It was never meant to be a regular thing. I'm kinda surprised that it still is.

Several lifetimes ago, way back in 2012, Matt and I planned Spook Central's first "Halloween Treat": the Making Ghostbusters PDF. It was actually posted a week after Halloween, but even that was quite a feat considering that I was living in a Red Cross emergency shelter due to Hurricane Sandy evicting me from my home just a few days before Halloween. Matt worked with Raffaele (my friend who provides Spook Central's webhosting) to get the treat out there in my absence.

It was going to be a one-off "treat", and certainly not something that would continue every year...and yet it has. There's been a Halloween Treat here on Spook Central in 2013, 2014, and 2015. Heck, it has even spread to Spook Central's sister site, The Corner Penthouse, in 2014 and 2015.

This year's Halloween Treat is a set of 11 Ghostbusters coloring pages, courtesy of the Circle City Ghostbusters, in a partial collaboration with Spook Central. Six pages use artwork from Spook Central's Real Ghostbusters Production Artwork page, while the other four feature original artwork by CCGB member Jacob Bartlett, who provided me with these pages (and one by Alex of the CCGBs).


If you are looking for more Ghostbusters coloring fun, download the Ghostbusters II Coloring Book PDF here on Spook Central. Those of you who like the new Ghostbusters movie can download a PDF coloring book featuring a drawing of that team, and other female squads at SheKnows.com.

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For the complete list of Spook Central's Halloween Treat posts from years past, click here. Thanks to Miss Kate for the "Halloween Treat" title banner that appears at the top of this post.

Ghostbusters 2016 (aka Ghostbusters: Answer The Call) has been on home video...excuse me, home entertainment for a few weeks now. It's now time for Spook Central to give its official review, and give you the comprehensive details on what to find in each release. It should be noted that this review only covers United States releases, though it will likely be applicable to Canada, too. Not sure about Mexico or areas outside of North America. I suspect that the discs are, for the most part, the same worldwide, but I can't say for sure, so I'll just err on the safe side and cover what I know has been released here in the U.S.

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Little Golden Books is a popular series of inexpensive, well-illustrated, hardcover children's books that were first released way back in 1942 (two years before my father was even born!). The eighth book in the series, The Poky Little Puppy, is the top-selling children's book of all time.


Penguin Random House (current owners of the series) released a few Star Wars Little Golden Books earlier this year, and now they're giving Ghostbusters the cutesy Little Golden Books treatment. Each of the Ghostbusters books, suitable for boys and girls ages 3 to 7 (or us big kids, too), was written by John Sazaklis, and features some incredible illustrations by Alan Batson, resembling the classic books that we all grew up with. Let's take a closer look at each one...


The first book, simply titled Ghostbusters, is based on the original 1984 classic...though I'm sure you figured that out from the cover photo above. The 24-page, 6.5"x8" hardcover tome simplifies the story so that it can be easily understood by little kids.


The story glosses over the library case, and jumps right in to the guys starting the business and taking the hotel case, where they meet "Slimer". Yeah, the name has been retconned in, but at this point, you're not likely to see him being referred to as Onionhead anymore. Besides, everyone knows him as Slimer, so that's his now-and-forever name. Anyway, after they bust Slimer and become very busy, they hire Winston - lest you think that he's been forgotten yet again. Dana and Louis encounter trouble, and the Ghostbusters go to help them, only to find them on top of the building with Gozer. As expected, the more "adult" material of possessed Dana in her bedroom with Peter is left out, as is possessed Louis being taken in at GBHQ, and the entire character of Walter Peck. Again, John Sazaklis kept the story down to the extreme basics, and that's fine. It still works because it's a great story. By the way, Alan Batson did a fantastic job of making Stay Puft more adorable than he's ever been.


The second book is titled Ghostbusters: Who You Gonna Call?, so as to distinguish it from the first book, and is based on the 2016 remake/reboot. It follows the standard formatting of the series, being a hardcover book that is 24-page long, and sized at 6.5"x8".


