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!

Pecan Pie and White Boo-tterscotch M&Ms

Oh, M&Ms, you never cease to amaze me with the crazy seasonal flavors you come out with. Last year, it was Pumpkin Spice Latte and Candy Corn flavors, this year its Pecan Pie and White Boo-tterscotch flavors. The concept is good, but let's see if they really work.

White Boo-tterscotch

I heard about these via some of the foodie websites my wife frequents and to be honest, I was pretty excited. My favorite dessert at Thanksgiving is the butterscotch pie that my aunt makes so when I heard about these, I knew I had to make a beeline to the nearest Target. These were positioned right in the middle of the main aisle with a bunch of other standard M&M flavors like peanut and peanut butter in the requisite fall packaging as was just about the only Halloween related thing Target had out. I like the package with Red getting all scared and ghosts abundant all around

Here's what they look like out of the package. Three different colors, brown, white and tan. I tried one of each color and then all three colors together. The inside is white as it states on the package and the butterscotch flavor is pretty strong but captures the flavor perfectly. They're also pretty sweet and after just having the small amount in the bowl, I feel like I could run about 10 laps around the block. If you're a fan of butterscotch flavored stuff, then these are definitely worth a try.

Pecan Pie

The other offering from M&Ms this fall ... Pecan Pie. I've never really been a big fan of pecan pie as pecans covered in gobs of karo syrup never really looked all that appealing to me. The packaging on this is very enticing with Green sitting on some haystacks offering up a big slice of pecan pie topped with whipped cream. Hopefully these will live up to the lofty packaging standards in terms of taste.

Again, here's what they look like out of the package. They're a bit darker than the butterscotch. As for how they taste, they're a bit underwhelming honestly. I was expecting a blow away flavor of pecan pie like I had with the butterscotch ones but there wasn't any of that. These tasted exactly like regular M&Ms with the slightest hint of pecan in the aftertaste. Not exactly my favorites so these will be pawned off on others. 

I'd definitely get the butterscotch ones again but the pecan pie ones I'll pass on. 

Project Halloween Begins .... NOW!!

Welcome to Project Halloween 2016!

Let's do this.

Project Halloween is born out of a love of the fall and Halloween season that I discovered about ten years ago. Back in 2007, a few friends and I came up with the idea to do a video reviewing Halloween candy, decorations, and the like and put it online the Friday before Halloween. While we were doing that, I was the main person going out to stores getting goofy candies, rubber masks, cheap props, etc that we could all review and talk about during the special. During that time, I discovered a love for the holiday and the season that I never knew I had. Those specials continued yearly and eventually made it onto YouTube until our last one in 2014. There wasn't one last year as everyone's schedules made it incredibly difficult to get together and film.

I know most, if not all, of you come here for the trading card content. Between now and November, that will be on the back burner in favor of Project Halloween. Come November, once we're all suffering from a Halloween hangover and I've blown through at least 100 cans of Mountain Dew and untold boxes of pumpkin flavored junk food, cards will be back in full force. Trading cards are around and available all year, while fall and Halloween only comes around once, so why not embrace it while I can. It is my favorite time of year after all.

So what is in store for Project Halloween? Anything and everything! The "Hallo-Switch" is in full effect where stores have started clearing out their beach chairs, grills, and school supplies and are replacing them with masks, candy, plastic weaponry, shrunken heads, costumes, etc. That, along with the amount of seasonal food already available (and judging by what's out there, it's going to be a very heavy year on the pumpkin spice), should make for a fun Halloween season. I can't guarantee a new post every day but there will be plenty to go around, don't worry.

Besides the Halloween standards like candy and decor, there will be all kinds of other stuff ... fall festivals, farm markets, horror films, trick-or-treat night, seasonal beers, and lots of other random junk that I'm sure hasn't even shown up yet but probably will between now and October 31st. Oh yeah, the blog got a little Halloween makeover just to make sure the spooky season is done right.

Since this is a kick-off to Halloween and in order to get you into the Halloween spirit there are a number of things you could do right now, but the biggest one of all is to get out and do some shopping! Call it a Halloween treasure hunt if you will. Sure most stores may not have a full-fledged display out yet but if you just look at little closer or go out of your way to look, you never know what you might find. Now is the time where each evening walk, each trip to the store, and a million, trillion mundane, routine items we do on a daily basis are now all out adventures and I encourage you to take advantage of it.

So come on in, boys and girls, sit down, and stay for a while, there's nothing to be scared of. My only hope is that you have as much fun reading my two month ode to this time of year as I do writing it. If it helps you embrace and rediscover the best time of the year, then I've done my job and far as making it fun. I hope you as readers enjoy it and I encourage you to leave comments and spread the word if you do.

For the next two months, we're going to go crazy folks. Enjoy it, savor it, make it your own. Halloween only comes around once a year, it's our duty to do it right. Now, do yourself a favor and kick back with some popcorn, your favorite drink, and Friday the 13th: Part 3.

We're gonna party until we're dead.