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.

  

Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game

Video games + Killer Klowns From Outer Space? Take my money, please! I'm not a huge gamer, but this one looks like it will be a TON of fun and will be a title that I'll definitely grab!

Killer Klowns is really picking up momentum this year, with a bunch of fun collectibles showing up at Spirit Halloween, a brand new soundtrack release from Waxwork Records, and now a video game. Clowns usually don't do much for me, but for this I'm all in! It looks like Killer Klowns From Outer Space: The Game (which is created by one of the executive directors of Friday the 13th: The Game!) will be released in early 2023. So now we wait...

And as an added bonus, it looks like both the soundtrack AND this new game are including that oh-so-epic theme song from The Dickies!!!

  

Ghost - "Hunter's Moon" (NES Version)

Just over a month ago, I kicked off the Halloween season with Ghost's newest song, "Hunter's Moon." Another super-catchy tune from the Swedish metal ghouls that ended up on the new Halloween Kills soundtrack.

And just over a month later, the internet has done its thing. An incredible cover version, done in a Nintendo style 8-bit audio complete with a really well done "video game" video.

And I'll be damned if it isn't just as catchy! Enjoy!

  

"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" For The Atari 2600

So if you thought yesterday's post about the "Halloween" video game for the Atari 2600 was crazy, just wait!

While I was researching Wizard Video Games, the short-lived company that produced "Halloween," I quickly discovered that they released one other interesting game in 1983 before calling it a day:

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre!!

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Who is the guy with the gun on the cover!?!?

Now you may be saying to yourself, "I have never heard of either of this games." I hadn't either. And for good reason! Both Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre were not really games that could be marketed to the young Atari 2600 crowd, and apparently many stores refused to carry them, leading to poor sales of both titles. It was claimed that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre only reached around 900 units in total sales.

Another reason for this one tanking may have been the gameplay. Check out the video below, where you play as Leatherface wielding your 8-bit chainsaw, dodging fences, cow skulls and wheelchairs, all while trying to saw up your victims! It gets pretty stale quickly, but how was this ever approved for sale!?

And of course low initial sales can really only lead to one thing: Collectability!! "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," along with "Halloween" and the infamous "E.T." have absolutely skyrocketed in aftermarket value.

Proof positive is this incredibly rare sealed copy that has also been signed by 7 of the actors from the film over on eBay. Yes, you are reading that right.

An impossibly rare sealed game, authenticated and graded, plus autographed by 7 of the film's actors, for an absolutely, positively ridiculous FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!!!!

It looks like I won't be buying that one anytime soon, but the game's dubious history and it's tie-in to the legendary film make it an obvious collector's gem. For now, I'll just reminisce about my youthful days playing non-chainsaw classics like River Raid, Pitfall! and Yars' Revenge!

"Halloween" For The Atari 2600

Here's one for the older folks following along! Do you remember how amazing the Atari 2600 was when it came out? The dawn of the video game home console era ushered in so many classics! Pac Man, Space Invaders, Frogger, Asteroids, Halloween.

Wait, what?

Back in 1983 when I was playing River Raid, Pitfall! and Yars' Revenge, Wizard Video Games released Halloween, based on the original 1978 John Carpenter classic.

At that time, I had never even heard of the game, partially due to the haphazard way the game was released, and then Wizard's eventual bankruptcy soon after.

But in seeing the gameplay, I wish I had picked up a copy along the way! The unnamed babysitter evades the unnamed killer as she tries to rescue random children in the house's two floors. And Carpenter's iconic film theme translates wonderfully into 8-bit mode, even if the blocky graphics are a laugh compared to today's games.

If this has piqued your interest, be prepared for sticker shock, as the game's collectability has gone through the roof! A quick check over at eBay reveals absolutely RIDICULOUS resale prices!

And if you're not ready to shell out that kind of money, simply enjoy the wonderful 8-bit music and blocky characters in the game-play video below.

You can read a bit more about Halloween here. Enjoy!

 

Organ Trail

So Halloween is now well over and you're sitting around wondering what you can do to combat the boredom. Well, I stumbled upon this little nugget, sure to consume hours of your time.

For those of you old enough remember the original 1974 computer game, Oregon Trail, comes this twisted little remake:

Organ Trail, created by The Men Who Wear Many Hats, updates the original choose-your-own-adventure gameplay by letting the player navigate not through the hardships of the pioneer-era Oregon Trail, but through a zombie-strewn highway out of modern-day Washington, D.C. The graphics even replicate the original 8-bit look. It's old school fun all the way!

And while it is still in a beta version, Organ Trail kept me giggling through each screen. I can't wait for this to come out in a full version so that I can waste many a cold, winter hour escaping the zombie-infested wasteland of our nation's capital.