It was fourteen years ago this month, in August 1996, that I created Spook Central in my rinky-dink Geocities account. It was nothing big - just a picture of the library ghost, on a banana yellow background, with some links below it - but it was a start. To help celebrate the occasion, I've reached out to a few of my corporate friends, and dug through my personal collection, to gather up a few prizes to give out to the fans. The Spook Central 14th Anniversary Prize Giveaway runs from now until August 7th, which should be plenty of time to get your entry in (one per person and/or e-mail address).


P.S. - If you want to see what the actual Ghostbusters 25th Anniversary and Spook Central retro logo printed stickers look like, Jason at GB News just posted a photo he took of the two stickers I gave him.

When TimeLife's The Real Ghostbusters: Complete Collection DVD box set was first released back in November 2008, the five smaller sets ("volumes") inside were each housed in a metal SteelBook™ case. When Vol 1. was released by itself in March 2009, it retained its Steelbook case from the box set. However, earlier this year TimeLife begun the process of replacing the Steelbook metal cases with plastic cases that are of the same dimensions. It started with the individual release of Vol. 2 in January, it will continue with the individual release of Vol. 3 in a mere three weeks (on August 3, 2010), and now the Complete Collection box set and the individual Vol. 1 are using the plastic cases, as well.

I, for one, am glad that they made the change to the plastic cases. I wish they would have used them all along. The new cases (which are the same dimensions as the Steelbooks) have each disc on its own page with NO overlap (unlike the Steelbooks). I suggested this packaging to Jeff Peisch (producer of the DVD box set, and head of TimeLife's video division) back in January 2009, after I saw how well it worked in CBS/Paramount's Petticoat Junction - The Official First Season set. One of my major complaints about the Complete Collection box set, other than the slow or sped-up episodes in Vol 4, is with the Steelbook cases. I hate the disc-over-disc storage inside the cases, and the disc locking mechanism, which has absolutely no give and upon repeated use will cause the inner ring of the disc to crack. I've had this happen with my Ghostbusters 1999 DVD, and that case's disc locking mechanism is a bit better than the Steelbooks - but not by much. So I'm quite happy that TimeLife decided to take my suggestion and replace the Steelbooks with the plastic cases, though I'm sure it's the cheaper cost of the plastic cases that really spurred their decision.

If you'd like to see for yourself why the plastic cases are better than the old metal ones, check out this comparison/review that I just wrote up using the individual Vol. 2 release.

As several people have already reported buying the Complete Collection box set from Amazon and getting the plastic cases inside, instead of the Steelbooks, I decided to ask Jeff Peisch about it. Not only did I want to confirm the reports, I also wanted to find out if it's only Amazon that's selling the new plastic case sets, or if other retailers (online and brick-and-mortar) are selling them too - including TimeLife.com.

He told me, "All configurations are now in [plastic cases]. NO Steelbooks at all. So those original sets are collectors' editions!!"

Since TimeLife has been manufacturing the set with Steelbook cases for at least a year (probably a year and several months), I wouldn't be quick to call the Steelbook cases "rare". "Collector's Editions" - sure, I would say that, but certainly not rare. Still, don't be surprised when you see them popping up on eBay at exorbitant prices with the word "rare" prominently displayed in the listing.

In an effort to help out the fans as much as possible, I asked Jeff for a little more information - particularly the answers to these two important questions regarding this matter.

1. Since some of the Steelbook "Complete Collection" box sets may still be out there in the wild, is there any way to tell from the outside packaging (the firehouse box) if there's plastic or Steelbook cases inside? Like maybe a different UPC/item/part number, a new/removed/different logo on the bottom, a change in any of the text on the bottom, or something else?

For the individual sets it will be really easy to see what case they're in, but for the "Complete Collection" box sets, the cases will be inside the sealed firehouse box. So that's why I'm asking if there's any small clue on the firehouse box of the new "plastic case sets" that could let the buyer know that there's plastic cases, and not Steelbooks, inside.

    -- Jeff's response: "There shouldn't be any of the Steelbook complete sets out there, since we just duplicated several thousand more of the new versions; and we wouldn't have made new ones if we had old ones in inventory."

2. Are there any plans to make a set of the new plastic cases (with the high-quality paper liner artwork) available for purchase to whomever may want to buy them to replace their Steelbooks?

For a fair amount of money (like $10 for the set), I know that there are folks who would buy them. That would be an extra source of revenue for TimeLife, without having to invest in anything new - you just do the same as you're doing now, but leave out the discs and firehouse box. Maybe you can bring this up at the next staff meeting, or mention it to whomever would be in charge of approving such things (if it's not you).

    -- Jeff's response: "Not at this time."

And for those of you who have been collecting the sets individually, I asked Jeff if the release dates for the individual releases of Vols. 4 & 5 have been determined yet. He said, "We'll definitely release next year." So you can rest assured that, as things currently stand, you'll be able to complete your collection before the end of 2011.

