Embedded Files
I was thinking it might be a fun go to visit the funpacks for the Halloween lead up. For DinoDrac, the eerie season can start as early as August, so the funpacks before October are usually spooky themed. Let's start with August since duh, it comes first and because August gets the unfair shake as the month when school starts up. Poor august doesn't even get the luxury of being the last month of summer, so at the very least, let's celebrate it as the beginning of the spooky end of year holiday block.
August 2022
TREATS. I always start with the treats. Because in a world of global crisis, what gets me through the day is a lap of doggo and snacks. Ritz bits are always nice, and you can bet I hoarded that rice krispie treat like a dragonm hoards gold. If there's a top treat I could get if I still went trick or treating, its a mini rice krispie bar, tiny as it is. Soimething about buttery, marshmallowy, crispie treats gets me all excited. Yeah, homemade is best but in a pinch, and in a mindset of "Me First", I could knock off a box of those in one sitting.
Speaking of bites, those teeth would be adorable in a newborn's mouth if I knew they weren't made of probably dubious quality plastic, but I'm glad I have some. I currently have them hanging off my computer on a Space Marine. What a weird sentence that was but not as weird as this one:
In a bowl of skittles, one must beware of the stray M&M.
......
A pair of Wacky Packages came in the pack, and I got Fright Guard and Blunder Bread, which makes a hilarious combo. I like how well molded the little can and packages are in these sets. I know I've gotten them before, and will have to check my dinodrac tub, but I recall off the top of my head a package of parody Kraft Singles...maybe they were shingles or something I can't remember, but they looked perfect for a small dollhouse diorama. But I always appreciate these because they're not badly made. The print is clear, the colors are consistent, and the designs do a great job of mimicking the brands they parody. Great funpack-in, Matt. <3
HERE IS THE BEST THING IN THIS PACK. LOOK.
LOOK AT HER.
SHE IS PERFECT.
I don't have much else to say other than that. From the dress to the perfect size and material. *chef's kiss* Magnifique.
Moving on, here's another pack of the Filmation Ghostbusters figures from Yolanda. These were never released here so getting these always makes me happy. I also like the fact they're all doing the international signal of hailing a ride or taxi.
The mini poster is for Farley's scary fruit snacks and a sticker of the aforeshown Kool-Aid Man trick or treating. I've sadly never had them, but I am a fiend for fruit snacks. Suiper artifical, or ultra natural, I'll take anything gummy and fruity. My prefered snacks are usually fruit based, with occasional stints of time where I want chocolate, and anything salted caramel is food of the gods. Special, second place Jugglus Juggler ribbon goes to peanut butter cups. Or maybe they're always secondplace and I just don't wanna admit it.
Who am I kidding? I'd off a head of steate for a Reeces' bat. For real.
Here's a close up of the cute snackbag everything came in. Usually, we get orange ones but man, the black ones are super cool. I've been hanging them off my doorknob to my room, and surprisingly the dogbeast named Ace hasn't tried to get them yet. "Yet" is the operative word, of course. He could be plotting to destroy them as we speak, and I'm not just saying that cuz he's sleeping sweetly on my bed atm. Maybe.
The newslewtter and essay are nice. The art challenge is to design a McNugget Buddy halloween costume. Of course, I'd probably do an Ultraman one...though the thought of a kaiju or a sailor senshi also appeal to me.
The essay is on Halloweening after midnight, and there are some really fun things, like eBay sniping or going to a 24/7 store to look for last minute halloween gear. Eerie arts and crafts also sounds like super fun, if only this year Halloween wasn't on a Monday D8. But I can guarantee I might if I don't finish 31 Monster Girls this year ;.;. But if you're up for last minute spooky fun, dropping down wikipedia rabbit holes while having a movie on might be the way to go.
September 2022
So, let's move onto September.
Sorry 8D.
But on that note, I also wanna point out a little spooky game I played tonight on stream, and I don't mean Thần Trùng, which was good up- until I got bugged at the tower of hanoi puzzle 3 chapters in 8D;;;;. But the game we tried after was a crazy good, atmospheric indie game called September 1999. It was a great experience, got goosebumps playing. If you're looking for a super quick (and I mean, ULTRA QUICK, like 5 minutes) spooky game, this is it.
The sole treatsie in this box is a holy pushpop. Oh man, so I love push pops. Just popping them onto your finger and having a clip-on to save it may scream super 90s but I've always appreciated the treat design.
Sadly, the face on this one is part of the plastic wrapping instead of the push-pop itself, but I do appreciate its "I'm so done with everything" face. Like, bro, you're a super nostalgic treat, and you're all "bitch, I just can't even". I gotta give it props, and it's a freaking lollipop.