As with the first book, the story is simplified, and if you read my review of the movie, you'll know why I think that's a benefit here. The book starts off with Erin, Abby, and Jillian all working together studying ghosts when Erin gets the idea to check out the Aldridge Mansion (Ed Mulgrave Jr. never comes to her with the case). Yeah, the whole issue of Erin and Abby not being friends and living separate lives is non-existent here. It never happened. Some of you wish the same could be said about the movie, but I digress... I have to give kudos to Alan Batson for adding in the ParanormalStudiesLab.com reference on the whiteboard. That's a nice attention to detail. Okay, so "ghosts are real", and BOOM; they've set up shop above an old Chinese restaurant and have a secretary named Kevin, who shows no signs of the rampant stupidity that he did in the movie. Already, I'm liking this book better than the movie.

Patty sees a ghost in a train tunnel, calls the Ghostbusters, and on the next page she's a part of the team heading to a haunted rock concert. From here on, certain parts of the story are altered slightly to trim it down. For example, after busting Mayhem on stage at the concert, the Ghostbusters find Rowan backstage planting one of his devices, and proceed to follow him to the Mercado Hotel basement. Because this is a Children's book, Rowan does not commit suicide, nor does he possess Abby and Kevin. Oh, thank God for "The Power of Patty compels you" line being exercised. One of the worst pieces of dialog in the entire movie. Anyway, instead of killing himself, Rowan unleashes a horde of ghosts, and the story jumps to the parade balloon attack in Times Square. The ghosts are defeated, Rowan transforms into the logo ghost (no reference to the logo, though), the Ghostbusters fire into the portal, thus sucking everything into it...The End!

Had the movie been this concise, I think everyone would have liked it better. It also would have been about 10 minutes long. Interestingly, while the first book uses snippets of dialog from the 1984 film, this one uses 100% original dialog, and does not use a single line from the 2016 film. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that John Sazaklis knew that Fieg's & Dippold's script didn't contain any worthwhile dialog.

The only bad thing I can say about the story is that John Sazaklis, pretty much, copy and pasted his ending from the first book.

The heroes were greeted by thousands of cheering fans. "I love this town!" Winston said. Now the city knew exactly who to call - THE GHOSTBUSTERS!

The Ghostbusters had single-handedly saved the city from paranormal peril. Now everyone in New York knew exactly who to call!

The third book is Ghostbusters (A Big Golden Book), and it is a compilation of the other two books, reprinted in a much larger size (9"x11"), over 44 pages. The gold spine on the Big Book has No Ghost logo, Slimer, and Stay Puft drawings. The Little Books have the series' standard bunny, duck, flower, etc. drawings.


The Big Book is printed on higher quality paper, but leaves out some artwork and reformats a few pages from the original Ghostbusters story. The Ghostbusters 2016 story is complete in the Big Book. Since it only results in a 4-page decrease, I have to wonder why they didn't just include every page "as is" in the Big Book. The scan above shows a two-page spread from the original Ghostbusters story that is formatted differently from the Little Book. In the Little book, Gozer gets her own left-side page, the guys are on the right, and the Stay Puft drawing is actually a two-page spread that shows the Ghostbusters on the roof on the left-page (that half of the drawing is completely omitted here; the text has been moved to the lower right corner).


Before I wrap this up, I'd like to bring attention to a printing defect that was present in both of the Big Book review copies I was sent by Penguin Random House. In the Big Book (not the Little Book), on page 3 of the GB2016 story, there are black streaks running down the center of the page. In the first book they sent, it ran down the entire page, heavy at the top (across the text), and lighter at the bottom (across Abby's face and hands and the food box). In the second copy, it's at the bottom only (across Abby's hand and body). It's a little more discreet in the second copy because Abby's dark blouse hides it. This printing error does not exist in the Little Book's rendition of the same page. In the first copy, there was also the same type of printing error a few pages later on the left-page of the two-page Ecto-1 spread.

In an effort to help Penguin Random House know how widespread the issue is, if you bought the Big Book, please post a comment to let us know where you bought it, and if your copy has this same error. Maybe the problem is just relegated to the copies Penguin Random House has in their warehouse.