I'd like to publically thank Jeff Peisch for graciously answering all of my questions and putting up with my pestering.

For the past two years Chris Stewart has been writing a series of Shot On Site articles over at Proton Charging that document the little-known Ghostbusters filming locations, usually with diagrams showing how he was able to determine the locale in the movie by comparing it to the way it currently looks in real life. With his permission, I am going to build upon what he started for my own series of Shot On Site articles. In honor of posting my first Shot On Site article, I completely revamped my Filming Locations page to include thumbnails of all locations, and all of the new locations that were found by Chris Stewart, Nick Carr, and Chris Buchner. I also added all of the history text and some of the photos from Chris Buchner's defunct NYGB Tourguide site, with his permission. On top of that, I have also created an Unidentified Filming Locations page to serve as a checklist of the locations that still need to be identified.

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Scribd is a free service that allows anyone to share any type of document (including PDF, Word, PowerPoint and Excel) with the world. A "Ghostbusters" search brings up 45+ pages of results - most of them crap. I spent a few hours skimming through the results to find the best stuff, and here's what I found. (If you want to download any of the PDFs on Scribd, you'll need a free account. You can get some public logins at BugMeNot.)

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I finally had a chance to spend some time with the Ghostbusters Blu-Ray that was released last year. If you have not yet picked it up, you should. In lieu of writing a full-on review of the Ghostbusters Blu-Ray, here are a few notes that I made.

• There are too few chapters in the movie. There's only 16 compared to the DVD's 28. Slimer Mode, on the other hand, has too many chapters: 71 of them.

• In regards to all of the grain, it doesn't look too bad on my 22" 1080p HDTV, but it'll probably look much worse on a bigger TV. Still, it doesn't look good. Surely a better print of the movie exists. If the print for the 1999 DVD were this grainy, we would have definitely seen it, even in the standard definition of the DVD images. So why didn't Sony use that print - unless they lost it!

• The GBVG Making Of featurette would have been a great unlockable video on the PC/PS3/X360 copies of the game. It would have been nice for the PC version to have a real unlockable.

• I could have done without all of the "this is archival footage from an old DVD release" that precedes just about all of the old DVD bonus features that's included. Sony didn't put up any such notices on the archival DVD bonus features on their Resident Evil and Resident Evil: Apocalypse Blu-Ray releases (those are the only other Sony Blu-Rays that I have) - and those bonus features look more standard-definition than what's on the Ghostbusters disc.

• If I had to recommend this disc for one reason, and one reason only, it would be Slimer Mode. I was actually quite pleasantly surprised by all of the people they got to sit down for interviews. I wish they would have included some of the full-length interviews as full-screen bonus features.

I also took the time to add a lot of stuff from the Blu-Ray to Spook Central. For starters, I completely updated the GB1 Blu-Ray page. A gallery of scaled-down menu shots are on that page (link in the Multimedia section), and there are four new subpages on which lots of multimedia has been added: Slimer Mode, Ecto-1 featurette, Ecto-1 Restoration Gallery, and Making of Ghostbusters: The Video Game.

Since I don't care for the quality and look for the film print used on the Blu-Ray, I didn't bother recapturing all of the screen captures on the Ghostbusters Multimedia page. However, I did recapture all six magazine covers directly from the Blu-Ray in order to take advantage of the higher resolution picture. You can actually, barely, read the text on the USA Today and New York Post covers. And who knew there was a slight blue drop shadow behind the yellow text at the bottom of the photo on the Time cover. We also now know for a fact that the movie takes place in October 1984. Thanks to an error in the now semi-readable text on the USA Today cover, we can tell that Mike McWillie put the covers together on or around March 6, 1984. The USA Today cover, dated Oct. 8, 1984 lists an obituary for Thin Man actor William Powell, who actually died on March 5, 1984. Mike probably used the actual March 6th USA Today cover as the basis for his mock-up.

All of you deleted scene and Ecto-1 lovers will want to take note of a few new stills that were added to the Fort Detmerring exterior page showing the Ecto-1 pulling up to the fort, which were taken from the Ecto-1 featurette and Slimer Mode. This essentially gives us the car's entire procession from the fort entrance to the guys getting out.

And finally, since I know that someone, somewhere will undoubtedly ask me at sometime how I did the captures from the Blu-Ray, I have put up a very extensive page detailing how I do still and video captures from VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray. I also compiled some lists detailing where the content on the various digital releases of the various Ghostbusters productions can be found.

Boston America recently released the latest in their line of Ghostbusters consumables^* - Slimer Sours Candy. The little green Slimer-shaped sour watermelon-flavored candy (1.5oz [42.5g]) comes in a white metal tin with a slightly embossed No Ghost logo on top. The sourness of the candy leaves a little to be desired - they're more tart and tangy, than sour - but they're not bad. Kinda addicting, with an odd distinct smell. They're hard with a slight chalky residue on them that reminds me of a candy I used to get in a vending machine a long time ago.

