Thank You, Everyone!

I hope everyone had an extraordinary Halloween. Now that everyone is bleary eyed and exhausted from getting their houses ready for trick or treaters, putting the last minute touches on their own costumes for Halloween parties they were either attending, or hosting, or simply watching too many horror movies, I wanted to take the time to thank you all. Whether you participated directly as one of the Cryptkeepers, or simply as someone who went from blog to blog in order to see what daily treats were being offered, I thank you for turning this annual online event from just a few houses spread out across the globe into a tight knit neighborhood, where every house is "the good house' for trick or treating.

This year, by my count, there were 279 participants in the Countdown. A few had dropped out from the year before, but we still gained 75 more participants than we had in 2010. It's clear looking through everyone's posts that we all share a tremendous love for Halloween, and that everyone put in a lot of effort to share that love with the hard work that went into putting together a month's worth of posts celebrating as many different aspects of the holiday as can be imagined. Like most of you, who keep Halloween present in some form throughout the year, I'm looking forward to months of catching up with the roughly 8649 posts that everyone has collectively created.

Next year will undoubtedly be even bigger. With that in mind PLEASE try and remember to check in here by September 2012, or email me and let me know if you'll be participating again next year. This will save a lot of time on tracking people down.

Thanks again, everyone! Now go enjoy your leftover candy and hitting the stores for their heavily discounted Halloween items. See you next year.

The Ultimate Yard Haunts

Bob Burns is a really cool guy. He owns the original armature for King Kong amongst tons of other important sciience fiction, fantasy and horror props. He's been a special effects artist himself and a gorilla suit actor, and when he puts on Halloween at his house he goes all out.

What kind of yard haunt can you put together when your friends include hollywood actors and Oscar winning special effects wizards? Take a look at this link and see for yourself. Bob has been posting videos of his Halloween shows for the past few Halloweens. Unfortunately, the older shows are no longer available to watch (though there are still galleries which you should check out) and these will be taken down in just a few days so make it a priority to go watch them. You won't be disappointed.

Forthcoming Halloween Related Graphic Novel

Please forgive me for a bit of shameless self-promotion here. The only reason I'm doing this is because I truly believe that this is something that will appeal to the majority of people participating in the Countdown to Halloween.

In February 2012, DC Comics will be releasing a trade paperback collection of Xombi, a six issue comic book series that I wrote for them, that was published serially through the Spring and Summer of 2011. The insanely gorgeous artwork was done by the incomparable Frazer Irving, and the series received overwhelming accolades from just about everyone who read and reviewed it, such as this one from Ain't It Cool News.

So what's it about, you ask? Xombi is about a normal scientific researcher who has had his body infused with microscopic nanomachines, following a mortal injury. The nanomachines repaired all of the damage to his body and continue to do so, keeping him perpetually in what they deem peak physical condition using material taken from outside of him and converting it into healthy tissue. He can never die. He can heal any injury, resist any disease. He will never age or lose his hair or eyesight. He never even needs to eat if he doesn't want to. It sounds like a really cool way to live, but it has its downsides. One of them is that because of the circumstances that led to his injury, he's also become something of a weirdness magnet. This comic book is full of people, places and monsters the likes of which you've never seen before. This piece I wrote for DC Comics  will give you a better sense of what I mean, as will this interview from i09 which also features the first five pages of the comic for you to check out.

Amazon.com has Xombi available for pre-order for under ten bucks.

If that's not enough, then try this...

Click on any image to make it larger.

Thank you for your time and indulgence. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween Photo Contest

Fujifilm and Rite Aid Announce the Picture Perfect Halloween Photo Contest and Daily Giveaway

Enter to Win Fang-tastic Prizes Including a Grand Prize Trip to Hersheypark in the Dark Valued at $3,919*

Valhalla, N.Y., FUJIFILM North America Corporation and Rite Aid Corporation today announced that entries are currently being accepted for the 7^th annual Picture Perfect Halloween Photo Contest.  From now through November 8, 2011, entrants can submit Halloween-themed photos and vote for their favorites in seven categories: Best Pumpkin, Cutest Baby Costume, Best Kids Costumes, Best Teens and Adults Costumes, Best Pets, Spooktacular Decorations and Best Make-up.

