2001 Halloween VHS Recording of....

1966's It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and 1996's Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh with commercials recorded on Halloween 2001. Happy Halloween everyone!


It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown Winnie the Pooh halloween the 2001 from HALLOWEEN CARTOONS OF THE DAY on Vimeo.

1995 Monster Mash: The Movie

Monster Mash: The Movie is a Comedy/Horror/Musical based on the Bobby "Boris" Pickett song "Monster Mash" and the 1967 stage musical, I'm Sorry the Bridge Is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night, also by Pickett and Sheldon Allman. The film stars Pickett himself as Dr. Frankenstein. Songs featured in both the stage musical and film "I'm Sorry the Bridge Is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night," "Play Your Hunch," "All Eternity Blues," and "Things a Mother Goes Through." The songs "On a Night Like This," "Too Late to Change Your Mind" and "On a Night Like This (Reprise)" were written and recorded specifically for the film. A new version of "Monster Mash" was also recorded and used, even though the song does not appear in the original stage play. The film feels like a TV movie but was originally released to cinemas in November 14, 1995, produced and distributed by Prism Pictures. Released to VHS on August 25, 1998, never released to DVD.

Two teens, Scott (Teen Wolf's Ian Bohen) and Mary (Full House's Candace Cameron), are on the way to a Halloween party dressed as Romeo and Juliet when their car breaks down in front of a sinister mansion. Seeking help, they fall into a party of monsters led by Dr. Frankenstein (Pickett), who immediately wants to transfer Scott's brain into his monster (Deron McBee), Igor (John Kassir Voice of the Crypt Keeper) develops feelings for Mary, thinking that, once Scott's brain has been removed, Igor's own brain can replace it. Wolfie (Adam Shankman) is constantly struggling with his lycanthropy and worrying his mother (Mink Stole), and hides to keep from devouring the newcomers. Count Dracula (Anthony Crivello) and his wife, Countess Natasha (Sarah Douglas), decide to spice up their lifeless marriage by trying to feast on Mary and Scott respectively. Elvis (E. Aron Price) returns from the dead as a mummy and with the help of his manager, Hathaway (Good Times' Jimmie "J.J." Walker), needs the blood of a virgin in order to fully restore the king to life. Lots of cheesy campy silliness follows.

1989 The Wickedest Witch

Matt from DinosaurDracula.com uploaded this rare Halloween special to his YouTube account this week. Check out his post about the special here at DinosaurDracula.com, which is so much better than anything I can write here. Here is the synopsis below:

Avarissa is a witch so evil she has been banished to the underground kingdom of the Greevils. She discovers in order to be freed she must convince a human, pure of heart, to commit one despicable deed.

1998 Svengoolie - Halloween (1978) and Halloween III (1982)

Svengoolie is a horror movie show, named for its host, who introduces each movie, provides background info on the movie, and performs skits and jokes during intermissions. The show is a long-running local program in the Chicago area and in recent years expanded nationally, airing Saturday nights on MeTV. I'm not sure when "Halloween 1978" aired on Svengoolie but the "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" episode aired November 7 1998.

Horror host Svengoolie sings "I Don't Wanna Work, I Want to use Halloween to Slay!" which is parody of the song "Bang on the Drum" by Todd Rundgren. Originally shown during an airing of "Halloween '78" and retooled for an airing of "Offerings" (which was a big rip-off of the Carpenter classic):


Svengoolie's show opener for "Halloween III: Season of the Witch":


Svengoolie explains why there's no Michael Meyers in "Halloween III: Season of the Witch", but his version is wrong, the real reason why no Myers in HIII is because he died in Halloween II and John Carpenter wanted to continue the films as an anthology series where each sequel would tell a new horror story that takes place on Halloween. But HIII bombed at the theaters so they brought back Myers in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. I would have loved to see a new John Carpenter produced Halloween horror film every year, HIII is my favorite flick from the franchise.


