Haunted: Halloween ’86 - Spirit Edition

 

RETURN TO POSSUM HOLLOW
October 31st 2025: On a quiet evening in Possum Hollow, two kids are looking for the perfect Donny and Tami costumes. On a quest to dress up as their heroes, Steven and Kym venture into a Spirit Halloween, but just as they put on the costumes, they’re surprised by Jack the Reaper who plummets them through a vortex back to 1986 to relive the infamous nightmare that Donny and Tami endured

Jack the Reaper has taken over Possum Hollow with a few old friends and they are having so much fun, it’s scary. To find their way home our heroes must battle all sorts of evil and there is nowhere to hide…

SAVE HALLOWEEN!
Teamwork is the key to returning to 2025 in time to trick-or-treat. Steven and Kym must work together to overcome spooky obstacles, climb through chaos, dodge pumpkins and destroy enemies before they come face to face with Spirit Halloween’s finest. With exciting challenges, insane surprises, and a sweet soundtrack…

Are you ready to return to Possum Hollow? Join the fun and grab a limited-edition physical copy of the game while online-only supplies last! This game is compatible with the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and select Retron consoles.

I will freely admit that I rarely ever buy anything from Spirit Halloween. It's nothing against them, I just don't have a need for any of the horror tchotchkes or cartoon-y animatronics that they sell. Of course, this never stops me from hitting up the local Spirit each October just to see their offerings...

But in this case, I think I'm going to make an exception. Because Spirit recently released Haunted: Halloween ’86 - Spirit Edition, a full retro-inspired 8-bit (Spirit) Halloween game for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. This is absolute marketing genius. 

I'm definitely a sucker for anything "nostalgic Halloween" and by the looks of the fun gameplay below, I'll be heading over to mom's house to dig out the old original NES system from her basement and dropping this one in to give it a try!

Haunted: Halloween ’86 - Spirit Edition is back in stock after selling out the first batch and available here.

  

Great Pumpkin Project Drop No. 1: The Spirit of Halloween

Last night, I finally joined in on this year's Great Pumpkin Project fun with my first jack-o-lantern drop of the season.

I picked up a nice little pumpkin from the corner store and brought him home. My son got really excited when I asked him to draw the face, and after a quick carve and a GPP tag attachment, he was ready to go...

Now there are a TON of really great locations around, but one particular place just kinda popped into my head and stuck. It seemed like an obvious location. So we loaded the pumpkin into the car, and headed out.

Upon arrival, I was surprised at how many people were still in the parking lot and the establishment itself. We had to sit for a few minutes before we could do the deed. We grabbed the pumpkin and casually walked over to a patch of trees just off to the side of the entrance to our local Spirit Halloween...

After the successful drop, we walked into the store, browsing all of the animated props, costumes and masks. We then exited, walking past the jack and admiring our work as we drove off.

There is nothing like the feeling of a good pumpkin drop. I just hope this one sticks around long enough so that like-minded Halloween fans might catch a glimpse and share in the enjoyment.

Drop number two is coming shortly...

  

Trick 'r Treat In Theaters Tomorrow!

Well, I have been sitting on this one since I first heard about it, but... Sam FINALLY gets to bring his show to the big screen. I THINK I'm excited about this? Since 2007 when it got a "straight-to-DVD" release, I have faithfully and gleefully watched Trick 'r Treat on Halloween eve (and a few other times throughout the Halloween season). But for the first time ever, due to it's ever-increasing popularity as a new cult classic, fans across the country get to watch it all on the big screen.

I quickly went back and forth, but decided that I simply HAVE to see it in the theater. It's too great not to! It's too important of a Halloween tradition to skip out on, so I will most definitely carve out a time (see what I did there?) to head to my local theater and take it all in.

Regal Cinemas starts their showings tomorrow, with other theater chains starting soon after, so let's make Sam a box office hit.

Even if it IS fifteen years late...

And on a Trick 'r Treat sidenote, Spirit Halloween is also doing a themed giveaway. Enter for a chance to win a pack of their Sam-themed tchotchkis here!

  

Retro Frankenstein Half-Mask From Spirit Halloween

So for the past few seasons, I would get really excited when I'd see the annual "Coming Soon, Spirit Halloween!" signs go up in vacant store fronts. And for the past few seasons, I would be disappointed in their offerings and walk out of the store a bit sad and empty-handed. There was just nothing there that I really wanted or needed for my particular haunt style. I just wasn't their target customer...

But fast-forward to this year, and after seeing the sign I figured I'd give it another shot. I entered the store with my son, keeping an open mind to see if there might be something, anything, that might catch my eye. But really, I went to see if I could get a costume for my son, since we are in fact having trick-or-treat this year!

As I perused the aisles, I skimmed past the usual trinkets and cheap props. But as I walked past the wall of masks, something really caught my eye...

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A post shared by Highbury Cemetery (@highbury_cemetery) on Sep 17, 2020 at 6:18pm PDT

This amazing, retro Frankenstein half-mask! I know it isn't much, but for the first time in a long while I said, "That is cool!" A nice homage to the plastic Ben Cooper half-masks that practically smothered me to death each Halloween when I was young.

I snagged the last one off of the rack, determined to make a Spirit Halloween purchase. I also grabbed a rather cool Fortnite character costume for my son (he was stoked!), and it looks like he's set for the big night. We're both ready to go!

And with the ridiculous amount of Spirit Halloween coupons I now have, I think I'm going to go back and snag the cool retro mummy, vintage devil, and classic cat half-masks, too.

This truly is a strange year!