Anyway, you're not really buying it for the candy, you're buying it for the metal tin. The tin measures roughly 3 inches in diameter and is roughly 3/4 inch in height. As previously mentioned, the logo on the lid is embossed, which is a nice touch, though the logo is pushed to the left a bit too far instead of being centered. (You can see this in the photo above.) The candy inside is not separately wrapped, so there will be chalky residue inside the tin that you'll need to wipe away with a damp paper towel when you're done with the candy.

I've searched around and the cheapest price I've seen the candy going for is $2.99 a tin + $1.95 shipping from ToyWiz via Amazon. (They were also selling it by the display/case [18 tins] last week, but that listing has since been deleted.) New York residents take note that $0.43 in sales tax is charged (ToyWiz is located in NY), which makes the total cost for one tin: $5.37. It's interesting to note that the shipping for TWO tins is $4.95, with tax being $0.96, so the order total is $11.89. It's actually cheaper to place two separate orders for one tin each ($10.74 total) than it is to buy two in the same order (you'll save $1.15).

If you want something to wash down the candy, I suggest a can of the Ghostbusters Ectoplasm Energy Drink (previously mentioned on this site). And to counteract the stinky sour breath you might have afterwards, get yourself a tube of Stay Puft Toasted Marshmallow-Flavored Lip Baum. Then you'll complete the trifecta of Boston America's Ghostbusters products. (Note: I don't work for Boston America, but I'll be happy to accept free samples if anyone from BA is reading this.)

For those who may benefit from this information, here's the ingredients list for the candy. For the nutritional facts, you'll have to contact Boston America - though, really...if you're that interested in the nutritional value of candy, you shouldn't be eating candy.

Ingredients: Glucose, Modified Starch, Magnesium Stearate, Tartaric Acid, Artificial Flavor (Watermelon) and Colors (FD&C Yellow 5, Blue1).

* Yes, I realize lip baum is not a consumable, but since it's flavored, and thus obviously meant to be tasted, I'm lumping in into the "consumables" category.

I've covered Ghostbusters references in mainstream media here and there, now it's time to take a peep behind the red curtain at the references and parodies in the world of adult entertainment. Although I'm trying my absolute best to keep this clean, and there will be no human nudity (I did a lot of censoring), and you will not find any hardcore imagery involving real people in this post (only drawings), this is NOT A POST FOR THE KIDDIES. By continuing to read this article, you hereby state to me that you wish to read about and view such content and will not hold me libel for any damages that may occur to your psyche or anything else if you proceed any further.

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[UPDATE 1/1/2010 - Click to page 2 for an article and videos about the closing.]

The legendary restaurant Tavern on the Green, where Louis was refused entry because they don't allow pets, will have its last seating on December 31, 2009 after 75 years of service. In September, the LeRoy family, who has owned the restaurant since 1974, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, due to the financial crisis and New York City's decision to give the Tavern license to a new operator, Dean J. Poll. As reported by the New York Times, the LeRoys' license has been extended to February 14th to allow the family enough time to remove the items it owns and to conduct an auction of the restaurant's famous interior and exterior fixtures and topiaries. The auction, which will be conducted by Guernsey's auction house, will be held on-site in the Crystal Room on January 13th and 14th (though you can also bid in absentia via telephone, e-mail or internet). Previews will be held on-site January 6-12 from 12-8 PM each day. Poll, who takes over in February with his new 20-year license, plans to renovate with green technology. However, he may not be allowed to use the Tavern on the Green name. The LeRoys and the City are embroiled in a trademark dispute over the name, though Poll has registered Tavern in the Park as an alternative.

It is unknown when Poll's new Tavern will open, but even if it retains the name, it certainly won't be the same place that everyone has known and loved for the past 35-75 years. So if you want to celebrate the real Tavern's last Christmas or New Years, make your reservations right away.

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It was ten years ago today that actress Mary Kay Bergman tragically took her own life. Ghostbusters fans would know her best as the voice of Banshee in the Extreme Ghostbusters episodes "Sonic Youth" and "Slimer's Sacrifice", but she is best known worldwide for providing the voices of every single female character on South Park from the show's first episode up to the end of the third season, and including the feature film "Bigger, Longer, and Uncut", which was released a mere five months before her death. To give you an idea of the talent she possessed, it now takes three different actresses to provide the voices on the show that she alone had previously provided. And that's not to mention the many other characters she provided the voices for, which includes Disney's Snow White and Scooby-Doo's Daphne Blake (she was the official voice artist for both of these roles). She also provided the yodeling for Jessie in Toy Story 2 (the talking voice was provided by Joan Cusack), so maybe we'll hear Mary Kay again in next year's Toy Story 3 if Disney reuses any of the audio she recorded over ten years ago.

