64.  For these incredible Commodore 64 game versions of Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Evil Dead.

65. For 1965. The year in which ex-NFL wide receiver Cris Carter was born. Cris Carter played for the Minnesota Vikings. And VIKING metal is one of our favorite subgenres of heavy metal.

Out of all the viking metal out there, our favorite has to be Amon Amarth. This is them, in their finest:

Cool post from Awkward Family Photos in honor/promotion of the opening of the latest Exorcist film, The Last Exorcism.

This screenshot is from a buddy’s office. I am honored.

66 days until Halloween. 66, when given one more digit, is the great number of all time, 666.

I actually feel very sorry for the number 66. So many times, people probably mistake you for your older and much cooler brother, 666. But alas, you fall just short.

The black sheep. The redheaded stepchild. The Corey Feldman. You’re always one step behind the rest.

So every year, I visit what I think is the best amusement park in the world, Cedar Point. They have bone-shaking roller coasters like the Millenium Force that give me the chills and the best kind of natural high. It’s a no-frills park, as people are only there for the rides. Not for stupid parades or theme rides.

Every year, they have HalloWeekends in the fall. I have yet to go, but apparently they transform the park into one huge haunted playground, with several haunted houses and other attractions.

Probably the most amusing aspect of the events is their hiring policy. During the summer, CP is manned by young college kids or foreigners visiting for the summer. All clean-cut for the most part, wearing standard-issue uniforms.

There are signs posted throughout the park indicating that given the nature of Halloween, “normal” hiring restrictions like tattoos and piercings are OK in this sense. Let the freaks come out and play.

Anywho, they’ve began to advertise HalloWeekends throughout the park, and they do so by clever little displays featuring skeletons, coffins, and corny phrases.

Here are some pics from one such display, the C.O. Fin Used Casket Emporium.

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67 days until Halloween. On August 21st, 1967, Serj Tankian was born. Serj has a song called Lie Lie Lie, which is the theme song to one of my favorite (yet short-lived) horror TV shows, Fear Itself.

Fear Itself was a great show. It was a continuation of the Masters of Horrors which was on Showtime, so the violence and such had be toned down a bit, but the shows were still great. Each episode has a different director and feel, each like their own short movie. Perfect for people like me who don’t have the time or attention spam to watch horror movies on a more regular basis.

I wish this format would catch on more. All the great horror series (Tales from the Crypt, Fear Itself, Twilight Zone) eventually die out, and it seems like we’re waiting forever for a new show to come along. At least, one that’s easily accessible on mainstream TV. Luckily, we have a lot of great internet TV these days, but a lot of times people don’t know where to start looking.

You can watch some episodes free from NBC here.

This is truly sad. Nergal, the frontman for one of our favorite bands Behemoth, has been diagnosed with Leukemia (Behemoth had already canceled an upcoming tour because of this).

Apparently he’s already past the point of chemotherapy being an option, so it’s only bone marrow transplants at this point. Keep him in your thoughts.

[Via MetalSucks]

The older I get, the more I seem to revert back to childhood tendencies. Mostly in the way I compulsively buy worthless things that just kinda take up space.

So the story goes with trading cards. I’ve always been a big fan of trading cards, collecting sports cards when I was kid. I occasionally dabbled in non-sports cards for movies and TV shows.

I found a local store in Brooklyn called PopFuzz which caters to all of my juvenile needs. They have comics toys, great records and books and movies, and most importantly, shitloads of old trading cards still in the packages. It’s a great store, so if you’re around town, be sure to stop in.

Over the past few weekends I’ve stumbled in and bought mounds of these cards (the store is on my standard Saturday/Sunday morning hangover route to the drug store for energy drinks and snacks) and am excited to report that the cards are as great as ever. I got loads of mostly TV and movie-related ones, like Bill and Ted, Saved By the Bell, Ninja Turtles, YO! MTV Raps, American Gladiator, Rock Stars, In Living Color, among many others.

If nothing else, these cards give me a minute to reflect on the good ‘ole days, when things were simpler. And then I cry a bit, realizing I’ll never see those days again.

Here, I’ll focus on TDD-related ones, mainly the Fright Flicks, Tales From the Crypt, and Gremlins 1/2 cards.

Tales From the Crypt

These were some pretty silly cards. They featured a mix of the crypt keeper saying stupid shit (there’s a theme here), old Tales From the Crypt comic covers, etc.

Even the packaging was cute. There’s a little line “Your friends will die of envy!” if you complete the whole set. And if you don’t buy the collector album, “YOU KNOW KIDDIES … LOTS OF HORRIBLE THINGS CAN HAPPEN TO YOUR CRYPT CARDS!”. Anyways, these are still fun, and remind of staying up late during the summer as a kid watching TFTC on HBO.

Fright Flicks

You can imagine that finding these old gems got me more excited than any of the other cards. 1985/1987 vintage (the box contained packs from different years, which is kinda strange).

Firstly, they’ve got great packaging. As you can see above, you have Freddy, the Predator, what I think is Pumpkin Head, and a chick from Fright Night. All poorly drawn.

Secondly, you have excruciatingly painful quips and puns on each of the cards. Here are some choice examples:

“MAN, MY DOGS ARE KILLING ME!” says the dog thing from Ghostbusters. “TRY THE SHRIMP TEMPURA ..” yeah that’s great.

More intelligent things. I do have to say though, the stickers kicked ass. Freddy for president? I’ll put that on my lunchbox or trapper keeper any day of the week.

Aliens, Day of the Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street 1/2/3, Ghostbusters, Fright Night, the Fly, Vengeance: The Demon (which was what the first Pumpkinhead was called apparently) comprise the films that have cards in this set. All cheesy enough to be worthy of entry in this series.

These are just fun. Also, apparently other people get a kick out of these cards too.

Gremlins

Actually, I’m tired. Gremlins cards were Gremlins cards. They were fun.

So, I’m really reaching for a post idea today. Our official Halloween countdown still has not begun in earnest, but while searching around the internet for anything interesting about the number 68, I came across the following factoid from this Wikipedia article:

68 is the most well-proportioned number

I’m still on a mission to figure out what that exactly means, but what it makes me think of are well-proportioned women. Sorry, but it does.

Speaking of which …

How does she look like that without all that makeup? What a sweet looking lady.