The department stores are already trotting out their Christmas wares, reminding us that the holidays will soon be upon us and of course that means it’s novelty holiday sweater time!

In the past we’ve hipped our readers to quite a few of these tacky things including Krampus, Einstruzende Neubauten, Fargo, and Satan inspired pieces.

The Mondo/Middle of Beyond folks are the kings of this shit, and they’ve delivered the goods yet again with these killer slasher movie sweaters.

On offer are sweaters depicting Michael Meyers from Halloween, Jason Voohees from Friday the 13th, and three different variants on Freddy Krueger’s iconic green and red striped sweater from A Nightmare of Elm Street. One of the Freddy sweaters is actually a spiffy cardigan. The same company also offers a Gremlins sweater (which we’ve profiled here before) that also comes in a cardigan version.

At $49 each, they aren’t exactly cheap, but I’ve purchased from these dudes before and will personally vouch for their quality.
 

 

 
More after the jump…

 
Special makeup effects artist Tom Savini was one of the early “rock stars” of horror make-up alongside notable names such as Dick Smith, Rick Baker, Rob Bottin, and Stan Winston. Savini connected with horror fans in the 80s not only because of his spectacular gore effects in films like Friday the 13th, Creepshow, The Burning, Maniac, The Prowler, and Dawn of the Dead, but because of his larger-than-life personality which was reflected in Fangoria magazine interviews and his (usually bit part) acting roles.
 

Tom Savini in George A. Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead”
 
Savini is undoubtedly responsible for inspiring an entire generation of oddball artists to go into the makeup FX field, and by extension, also responsible for the fortunes of liquid-latex manufacturers world-wide. His Grande Illusions books are standard issue for kids going into makeup FX. The man is a legend.
 

Savini creating Jason in “Friday the 13th”
 

Behind the scenes on “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2”
 
A new documentary has just been released on Savini. The film, titled Smoke and Mirrors, covers both his professional and personal life and features interviews with director George Romero, former proteges Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger, Jerry Only of The Misfits, and Night of the Living Dead actor “Chilly” Billy Cardille.
 
More after the jump…

 
The purple and teal Jason Voorhees Nintendo game figure that was introduced at the 2013 Dan Diego Comic-Con resurrected a great deal of interest in the 1989 Friday the 13th NES video game—considered by many to be one of the worst video games of all time.
 

 
The notoriously stupid, extremely difficult game has achieved a kind of fandom for being so utterly terrible and is held in the same sort of esteem that Atari’s infamous E.T. game is among vintage game aficionados. The fact that the Friday the 13th film franchise has so many die-hard fans insures its popularity, even if 8 bit purple Jason and his mother’s floating severed head aren’t exactly terrifying. And let’s not forget about that classic bum-out end screen:
 

 
The fans at YouTube channel Maga64 have created a faux trailer for an imagined movie version of the video game (complete with old-school VHS tracking adjustment issues) and they totally nail every inexplicable aspect of the gameplay (right down to the cleaver that looks like a toothbrush). If you are a fan of the movie series or the video game, this may very well be the funniest thing you see all day.
 

 
Via: ihorror.com. H/T: Mike Bracken

 
“Name the killer in Friday the 13th.”

It’s the question that stumped Drew Barrymore’s character in Scream when she incorrectly answered “Jason.”

True fans of the famous slasher franchise know the correct answer to that question is “Pamela Voorhees,” Jason’s mother—the inspiration for the famous musical cue “tch tch tch, ah ah ah,” which soundtrack composer Harry Manfredini explains is actually “ki(ll) ki(ll) ki(ll), ma ma ma,” an echo of Jason’s voice in his mother’s mind.

National Entertainment Collectibles Association has just announced a Friday the 13th inspired toy line focusing on Pamela Voorhees and the young Jason Voorhees who appears in a dream sequence at the film’s conclusion. Both figures will be available in a two-pack at the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con.

The Pamela Voorhees figure is a fitting tribute to actress Betsy Palmer who unfortunately passed away earlier this year. Ari Lehman, the child-actor who portrayed the original “Jason,” gave this forward to the release of the figures, as published at Bloody Disgusting:

NECA’s Friday the 13th package is such a fitting tribute to this great American actor, whose powerful characters exuded a confidence that illuminated the screen and electrified the audience. Betsy Palmer will always be remembered for her brilliant portrayal of Friday the 13th‘s original protagonist, Mrs. Pamela Voorhees, and the young Jason Voorhees in the iconic final scene have created such a lasting impression on movie-goers, that they are more like a form of American mythological characters nowadays.

NECA has memorialized these horror classic film figures with its superb craftsmanship and attention-to-detail—from its retro Mego-style treatment to the real fabric clothing- and brings together Pamela Voorhees as played by Betsy Palmer and the unmasked, young Jason once again, in celebration of the film’s 35th anniversary.

The figures themselves are remarkable in their detail.
 

 

 
Continues after the jump…

 
In the pantheon of “milking decades of relevance out of a single brief role in a movie,” I submit for your consideration Ari Lehman. Lehman played the role of “Jason Voorhees” in Friday the 13th—you can even look it up. He never wore the famous hockey mask, he played Jason as a younger person—in the scene he is shown emerging from a lake. He never played Jason in any of the ... however many movies followed, there were a lot of them.

Lehman is in a heavy metal band called—you guessed it—First Jason. (Fair warning: Clicking on that link will force the hard rock strains of First Jason’s “Soul Seller” on your ears, which never, ever did anything to you.)
 

 
On his website you can buy a “Jason mask glass pipe” for $50—if you would like Lehman’s autograph “in permanent Titanium ink,” then the price is $65.
 

Be one of the first to own this first piece in a line of Quality Glassware from Ari Lehman and Horror Glass. Each piece handblown and decorated in Heavyweight Glass by one of the best shops in the USA $50 + Shipping. Ari Lehman the First Jason Voorhees from “Friday the 13th” will Autograph your pipe in permanent Titanium Ink for an additional $15. ORDER NOW!!! JASON MASK GLASS PIPES MEASURE AROUND 5” BY 1.5” MADE IN USA!!!

First Jason will be performing on Friday, March 6th, 2015 at Wizard World Presents Bruce Campbell Horror Fest, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 9291 Bryn Mawr Avenue, Rosemont, IL 60018

Here’s a brief clip from Friday the 13th, the 2009 remake, in which some poor sap meets his untimely demise because he comes across some cannabis plants in the woods. 
 

 
“Jason Vorhees” from the Friday the 13th series on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1989. I really don’t miss the 80s.

Via World of Wonder