James Caan Double Feature

Every year for the past few years, a bunch of us transition from Halloween to Christmas. For me, the transition is borderline devastating, as I find myself weeping as Jim takes down all of my spoOoOoOOOoooky props and replaces them with garland and blinky lights that don't have skulls on them.

Since the transition can be so hard, we all do it in a way to move smoothly from one extreme (Halloween horror) to the other (Christmas enchantment).

We use, what has now been coined as the "James Caan Double Feature" to smooth into the winter wonderland.

What is this, you ask?

Well, James Caan, of The Godfather fame, happens to star in not one,but TWO Christmas themed movies:

Elf

and

Santa's Slay:


Santa's Slay is absolutely ridiculous. First of all, it stars the wrestler Goldberg as its main character: This guy:

As Santa Claus:


As if that isn't ridiculous enough, here is the cast of characters that only star in the first 8 minutes of the movie:

Can you name them all?

Well, even if you can't, it doesn't matter, because the rest of the movie doesn't even have a single shot of them. They are only cameos in the beginning. The rest of the movie contains a bunch of people I've never heard of.

So basically, Santa's Slay is about a BAD Santa Claus, who made a bet with an Angel over a curling match, loses, and then comes back to take his revenge on the township of Hell. I know, you can only imagine the Hell jokes that get thrown around in this movie.

Overall, don't take this movie seriously...it's great for a laugh and there is an incredibly fake and hilarious dog punting scene in the beginning. I ask you to watch this movie, pay attention to the creature that pulls his sleigh, and check out his awesome fireball shooting action!

Ho Ho Ho Horror!

Ode to a Dear, SpoOoOoOoOoOky Friend

In the footsteps of this guy's spoOoOoOoOoky shirt, I have decided to take up a little poetry writing of my own:

Come Back Halloween
by: Monster Bash Blog

Time is flying by,
It's now November,
The glorious month of October,
seems so hard to Remember.

Leaves were changing,
Temperatures would drop,
All day long I ordered,
SpoOoOoOky clown props.

Time flew by,
and in a flash,
October 31st had come,
along with the greatest night ever: Monster Bash

A pair of costumes,
so diverse,
a Man that is Macho,
and a Joker Nurse.

Munching on corn dogs,
and pulling drinks from a horror basin (cauldron),
Watching scary movies,
particularly the ones involving Jason (X).

Mummy wrapping, cotton candy eating, scavenger hunting,
Watching movies about Freddy,
Best costume awards, pinata smashing, candy corn counting,
Watching Evil Dead-dy.

And then it was November,
Halloween was gone,
It was time to pick up the pieces,
the garbage, the broken pinata...and move on.

But, come back soon Halloween,
I'll stay here and wait,
and make more blogs of horror and mayhem,
and missing MB 2008.

Post Monster Bash 2008

Well, another successful and incredible Halloween season has come and gone faster than I would have liked it to...

Monster Bash 2008 is over, and now, I must remove my makeup that took a friend and me an hour to apply, watch/help Jim clean the room (it's taking almost 2 days now), and begin to dream up next year's spOoOOoooOOoktacular bash!

But first, here's some frightening pictures!:

The Official Monster Bash 2008 invites.

Want to know how I got these scars? Well, I used makeup.

Joker Nurse, along with 8,000,000 other people.

Couples-costume of the year

The hosts with the mosts.

Murder Circus layout.

The Monster Bash 2008 food display: Carnival/Circus fare. Corn dogs not included because they were already eaten.

Evening, Commissioner.

Macho Man admires artwork. It says "Macho Madness" on the cape, fyi.

Spider Man makes his Monster Bash 2008 cameo

Pippy longstocking brought a date, Mr. Mrs.

Dr. Chad makes a kingdom of balloon animals

Danny Pepperoni makes his way from D'Jais to party with Randy Savage. No, he's not wearing stockings. Yes, I know.

Macho Man and the unsuspecting pinata

violent banana

Post-mummy wrap

Good sports

The spOOoOOooOOky scavenger hunt

Bella Banana looking for the next clue

Lucy reads off the next clue to her team

Just a banana, a butcher clown, and a joker dressed like a nurse.

And the best costume award and $25 Visa Gift card went to:

Happy Halloween and Monster Bash 2008!!

Wow! Can you believe it? It's heeeeere!




I'm so pumped up, you wouldn't even believe it.





My costume is ready, Jim's costume is awesome, the food is hopefully going to be ready in time, the decor is ready, the grand prize for best costume is ready, the games have been meticulously prepared, the murder circus is in full effect. Come one, come all to the spoOoOoOoOoOOokiest place on Earth!





The Bigtop from HELL.






Here's to having the greatest and most fright-filled Halloween ever, from my Monster Bash to yours!

Awesome Hayrides!!

There are few things that Monster Bash loves other than Monster Bash, Halloween, Apple Cider, Pumpkins...and of course: Hayrides!!

I love nothing more than to go to a creepy, or non-creepy, farm, take a ride on a wagon pulled by a tractor and sit covered in hay.



Well, this past weekend, I got a double dose of awesome Autumn hayride fun!!

On Friday, I sprung a trip to Corrado's Farm's Hayride of Horrors on Jim, who hates spur of the moment fun. But he conceded, and off we went with SpOoOoOoOky Cos and Renee!