[UPDATE - 12/3/2016]
I just purchased another copy from Target.com and I'm happy to report that it does not contain any printing errors at all! I guess Penguin Random House just had a bad batch of books in their werehouse/review stock. That's a relief!

The two Little Golden Books carry a MSRP of $4.99, while the Big Book has a MSRP of $9.99. You can buy them all right now at Amazon: Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters: Who You Gonna Call?, and Ghostbusters (A Big Golden Book). I highly recommend all three books, whether you have little kids or not. I only wish Penguin Random House had the rights to reprint some of the art as posters.

Halloween is fast approaching, and if you're in the need for a costume, TV Store Online literally has you covered. They have an officially-licensed, exclusive Ghostbusters Venkman Costume Jumpsuit that was produced by Mad Engine, the same company that made all of those Ghostbusters t-shirts about 10 years ago that were popping up in Hot Topic and everywhere else.


This is being called a "costume", but that's kinda misleading. What we have here is a basic beige/khaki jumpsuit adorned solely with the No Ghost logo and "Venkman" patches. Nothing more, nothing less. You don't get a Proton Pack, pads, belt, and other accoutrements. So, you'll look a little "naked" using this "as is" as a costume. Of course, you could just say that your pack is in the shop :-)

The jumpsuit is made from 100% cotton, so it has a soft feel to it, especially with the woolen cuffs and collar. You could even wear it as pajamas. Unsure of what size I should wear (I never wore a jumpsuit before), I went with "Large", which is approx. 66 inches (5.5 feet) from collar to toe. It's large and baggy enough to wear a full set of clothes underneath, so I think I'll be good. The zipper runs from collar to crotch.


Bear in mind that this is a jumpsuit, not a flightsuit, like the guys wore in the movie. So, if you're looking for screen-accuracy, you'll have to look elsewhere. If you're looking for something that looks close enough, something you can just put on and go, then this will do the job. That said, I wish it were a little more like a flightsuit, as I prefer many pockets. The jumpsuit only has side pockets, one on each hip.


The "Venkman" patch is on the left breast, and it is sewn and glued on very well. I see no indication that this will come off after lots of wear and washing.


The logo patch is on the right sleeve, and it's sewn into the fabric, so it certainly won't come off. The quality on mine is a little "off". Notice the bits of white peeking through the red. It's not really an issue, and most people won't pay attention enough to notice it, but I still felt I should mention it since it's easy to see in my photo.


The jumpsuit even looks good on this State Home For The Ugly escapee.

The Ghostbusters Venkman Costume Jumpsuit is currently priced at $69.95 and is available in S, M, L, XL, and 2X sizes. If you use coupon code TVTEN to get 10% off, you'll pay $62.95 (shipping is free).

If you went to Ghostbusters Fans, you'll be paying $89.46 ($66.99 + $22.47 shipping) for the khaki flightsuit ($44.99), Venkman name patch ($10.00), and No Ghost logo patch ($12.00). However, you'd have to sew on the patches yourself, and if you're like me, that's more work than you want to put into it. So, you're trading off screen-accuracy (and LOTS of pockets) for convenience and a cheaper price.

By the way, add Rubie's Deluxe Costume Proton Backpack to complete the look. It says that it's for kids, but the customer info says that it can fit adults, though it will look a little small (apparently, it's 18" tall, whereas a real pack is about 26" tall). (The photo below depicts a Rubie's model wearing their pack on one of their jumpsuits, but it serves as good reference to what their pack would look like on an adult wearing any jumpsuit.)

Pull up a chair and settle in at The Corner Penthouse of Spook Central.

http://www.thecornerpenthouse.tk

The new, yet not new, sister site of Spook Central, that's both separate from it, yet a part of it at the same time.

This is where I will be posting all of the stuff that isn't about Ghostbusters. The site/blog already contains a bunch of articles I wrote elsewhere back in 2014 and 2015 that "came home" to live under the Spook Central roof.

