Editorials
Black Friday Chopping List: Toys
| MOVIES | GAMES | TV | MUSIC | TOYS |
Happy Thanksgiving week everyone! As many of you probably already know, that means Black Friday is right around the corner. While stores aren’t necessarily as packed as they used to be thanks to online deals and events like Cyber Monday, Black Friday is nonetheless a very stressful and busy day for some people. There are just so many deals out there! I don’t know about any of you, but I choose to stay out of the brick-and-mortar stores and stick to online shopping in my pajamas at my home. Here is a list of some of the must-have horror toys that we think you should consider purchasing this Black Friday!
Penny Dreadful CLUE (Penny Dreadful)
If you’ve never watched Penny Dreadful, you’re really missing out, but that’s an argument for another post. Showtime has gifted us with a Penny Dreadful game of Clue, and it couldn’t be more glorious. You know how Monopoly has a bunch of different editions themed after different movies, shows and themes? Parker Bros. should really do that with Clue and horror movies. They’ve got a Simpsons edition and even a Big Bang Theory edition, but it would probably boost sales put out more horror-themed editions.
From Showtime:
Mina Murray has been killed and the murderer remains at large– lurking in the darkest corners of Victorian London. In this classic mystery game of CLUE: Penny Dreadful, it’s up to you to uncover the clues and find out WHO killed Mina, WHERE they killed her, and with WHAT weapon. Was it Dorian Gray with a Syringe at the London Zoo? Or was it Vanessa Ives in Ferdinand Lyle’s Mansion with Arsenic? 6 Suspects: Vanessa Ives, Sir Malcolm Murray, Dorian Gray, Brona Croft, Ethan Chandler and Victor Frankenstein Custom Sculpted Weapons: Pistol, Syringe, Tarot Cards, Arsenic, Handkerchief, and Sword Cane Beautifully illustrated game board represents locations from the show set in 1891 London Movers & Personality Cards Intrigue Cards – 24 card deck comprised of 16 action cards and 8 tarot cards Clue Sheet & Envelope Instructions
Betrayal at House On the Hill
If you’ve got an hour to spare and at least two friends nearby, play this game. There are fifty different ways the game can play out and they all involve some truly horrific events. It’s a must-have party game for any horror fan.
From the Manufacturer:
The creak of footsteps on the stairs, the smell of something foul and dead, the feel of something crawling down your back – this and more can be found in the exciting refresh of the Avalon Hill favorite Betrayal at House on the Hill. This fun and suspenseful game is a new experience almost every time you play – you and your friends explore “that creepy old place on the hill” until enough mystic misadventures happen that one of the players turns on all of the others. Hours of fun for all your friends and family. Designed for 3–6 players aged 12 and up, this board game features multiple scenarios, a different lay-out with every game, and enough chills to freeze the heart of any horror fan.
Bat Gremlin (Gremlins 2: The New Batch)
This guy won’t be in stock on Amazon until March, so now is your chance to pre-order it before they sell out!
From NECA:
One of the most requested Gremlins figures of all time is finally here! Our latest deluxe action figure from Gremlins 2: The New Batch is the spectacular Bat Gremlin, with a massive wingspan of nearly 18 inches. This detailed re-creation of the puppet seen in Gremlins 2 is fully articulated, including hinged ears, hinged jaw, and jointed arms that allow the wings to spread open and fold closed! At approximately 6 inches tall, it’s perfectly in scale with our previous Gremlins action figures, too. Comes with a “flight” display stand.
Freddy Krueger Potato Head (A Nightmare On Elm Street)
If you’re a horror fan with kids, then this is the perfect present for them! They even have a Jason one. Who says you can’t start ’em early?
Life-Size Xenomorph Egg (Alien)
This one is a real steal at only $600 on Amazon! In all seriousness though, it’s a pretty nifty toy. If you’ve got the cash, this would make for a fantastic addition to your home décor.
From NECA:
Transform any room into a deadly alien breeding ground with this Life Size Xenomorph Egg — complete with its own eerie lighting and life size facehugger! As seen in the 1986 horror classic Aliens, this full-sized replica stands almost 36” tall, and articulated flaps with a wire armature allow you to actually open the top folds of the egg. The included full-size facehugger has a bendable tail, so you can pose it anywhere… waiting to drop on unsuspecting prey from overhead, or simply lurking inside the egg. The Life Size Xenomorph Egg is made of detailed, hand-painted foam and stands on its own. A switch activates the LED lights inside the base to create a menacing, otherworldly glow effect. Requires 3 AAA batteries, not included.
