Creepmas Day 13: My Creepmas Crèche!!!

So this year I'm celebrating Creepmas! 

From the 13 Days of Creepmas website: 

"A reaction to the continuing incursion of Christmas into Autumn and Halloween, CREEPMAS is a good-natured chance for Halloween lovers to exact revenge by bringing some spooky good cheer into the holidays or, more appropriately, the Hallowdays..." Read more about the inspirations behind this 13 day celebration HERE. 

So this is it! Day 13! The big finale! I figured this one had to be special, as I will probably NOT be celebrating Creepmas again next year unless some sort of BRILLIANCE strikes and I have an awesome idea for another Creepmas celebration on the site. So... it's time for a blow-out. Back in mid-November, I posted to let anyone know who cared that I would be taking November off from blogging. In that post, I put up a picture of a crèche/nativity scene that I had done with pop-culture characters a couple years prior. 

So THIS year I figured I would do yet another crèche... but make it a Creepy Creepmas Crèche!!! So take a gander at my finished project: 

It decidedly does NOT have the same sense of grandeur that my first nativity scene had. There is not, for instance, a giant orange T-Rex trying to eat the angel. But it matters not dear readers, for I posit that in this case, it is not the largesse that makes the crèche... but the sense of story. The internal logic. The character selection. The fact that I tried to keep all of the figures relatively horror-based or at least death-based. So as you soak in your initial view of the scene, let us prepare to take a closer look... shall we?

First, we have Anubis (the taller) as my shepherd. This was a really hard role to cast as I had absolutely NO horror toys that made sense as a "shepherd". I wracked my brain. I would have killed and devoured someone's liver for a Hannibal Lecter action figure at that moment! One of the Funko minis would have been perfect (Silence of the Lambs??? Eh? EH?) but alas, I could not think of a shepherd that fit the bill. But then I thought of the role Anubis plays in the Egyptian after-life... guarding souls on their passage to their judgement much like a... a... SHEPHERD. So I went with it (-shrugs-). In this shepherd's flock, in place of sheep, or a donkey, or a cow or any sort of normal animals, I went with: Tiny Anubis. I dunno why. I just wanted another animal in there. A Hellhound from Ghostbusters and Cerebus. Because dogs. Bast... because cat? This isn't making as much sense as I write it now. The skeletal T-Rex I felt was inspired at the time... but now I just miss my massive orange T-Rex all the more. Mothra. Is... an animal I guess? And that runaway crawling zombie just made me laugh. Shepherd! Round up that flock! Ha!

Ahem. Moving on.

Next up we have the Three Wise Guys... eh? Zombie stooges are perfect for being wiseguys... and there's three of them, and they are zombies. So PERFECT. I'm also pretending that the hammer, the wrench, and Curly's missing eyeballs are the gifts for the newborn king. And Kodos? I tried to tell him I wasn't going with a "three kings" theme, but he just wouldn't listen. And just wouldn't leave. So there he is. A third wheel in a group of four. Not so wise.

Now we're up to the angels. Attending this very important birth are not one-- not two-- but THREE angels! I couldn't NOT include the skeleton with wings. It perched there so perfectly, and just WORKED. The Weeping Angel? C'mon! And Death from the Sandman just balanced it out so I had to have three. I think it works. Can you definitively say exactly how many angels should be in attendance? Especially at THIS birth? I don't think you can. 

Finally we have the royal family themselves. We have the proud Papa Jack Skellington, the glowing mum The Bride of Frankenstein's Monster, and the bouncing baby boy himself, Sam from Trick R' Treat! I don't think there could ever be a BETTER group of ghouls to represent the taking over of Christmas by the creepiness of Halloween... There's just no way to do better than The Pumpkin King, The Bride, and the guardian of Halloween himself. Plus I think the goofy jack-o'-lanterns lend a certain kind of ambiance.

I love Sam so much I even have a spare that I turned into a Christmas ornament! I love seeing this little fella staring down at me from the tree! And if there are any doubts that Sam can't be a great part of your Christmas festivities, just check out this video from Fearnet! 

So that's it kids! Happy 13 days of Creepmas! I'll be back tomorrow with the start of my 12 days of Christmas countdown, which ends on Christmas day itself! I won't spoil the surprise today by sharing what it is I'll be talking about for my Christmas Countdown, but I do want to thank you all for celebrating Creepmas with me this year! I'll be back tomorrow! Until then, Happy Hunting!

Creepmas Day 12: A Few Leftovers

So this year I'm celebrating Creepmas! 

From the 13 Days of Creepmas website: 

"A reaction to the continuing incursion of Christmas into Autumn and Halloween, CREEPMAS is a good-natured chance for Halloween lovers to exact revenge by bringing some spooky good cheer into the holidays or, more appropriately, the Hallowdays..." Read more about the inspirations behind this 13 day celebration HERE. 

So for today's post I'm pretty much just going to throw in everything I either forgot to include in earlier posts or I didn't really have room for in earlier posts. 

