creeps. I’ll admit that it does send shivers down the spine at times but often I find it interesting as a struggle for one to find himself in the world. Frankenstein still lives to this day as an inspiration for zombie tales and satisfies those who love a good read. 

4) Interview With a Vampire by Anne Rice

Before the Meyerpires hit the bookshelves, Anne Rice gave a whole new meaning to the term ‘vampire’.  Taking the old fashioned ideals of a vampire, this famous writer morphed them into her own breed of creatures who were not always evil, and who didn’t always enjoy draining a victim of their blood. She wrote an entire series surrounding the lives of vampires, making them more human than what they are.

Interview With a Vampire begins on a quiet night in New Orleans, where a vampire decides to tell his life story to a journalist. The result is a lavish book filled to the brim with what a vampire’s life consists of. It is more than just running around, drinking unsuspecting victims’ blood. It is a life of death, love, fortune, and danger.  Written to tingle the spine and chill the senses, this story oozed with horror but dripped with details, and strong character personalities. 

3)  Pet Sematary by Stephen King

When the Creeds purchase a new house, they have no idea what they’re in for. Just behind their house lies a cemetery that has magical reviving powers. However, there’s a side effect to this seemingly wonderful idea. Those who return from this graveyard may not be the same person or creature as they were before.

Other than the cemetery’s ability, this book shows the creepy transformation of the characters. The scares really don’t come towards the midway point of the literary piece. But the scares are weaved in wonderfully with the plot of a family living with a terribly mystifying cemetery in their backyard.  

2)  The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaimen

A popular author of modern times, Neil Gaimen wrote this book with moreso plot than scares. The plot revolves around a boy who was placed in a graveyard and raised by local ghosts. He was left there to avoid suffering his parents’ fate of being murdered by a serial killer. The rest of the book consists of him growing up into a very strange but enchanted boy who sees many things.

This book is beautifully written and extremely interesting. It gives a new life to spirits, showing their lifestyles, abilities, and even customs. Gaimen shapes the typical ghosts we've come to know through urban myths and legends. He gives them personalities with touches of their past life. He creates his own specters that are memorable and unique.

1) The Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk

This book is not for the weak of stomach or faint of heart. Since I qualify as both of those, I could not handle this piece of literature for too long. It begins with some strangers getting on a bus and each chapter is their back story. The first few chapters analyzing each character were gut wrenching at best and triggered the gag reflex a bit, but nothing serious. The fourth chapter is when everything goes downhill.

Even my classmates warned me about the dreaded tortures of chapter four but I ignored them. That was a complete mistake. For men, chapter four will make you cringe the most and ladies, although you’re not a man, you just may vomit at this chapter. The wording is intricately detailed throughout the book, adding more scariness to your stomach sinking into your toes. The details put more thoughts into your head, which add to the fear building up in your bones, and boggling your brain.

After nearly tossing my lunch at the fourth chapter, I put my book down, and admitted to my fellow peers that I couldn't bring myself to read past it. This was a defeat on my end because I was on the last page of chapter four before crossing the threshold into chapter five.

So what do you think? Any books you enjoy reading during the Fall? Feel free to comment and as always, followers and feedback are welcome.