Michaels Spooky Town Gas N' Ghoul

Holy crap!

It's not often that I make a visit to Michaels as I'm not exactly an arts and crafts type person. However, when I heard they were early to the Halloween party, I knew I had to make a quick stop in. I walked in expecting lots of arts and crafts type stuff but I expected NOTHING like this! Like a Christmas village gone awry, this was a crazy Halloween village that attracted me like a moth to a flame. And wait, what? Everything featured in the display is 30% off? To quote wrestling announcer Joey Styles "Oh my God!"

This haunted town was made up of literally everything you could think of, haunted belfrys, a trick or treat house, a crazy costume shop, and a ZOMBIE CAROUSEL!! I wanted literally everything on the display but I had to control myself as my budget only allowed me to consider certain things. As much as I loved the zombie carousel, I couldn't justify blowing my whole entire Halloween budget on one item, so I carefully scanned the display and came across two really cool pieces ... a trick or treat house (which was basically a standard house decorated with all kinds of Halloween craziness) and a ghostly gas station complete with zombie attendant. In the end, the only one they had in stock was the gas station so obviously I had to get it, complete with the great price tag of 30% off.

Behold the Spookytown Gas N' Ghoul. After looking at the pieces that were in my budget, this was the one that spoke to me and it was the last one they had in stock at the time and yes, as I mentioned, it was 30% off the price tag. There's so much going on here so lets bust into the box to check it out.

Here it is in all it's out of the box glory. The detail is downright remarkable, right to the facial features on the two figures and the design of the car. There's even an attachable wind vane that goes on top. The only real minor flaw in the packaging was that the electrical cord was literally hidden. It was hidden so well that I thought it was missing and called the store to confirm. They said that there was a little pocket in the styrofoam where the plug was. I found it and it was not clearly labeled at all. 

Now some closeups ...

Here's the proprietor of the Gas N Ghoul, one Barry D. Hatchet (I just made that up by the way). Old Mr. Hatchet has been running this gas station since cars were invented one could assume, and as you can see, to get in the Halloween spirit, he's put jack-o-laterns on top of the pumps. He knows the reason that Spooky Town became so spooky, but if he told you, he'd have to kill you.

Here's the poor sap, John Howard (another made up name), pulling in to refuel. Something tells me that he made a wrong turn somewhere.

This doesn't look promising. It sort of reminds me of the time I went camping with a friend of mine and his dad on the old man's property in the middle of nowhere. The only lavatory was an outhouse that probably hadn't been used in five years and apparently had a tarantula living in the bottom of the toilet. I didn't care to find out if that was true or not.

I must say, this was about $40 well spent. This thing will definitely be the centerpiece of the Halloween mood display this year! Speaking of the mood display, check back this weekend for the unveiling!