First up is this Hotwheels "Street Creeper" which they put out as as a part of their 2013 Holiday Hotwheels selection. I don't usually pick these up (though I've bought myself 2 of the 2014 selection so far...) but last year I just HAD to pick this one up because it so perfectly embodies the spirit of Creepmas! It's a horror themed Hotwheels dragster done up in Christmas colors! What's not to love?

Next up, Darth Vader might not be considered a "horror" villain... but a super-powered murderer he most certainly IS. So dressing him up as Santa Claus most definitely fits the bill as something Creepmas-y. I would NOT want to see this guy sliding down the chimney in the middle of the night. This is a Funko bobblehead from 2009 that my wife picked up for me.

Of all the winter and Christmas-themed GPK out there (about 10 as evidenced by these Topps Licensed GPK Holiday Greeting Cards) this is the only one I own. I do have one of the "Where are they now?" cards for Sandy Clod... but I'm not a big fan of those cards, and so I chose not to include it here. Instead you have Snotty Dotty/Frozen Flo #386 originally from the old 1987 run... here presented as a 3D card that was included in the 2011 Flashback series 2 set. For some reason m camera REFUSED to get a clear picture of this card, which may be due to its lenticular/3D nature. Who knows. 

My Darryl Dixon (of AMC's Walking Dead fame) ornament had not been added to the tree when I did my Christmas Zombies post a few days back. So I include him now. He's really just one of those Funko Pop! mini keychains that just came out this year, with a Santa's hat added for some festivity. But it works (don't mind the Dunkin Donuts Munchkins ornament, I don't believe it in any way takes away from the full manliness of Darryl, having it there).

This is my recently purchased (this past summer) shambling mound figure from the old Dungeons and Dragons line produced in 1982. He is wearing a Santa's hat and dragging a bloody sack behind him. I only have a vague idea of why I put this together. What I WANTED to do was find a Krampus toy. But apparently you can buy action figures of Will Shakespeare, a Cat Lady, or even Joss Whedon... but not Krampus. So instead of Krampus I decided to make my own Christmas Monster. If I'd really thought about it, I would have decked him out like a Christmas tree... but hindsight is unfortunately 20/20 in this case and nothing more. Suffice it to say however that this guy is definitely out looking for naughty nerds this season... so you better be good for goodness sake!

There was one more book I had planned to write about, Dean Marney's The Christmas Tree That Ate My Mother. But I couldn't really drum up a whole post about killer Christmas trees. Apparently this is the first book in a series of books detailing various holiday items that try to eat people. Skimming through the text this looks like a fun, quick read. I may try it out. 

Also new this year is this sugar-skull blown-glass ornament that we picked up at Target for my daughter. This thing is glittered-out to the max. It simply brings the right feeling of the macabre to the tree that we just love.

Today I'll leave you with a link to iHorror.com's 8 Holiday Horror Films You Need to Watch This Month (from 2013) aaaand just for the heck of it... a link to the search for "Creepmas" on Pinterest.

Happy 13 days of Creepmas! I'll be back tomorrow with the final entry in the countdown, which may or may not involve a Goodwill Goody! Until then, Happy Hunting!

Creepmas Day 11: Marvel Comics Christmas Specials (!?)

So this year I'm celebrating Creepmas! 

From the 13 Days of Creepmas website: 

"A reaction to the continuing incursion of Christmas into Autumn and Halloween, CREEPMAS is a good-natured chance for Halloween lovers to exact revenge by bringing some spooky good cheer into the holidays or, more appropriately, the Hallowdays..." Read more about the inspirations behind this 13 day celebration HERE. 

Today's entry may have a few of you scratching your heads and going, "Huh?" 

But I can assure you that sometimes there is nothing creepier in the Marvel Universe than the Holidays.

This first one is one of my favorite Christmas themed comic books ever. I got it back in 1991 and it is an 80 page GIANT collection of 8 stories and assorted pin-ups.

I'm going to just cherry pick the Creepmas-y stuff here, so if you're interested in the whole book I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. The first story, "A Miracle A Few Blocks Down from 32nd Street," features Santa Claus as the most powerful mutant in the world with a truly disturbing power to apparently transform people into action figures... and wipe people's memories. And generally mess with reality. He's Proteus or the Beyonder in a red suit.

Next up is one of my all-time favorite Christmas stories involving super-heroes period. in "A Christmas Coda," we have a bizarre evening in the life of Franklin Richards where he meets the ghost of Jacob Marley and trades away his most prized possession (in this case an X-Mutant Killer Krocodile Christmas ornament that his mother bought him) in exchange for a magic key that will unlock his ghostly chains.

By the end of the story literally every choice Franklin makes is nullified because fate just WANTS him to own this ornament I guess, but along the way he get's to FEEL like he's making a sacrifice, and help out a ghost in need of redemption.

There's a Thor story, "'Twas a Midwinter's Night," with an evil troll-thing, and a Santa with a goat-drawn sleigh. Moving on...

My second favorite story in this collection, "Ghosts of Christmas Past," (a title chosen for resonance, not for relevance) stars Ghost Rider and a little blind boy named Willy. Willy's parents are rich and Willy has been kidnapped for ransom, but Ghost Rider saves him.

