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Despite Popularity of the Flavor, Americans Buying Fewer Real Pumpkins Than Ever Before

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Written by John Squires

Guys. We have a Halloween problem on our hands. And we need to talk about it. So sit down.

Pumpkins. They’re perhaps THE main staple of every Halloween season – picked, gutted, and carved by millions of Americans across the country in the brisk and wonderful Fall months. Nothing quite says Halloween like carving yourself a jack-o’lantern… though our relationship with pumpkins has changed a bit in recent years.

You need only take a trip to your local grocery store – but please hold off on doing so until after you finish reading this post – to see that pumpkin-flavored EVERYTHING is the name of the game right now, as it has been for the last couple years. Our society’s obsession with consuming the artificial flavor of the season grows more and more with each passing year, and you’d be hard pressed to find a food product that DOESN’T have a pumpkin-flavored sibling – from Twinkies to coffee, yogurt to cat litter.

Okay, so cat litter isn’t a food product, per se, but pumpkin spice cat litter is totally a thing I saw at Target this past weekend. I swear. Look it up.

pumpkin spice food

According to Nielsen data released last week, we’ve got a full-blown pumpkin invasion on our hands at the moment, as the statistics note that “pumpkin products accounted for $361 million in sales in the last year alone, having grown 79% since 2011.” Furthermore, “37% of U.S. consumers purchased a pumpkin-flavored product” last year, a percentage that is likely to rise once this year’s season comes to a close and the numbers are available.

What consensus can we draw from this compelling data?

AMERICANS. FUCKING. LOVE. PUMPKINS.

But here’s the problem, Americans. Despite the MASSIVE fan base that pumpkin-flavored foods have acquired in the last several years, sales of ACTUAL PUMPKINS are going down as the sales of these FAKE PUMPKIN FLAVORINGS are going up, up, up. According to the very same Nielsen date cited up above, “sales of fresh pumpkins have been declining, with unit sale losses in 2011, 2013 and 2014 accounting for 8.6 million fewer pumpkins sold.”

EIGHT POINT SIX MILLION, FOLKS.

The dilemma, it seems, is that the more consumed we become with consuming the flavor we associate with pumpkins – which is actually more often the flavor of the various spices that go into such holiday treats – the less interested we become in actually, well, buying, eating, carving, and generally enjoying the company of those bright orange gourds we once held so near and dear. While we’re worshiping at the altar of the almighty Pumpkin Spice Latte, we’re neglecting the very spirit of Halloween itself.

Alright, so that last sentence was admittedly a tad dramatic on my part, but I was imagining a really sad-looking pumpkin when I wrote it, and I started to get really sad. Just look at this poor thing. Look at how upset he is that you love to drink and eat fake versions of his essence…

sss

What can we do about this troubling trend in the world of Halloween? For starters, I urge everyone reading this to pick and purchase a few pumpkins this year. I’m not saying you shouldn’t stuff your face with pumpkin spice Twinkies, nor am I suggesting you put down your festive mug filled with pumpkin coffee, but rather that you give as much love to the pumpkins themselves. Because if the numbers keep dwindling, I’m afraid that we just might phase real pumpkins out completely.

And Halloween without real pumpkins just isn’t Halloween.

So keep Halloween alive. Pick a motherfuckin’ pumpkin. And tell your friends, family members, and mortal enemies to do the same.

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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