Svengoolie's song "Puttin' on the Mask!" performed during the airing of "Halloween III". The song is a parody of "Puttin' On the Ritz" a song written by Irving Berlin in May 1927 and first published it in December 2, 1929. The tune has enjoyed a number of revivals, cover versions of the song were performed by Clark Gable, Fred Astaire, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, Neil Diamond, a humorous duet by Gene Wilder as Dr. Frederick (Von) Frankenstein and Peter Boyle as the inarticulate monster in Mel Brooks' 1974 film Young Frankenstein, 80's pop star Taco, even Robbie Williams performed the song on his 2013 Swing/Pop album Swings Both Ways, plus many other lesser known musicians:

1995 A Spine-Tingling Look At Tales from the Crypt

This is an in-depth documentary about the making of the horror anthology television series Tales from the Crypt (1989-1996) as well as the season 6, 15th episode called "You, Murderer". This came out on HBO around the time "You, Murderer" aired, which according to iMDb was on 25 January 1995. Plenty of behind-the-scenes footage as well as interviews with many famous actors and filmmakers who starred and produced the show.

1985 CBS Storybreak - Witch-Cat

Another video by Youtube user GottaLovePlus. I wrote about CBS Storybreak in the 1987 CBS Storybreak - The Monster's Ring video I posted earlier this month. And like that video GottaLovePlus also custom made this video with added commercials and logos made to look like an actual TV station.

Based on the book written by Joan Carris...Witch-Cat is about a down-to-earth girl who discovers she's a witch through the efforts of a magical cat. Originally aired Saturday 11:00 AM Sep 21, 1985 on CBS, but this video was taped on WCBS-TV in 1994 with Closed Captions.

2012 There's Something Following Me

There's Something Following Me is a horror film produced by HOH Productions, directed by Robert Wray & Sean Schwaller with screenplay by Robert Wray, Sean Schwaller, Scott Schwaller and starring Amanda Wells & Bonnie Johnson. The makers of this film ran a haunted house in northern Indiana for many years, and made the move to film a few years later. An obvious move for director, Robert Wray, a very humble and talented graduate of Columbia's film school. You're in for a treat!

"Cody Richards decides to walk home from school on the afternoon of Halloween. She had no idea that something would soon be following her every step, something intent on making this Halloween her last." A great scary film with awesome Halloween/Fall scenes. The filmmakers uploaded the full film on Youtube, or you can buy a VHS (which contains the feature, plus two additional shorts and an interview with the directors) at briarwood.storenvy.com. The playlist below contains 4 videos. May be too scary for kids:

1930-1960 Spook Show Theater Trailers

Between the 1930s-1960s movie theaters would have live shows that featured magicians performing magic tricks, séances, special effects and scary skits. This was at a time when people were unaware of how these seemingly incredible tricks were pulled off and it was a relatively new form of entertainment before the invention of the haunted attraction. Many of these spook shows doubled with horror movies and played at smaller movie theaters during the Halloween season or different parts of the year. This video of trailers were shown in theaters before the horror movie. Some of this stuff is genuinely scary, especially in a dark theater. Eventually these shows would incorporate bloody special effects and sometimes be referred to as Midnight Horror Shows. The shows were daring for their time, but would phase out by the end of the 1960s. This video was put together by Something Weird Video, some of the trailers featured are:

Dr. Rome The Ghostmaster in person
Halloween Convention of Spooks
Black Magic African Doctors
Chamber of Horrors

2009 Wolfman Mac's Chiller Drive-In

Wolfman Mac's Chiller Drive-In is a horror host series hosted by "Wolfman" Mac Kelly and his sidekick, Boney Bob, a plastic skeleton purchased from K-Mart. The series aired Saturday nights at 10 pm from March 14, 2008 to October 29, 2011 on various local television stations in Detroit and on the Retro Television Network nationally. The show typically features vintage sci-fi and horror films that are in the public domain, enhanced with retro commercials, nostalgic clips, and skits. Both the cast and crew of the show are volunteers who filmed the show at Erebus Haunted Attraction in Pontiac, MI.

The Halloween episode originally aired October 31, 2009 and featured the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead which has been edited out. Wolfman Mac hands out candy to trick or treaters and later searches for his friends who vanish. This episode also features Lori Wild as Regan, Nina Kircher as Madame Nina, Dean Vanderkolk as Witch Doctor, Adam Showers as Morbid Melvin and Susan Valenti as Rubella.

1994 Walt Disney World Inside Out - October Halloween Episode

Walt Disney World Inside Out was an American monthly television show that aired on the Disney Channel from 1994 to 1997. The show featured footage of attractions at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The original host was comedian Scott Herriot, but in 1996 J.D. Roth and Brianne Leary took over the hosting duties with George Foreman as the guest co-host.