What really makes the story special however is that because Willy is blind, he mistakes the Spirit of Vengeance for the Spirit of Christmas.

He thinks the Ghost Rider is Santa Claus! And of course, because he's sort of like a demonic robot of justice, Ghost Buster sort of takes this all in with an emotionless stoicism.

As goofy as this whole premise seems, the touching part is in the faith the child has that this is indeed Santa, and how thankful he is to be saved.

Just the absurdity of the concept and the pure affection this kid shows towards Ghost Rider because he can't see the outer surface... makes this a classic story for me. 

The next collection is one that was actually given to me recently by my friend, Brian of Pop Pop! It's Trash Culture fame. It is the Marvel Holiday Special from 1994. There's not a whole lot that's Creepmas-y about it to be honest, except we get a fun little story, "Hopes and Fears," where Spider-Man tries to stop Mephisto from destroying the spirit of Christmas...

The whole thing is very "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas"-esque. But there is a wager between Spider-Man and Mephisto to see if he can save the spirit (he can't) and then we see the repercussions (there are pretty much none).

We find out this is a sort of ritual these two beings go through every Christmas, and it turns out the same way every time.

There is another Ghost Rider story, "Harvey Teabiscuit's Yule Log," in this issue as well, although its not nearly as endearing to me as the last one. But we see a put-upon average Joe get a little vengeance in his everyday dealings, courtesy of a little Christmas cheer.

The third special I'll feature here is an interesting one starring the Great Lakes Avengers X-Men. I used to really be into the GLAX but I kind of got over it. To be honest, I forgot I even owned this Christmas issue. But it has a few nice details included.

There's a villain named Dr. Tannenbaum who uses all Christmas-themed devices to fight and kill, including killer Christmas trees and wreaths that tighten around your throat and strangle you.

Doorman, a member of the team has recently become an angel of Death. He is home for the holidays and dealing with his persnickety father. He also meets Santa Claus.

Of course, being an angel of Death has its downfalls.

This Howard the Duck Holiday Special is from 1997. It is ridiculous. It's not particularly creepy in and of itself... but there was one thing I wanted to feature:

We find out that tinsel is made out of dead elves. 

The final issue I want to showcase tonight is this issue of Daredevil, #266 from May of 1989. May. This is a Christmas story the put out in May. Written by Anne Nocenti and illustrated by John Romita Jr., "A Beer With the Devil" is the name of this stand-alone tale.

It is Christmas is New York. The Inferno arc wrapped up in the last issue and Daredevil is fallen on some hard times. He is injured both physically and spiritually. I can't remember what time of year the Inferno event was supposed to have taken place in, but the world has moved on here.

Daredevil is spending Christmas in a bar elbow-to-elbow with some of the most pathetic low-lives the city has to offer.

Into this scene comes a haunting stranger that appears differently to everyone who looks upon him or her. In fact, even the sex and race of the stranger changes depending on the observer. This stranger is intent on seducing Daredevil with talk of betrayals and petty crimes. And kissing.

While these two are kissing, a murder takes place in the bar. The feeling here is that the stranger's presence and actions are somehow influencing the actions of two brothers sitting in a different part of the bar. One brother kills another while Daredevil makes out with:

Mephisto! This revelation completely exploded my 11 year old brain back in the day. The whole story is pretty simple though, Mephisto is testing to see how much Daredevil has given up. How ripe he is for taking over to the dark side. Nocenti's run on Daredevil was pretty heavy on the Mephisto/Blackheart stuff around this time (it's a pretty great run to be honest, with an Acts of Vengeance cameo by a multiple-personality suffering Ultron that actually made a lot of poetic sense in a bizarre way, and a demonic dentist taking center stage during one of the Inferno issues) and this was sort of an underlining of all that... but honestly this story works really well all on its own. We don't really need to know what the crisis of conscience is that Matt Murdock has been struggling with. It's a familiar feeling. We don't need to know Mephisto's ultimate goal in corrupting Matt. He's evil. We assume he's just one of those parasitic opportunists who try to kick you when you're down. And why Christmas? Because Christmas is classically one of those times when we struggle with morality and spirituality and its a perfect canvas to paint this story on.

John Romita Jr.'s Mephisto is my absolute favorite interpretation of the character EVER by the way. But this little Christmas morality play ends with a slight twist of hope. Mephisto can't quite take Daredevil under his wing just yet... and Daredevil crashes back to earth, tearing down a bunch of neighborhood decorations with him.

He lands in an alley where a couple of the pathetics from the bar find him and instead take him under their wings. They give Matt Murdock the sliver of hope an goodwill towards men that he was needing to keep his spirits up. And this is where the story ends. There's not really a heavy-handed moral to the tale to be honest, just a sort of ambiguity about how to feel about life in general and a sense of warning about losing your way. It's the idea that as long as we're all just sort of getting by then at least we're still human. We may not have perfect lives, but we can still manage decency. And for Daredevil at this point in his life... that was enough.

Happy 13 days of Creepmas! I'll be back tomorrow with another entry in the countdown, which may or may not involve a Goodwill Goody! Until then, Happy Hunting!