Halloween 2008: July & August finds

If you've already read 2007's Halloween log, I scarcely need to remind you: keep a mummy count! For whatever reason, I wound up with over a dozen different mummies last year...has their invasion ceased, or are they ready for round two!? As always, this is just a blog of my personal collecting habits - not a store! I generally only have one each of what you see here, and many of these things will only ever be available for this year's season.

July 30 - Party Supply

-Awesome eyeball flashlights-

2008's spook season is off to an excellent start! The same spooky animal flashlights from last year have returned, but the line has expanded to include a severed eyeball and a scaled down version of none other than Marvelous Maggot! Unfortunately, their batteries were dead when I got them and are thus far impossible to remove. At least they'll make great-looking decorative figures until they deteriorate and decide to dribble acid all over the place...which is pretty much the spirit of Halloween in a nutshell.

-Nineteen farking dollar light-up eyes-

You read that correctly. This pair of soft, latex eyes lights up with a color-changing LED glow, and yeah, they look awesome, but they're only about the length of a human hand. The sticker appeared to say $8.99, which I thought was just barely reasonable for something of this size and quality, but it turned out I was missing a half-faded "1" in there. For that price, their gentle glow had better stave off kidney failure or grant me superhuman cognition.

August 12 - Dollar Tree

-Gargoyle Fortune Teller with bad sense of humor-

YOU: Wow, you can really see my future? GARGOYLE: Yeah, check it out!......YOU EVENTUALLY DIE! YOU: Hardy har har. Like I've never heard that one before. GARGOYLE: Have you heard this?...that's the sound of rotting. ......These come in several different poses, but I thought the most amusing was this intent listener. All varieties display a tombstone in their crystal ball.

August 16 - Yankee Candle Co.

-"Boney Bunch" Tealight Holder-

I'd never been to a Yankee Candle before, and they were offering a whole range of porcelain candleholders featuring this skeleton and a female equivalent. Some were pretty large and elaborate, but this is the one I really liked. Your tealight or scented candle goes right in his little hat!

August 17 - ROSS

-Jiggly-eyed Mummy Mug-

First mummy of the season! I almost didn't find this cool enough to buy, until I noticed (from behind) that its handle is an actual arm, ending in a mitten-like hand. Yes, a mummy head with a handle is a maybe, but a mummy head with one arm is a must-buy. Do not question my spending behavior.

-Wicked-awesome candle holder-

Only five bucks at this closeout store, this rather large ceramic sculpture holds a candle between the cute haunted mansion and less-cute looming specter of death, calling to mind Chernobog from Disney's Fantasia. Also, dig the size of that cat and spider!

-Bowl of Eyes-

There's nothing funny or clever about this, but how could I pass up so many rubber eyeballs for only three dollars?! They come in both large, detached eyeballs and eyeballs in chunks of gore, as you can see HERE.

August 21 - Factory Card Outlet

-Scary Screechers-

If you've read my Halloween blogs before, you already know that these shrieking, troll-haired rubber figures are a yearly tradition for several stores that carry seasonal doo-dads. Slightly larger and better painted than previous incarnations, the card outlet's 2008 screechers are the nicest yet, and the monstrous axe-murderer is the most distinctive toy of this type I have ever seen. Most stick with a very generic zombie, demon or ghost design, more like his chalky friend there. These screechers weren't alone, though...

-Guillotine Ghouls!-

These severed head screechers are available alongside the above figurines, and manage to be even more finely detailed. What's more, they include a deranged clown! You may notice that the middle one slightly matches the ghostly screecher above. Sadly, none of the others have a counterpart...I'd have loved a screeching severed hockey-monster or a full-body clown.    Though generic, my favorite here is actually the third one. It's just so sad and ugly, and I'm fond of its grey-green color scheme.

August 25 - Petco

Brace yourself for this...

-Undead Rubber Chickens! (CLICK PICTURES TO ENLARGE)-

The year's second mummy-related item is my immediate new favorite...and he's brought friends! From his jagged beak and stitched eye down to his missing foot, the vampire's beady gaze and the skeleton's one remaining feather, these guys were designed with far too much love and attention to just be torn apart by dogs. These are a 2008 Halloween exclusive, so if you want some for your own amusement you had better snag them up before the canines do. If you don't have a petco nearby, you can order these on their official website HERE - but not for long!

August 26 - Dollar Tree

-Squeeze Skulls-

Very cool-looking, colorful squeezey toys for only a buck each at your local Dollar Tree, with brains full of fluid and random, rubber vermin!

August 27 - Petsmart

-Halloween Squeaky Plush-

How often do you see a squeaky stuffed toy of a "headless duke?" The name comes right off the pricetag. Mummy weiner dogs, on the other hand, came out last year before I realized how much I should have gotten one. They come in three sizes, so I got the middle-length weiner.

August 27 - Party Outlet

-Severed Pirate Parrot Head-

These gory rubber pirate heads are also available in human and human skeleton forms, but this was the one worth getting for the weirdness factor. Even in the context of a Halloween pirate theme, a torn-off parrot head with an eyepatch is a freaking weird thing to decorate with.

August 27 - Party City

-Eye-popping pens-

I didn't even know that these had eye-popping action until after I brought them home and gave the mummy a squeeze just for the hell of it (wouldn't you?) ...they make a very satisfying little "pop" and are addicting as hell to squish. They also came in Vampire, Frankenstein's Monster and a nondescript green guy. Maybe I'll get one of the others at a later date.

-Eye-ROLLING pens-

Sold out of the same box as the poppers but in a rather different art style, these guys sadly lacked a mummy but at least offered a sweet little grim reaper. I got the ghost just so I'd have an even number of each type, because I'm compulsive like that. These, too, also offered a vampire and a few others.

August 27 - Joann Fabrics

-Spooky Purple Tentacle Monster-

This adorably happy hentapus is part of a line with other, less interesting monsters dressed up for a masquerade ball. He carries a witch mask around on a little stick (barely visible here as a small black rope) and also comes in a much larger size for nearly $30. Unless there's a few big ones left in the post-Halloween clearance, I'll be sticking with this little $5 version.

August 30 - Target

-Rattling Mummy Dog Toy-

Target has yet to put out its full selection of horror, but this little guy just couldn't wait and was hanging out all alone in the pet department. Shake him and he rattles! Actually, I'm not sure whether this is meant for dogs or was a misplaced baby toy. Dogs, babies, what's the difference?

August 30 - Walgreens

-Adorable Erasers-

These come topping Halloween pencils adorned with matching character art, and are so gosh-darn cute I sorely wish they came in figurine form. "Gee...there's a worm in my brain!"

MUMMIES THUS FAR: SIX! Six Mummies!

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