It is 13 October. There are 18 days until Halloween.

Last week, I had a good time looking at the lost art of the TV spot – those stripped-down movie trailers that played during the commercial breaks. These 30-second ads were a cacophonous feast for the eyes and ears. They used their limited allotted time to the utmost in order to convince you to take a trip to a multiplex near you and plunk down your hard-earned cash on new fright flick. Oftentimes what you saw in the TV spot was very different tonally from what you saw on the big screen. Sometimes, you saw shots and scenes in the TV spot that never made it into the finished movie. You may have felt like the victim of a bait-and-switch, but you had to admit that the TV spot was an artform in its own right.

But what if you weren’t in front of a TV? What if it was summer, and you were at the beach of the backyard catching some rays? What if you were working your shift at the local pizza joint, and all you had to pass the time (aside from making free food for your friends) was a radio? How are you gonna know what movie to go out and see come the weekend?

Well, just like TV, radio needs advertisement dollars to stay on the air. So, in between blasts of Kim Carnes and Rick Springfield, you got to hear ads for the latest flick via the radio spot.

Radio spots were great – especially for horror films. Thirty-second symphonies of screams, growls, and revving chainsaws. They made even less sense than the TV spot, but like their visual cousins, radio spots were toe-tapping ditties in their own right.

Let’s take a listen to some radio spots from the 1980s. Just imagine that you’re lying on a beach towel at the shore wondering what in the heck you’re gonna do with the ten bucks burning a hole in your Jamz...

Friday the 13th, dir. by Sean S. Cunningham

Friday the 13th, Part 2, dir. by Steve Miner

Halloween II, dir. by Rick Rosenthal

Halloween III: Season of the Witch, dir. by Tommy Lee Wallace

(How in the world did they not use the "Silver Shamrock" jingle in their campaign?!)

The Thing, dir. John Carpenter

Basket Case, dir. by Frank Henenlotter

Creepshow, dir. by George A. Romero

Day of the Dead, dir. George A. Romero

Texas Chain Saw Massacre 2, dir. by Tobe Hooper

Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn, dir. by Sam Raimi

Prince of Darkness, dir. by John Carpenter

A Nightmare on Elm Street, Part 4: The Dream Master, dir. by Renny Harlin

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

No, just because the stores have started to celebrate Christmas doesn’t mean I have. Christmas stopped being a big deal for me ‘round about the time I became more excited to find a pair of socks in my stocking instead of a Star Wars action figure. The most wonderful time of year that I am alluding to is centered around eating candy, wearing masks in public, watching tons of movies, and getting the pants scared off of you.

Hmmm. It seems that Halloween and life in 2020 have a lot in common. I guess COVID is just another of life’s drear events that horror movies prepared me for.

Normally, I would be spending the coming month posting all sorts of spooky nonsense on Facebook for my friends and family. Having recently left Facebook for good, however, my celebration of Halloween will take place here at LARPing Real Life. So, for the next thirty days, I want to share some Halloween memories, movies, and stories with you.

As someone who read the HBO guide religiously as a kid, marking off every airing of every film that promised adult situations, adult language, and graphic violence, I thought I’d give you a schedule of sorts so you can tune in when you want. Here’s what you can expect for the next month:

• Thursdays will be all about my personal feelings and remembrances of Halloween.
• Fridays you’ll get a spooky movie.
• Saturdays will bring a short story (maybe even one of my own!)
• Sundays we’ll listen to an old-time radio program or new-fangled audio drama podcast.
• Mondays we’ll listen to music.
• Tuesdays are for movie trailers and tv spots.
• Wednesdays are wild cards. I have no idea what we’ll do!

Honestly, I hope I can complete this project and make it through to Halloween in one piece. Being a very slow writer, this is going to be quite the gauntlet for me. I am, hopefully, setting myself up to succeed. Unlike the other writings you’ll find on LARPing Real Life, my Halloween posts will be short, sweet, and to the point (if they even have one). I want them to be more like the oral tales you tell around the campfire. They won’t be anything you’ll have to spend too much time with, but, hopefully like those fireside stories of old, they’ll affect you and stick with you.

So, get ready, folks, the show is about to begin!