In addition to the site/blog, there's also a Facebook page and a Twitter page.

I think we have most of the kinks worked out, but if you see something, say something. Erin told me that's a good motto. The only design tweak I wanted to do, but couldn't quite work out, was to have a flat infinitely-tiled background of the side of the Shandor Building. Raffaele found an image which would have worked, except it didn't tile seamlessly. Oh well, the wood planks have that "home"-type of feeling that I'm going for.

Ghosts from Our Past: Both Literally & Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal by Andrew 'Sybil' Shaffer and his two multiple personalities, "Erin Gilbert" and "Abby L. Yates" is a book published by Three Rivers Press, as a tie-in for the new Ghostbusters movie. The 5.25"x8" paperback tome, consisting of 222 pages, features text in a medium-sized font with lots of supportive black & white photos and drawings. This book carries a list price of $15.00 ($20.00 Canadian), but you can always find it a little cheaper at Amazon, where an eBook version is also available.

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Colin Robinson from Cryptozoic Entertainment sent me a package (no thanks to FedEx for nearly destroying it) containing some of their Ghostbusters goodies. The first thing I saw in the box was a few "2016 Event Exclusive" packs of their Ghostbusters Mighty Meeples. The beloved Meeple, an iconic board game icon shape in Europe, is a 1" wooden cut-out of classic characters from the original Ghostbusters films. These distinctive figures are highly collectible and can even be used in your favorite board games. I know I've seen something like this when I was a child, but I can't remember what of. These little guys are cute, and being that they're little "blocks" of wood - approx. half an inch thick - they stand up quite easily, making them perfect to display on a shelf or a desk.


The "2016 Event Exclusive" packs, which have been distributed at the Cryptozoic booth at various conventions this year, contain the following three figures:

#7 - Slimed Peter Venkman
#8 - Slimed Ray Stantz
#9 - Exclusive Slimer

Unlike so many other things of this nature, they are not "blind bags". The figures depicted on the front of the bag are exactly what you'll find inside. You'll notice that these figures are numbered starting with #7. If you're wondering where figures #1 through #6 are, they'll be here soon enough. These event packs are meant to be a PREVIEW of what's to come...


Coming in January/February 2017 is the Mighty Meeples Ghostbusters Ecto-1 Collection Tin. Stored inside a metal case designed after the Ecto-1 are Meeples of all four original Ghostbusters, Slimer, and an appropriately oversized Stay Puft. You can pre-order it now at Amazon

If you want the "2016 Event Exclusive" pack, you can either scope out the Cryptozoic website for any future conventions, or buy from one of the scalpers on eBay. The extras that I was sent to giveaway have already been claimed.

Whether there will be more Ghostbusters Mighty Meeples after these nine will depend on how well these sell. Currently, there are no plans for more.


The other item in the box was the Ghostbusters Stay Puft Apron & Chef Hat, which is available for purchase right now at Amazon. Part practical item, part costume, the Stay Puft apron & hat combo is perfect for grilling, or rampaging through the streets of New York, and would make for a nifty "last minute" Halloween costume. Quick thought: If you're toasting marshmallows on the grill while wearing it, is it considered cannibalism? It's made of 100% cotton and is an adult "one size fits all" size. I certainly had no problems fitting into it. The only downside I could find to the apron is that it lacks a front pocket, which would come in handy when using it for practical purposes. If you want to see more photos of it being used, check out Fear's Confections and Tracey's Basement on Instagram (alt url).

You may recall that TimeLife released The Real Ghostbusters: Complete Collection DVD box set back in 2008. This is NOT a review of that set. The set that I am reviewing today does NOT contain the complete series, nor is it being advertised as such. In fact, this set is just a collection of the individual volumes that are also sold separately.

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Ghostbusters: Now A Major Motion Picture by Nancy Holder is an adult book, published by Tor, based on the new Ghostbusters movie. The 4"x7.5" paperback tome, consisting of 259 pages, is printed with the same sized font and paper stock typical for paperback novels. There is another movie novelization by Stacia Deutsch, which was published by Simon Spotlight. To avoid any confusion, that one will be referred to as the "junior novelization" and this one is the "adult novelization". This book carries a list price of $9.99 ($13.99 Canadian), but you can always find it a little cheaper at Amazon, where an eBook version is also available.