To enter, consumers can go to www.HalloweenPhotoContest.com to register and to upload photos from any personal computer; you do not need to be a Fujifilm or Rite Aid customer to enter. Enter as many as 70 pictures per household among the seven categories.

Consumers can also enter the Daily Giveaway to win thousands of prizes: picture frames and personalized photo t-shirts, puzzles, mugs, stickers, mouse pads, free photo prints, Freaky Monsters buttons and wet n wild Make-up items including, Tattoos, Bewitching Eyes false lashes, Ghoulish Glam liquid eyeliner, Mystifying Night Sparkling Lip Gloss, Kiss of Death Black Lipstick, Ghostly Nails Wild Shine Nail Color, Pretty Wicked Glitter Palettes.

HalloweenPhotoContest.com is also a destination for fang-tastic ideas to create a spooktacular Halloween. It is a one-stop shop for decorating ideas and party planning guides, printable jack-o-lantern stencils, makeup tips from wet n wild Make-up, crafts and recipes by Kraft Food and Hershey’s Candy, fiendishly clever party game suggestions, expert photo tips, digital scrapbooking kits, and more.

What’s in store for contestants?  The grand prize winner of the overall best Halloween photo will win a trip for four to Hersheypark in the Dark at Hersheypark, PA, including three days and two nights’ deluxe accommodations at Hershey Lodge, four two-day admission passes to Hersheypark in the Dark, four “Create Your Own Candy Bar” experiences at Hershey’s Chocolate World, four tickets for the town tour on the Hershey Trolley, $300 in Hersheypark “Chocolate Currency,” a Fujifilm FinePix F300EXR digital camera, a Rite Aid photo book and a HERSHEY’S chocolate gift basket.

First, second and third place prizes will also be awarded to the winning entrants in each of the seven categories:

• First prize: Fundamentals of Digital Photography course from the New York Institute of Photography, Fujifilm FinePix F300EXR Camera, $250 Rite Aid gift certificate, Hershey’s chocolate gift basket and Rite Aid photo book (retail value $1,217)

• Second prize: Fujifilm Instax Mini Camera, $150 Rite Aid gift certificate, HERSHEY’S chocolate gift basket and Rite Aid photo book (retail value $649)

• Third prize: Fujifilm FinePix AV100 Camera, Pinnacle 16x20” frame, $100 Rite Aid gift card, HERSHEY’S chocolate basket and Rite Aid photo book (retail value $354)

Full details regarding contest rules, prizes and giveaways are available atHalloweenPhotoContest.com. To keep up with the Halloween Photo Contest via social media, follow @MyWayPhoto and become a fan on Facebook.

About Fujifilm
FUJIFILM North America Corporation, a marketing subsidiary of FUJIFILM Corporation, consists of five operating divisions and one subsidiary company. The Imaging Division sells consumer and commercial photographic products and services including film, one-time-use cameras, online photo services and fulfillment, digital printing equipment and service. The Electronic Imaging Division markets consumer digital cameras. The Motion Picture Division provides motion picture film, and the Graphic Systems Division supplies products and services to the printing industry. The Optical Devices Division provides binoculars, and optical lenses for closed circuit television, videography, cinematography, broadcast and industrial markets. FUJIFILM Canada Inc. markets a range of Fujifilm products and services. For more information, please visit www.fujifilm.com/northamerica, or go to www.twitter.com/fujifilmus to follow Fujifilm on Twitter. To receive news and information direct from Fujifilm via RSS, subscribe at www.fujifilmusa.com/rss.

FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, brings continuous innovation and leading-edge products to a broad spectrum of industries, including electronic imaging, digital printing equipment, medical systems, life sciences, graphic arts, flat panel display materials, and office products, based on a vast portfolio of digital, optical, fine chemical and thin film coating technologies. The company was among the top 20 companies around the world granted U.S. patents in 2009, and in the year ended March 31, 2010, had global revenues of $23.5 billion. Fujifilm is committed to environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship. For more information, please visitwww.fujifilmholdings.com.

*Approximate retail value of the Grand Prize is $3,919. Actual value may vary depending upon timing and departure city.

Some more Indie Horror/Halloween Comics!