For $12, you go on one of the longest hayrides that I think they offer on the East Coast, and you even get a spOoOoOkylicious surprise halfway through-Witches come out of their houses and bring you donuts and cider!!! mmm!!






Not only is that the main reason that I go on this hayride and love it so dearly, but also because of the location. It's literally in the middle of nowhere, in Hackettstown, NJ, in the woods/field. The farm is awesome. The only downside to going this year? The people sitting next to us who liked to heckle the ghouls. But they're everywhere-that's unavoidable.


Also available at Corrado's is a corn maze (I've tried it once, and got discouraged and gave up after 5 minutes)

and a haunted house (it's ok-I suggest you try it once). You can do all three for $25.00, or pay separately for each one you want to do.

on Saturday, I had to take a day to recover from all of the cider and mayhem.

Then on Sunday, we took our traditional trip to Masker's:

and then, followed it up with the traditionally awesome trip to DePiero's farm in Montvale, NJ for pumpkin hayride.

DePiero's website has some great pics of the pumpkin field, and they also have info on the Nightmares attraction that they host there every year. I've done it before, and once again, it's something to try out at least once.

Anyway, back to awesome Pumpkin hayride:

It's $8.00 for the hayride, or $9.00 for the hayride with a pumpkin. Obviously, why wouldn't you choose the $9.00 option?

So, we got our official "With Pumpkin" tickets, and off we went!

They bring you to a pumpkin patch, aka, a place where they pile up pumpkins, and the difficult decision of "which pumpkin is best" begins!

After about 45 minutes of measuring, searching, deciding, thinking I've chosen, putting it back, switching it out...I find it!

And then we ride back to DePiero's, get a nice Pickle on a Stick, and off we go to carve and love our new pumpkin friends!

Neverending SpoOoOoOkiness!!

Monster Bash blog has been knee deep in Neverender, which is a 4 night concert event with MB Blog's favorite band of all time:



Now, I know I'm straying a bit from Halloween, but, it is Autumn, and only a week or so away from everyone's favorite holiday, AND, Co&Ca and I have had some wonderful Halloween memories together:


1. Their 2nd Album: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 was released in the Fall (October 7th, 2003) and I listened to it profusely while going to Halloween attractions (I especially remember belting out "Man your own jackhammer!" while driving to Sterling Forest's Haunted attraction in NY that same week of its release).

2. The 3rd Album: Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness, was released on September 20th, 2005 (Fall-time!). So therefore, I enjoyed it thoroughly throughout the Autumnul and Winter Seasons (and year round)

3. The latest Album: Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow was released on October 23rd, 2007, and boy oh boy did I have a Halloween festival with Coheed and Cambria! First of all, I went to their spOooOoOoOOky release party at FYE in the Palisades Mall ( I went by myself and took a vacation day from work...that's dedication). Then, I paid 100x the original price of the 92.3 $.92 Halloween show on October 25th at the Blender Theater in NYC (I paid $100 on ebay just to enjoy Halloween and Coheed and Cambria together).

And now, with Neverender, The show takes place over 4 days, October 22nd - 25th, each night playing each one of their albums in its entirety. I've had my tickets since July. This is going to be the greatest 4 nights of my life, in preparation for Monster Bash 2008. I had to take off of work for this, that's how good it's going to be.
The Fiction Will See The Real....spOooOoOoOoOOoky!

Masker's Orchard: A Comprehensive Guide to Apple-Picking the Monster Bash Way

Nothing says "Autumn" like picking your own apples and spending the day at an apple orchard.

For the past couple of years, Jim and I have been going to the apple picking hotspot, Masker's Orchard in Warwick, NY.

This place...forget it....



Let me explain how a trip to Masker's typically works.

First, you approach the orchard. You will know you are getting close because you will pass about 3 parking lots dedicated to the Renaissance Faire.
When you see the signs for Masker's, you put on the apple radio station...which I can't find online anywhere...because it's TOP SECRET! Oh, it's 87.9 AM (I found out this past weekend, however, it didn't come in clear enough to listen to it this time).
Then, pick up your baggies with the map of the orchard on it from one of the parking attendants waving you in for the fun!
Park your car, and follow the map to find your perfect apple!
(Be sure to first check out those ripening schedules for your favorite apple! Remember, Granny Smith's ripen the 3rd week of September!)


Make sure you stop for plenty of photo opportunities! The views are breathtaking!
Masker's is also great for letting you know where the unpicked apples are hiding!



While picking those apples, make sure you eat a couple...you know...to make sure they're appley-enough!

Stop by the country store and buy some caramel apple kits!
Then, pick up some apple cider, have your car checked for stolen apples...and be off to make those apples into delicious pieces of art:


So, when do you guys want to go? Here are the directions!

Just an F.Y.I, we went this last weekend, and not only was it significantly colder than last year, but there seemed to be no apples left. I had heard there was a storm that destroyed some of the apple crop, but, I don't know. Also keeping up with tradition, I still couldn't find the Granny Smith section. Maybe next year!

Afterward, we also kept up with the awesome tradition of pumpkin picking hayride!!! more on that later!! (next blog!)