Countdown To Halloween: Table Top Bonanza’s Gruesome Games To Play On Halloween

It is coming close to Halloween, the time when costumes, candy and scares are a plenty. But what does one do when the urge to dress up fades? What do you do when you are tired of the same old horror flicks on TV or your streaming channel of choice?

You still want a horrifically entertaining Halloween, but can you do that from the comfort of your own home? Of course you can! Through the magic of table top gaming you can enjoy all the Halloween thrills you desire. So get a few pals by your side and let your imagination run wild with this special edition of Table Top Bonanza.

Countdown to Halloween: Our 15 Favorite Scream Queens

The definition of Scream Queen states that any actress who has become associated with horror films, either through an appearance in a notable entry in the genre as a frequent victim or through constant appearances as the female protagonist is a scream queen. While the definition is inclusive to a number of our favorite actresses in the genre, it doesn’t offer any criteria to select our favorites.

Is it just the quantity of horror films that denotes a scream queen? What about the scream itself? Do the sound and pitch of the scream itself play a factor? Can an actresses’ role in one film justify their consideration as a scream queen, even if that scream is an iconic portrayal of the trope? We’ll take a look at that today as we continue to celebrate the Countdown to Halloween with our 15 Favorite Scream Queens.

Some of the following clips may be NSFW, or graphic in nature.

Countdown to Halloween: Hammer’s Godzilla And The British Studio’s Best

Hammer Horror Films were atmospheric, moody, bloody, and filled with overt sexual voraciousness. The talk of Warner Bros’ reboot of Godzilla getting a sequel, and maybe crossing over with King Kong has sparked our memory to an online video of what Hammer’s version of Gojira might have looked like. We thought this might be a good time to look back at it, and some of our favorite moments from Hammer themselves.

Countdown to Halloween: Famous Monsters Of Filmland

We’re taking a look at one of the first and most famous of all Fanzines, Famous Monsters of Filmland. Created by Mr. Science Fiction himself, Forrest J. Ackerman, both the man and the magazine have had an immense influence on generations of artists and industry vets, from Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson to Rick Baker and Dennis Muren.

Countdown To Halloween: A Rogues Gallery Of CGI Creepy Creature Features!

There are many reasons to love Halloween. Free candy, dressing up in outrageous costumes, mad parties and plenty of scares. But for me the appeal of the season comes from one simple pleasure and that pleasure is getting to indulge my love of trashy monster flicks.

Now monster movies come in all shapes and sizes but for a true party atmosphere with a few friends and a few drinks there is nothing better than a cheap and nasty CGI creature feature flick. I remember when my friends and I settled down to watch Shark Attack 3. I was forever changed after that experience!

Countdown to Halloween #1: Michael Myers

And finally we’re down to the very last in our countdown, the biggest, the best, the #1. Of course, I’m talking about Michael Myers. His name is literally tied to Halloween, and will be for all future generations to come. When it’s Halloween and you’re at a party with a bunch of friends, what movie are you gonna put on first? Hallo-frikkin-ween. What is it that exactly makes him #1? Well first and foremost, he’s one of the most innovative characters of his time, in THE iconic Halloween movie.

Countdown To Halloween #2: Ash Williams

There’s a lot of ballyhoo about Evil Dead recently, specifically because of the remake. A common comment made in regard to it is that Ash IS Evil Dead, and that an Evil Dead film without him, would be a bad thing. Technically, they are correct. It’s impossible to imagine the Evil Dead trilogy without Ash in tow, spitting wisecracks, blasting away deadites with his boomstick, and let’s not forget that amazing chainsaw hand. While the remake doesn’t feature Ash, in a way it would be disrespectful to try to have him in the film in the first place. Unlike the film itself, which can exist outside of Ash, (Evil Dead 1 is a prime example of a movie that doesn’t really “have” Ash in it), Ash cannot exist outside of Bruce Campbell.

Countdown to Halloween #3: Pennywise the Dancing Clown

I was about twelve years old when I first read It. As a kid I did not do well with scary stories (I had to be taken out of Men In Black twice in theatres before I could sit through the whole movie) so I’m not sure why I decided a story about a child-murdering space clown would be something I’d be into, but for whatever reason, my curiosity was piqued. In the subsequent decade or so, I’ve lined my bookshelves with a substantial portion of Stephen King’s prolific work, but none of his villains are as iconic or as memorable as Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

Countdown to Halloween #4: The Romero Zombies

Zombies seem to be everywhere recently don’t they? It’s okay, I did not mean it literally, you can remove the locks of the door now! No, what I meant was that in the last few years the zombie mythology has become firmly embedded in pop culture. With The Walking Dead bringing in huge ratings numbers and zombie films with a heart like Shaun of the Dead, it seems you cannot walk down the street without some form of zombie merchandise in your way. Now zombies have been in cinema for a long time now. Their origins lie in Haitian folklore and they were originally slaves to their voodoo masters.

Countdown to Halloween #5: Leatherface

In the world of horror movies, there are certain sounds that carry a somewhat iconic symbolism; the theme song from John Carpenter’s Halloween, the background noise of the shower seen in Psycho, and good ole’ Tommy “Leatherface” Hewitt revving up the family chainsaw to hack into somebody.