I thought I'd take a second to highlight a couple more Horror/Halloweeny comics anthologies that I've stumbled upon this season. First up is the second issue of the Strange Kid Comix Magazine...

This second installment is certainly seasonally appropriate and has a bunch of great comics and artwork by folks like David Hartman, Aaron Klopp, Andrew Barr, Brian Fyffe, Christine Larsen, Craig Collins, Glen Brogan, German Orozco, Keith Allen, Sean K. Dove, Neil Camera, Smo, Beans and Bueller and Zach Bellissimo. There are also interviews and some really fun paper project surprises inside!

Next up is a horror anthology from the folks at Wide Awake Press called 666. There are a metric ton of contributors in this volume, but there are a few that I'm particularly familiar with whose work I really dig including Justin Gammon, Brad McGinty, and Josh Latta. Also, Wide Awake is also offering up a really cool Mars Attacks homage trading card...

The best part? The card is free when you pay a small shipping fee ($2 gets you five copies of the card mailed to your door.) These would make great treats for the kids this Halloween as well as a fun piece of monster art to share with friends.

Special Offer to Countdown Participants

The fine folks at Crazydog T-Shirts have a generous offer just for people taking part in the Countdown to Halloween.  So whether you are blogging or just visiting the blogs you can enjoy $5.00 of your orders by using the code: SCAREME5 during the check out process when placing your order. 

That of course applies to any of their tees, but they wanted to also show off some of their newest Horror T-shirts for your consideration: 

Gettin Down on Friday: http://www.crazydogtshirts.com/servlet/the-2765/Get-Down-on-Friday/Detail
Haddonfield High: http://www.crazydogtshirts.com/servlet/the-2668/haddonfield-high-t-shirt%2C/Detail
Zombie Disguise T-shirt: http://www.crazydogtshirts.com/servlet/the-2829/ask-me-about-my/Detail

I have a couple of t-shirts from Crazydog and they are cool and comfy. You can visit Crazydog T-Shirts by going here.

Candy!

With just under three weeks until the big day, it's time to get your candy plan in place for the hordes of trick or treaters that'll be knocking on your door or ringing your bell (of course, those kids dressed up as classic monsters, superheroes, or other geeky characters get extra candy, right?).... or maybe you just need to satisfy your own personal sweettooth!

Well, I have a place you can consider when getting your plan together... a company called Blair Candy, which contacted me last month with an offer to send me some free candy in exchange for posting about them here... well, they came through for me, and so here's the post! When I checked out their website to select what kind of candy I wanted them to send, I was kind of overwhelmed, because there was so much to choose from! I mean, there's all kinds of Halloween-specific candy there, from lollipops to candy bars and more, including stuff I've never seen offered in stores in my neighborhood! But where I think they really excel is in their nostalgic candy bars, the kind of stuff that we had as kids that you can't seem to find these days... Abba Zabba, Big Hunk, Black Cow, Clark Bars, Chick-O-Stick, Chocolate Ice Cubes, Necco Waers, Mallo Cups, Oh Henry, Sky Bar, Zagnut, Zero... and that's not all of them! Plus, they also carry candy with other themes, such as sports, plus there's categories for gluten free and sugar free candy, and you've got to check out their concession candy selections! It would be so easy for me to drop a lot of cash there getting goodies... and it's not all candy, either! You have a variety of shipping options to choose from, too!

Anyway, what they sent me to try out included a Witch's Finger lollipop (which was tasty, but I personally don't have the patience for lollipops), Fright Bites (chocolates shaped like a vampire's mouth -- pretty tasty stuff), and a mixed bag of Twizzlers and Jolly Ranchers (love the former, will save the latter for when we're making Christmas cookies this year). So, yes, I did already get something out of this, but I'll tell you, the package arrived well packed, and it was a nice surprise to see what they sent me (as I said above, I was kind of overwhelmed at the variety, so I asked them to pick for me).

So go check them out, you hear?

Halloween Ornaments for Sale

Tom Taggart has a variety of ornaments for sale that are perfect for Halloween and for adding a bit of ghoulish fun to the Christmas tree. There are black cats, jack o'lanterns, skulls, monsters, and more. Each of them are about the size of baseball and can be purchased at Tom's etsy shop.

Be sure to tell him I sent you.