It should almost go without saying - but I need to say it anyway - THERE WILL BE SPOILERS AHEAD. Click through, or continue reading, only if you've already seen the movie. You have been warned...

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Ghostbusters: Movie Novelization by Stacia Deutsch is a young adult book based on the new Ghostbusters movie. The 5"x7.5" paperback tome, consisting of 139 pages, is printed with the same sized font and paper stock typical for paperback novels. There is another movie novelization by Nancy Holder, which was published by Tor. To avoid any confusion, this one will be referred to as the "junior novelization", and that one is the "adult novelization". Of all of the Simon Spotlight books, this one is the most text-heavy and image-light, making it suitable for an older child/tween than Proud To Be A Ghostbuster, Who You Gonna Call?, and Ghostbuster's Handbook. Released by the Simon and Schuster imprint, Simon Spotlight, this book carries a list price of $6.99, but you can always find it a little cheaper at Amazon, where an eBook version is also available.

Over 18 chapters and a prologue, Ghostbusters: Movie Novelization adapts the movie script written by Paul Feig and Katie Dippold into a more straightforward telling of the story. That means that, if you didn't like the movie (which I didn't), you may like this novelization because, due to the nature of the different formats, it eliminates a lot of the problems that the movie suffers from. Of course, author Stacia Deutsch must still adhere to Feig's and Dippold's story. It's not like she can tell her own tale.


The novel is based on the script, not the final film, so it's not 100% the same as the movie. This becomes apparent when we are introduced to Erin at the start of Chapter 1. She is in her apartment, getting dressed for work, while watching the Ghost Jumpers TV show. In the movie, she's already on campus when we first see her and the TV show is only seen a little later on in the lab. Erin had a boyfriend named Phil Hudson, who also worked at Columbia University, and a mentor named Phyllis Adler, who was a bit of a jerk.

Due to the nature of the different formats, the novel eliminates the pacing issues and stupidity of the movie, so the story flows better. You'll find that Kevin isn't quite as stupid in the book. He's still dumb as a bag of rocks (he still tries to put his hand through the fish tank), but stuff like the "bang gong, put fingers over eyes" gag, and the lens-less glasses, are gone. Kevin's big-boobed ghost logo is replaced with a "silly looking cartoon ghost". A lot of his gags in the film are visual, and that does not translate well to the printed word. +1 for the novel.


As I was reading the book, I kinda felt like I was seeing an alternate cut of the film because there was enough new material and enough material removed that it felt different. On page 53, Rowan meets a hotel guest who, due to having ectoplasm dripped on her, has a ghost living inside her back. That would have been a really cool visual effect, if it were in the film. Later on, after the climax of the story (on page 132) is a reference to the original film, when a reporter interviews a man who said that he "got into a cab being driven by a skeleton". Also, the post-credits scene is not in the book.


A lot of the really inappropriate and dumb stuff from the film is not present in the book, such as the Dean's endless middle finger gag. Patty still slaps Abby in the possession scene, but the "Power of Patty compels you" line is MIA. We still have the lame stage dive, but Patty's "race or lady thing" line is replaced with, "How dare you let a lady hit the floor? Pick me up now!" The mayor's aide, Jennifer Lynch, shows a video on her laptop of what exactly "Mass Hysteria" is.

There are a few scenes that were deleted from the film, which still appear in the novel, that I wish were deleted from the novel as well. The "Kevin makes military and police dance" sequence (reused alongside the end credits) pops up on page 113, and just reading it made me feel dumber. When the Ghostbusters are relaxing at the headquarters eating pizza, Abby and Erin tell how they bonded as kids over a science fair project about the ghost barrier, and then pull out their old demonstration and act it out with a rap song. This would have stopped the movie dead (as if Feig didn't do that already with other bits). The rap was painful to read, so I know it would have been painful to see and hear. I wonder if they even filmed that scene. Oh, and the juvenile fart EVP joke is still present, too.