Friday the 13th 25th Anniversary Boxed Set (Friday the 13th)
This guy is about 10 years old, so he’s a little pricey. You can buy him on Amazon though. The set comes with sack-head Jason from Friday the 13th Part 2, along with Mrs. Voorhees and her severed head.
8-Bit Jason (Friday the 13th)
Once upon a time, there was a Friday the 13th video game, and it was terrible. This action figure isn’t terrible though!
From Toys on Fire:
Based on his appearance in the classic Friday the 13th video game, released in 1989 for the popular 8-bit home console, Jason stands 7″ and has over 25 points of articulation for great poses. The figure comes with machete, axe, harpoon gun and removable mask, plus new mother’s head accessory. New paint deco reproduces the game’s pixilated look. And not only does the window box packaging re-create the look and feel of the classic video game cartridge box, lift the front flap and it plays music from the game, too!
Jason Mug (Friday the 13th)
This mug is a magic mug. It gets a picture as it gets hotter! It makes for a perfect gift for any coffee (or tea) drinkers out there!
From Entertainment Earth:
Prepare for the day everyone fears…with a nice, warm cup of coffee. This 11 oz. Friday the 13th Jason Voorhees Morphing Mug transforms from black to full color as hot liquid is added! Watch as the heat-activated process reveals a hidden image of Jason in vivid colors. Hand wash only. Not safe for dishwasher or microwave. Measures approximately 3 3/4-inches tall x 3 1/8-inches in diameter.
Shaun and Ed (Shaun of the Dead)
These adorable figurines will make an excellent addition to your horror-comedy shelf. Wait, you don’t have one of those? Well time to make one, and what better way to start with these guys?
Freddy Krueger Syringe Glove (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors)
Freddy’s razor glove gets all the attention, but there was a time when he turned his razor hands into syringes, and it was awesome. Now you can get the replica of that glove and show up your friends who dressed as mere regular ol’ Freddy Kruegers on Halloween!
From Entertainment Earth:
- Wear the syringe glove from A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors!
- Features articulated fingers and syringes that light-up in blue.
- Makes for a great addition to your Freddy Halloween costume!
From A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, it’s the Nightmare on Elm Street Freddy Krueger Syringe Glove! This glove inspired by the horror movie features copper metallic articulated fingers and plastic syringes that light up in blue. The plastic glove features a copper metallic paint deco. Whether you want to use these as part of a Halloween costume or as display at home, you’ll love the realistic replication of the Nightmare on Elm Street Freddy Krueger Syringe Glove! Requires 3x “AG13/LR44” batteries (included). Ages 17 and up.
Demon Sam Statue (Trick ‘r Treat)
He walks! He stalks! He’s also adorable! Buy little Sam to make an excellent desk decoration for anyone’s desk.
From Entertainment Earth:
Decorate your desk at work or home with the Trick ‘r Treat Sam Animated Table Top Statue. This 8-inch tall plush statue of the burlap-sack-wearing Sam actually walks and plays music and audio taken from the horror movie Trick ‘r Treat! Just press the button on his left foot and watch him go! The exterior of the statue is plush. Ages 17 and up.
What are some horror-themed toys you’ve seen out there that you just have to have? Let us know in the comments below or shoot me a Tweet!
I first heard about The Mandela Catalogue through a couple of nephews who were obsessed with the ARG’s sinister mythology. It was only after watching Wendigoon’s in-depth analysis of the series that I realized just how deep this rabbit hole goes.
In fact, I’d already been exposed to the nightmarish visuals of Alex Kister’s YouTube creation for years at that point without even realizing that it was the origin of several viral “cursed images” and spooky memes that had leaked into the wider internet – with this viral element actually being a part of the Catalogue’s overarching narrative.
Flash-forward to 2026 and the unprecedented success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms has led to Hollywood betting on horrific internet properties with existing fanbases, which means that Kister’s unique hybrid of both religious and analog horror is finally headed to the big screen with a script written by Kister himself alongside Tyler Clifton.
While this news shouldn’t be too surprising if you’ve been keeping up with the ongoing success of The Mandela Catalogue (both myself and Wendigoon having previously predicted that the series would inevitably make the jump to theaters one day), plenty of horror fans are likely confused as to why so many folks are excited for what appears to be a Hollywood adaptation of a series of creepy .jpeg images under a VHS filter.
With that in mind, today I’d like to invite fellow readers to accompany me as I explore the origins of Alex Kister’s viral hit and attempt to explain exactly why we should all be excited about the Mandela Catalogue adaptation!
