A Haunting We Will Go

Well, it's officially autumn, even though you'd never know it by the weather here in Texas. That didn't stop me from heading over to Target to check out their new Halloween decorations a few weeks ago though. I just love Target. They have the best seasonal stuff. It's their attention to design that really sets them apart from the crowd.

Well, this year, Target did it again. They've created a GREAT Halloween campaign and their characters are great. So simple, so clean, so classic. Timeless. I know it sounds like I'm gushing, but I really do appreciate the visual aspect of marketing.

I ended up buying a couple of ceramic figurines, some stickers, some Halloween greeting cards and some DVDs, but there was so much more that I wanted, but didn't really need. I may be forced to return for the jack-o-lantern cookie jar, though. It's just too great!


[1] Ceramic vampire and black cat figurines
[2] 4 sheets of Halloween stickers
[3] Large (a little under 3ft. tall) papier-mâché(?) candy holders
[4] Halloween napkins
[5] Tabletop honeycomb decoration
[6] Jack-o-lantern cookie jars
[7] Limited-Edition Halloween sodas from Jones Soda. How friggin' cool are these!? Leave it to Jones Soda (the makers of the infamous Thanksgiving and Christmas flavored sodas) to create some awesome new flavors for Halloween! There were four different flavors, but I just bought the Candy Corn and the Scary Berry Lemonade flavors. The other flavors were Caramel Apple and Strawberry S'lime. The Halloween cans are an exclusive deal with Target. What a great idea! Their marketing people are brilliant.

In addition to the Halloween-themed sodas from Jones, I noticed that there were some trick-or-treat-sized Halloween-themed juice boxes in the same area! They are about half the size of a regular juicebox (think tall and rectangular) and were orange and had a green vampire wearing a cape along the length of the box! They also had some with mummies on them! How cute is that!!? I just love the ingenuity of some of the new Halloween treats! Speaking of, the folks at Pringles have also gotten into the spirit of trick-or-treating, with their orange-colored mini cans, filled with Halloween-themed potato crisps! Fun!


In addition to the decorations, there was some great stuff in the $1 section. I was most excited about the Halloween DVDs!! Where else can you get a classic double feature DVD, complete with a vintage cartoon for just a buck?! I bought two, but there were 4 different ones. I actually already have most of them on DVD, but in the case of the ones I bought, I only had one of the two movies on each disc. Plus, I'm a sucker for vintage cartoons!

The DVDs come in carboard boxes, but the picture quality is surprisingly good for these types of movies. I've seen some pretty shitty copies and these transfers are NICE. Also, the main menu on the DVD is surprisingly snazzy. A fun, unexpected touch. And, the cartoons are GREAT. I was so excited to see that the Chills DVD compilation had an Oswald Rabbit cartoon on it!! I haven't seen Oswald in forever! GOOD stuff!

[1] Chills: Dead Men Walk (1943) and The Monster Maker (1944) + a vintage cartoon!
[2] Tales of the Undead: Atom Age Vampire (1960) and Revolt of the Zombies (1936) + a vintage cartoon!

So, what are you waiting for? Get ye to Target, ASAP!