(Abe Birnbaum, 1957)
In a few hours I’ll likely be singing “Teenage Dirtbag” in a Kenny Powers costume.
✍️ A few more Halloween New Yorker covers, from the Charles Addams.
🎧 Ghostmashers, Bill McClintock’s new Halloween mashup.
🎃 Over on Substack I wrote a bit about Trick ‘r Treat, in my mind the “most” Halloween movie. This movie has everything: an old school safety video, an opening that serves as an homage to the original Halloween’s, an EC comics-inspired title sequence, a little kid dressed like Chucky that hates Charlie Brown, a “Phantom Vampire,” urban legends, monsters, a Marilyn Manson needle-drop, Brian Cox as a Scrooge/John Carpenter hybrid (with scenes that nod to Christine, The Fog and The Thing, no less), a musical cue from Scooby Doo, a Pet Semetary reference, an Evil Dead-style finale, plus, Coach Taylor was in a hot dog costume butt-fucking a pig, I think?
🎥 Also watched Obsession. The Make-a-Wish Willow is some Tales from the Crypt shit (complimentary). A selfish prick getting their just deserts was also like, half the episodes.
Barker says he got the idea from Treehouse of Horror’s monkey’s paw segment. Tales did its own version on TV, as did the ’70s movie, as did the comics from which they were based (see: “Wish You Were Here,” from EC’s The Haunt of Fear #22). Considering how much the Simpsons Halloween specials owe to that whole tradition, I absolutely love the pop-culture feedback loop. Can’t wait for the Milhouse/Lisa parody in five years.