Time for the very special Halloween themed 5th episode of Walt Disney World Inside Out that originally aired in October 1994. Get a look at the (then new) Twilight Zone Tower of Terror with Gilbert Gottfried, the Maelstrom, and a rare look at the old Innoventions Imagineering Labs. Plus Pleasure Island, the Haunted Mansion, and other spooky haunts.

1994 The Norfin Adventures Castle of Doom

An animated special based on type of plastic doll with furry up-combed hair depicting a troll, also known as a Dam doll after their creator Danish woodcutter Thomas Dam. The toys were known as good luck trolls and were originally created in 1959, and became one of the United States' biggest toy fads in the early 1960s. They became fads again in brief periods from the 1970s through the 1990s and were copied by several manufacturers under different names. In the late 1980's, the Dam trolls were marketed under the trade name of Norfin Trolls in North America, with the Adopt A Norfin Troll logo on the tags. During the 1990s, several video games, a video show and animated specials were created based on troll dolls.

The Castle of Doom is a Halloween animated special originally released on VHS September 21, 1994. It's basically Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman as trolls, trying to scare away other trolls looking for something in mad scientist Doom's castle, you can’t beat that! A Christmas animated special called "A Norfin Noel" was released on VHS a year later. Read more about the Halloween animated special at HalloweenSpecials.blogspot.com. Check out the video below after the synopsis: The magical trolls are in for a night full of ghosts and goblins as they enter the "Castle of Doom" on Halloween night.

2007 Headless Horseman

Headless Horseman is a SciFi Channel (now called Syfy) film the that's based on the Legend of the Sleepy Hollow villain and originally aired in October 2007. The movie takes the tack that the Washington Irving story was the "white-washed" version and the events in this horror film is the real story. It stars Richard Moll and Billy Aaron Brown and is directed by Anthony C. Ferrante.

It's about seven college kids who take a shortcut on their way to a Halloween party and unfortunately end up in Wormwood a small town in the middle of nowhere, where the spirit of the Headless Horseman hunts them one by one.

The acting and characters were average, and the special effects were pretty good for a SciFi film. If you just want a little entertainment for an evening in, then this film is watchable, it's not great but if you don't expect too much then you can make it to the end.

1984 Elvira's MTV Halloween Special - Rockula Retrospective

I posted Elvira's 1986 MTV Halloween Special back in 2014's Halloween Countdown, here's Elvira's MTV Halloween Special from 1984. Both videos were uploaded by Rockula Retrospective a Youtube channel that features reviews, webcasts, commentary and mashups on a wide range of topics. Rockula introduces the video and explains why the music videos were edited out.



Here's a playlist of all the music videos that were cut out of the special:

2011 The Dreadful Hallowgreen Special

Count Gore De Vol started hosting horror movies beginning with WDXR in Paducah, Kentucky in 1971 continuing on WDCA in Washington DC from 1973 to 1987 and then becoming the first horror host on the Internet in 1998. Dr. Gangrene is an award-winning television horror host based in the Middle Tennessee area, played by actor/writer Larry Underwood. Penny Dreadful XIII and sidekick Garouis are television horror hosts based in New England. Penny is portrayed by actress, writer, and comedian Danielle Gelehrter. Garouis was portrayed by Magoo Gelehrter, who died in May 2014 following a battle with cancer.

Watch Count Gore De Vol introduce himself introducing The Dreadful Hallowgreen Special, a made-for-TV movie where the gregarious mad scientist Dr. Gangrene and the fetching witch Penny Dreadful along with her werewolf husband Garouis join forces to save Halloween from a terrible fate. The special was nominated for a regional Midsouth Emmy Award in 2011. It's available to buy on DVD or you can watch the video below:


The Dreadful Hallowgreen Special from Gore De Vol on Vimeo.

1995 The Missionary Mice Adventures - True Halloween

The Missionary Mice Adventures is a series of three half-hour live-action videos with original puppets and music. Utilized as fundraisers for The Christian Global Broadcasting Center. The True Halloween video was released in 1995.

The first half of the video is about kids in a haunted house. In the second half The Missionary Mice save the kids from the bully's haunted house and take them to the clubhouse/church where they teach them about the history of Halloween and sing about Jesus.

1982 Bunnicula The Vampire Rabbit

Bunnicula is 1982 animated TV special (from Ruby-Spears) that originally aired as part of ABC Weekend Special, a weekly 30-minute anthology TV series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997. The special is based on the first of a series of seven children's books written by James Howe, featuring a vampire rabbit that sucks the juice out of vegetables. The animated special deviated heavily from the novels and actively depicted Bunnicula using vampiric powers, which did not occur in the novels.

