Holidaze Hi-C Horror Collection - Series 3

We are only 11 days away from Halloween and, thanks to my hectic schedule, I won't be getting to half of what I was hoping to before the big day.  It sucks, because I really wanted to pack in as much as possible to make up for the season that Hurricane Sandy stole from us last year, but real life and responsibility has been asking too much to devote my time to the fun stuff.  Oh well!  I can't complain too much because, in the end, my life is progressing and, maybe next year, I'll be able to do things I couldn't dream of doing this year.  It's all part of the plan, I guess.  But anyway, I'm back on this fine Sunday with Series 3 of the Holidaze Hi-C Horror Collection!!  As the banner depicts, this set is dedicated to the original Universal Monsters and is entirely retro!  I've had this planned since I first kicked off the collection, so I hope you enjoy what will be the final set of the 2013 Halloween season.

 

I intentionally avoided being too creative with the flavor names because I wanted these to have a retro feel and, to be honest, they weren't all that creative back in the day.  They were either overly cheesy, or painfully obvious.  Both of which I tried to be with these boxes.  That's not to say they aren't good, because I wouldn't post them if I wasn't proud of my work, but in order to create the right vibe, I went a different route with a few of them.

 

While I kept the characters in their original black & white form, I wanted the retro Hi-C box to represent them and their flavor in color.

 

Probably one of the most underrated Universal Monsters, but perfect for this type of project.  The flavor name allowed me to use green and yellow on a juice box and, that alone, is enough to make this one of my favorites.

 

 I call him Frankenstein, but some of you may call him "Frankenstein's Monster."  You're probably right and I'll take that on the chin, but to avoid any drama or arguments, I paid tribute to the classic "Monster Mash" song and named this "Monster's Mash" to create a Fruit Punch drink.

 

I love this one.  For this one, I did get a little overly creative with the name, but it came to me and I ran with it.  Between the flavor name and the colors, another underrated Universal Monster can't be missed.  How ironic.

 

This was the first Universal Monsters box I designed and, in all honesty, it's probably not the best.  It gets the job done and depicts Dracula and his love for blood well enough, but I could have done better.  I was just getting the ball rolling and wanted to use the most famous monster of them all to kick things off.  I'd drink it.

 

There's just something about purple, white, and black that works perfectly for a Mummy drink.  I don't know why, but I love the way this looks much more than I love the flavor name.  But it rhymed and that works enough for me.

 

Does a Wolfman drink water like a dog does from a bowl?  I have no idea, but I'm going to say yes.  He must be thirsty after all that howling, so why not sip some Wolfman Water and give yourself some flavor to soothe that sore throat.  See how much logic I have to put behind this to justify my names?

 

This one is my favorite.  The Bride of Frankenstein is far from my favorite Universal character, but "Something Blue" has been waiting to see the light of day since I first envisioned the juice box and it came out just as I imagined.  If you don't understand the reference, they claim every bride should have "Something borrowed, something blue, something old, and something new."  See the correlation?  Now we have a blueberry flavored Hi-C juice box to celebrate every and all Weddings.  If this were real, I'd expect every bride to walk down the aisle while sipping "Something Blue."

Thanks for reading (especially since I've become a ghost) and continuing to celebrate the season with me.  I wish I could get more out of it, but the next 11 days will probably be just as busy as the last.  I don't even have a costume or any ideas in mind :(  Hopefully you're all having a much more eventful October than my 2nd half has been.  If you have any stories or pictures to share and enhance the season, tweet me @HolidazeBlog.  I'll read them while I pretend to work :)

Bobble Monsters

Fall is in the air here in New Jersey.  I love Summer and all that comes with it but, once we reach September, I'm ready for the heat to subside.  Let the Sun take a break and have the wind pick up the slack.  Usually, we don't begin to feel that chill in our bones until late September but, thankfully, things have already begun to cool down around here.  Oh yeah, it's hoodie season.

To celebrate the unofficial return of Autumn, the Halloween Bobble Monsters are making their Holidaze debut.  Things things are about 8 years old, and I couldn't tell you where we bought them, but I thought they'd enjoy being photographed outside and displayed here for nobody to see.