Some of the original Ghostbusters-actor cameos are different in the novel. Annie Potts' hotel clerk is now a man. Dan Aykroyd's cab driver cameo is extremely brief and lacks its "Ain't afraid of no ghosts" punchline. Lady Slimer (voiced by Ghostbusters II's Slimer, Robin Shelby) is nowhere to be found. And then there's a character deleted from the film that would have made for a great cameo. On pages 119 and 120, a "confused tenant" wanders into the Mercado lobby and is assumed by Rowan to be a fifth ghostbuster. If Rick Moranis were to have ever appeared in the film, I could totally see him playing this role.


Eight pages of color photos appear in middle of book, between pages 76 and 77. They are arranged with more style than the photos used in the score album, which just proves, like I said in my review, that the art design on the score album was lazy and uninspired.

Up to this point, I've had nothing but good things to say about the novel. To be fair, I need to point out that the novel isn't perfect. There are spots where the author writes something that makes no sense if you had not seen the film. On page 63, she writes that "Patty's uncle's hearse [is] now called Ecto-1", but fails to state why is it now called Ecto-1. Sure, Feig and Dippold probably didn't include an explanation in the script, and the original film didn't either (we're never told why Ray chose that name for the vanity plate), but that's why this is a novelization and not a reprint of the script itself. FYI: In Richard Mueller's novelization of the original film, this isn't an issue because Ray has a line of dialogue (on page 94) in which he tells Peter that "it's not a car, it's an Ectomobile", and the car is always referred to as such. The same with the Larry Milne novelization. (Both novels are available on the Ghostbusters Books page here on Spook Central.)

On page 136, Stacia Deutsch writes that "Erin and Abby tried the Abby-and-Holtzmann elaborate handshake". Since this handshake was never mentioned before in the novel - unlike the movie, where Abby and Jillian Holtzmann do the handshake in their lab in front of Erin early in the film - I have to wonder why the author thought it should be mentioned at all. It's a visual gag that wouldn't even make sense in the printed form, especially to someone who didn't see the film first.

What I just mentioned are the only problems I found with the story in the book. Any other problems have to do with the story by Feig and Dippold, and not Deutsch's adaptation of it. This would include the amateur-level dialogue present in some sections that reads like bad fan fiction. I should know, as I've written bad fan fiction. For example, here's an except from pages 59 and 60 right after Erin and Abby perform their old science fair presentation and rap song:

Abby and Erin laughed, hugging and celebrating. "We remembered it!"

Holtzmann joined them in the hugs. "I am so happy you two are together again. So happy," she said.

Erin and Abby then looked at Patty.

"I was all set to make fun of you, but that was actually beautiful," Patty admitted. "It was good you had each other."

Later on, on pages 75 and 76, Erin kissing the ghost trap is made into more of a thing than in the movie. Not only does she kiss it at the theater after the bust, but she does so again back at headquarters:

"Guys. It's time to celebrate. This is what 'legit' feels like." She grabbed the trap and gave it another kiss.

"Okay, you gotta stop kissing the trap," Abby warned.

"I know. But it's like, the more you guys say 'Don't kiss the trap', the more I want to kiss the trap." Erin raised the trap to Holtzmann. "Get in on this!"

This just makes Erin look really stupid, or like she has some kind of brain damage. What kind of college-educated person does something like that, and multiple times, no less? Clearly, this behavior is in Feig's and Dippold's script, and is not a product of Deutsch's imagination, as Erin kisses the trap in the movie, too.

Okay, time to wrap this up...

If I knew nothing of the film before reading the book - and I mean absolutely nothing; no reading the production ins and outs, or viewing any trailers, or anything else - and this book was my first and only exposure to the story, I would have loved it. Stacia Deutsch does a better job of telling the story than Paul Feig does in the movie. Print is not only NOT dead, in this case, it far surpasses the motion picture.