Here is the synopsis: When strange accidents happen at the factory where Mr. Monroe works, and vegetables are drained of their juices, the neighbors as well as Harold the dog and Chester the cat suspect that the new-found family bunny is really a vampire. A new animated dark comedy series about the vampire rabbit began airing on Cartoon Network and on Boomerang on February 6, 2016. A second season is slated to begin airing in 2017.

The special has vampires and all the lore that surround them, but without all the frightening stuff that'll scare the kiddies. Bunnicula, after all, does not drink blood, but vegetable juice, what better way to make veggies sound cool to kids. Just great family entertainment that is so hard to find anymore. Originally airing on January 9th 1982, the video below is a repeat of the complete WLS Channel 7 broadcast with commercials as it aired on 10/29/1983.

1981 The Munsters' Revenge

The Munsters' Revenge is a made-for-TV film produced by Universal Studios that first aired on NBC on February 27, 1981. It reunited The Munsters cast members Fred Gwynne as lovably bumbling oaf Herman, Al Lewis as cranky old Grandpa and Yvonne De Carlo who isn't given much to do as Lily. Butch Patrick and Pat Priest were replaced by newcomers Jo McDonnell as Marilyn and Canadian child actor K. C. Martel as Eddie. Peter Fox contributes a likable performance as nice guy detective Glen, and Bob Hastings is a total robust hoot as a jolly opera-singing Phantom of the Opera. The film was produced as a way for a possible sequel to the original (1964-1966) series.

The film is about a "wax museum owner/evil criminal mastermind Dr. Diablo (a frantically mugging Sid Caesar) who creates robot lookalikes of Herman and Grandpa in order to pull off an elaborate heist to frame them. They must both prove their innocence and find out the true thieves in time for the Halloween celebration at the Munster home." The Munsters' Revenge was released on VHS by Gaiam on November 7, 1996. It is available on a 2006 DVD double-feature known as Two-Movie Fright Fest alongside Munster, Go Home!

I wasn't really a fan of this film when I was a kid but I love it now. Not as great as the original 1964-1966 series but I think still good.

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Part 4::

1977-1981 Sha Na Na

Sha Na Na is an American rock and roll group. The name is taken from a part of the long series of nonsense syllables in the doo-wop hit song "Get a Job", originally recorded in 1957 by the Silhouettes. Billing themselves as "from the streets of New York" and outfitted in gold lamé, leather jackets, pompadour and ducktail hairdos, Sha Na Na performs a song and dance repertoire of classic fifties rock and roll, simultaneously reviving and parodying the music and 1950s New York street culture.

Sha Na Na hosted the Sha Na Na syndicated variety series that ran from 1977 to 1981. It was among the most watched programs in syndication during its run. The members of Sha Na Na during the TV series were Jon 'Bowzer' Bauman (vocals), Lennie Baker (sax), Johnny Contardo (vocals), Frederick 'Dennis' Greene (vocals), 'Dirty Dan' McBride (guitar) (left after third season), Jocko Marcellino (drums), Dave Ryan ('chico') (bass), 'Screamin' Scott Simon (piano), Scott 'Santini' Powell (vocals), Donald 'Donny' York (vocals). Each was introduced only by his nickname or his first name in a voice-over by Myers at the beginning of each show.

Their current touring group features original members Donny York and Jocko Marcellino, and long-time member Screamin' Scott Simon. Everyone else from the original band and TV show has since departed. Current band members include bassist Tim Butler, guitarist Gene Jaramillo, drummer Paul Kimbarow, and sax player Michael Brown.

Here are Halloween related skits and music from the series. I used to watch this when I was a kid, I don't remember it being so awful. You can watch a lot more skits at Foofsmom's YouTube account.

