The PoP! Stars narrow it down to the cream of the crop in categories ranging from (but not limited to) Comics, Movies, Toys and Geek Culture in general. This is the Pop! Top 6-Pack.

Ahhh, it’s Halloween again, and that means it’s time to relive some good ol’ childhood memories! And with childhood memories comes the traumas of imagination-addled nightmares. While adults may fear the unknown, it seems when we were but children we had a tendency to fear the familiar, or at the least familiar becoming so much more frightening by turning on us when we least expect it. So that brings us to one of the greatest fears only murmured about…

Dummies, Dolls and Killer Toys!

These tiny humanoid caricatures that adults seem to think would bring us smiles and cheers bring many a good dose of nightmare fuel. Take Child’s Play: The 1988 film shows how one kid’s birthday gift is an entire city’s worst serial killer in the form of the possessed “Good Guy” doll, Chucky. Voiced by Brad “Grima Wormtongue” Dourif, Chucky has carved a bloody path through the box office for going on two decades with a remake on the way.

Next up we got Pinocchio’s pissed off, knife-wielding, gun-totin’, Nazi-scalp-collecting marionette brothers and sisters from the Full Moon film series Puppet Master. Blade, Pinhead, Tunnler, Torch, Jester and the rest have forever tainted the fine art of wired puppetry with their immortality-seeking murderous rampages across history. Full Moon Entertainment has been cranking out nearly a dozen of these puppet-laden flicks, which moved from the straight-up horror of the first two films to an almost historical fantasy bent of the middle films to out and out cash grabs featured on the Sci-Fi channel.

Now if you love the British actress Karen Black or just watch whatever TV throws in front of you, you’ve more than likely have spied the tiny maniacal horror of the Zuni Fetish Doll from the two Trilogy of Terror made-for-TV movies that have aired over the decades. This little guy is one piece of work as it bites, scratches, stabs and maims in addition to being nigh unkillable. Think of the Terminator but the size of a Shih-tzu and made of bamboo.

Oh, boy, it’s about to get cheesier, Velveeta style! Demonic Toys are Puppet Master’s 90’s ADHD afflicted redheaded stepchild that few admit to liking but many a bad horror aficionado gets wet about. We got farting babies, laser-happy robots, your standard rageaholic teddybears, and the iconic Jack in the Box… OF DEATH! It too has coasted from cheap horror to cheap crossover to EPIC FAIL cheap crossover with Puppet Master on the Sci Fi/SyFy Channel in a made for tv CHRISTMAS MOVIE starring Corey Feldman (aka the Good Corey).

Notice that on this Six Pack I’ve not numbered this list, because, well its hard to choose a number one contender. While Chucky is the box office king as a couple of these never saw theatrical releases, these next two entries are Ventriloquist Dummytastic and really cross the boundaries between Nightmare Fuel for children and Nightmare Fuel for all!

Did you watch that? Did you see that creepy crap there? That was Slappy the Dummy from the Goosebumps television show and series of books… FOR CHILDREN. Yes, thats right R.L. Stine, if that really is his name, made this into a book and Fox Childrens Programming Executives said “Hey, lets get this into minds of non-book reading children too” as apparently Rupert Murdoch has invested heavily in rubber sheet manufacturing. Good grief!

"I'm gonna make it rain..."

And finally I end this nostalgia driven ‘Nam style flashback article with The. Creepiest. Damn. Movie. Trailer. EVER.

I pooed a little.

Honestly, you take a young Hannibal Lecter give him a Ventriloquist Dummy and then throw in a fine ass love interest and you have the most messed up movie not featuring crazed hippies, sharks, masked killers, or  cannibal hill people the 1970s ever produced.

Well I hope you all enjoyed that, I certainly didn’t.

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Feel free to leave comments below or contact me at mcavazos@panelsonpages.com