From High School Writing Project to Internet Horror Phenomenon
The first seeds of The Mandela Catalogue were sown when Kister was still in high school and developed a writing project subverting religious tropes in a world where biblical history had been altered by demonic forces. A little while later, Kister came across an analog horror contest on Reddit and decided to adapt his ideas into a standalone video where he would edit a religious kids’ cartoon –The Beginner’s Bible: The Nativity, to be specific- into something far creepier. This is how the iconic Overthrone video was born, with this viral short film taking on a life of its own as fans demanded more eerie content from Kister.
Though the video was originally meant to be a one-and-done sort of affair, with Kister actually regretting some of its primitive visuals and considering the editing amateurish and “YouTube-Poop-like” when compared to his current standards, fan reaction and free time during the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged the (then) seventeen-year-old filmmaker to continue producing content set in this same world. The Mandela Catalogue name was inspired by the Mandela Effect conspiracy theory, as the series would slowly begin to explore the subtle horror of alternate histories.
Inspired by existential dread brought on by extended periods of quarantine as well as a personal crisis of faith, Kister continued to expand his alternate timeline where the rise of Christianity had been prevented by what was presumably the Devil disguised as the Archangel Gabriel. This alternate course of fictional events led to the existence of certain paranormal anomalies that had come to be accepted as “normal” by the 1990s, which is why most of the series’ supernatural horror is presented in such a matter-of-fact manner.
Most of this background information and religious lore is delivered by increasingly cryptic broadcasts and in-universe PSAs, as well as the occasional found footage video, that often have to be decoded by clever viewers. Of course, it’s the consistently disturbing imagery that made the series so popular – much of which was originally created by Kister on a smartphone!
The Alternates: Horror’s Most Unsettling Modern Monsters
The show’s early episodes mostly take place within the fictional Mandela County in Wisconsin and depict life in a world where demonic entities are capable of using media to enter our reality. This process usually involves scaring victims into killing themselves and then repurposing their bodies as horrific doppelgangers referred to as “Alternates”. This terrifying phenomenon has become so common that local police already have specialized procedures in place to deal with the issue, though this usually consists of simply ignoring calls for help so as to avoid spreading so-called “Metaphysical Awareness Disorder” any further.
Over time, Kister would expand this mythology and incorporate different kinds of Alternates into the mix, though the story never stopped deconstructing religious concepts. The series’ second volume exponentially increased both video quality and the overall narrative scope as we began to follow the lives of characters who had already grown up in this dystopian hellscape where the government is forced to prohibit religion, television, and even mirrors in the hopes of mitigating the damage done by the ongoing invasion of otherworldly entities.
The really interesting part comes into play when you realize exactly how the Alternates make use of scary media in order to spread their demonic influence, with the analog horror of it all being a diegetic part of the story and something of a memetic trap orchestrated by the false Gabriel.
I particularly appreciate how some characters begin to suspect that there’s something wrong with their version of reality and that things weren’t meant to play out this way, especially when Mark utters the haunting line “who have I been praying to all this time?” That’s why I think The Mandela Catalogue is an effective piece of religious horror even if you don’t subscribe to the Christian worldview, as the mere idea of a world where evil has already won is a universally terrifying concept in and of itself. Not only that, but the series’ uncanny analog imagery alone is already worth the price of admission, as you’ve likely already noticed by looking at the pictures accompanying this article.
Why The Feature Adaptation Could Be Horror’s Next Big Success
It’s actually been a whole year since Kister first announced that he had been working on a feature-length screenplay for a Mandela Catalogue movie since 2022, with his proposed story following an ensemble of high-school graduates who uncover a supernatural conspiracy after the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student. This premise sounds similar to narrative elements present in the series’ second volume, but I’m pretty sure that Kister is going to go the Kane Parsons route and make the movie more of a spin-off than a re-imagining of its source material.
While notable Hollywood producers like Aaron B. Koontz, Scott Stuber, and Steven Spielberg himself are backing the upcoming project, I feel like there’s no one better to adapt this deeply personal exploration of faith and the dark side of communication than the person who first came up with it. That’s why I can’t wait to see Kister’s work on the big screen, as I have a feeling that this young filmmaker is the next one on the list about to make cinematic history – especially since this is clearly a passion project that has been in the works for years at this point!
That being said, there’s always a chance that the film could end up unleashing a fresh wave of Alternate incursions, but I guess that’s just a risk we’ll have to take.
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