First up, we have The Witch.  I've never named these Bobble Monsters before, but I think it would be a more interesting read if I did so right now.  So, let me see.  I think I'm going to name this Witch.. Bridget.  It's not a very menacing name and, in fact, it's my girlfriends middle name, but I've been to Salem, MA enough to know that Bridget Bishop was the first person to be put on trial and executed for being a witch.  So, this tiny green Bobble Monster is named in her honor.  Of coure, the ghost of Bridget Bishop will most likely be making me a visit now, but that's to be expected when you mention the Salem Witches.

Now that Bridget the Bobble Monster has her name, let's discuss her appearance.  She is your typical Halloween witch with green skin, warts, a big black hat and orange hair.  Why are witches always depicted this way?  I've never met a witch but, if I ever do, I'm willing to bet she won't be green.  Actually, if she was green, my first guess would be that she's an alien, not a witch, and that wouldn't even scare me.  No, regular old ladies are much more frightening.  Walt Disney had the right idea when he created the witch in Snow White.  Now, SHE was scary!

Of course, like every other witch ever portrayed during the Halloween season, she has to be stirring some form of magical brew in her cauldron.  What could it be?  It appears to be brown or yellow.  It looks like corn, but it could be oatmeal.  Regardless of what spell, potion or posion Bridget is mixing up for all of us, I know I won't be taste testing.  No way.  Just look at her smirk.  She's up to no good.

Secondly, we have a goofy looking skelaton who we're going to name Femur.  Now, really, is anybody afraid of a skelaton?  What is he going to do?  Witches can cast spells, Dracula bites, Frankenstein has super strength and the Wolf Man is, obviously, half wolf.  When you come across those monsters, you know you're in trouble.  But, a skelaton?  I don't know.  I guess he can bite you or hit you over the head with one of his bones, but that's no different than any other living human being.  So, I'm guessing Femur is a good guy.

See, Femur is obviously walking through the graveyard, and that would be scary if Femur wasn't a skelaton.  Now, had this Monster Bobble been a zombie, then this would be an all new ball game.  Zombies are undead beings who have risen from their demise in search of human flesh.  I can think of at least 9 movies based on zombies and rightfully so.  But a skelaton?  I can't think of one horror flick based around a skelaton.  That's why Femur has to be our friend.

Now I feel bad that I've made fun of Femur and his monster race.  It's not his fault he has no skin or special powers.  He's just a bunch of bones looking for a body bag.  Sorry, Femur.. Oh well, on to the next..

Ahh, yes.. I've decided to name our third Monster Bobble.. Dr. Acula.  Eh, okay, that one sucks.  Get it?  See what I did there?  Sorry, now I'm just being a pain in the neck.  Damn, I did it again..

Dr. Acula is doctor of hematology.  He's a very smart man who always wanted to be a vampire.  He appears to be a menace to society, but it's really just a front.  He recently purchased this Dracula costume from Party City and used his Mom's lipstick as under eye make-up.  He knows a good optometrist who hooked him up with some yellow eye contacts and he bought the fangs at Spirit Halloween.  He looks great, he's even posing, but he's just not the real deal.  Dr. Acula is not a vampire, he's just a doctor..  But hey, that's better than being a lawyer.  They're real blood suckers..  Oops, I did it again

Last, but not least, we have our final Bobble Monster and his name is, of course, Frank.  I was going to attempt a bit more originality, but when it comes to this infamous monster, nothing seems to fit better than Frank.  I guess we can call him Frankie, or even Franklin, but I think he prefers the more classic variation.

This is my favorite Bobble Monster because he's so damn happy.  His smile is huge and, considering I've seen bums dressed better than Frank, I give him a lot of credit.  Really, Frank is an inspiration.  He's obviously gone through some type of head trauma.  His clothes are ripped, barely fit him and don't match.  He was born with green skin and abnormally big feet, yet, here he is walking through life with a smile on from bolt to bolt.  If only we could all be more like Frank.  Of course, come at Frankie with a flamed torch and he'll flip his lid.  There's only so much a man can take.

Even though nobody reads this blog, I hope whoever does enjoyed reading about the Bobble Monsters.  They're all very unique and have their own personalities.  In fact, I think I can make some sort of cartoon based off of what I wrote today.  Maybe they can all be roommates or live in the same haunted town.  I'm not sure yet, and I'll probably never develop the idea, but it's fun coming up with one.  We'll see..

Well, until next time, say goodbye to the Bobble Monsters.  Bridget, Femur, Dr. Acula and Frank all big you a fearful farewell, but I'm sure they'll make some type of return before this Holidaze comes to an end.