What Halloween Means To Me Day 4: Eric King

This week on the countdown, I’ m featuring some of my buddies, who also just happen to be some of the best, most entertaining horror bloggers on the planet.  Today, we’re gonna hear from Eric King, aka Brobocop.  Eric writes the incredibly entertaining blog Back Online Back On Duty.  Check it out HERE.  In addition to horror, Eric has a particular soft (hard?) spot for action flicks.  In fact, he just concluded “Yeah!  Guns n’ Shit! 80’s Action Week” on his blog, which I was supposed to participate in, but absolutely flaked due to personal stuff going down.  I suck.  Anyway, he may dig some action, but the dude is all about the horror, and that’s why he’s perfect as a part of this project.  Oh, and did I mention that he consistently has the best profile pics in all of Facebook?  So Eric, tell us what Halloween means to you…

”I could sit here and pour out my love for Halloween all day long. Like so many other fans of horror films or just creepy shit in general, it is my Christmas. Additionally, it's always been more capable of bringing out the kid in me, as well. What I want to do here is talk about some random things that are responsible for why I love October 31^st so damn much. Here we go!

~Vintage Decorations~

These are some of the exact ones I remember Momps and Pops hanging up when I was a kid. This vintage stuff can be purchased online, but it's very rare to just see people using them anymore, at least in the town I live in. Maybe I'm one of those pretentious nostalgic dudes, but I'm just not as into the newer shit.

 ~Vintage Costumes~

This is the very first costume I remember having. These old school plastic jobs were honestly not the best, but when you are 5 years old and slip one of them on, you truly felt like you were the character. So, lemme tell ya how devastating it is when you go to someone's door for candy and you get mistaken for this:

I got called E.T. several times on Halloween of 1982, when I was actually f**king Yoda. And not just from real old folks who are trying to be nice but don't know any better; young parents, teenagers, even a few kids my age thought I was E.T. How the shit is that possible? In their defense, I guess, it was 1982, the year of E.T. rage, but how do you not know who Yoda is? Don't get me wrong, I love the Extra Terrestrial, but damn.

 ~Funniest Halloween Memory~

I don't remember which year this was, but Creature From the Black Lagoon was being shown on a local channel in 3D on Halloween night. It actually may have been the same year I was Yoda. All I know for certain was that I was excited as shit to get home from Trick or Treating and watch it. The entire town seemed mega excited about this, matter of fact. 3D glasses were being given out at the local convenience store for the event. Well, guess what folks, I didn't even make it five minutes into the fucking movie, because I got sent to bed. No, no, no, not because the movie was too scary... but because I threw a football into the family bowl of popcorn. Yep, bedtime for bonzo after that shit! I still have no idea why I did that. I'm not even quite sure why the hell I had a football, as I was never into that kind of stuff. I guess a lot of parents buy their kids shit trying to subliminally get them into things they show no interest in. So yeah, Creature From the Black Lagoon was kind of my first horror movie. But until maybe 7 or 8 years later I thought of it as a short film. When I look back on this happening now, I kinda think my Dad should have praised me instead of sent me to bed, because I'm sure I enhanced the hell out of the 3D experience by causing a bowl of popcorn to fly off the center table directly in front of the couch.

 ~Sepultura, Helmet, and Ministry~

Yep, these bands forever remind me of Halloween. Ministry has a song called Everyday is Halloween, but that's really not a factor. 1992 was the year I moved from Lexington, Kentucky to Orlando, Florida. And on Halloween of 92 me and two other friends bought tickets to see Sepultura, Helmet, and Ministry in concert. Even just getting the tickets was awesome, especially doing so on October 31st! Lexington at the time did not have shows like this. If you wanted to go see a band like Helmet you would have to travel to Cincinnati to a place called Bogart's. Thing is, that's a nearly impossible feat when you are 15 years old. So, in that respect, I liked Orlando. Anyway, that is why these three mentioned bands remind me of Halloween. Hope that makes sense.

 ~Movie Marathons~

I watch horror films all year long, as I am sure many of you do, but October is a fucking onslaught of carnage. But on the actual day, October 31st, I have a set of films that are traditional. Makes no difference how many goddamn times I have seen them, I gotta watch the same ones every year. Halloween 1 & 2 back to back, Halloween III, and Night of the Living Dead '68. HIII came into the mix once I hit my twenties, but Halloween 1 & 2 and NOTLD had been tradition since I was probably around 14. More recently, I have added House of 1000 Corpses, Trick 'r Treat (which is really one movie that perfectly sums up why I like Halloween so much from all eras of life), and The Blair Witch Project into this mix. For the last few years, some of the more recent additions gets switched out with Rob Zombie's Halloween 1 & 2 -yep, they are guilty pleasures for me... what of it? Of course, like I said, all month long it's Trick or Treat (Sammi Curr!), Night of the Demons 1 & 2, and many more. But Halloween 1-3 and NOTLD will always be on a TV in my house on October 31st, and a drinking game for each has been implemented.

~Friends~

There's absolutely nothing more fun than a group of friends getting together for some drunken Halloween Shenanigans. And my girlfriend had the best makeshift ghetto Sharktopus costume of all time. I was some goofy plastic face pumpkin headed dude. It was scary after a few Rum & Cokes, I assure you.

 ~My Daughter~

This is the main reason of why I now love Halloween. I think I was twelve the last time I Trick or Treated. Several houses I went to that year shut me and some friends down because "Halloween is just for young kids!" Well, what the fuck's wrong with never not wanting to be a little kid at heart? Anyway, I was crushed. But now I can re-live the magic of going door to door to get candy with my daughter, Judith, and it's seriously just as good as every memory I have of my Dad taking me.

Halloween 08 - I went as Spock who had rescued a bee girl and her daughter from a dying Bee Girl Planet

Halloween 09 - Can't even tell ya how much of a hit the little peanut costume was!

Halloween 2010 - Judith as Foofa. During her Yo! Gabba Gabba phase.

Halloween 2011 - I guess being a couple who are heavy into horror films, it is inevitable that it will eventually wear off on your daughter. I lit up like a bulb when she told me she wanted to be a werewolf directly after watching the Uni classic, The Wolf Man. This year she is leaning towards a clown, which fascinates and scares the shit out of me at the same time! 

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to do something like this, Nathan. Greatly appreciated. Happy Halloween! Grab your masks, pop some popcorn and turn out the lights, and don't forget the big giveaway at 9!"

Is that picture of his little girl as a werewolf not just about the cutest thing you've ever seen in your life? Anyway, 22 days 'til Halloween, Halloween, Halloween.  22 days 'til Halloween, Silver Shamrock.