Monster Mash skit with classic monsters:


Green Door skit with aliens in a bar:


Purple People Eater skit:


Jocko, Scott, Bowzer and Santini singing Silvery Moon:


Bowzer and Jocko in the graveyard skit:


Monster Mash Olympics from their back to the 50's party video:

1991-2000 Monstervision - Halloween II (1981), III (1982), and Friday the 13th Marathon

MonsterVision is an American variety series that aired on TNT from early 1991 to September 2000. (There is no clear air date for the first MonsterVision but the oldest known video footage of the marathon is from 1991.) Movies were shown and a claymation style moon character narrated the bumper segments and served as the host. Later, Penn and Teller guest-hosted MonsterVision marathons featuring mainly old B-Movies from the 1950s and 1960s. From 1995 to 2000 Joe Bob Briggs (who hosted a similar program on The Movie Channel called Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater) became the permanent host of the series. This new version of MonsterVision featured mainly classic horror and schlock films from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

Briggs went on to host MonsterVision for four years, before TNT executives decided to change the station's format to show mainly Hollywood films. Briggs has said he believes TNT showing fewer horror and drive-in movies may have led to the program's fall. On July 8, 2000, Briggs unknowingly hosted MonsterVision for the last time (showing Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice). Days later, Briggs received a letter from TNT management, stating that "his services were no longer needed." Afterwards, the show returned to its original non-host format. MonsterVision was removed from TNT's lineup in early September 2000.

Since the cancellation, Briggs has remained an active speaker and writer, and has contributed commentary tracks to several DVDs. Support Joe Bob @ http://www.joebobbriggs.com/

I grew up watching two horror hosts, Commander USA and Joe Bob Briggs, and I love that there are so many MonsterVision (and Commander USA) videos on youtube. I wish I had time to watch them all but who does really. In the next 4 Halloween related videos, Joe Bob hosts (and pokes fun at) Halloween II, Halloween III and Friday the 13th. The films have been edited out obviously due to copyright claims. I'm not sure when any of these originally aired.

In these clips, Joe Bob looks at 1981's Halloween II:


Clips from the showing of 1982's Halloween III Season of the Witch and a visit a from the mail girl:


More clips from a different airing of Halloween III with repeat segments:


Here are clips from the first annual dusk-til-dawn "Friday The 13th" marathon on Halloween night. Parts 1-3, 5 and 6 were featured.

1986 My Pet Monster

My Pet Monster is one of the few plush dolls marketed to boys first produced by American Greetings in 1986 and most popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The doll has blue fur, horns and a fanged smile, and is recognizable by its orange plastic handcuffs. The handcuffs could also be worn by children and came with a breakaway link so that the child could simulate breaking the chain. Several versions of the doll have been released in various sizes and other attributes. Capitalizing on the nostalgia in many children of the '80s, vivid released a 22-inch tall talking My Pet Monster doll in 2001.

The plush dolls spawned this 1986 live-action direct-to-video film about a boy named Max (Sunny Besen Thrasher) and his sister Melanie (Alyson Court) who go to a museum and see a monster-like statue that Dr. Snyder (Colin Fox) had brought back from the Middle East. After being exposed to the statue and sunlight simultaneously, Max finds himself turning into the furry blue monster whenever he gets hungry. Dr. Snyder tries to hold him captive, but Max escapes and eludes him. The dolls also spawned a 1987 My Pet Monster children's animated series that ran for one season (13 episodes) on ABC, produced by Ellipse (France), Nelvana (Canada), and Hi-Tops Video in association with Golden Books.

This is laughably bad (especially the Monster costume/animatronics) but it's classic 80's cheese. Halloween is only mentioned once at the end of the video.

1987 CBS Storybreak - The Monster's Ring

CBS Storybreak was a Saturday morning anthology television series produced by Australia's Southern Star Entertainment and America's Hanna-Barbera Productions that originally aired on the CBS network. The episodes were half-hour animated adaptations of children's books published at the time of airing. The 1985–1986 season was hosted by Captain Kangaroo himself Bob Keeshan and was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program. It continued in reruns until 1988 and returned to air in reruns (with Malcolm Jamal-Warner replacing Keeshan as host) from the 1993–94 season to 1997–98 season. Though neither Keeshan nor Jamal-Warner appear in the video below.

The Monster's Ring episode is based on the book written by Bruce Coville...Russell is sure that the ring is just a silly magic trick, but he follows the instructions and twists the ring twice anyway — and becomes a monster! This was taped on WCBS-TV in 1993. Unique for an American television series, the series featured open captions by The Caption Center for the hearing impaired during its 1993 reairing, instead of the usual closed captioning. In addition to being a convenience for the hearing-impaired, this also allowed those who could hear to read along with the story.

This video was custom made by Youtube user GottaLovePlus with added commercials and logos made to look like an actual TV station.