A stack of cool stickers and cards, and I always loved those. The star are the Ducktales stickers with the boys in cute simple costumes, though Webby's face is a little funny in the no-context sticker with Uncle Scrooge. They're holographic so they're obviously the best ever. The tattoo pack has 2 tattoos, one of them that I got is a grim reaper sitting in a red ring, with the words "I'm dying to meet you" along it. Clearly, art that belongs in a museum. I'm not being sarcastic, I really like this kinda art, kinda children's graphitti art.
The Madballs stickers are actually pretty cool, though the "eat my evil" seems a mite naughty in the wrong contexts XD. The Basuritas stickers are Argentinian grossout stickers in the GPK style, BUT, while the stickers aren't exactly printed on good paper (the colors can be muddy and the paper is super thin), they did come with a holographic sticker, which, as stated above, moves the stickers from mere glue paper to high art in my book. I think the theme is meant to be gross depictions of germs, so it's a pretty interesting set. If I get more, I'll be sure to show off some of the best examples (I tried with the holo one, but it didn't play nice with my iphone).
Here's another star of the funpack: a cassette tape of The Monster Squad soundtrack. I can vouch, having seen the movie years ago, this is a great soundtrack. I've gotten a few Terror-Vision Records tapes from DinoDrac, and they're always so professionally and lovingly packaged. The sound quality is pretty damn good, even for tapes (but let's be real, that's part of the charm). The little "rewind plz" stickers are so cute, and I love getting them. If you haven't had a chance to check out Terror-Visions products, I totally recommend them. If anything, the bright pink Basket Case soundtrack is well worth it just for the tape being pink alone. Check them out here: https://www.terror-vision.com/
*looks* HOLY SHIT THE PONTYPOOL SOUNDTRACK
Speaking of awesome collabs with DinoDrac, let's talk about House of Wax Melts at https://houseofwaxmelts.com/ . Wax melts are a little different spin on candle scents, where you get a small block of scented wax, and you melt them in special melter bowls (often a receptacle that has a heating module or even a tea candle space to wam the melt in a bowl above it; trust me, it makes more sense when you google this XD). I've received about 3 from DD, and they're all delightful. My first was Crystal Lake Part 2 , which is a fresh and watery lake scent of ozone with something that literally smells like a clear lake. Slightly masculine yet not overpowering. UGH I LOVE IT.
I also have Dream No More which is dreamsicles. That's it. The best orange scent ever. I'm a huge dreamsicle/orange creamsicle fan, so Dream No More was a huge deal for me.
This year's collab is Slimer Sundae, exclusive to the funpack, and it is a dreamy smell of bubblegum and vanilla, apparently formulated to be like the Slimer Sundae at Hardee's back in 92. I'd never had it, but I can definitely get behind it, especially if the syrup really was bubblegum flavored. I'm picky when it comes to my vanilla-based candle scents (I'm more a hard, sharp fruit scent or foresty/floral normally) but this is definitely one of my favorites now. I'm so glad we got this collab from House of Wax and DinoDrac. Really makes the whole thing feel really special! Also, check out this swirl! *swoon* It really nails the syrup sundae aesthetic.
Check the links above for some of these scents; I'm eyeing the Kaiju one, cuz of course I am, but Yours Cruelly, which is likely the Elvira themed one is also calling me.
The mini poster is a hilarious Freddy decoration, and along with the Madd Matt sticker, really rounds out the pack. Also, another one of these insanely good ice cream truck stickers, this time of the Blue Ghost popsicle which I've only ever seen and never had, sadly. Actually, now that I'm typing this out, I realize we used to have a neighborhood ice cream truck around here. I know they used to live around here cuz I saw the truck parked outside years ago, but since pandemic, haven't seen nor heard it. ;.; Its likely they've retired or sold the truck and got out of the buisness but it's a little sad when I consider how much of a fixture they were. I 've smack next to a couple elementary schools and a middle school, so it was a prime location. Sad how those things shake out post-lockdowns.
The essay this month is about a mini-interview with Matt answering survey questions from The Odyssey Online, and they were pretty good questions! I actually might try to squeeze an article from it, and maybe rope some of the other writers into that, so stay tuned! A sample of questions:
"Favorite horror/Halloween themed song"
"What urban legend scares you the most"
"If you got trapped in one scary movie, which would you choose?"
(though I would maybe angle that as which video game too XD Dunno who would like to be trapped in Fatal Frame or Resident Evil but its fun to think about).
Whelp sorry its late but I'mma wrap up here and try to get everything all set up for the last push of the season. I've been streaming a few horror games recently, so check out my youtube VoD uploads. (I've done Detention, Devotion, Ib, September 1999 and recently Thần Trùng so hope to see you there at my twitch! I try to stream twice a week, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
--Dio (10/25/22)
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse