Halloween Archives : The Retro Network

Cover art for Elmo Says BOO! - A Muppet ghost startles Elmo in The Count’s castle

Advent Calendar House: Elmo Says BOO!

🎃 It’s Halloween in July, and it’s time to spookalize! 🎙️ Becca Petunia joins us as we creep back to 1997 for a howling good time at the spookiest address on Sesame Street, as Elmo pays a

Iconic Halloween Candy Born in the 80s

Pitfall Gary

If you grew up in the 1980s, candy was both a treat and an adventure. Walking into the corner store or the gas station you were met with a rainbow of wrappers, but that rainbow

Mad Scientist Monster Lab: When Kids Became Creepy Little Chemists

Mickey Yarber

In the neon-soaked landscape of 1980s toy aisles, where action figures ruled and slime was king, Mattel dared to go one step further into the bizarre. Enter the Mad Scientist Monster Lab…a gloriously grotesque toy

When Franken Berry Cereal Caused a Pink Poop Panic in the ’70s

Mickey Yarber

In March 1971, General Mills launched a new line of monster-themed cereals to capitalize on the success of Lucky Charms. The first two entries were Count Chocula, a chocolate-flavored vampire, and Franken Berry, a strawberry-flavored

Trick or Terror: The Halloween Candy Scare of the 1980s

Pitfall Gary

LISTEN NOW! The premiere episode of Gen X Archives podcast! What better way to kick it off than with a Halloween episode Halloween night, 1980s, the streets were full of ghosts, goblins, clowns and one

The Retro Resurgence Podcast – Episode 27 | The 2025 Halloween Grab Bag Episode

Chad Droze

The Retro Resurgence Proudly Presents….the 2025 Halloween Spooktacular Trick or Treat Grab Bag Episode. As per the norm with our grab bag format, we’ve got several appropriately themed segments to hit you with this Spooky

The Night the Grinch Stole Halloween: A Forgotten TV Treat from 1977

Mickey Yarber

In the golden age of television specials, when families gathered around glowing screens for animated holiday magic, one curious entry slipped through the cracks of collective memory: Halloween Is Grinch Night. Airing on CBS in

The Legacy of Goosebumps: How R.L. Stine’s Scary Stories Became a Generation’s Gateway to Horror

Mickey Yarber

In the early 1990s, Scholastic took a gamble on a series of spooky chapter books aimed at middle-grade readers. What followed was a publishing phenomenon that would haunt bookstores, school libraries, and Scholastic Book Fairs

Freddy’s Nightmares: The Top 5 Episodes

Pitfall Gary

Freddy’s Nightmares A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series Freddy’s Nightmares was a television spin-off of the highly successful A Nightmare on Elm Street film franchise, airing during the height of Freddy Krueger’s popularity in

The Haunted History of General Mills’ Monster Cereals

Mickey Yarber

General Mills’ Monster Cereals have been haunting breakfast tables for over five decades now, blending classic horror characters with breakfast nostalgia. First introduced in 1971, these cereals became iconic not just for their flavors, but

Ghost Castle: The Haunted Board Game That Turned Fear Into Fun

Mickey Yarber

In the mid-1980s, when board games were branching into three-dimensional designs and Halloween-themed fun was creeping into toy aisles, Ghost Castle emerged as a standout. Released by MB Games in 1985, Ghost Castle was more

DTV Monster Hits: When Rock & Roll and Disney Came Together To Make Halloween Magic

Mickey Yarber

In the golden age of TV specials, when Halloween was more about mood than merchandise, Disney delivered a rock-infused treat that still haunts the memories of fans who caught it live: DTV Monster Hits. Originally

The Alien Autopsy That Fooled the World

Mickey Yarber

In the mid-1990s, when grainy VHS tapes and tabloid TV ruled the airwaves, one broadcast sent shockwaves through living rooms across America: Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction? Airing on Fox in 1995, the special promised

Ruh-Roh! The Top 10 Scariest Monsters from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

Pitfall Gary

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! premiered on CBS in September 1969 and changed Saturday mornings forever. Scooby-Doo was created by Ken Spears and Joe Ruby, who also created Jabberjaw, Captain Caveman, Dynomutt and many more great

Remembering Tales From the Cryptkeeper

Mickey Yarber

The 1950’s introduced us to Tales From the Crypt, a wry, sardonic E.C. Comics series that turned the saccharine theme of good versus evil on its head. Like its comic predecessor and the HBO horror anthology

Fascinating Facts About the Universal Monster Movies

Mickey Yarber

Long before cinematic universes became the norm, Universal Pictures created a world of monsters that terrified and thrilled audiences across generations. From the fog-drenched castles of Dracula to the stitched-together tragedy of Frankenstein, these films

The Retro Resurgence Podcast – Episode 26 | The Retro Snacks We Miss

Chad Droze

Happy October Listeners! We’re starting #SpookySZN off hitting you all in the feels, as we venture back in time and reminisce about 10 forgotten and discontinued snacks of yesteryear! It’s an episode that’ll leave you