Although Mary Kay's filmography is comprised entirely of voice credits, she did have one on-screen performance. It was as the mysterious lady in red in the 2000 film "Bob's Video", written and directed by her husband Dino Andrade. Don't go searching Netflix, Amazon, or any video store for this film as it is not available on home video, and apparently has only played at a few film festivals about ten years ago. It's really a shame that Dino doesn't try to get this out on DVD, as this film is tailor-made for animation and voice artist fans. Besides Mary Kay's cameo, the film stars voice artists E.G. Daily, Bill Farmer, Grey DeLisle, and animation director Gary Trousdale. On top of that, the police force are all named after classic animators: Sheriff Harmon, Deputy Jones, Deputy Avery, Deputy Iwerks, Deputy Spunkmeyer, Deputy Freleng, Deputy Fleischer, Deputy Clampit, Deputy Hanna, Deputy Barbera, Deputy Lantz, and Deputy McKimson. Bob's Video is a film that I've been dying to see for the past ten years, and I really hope that one day I get the chance to see it.

Thankfully, I don't have to wait to see video of Mary Kay as she has appeared briefly in a few Scoobo-Doo "making of" featurettes. Namely the two you see in this Spook Central article. Mary Kay also did interviews for the South Park movie: clip #1, clip #2, clip #3.

If you'd like to learn more about the life and career of this amazingly talented woman, head on over to her official site (still preserved after all these years) and her official memorial site created and maintained by Doreen Mulman. While you're at the memorial site, be sure to pick up a copy of Mary Kay's last demo CD.

'GHOSTBUSTERS: THE VIDEO GAME' ON PSP (PlayStationPortable) systems SLIMES ITS WAY INTO NORTH AMERICAN RETAILERS

- Get Ready to Bust Some Ghosts On the Go This Holiday Season on PSP system and PSPgo system -

NEW YORK, NY ­ November 3, 2009 ­ Atari, Inc., one of the world's most recognized videogame publishers, announced today that this summer's best-selling, Ghostbusters: The Video Game is now available at retailers across North America on the PSP (PlayStation Portable) systems (including the PSPgo system). After selling into retail more than one million units across North America in its first month, fans of the summer blockbuster title can now grab their proton packs, blast and wrangle ghosts on a 16x9 widescreen while on the run! Ghostbusters: The Video Game was released on June, 16, 2009 and quickly became one of the hottest video games of the year.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game, based on the smash hit motion picture franchise, is penned by original Ghostbusters writers and stars Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd and reunites many of the original cast members to recapture the unique blend of humor and fright that established Ghostbusters as a pop culture sensation. In collaboration with Sony Pictures Consumer Products and acclaimed development studios Terminal Reality and RedFly Studios, Atari published this completely all-new chapter of the blockbuster Ghostbusters saga to advanced gaming platforms to coincide with the 25th Anniversary celebration of the film's original theatrical release.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game on the PSP systems offers the ability to switch between four equipment sets to access eight unique proton pack functions and use gadgets like the PKE Meter and Paragoggles to scan and analyze targets. Get pulled into the world of the paranormal, unleash your blast stream and tear it up on the go. Ghostbusters: The Video Game for PSP system is rated E10 and is currently available for the recommended retail price of $29.99.

A great holiday gift, Ghostbusters: The Video Game is also currently available at retailers across North America for reduced prices on most consoles including the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft ($39.99), Windows PC ($19.99), PlayStation3 computer entertainment system ($39.99) and Wii ($29.99). The PlayStation2 computer entertainment system ($19.99), and Nintendo DS ($19.99) are also available for the holiday season. Set two years after Ghostbusters 2, with Manhattan once again overrun by ghosts and supernatural forces, the game also features performances from fan favorites such as William Atherton (Walter Peck), Annie Potts (Janine Melnitz) and Brian Doyle-Murray (lending his voice as Mayor Jock Mulligan).

For more information, be sure to visit the official Ghostbusters(TM): The Video Game website located at: www.ghostbustersgame.com.

About the Game
When Manhattan is once again overrun by ghosts and other supernatural creatures, players will take on the role of a new recruit joining the famous Ghostbusters team. Developed by acclaimed studio Terminal Reality, Ghostbusters: The Video Game will make its debut on the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows PC.The PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system version and the Wii version are being developed by Red Fly Studios, and the Nintendo DS™ version, in which the player takes the role of one of the Ghostbusters themselves, is developed by Zen Studios. The PLAYSTATION 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and PC versions of the game are developed using Terminal Reality's phenomenal proprietary Infernal Engine technology.

About the Film
Ghostbusters, released in 1984, is one of Columbia Pictures' highest grossing films, spawning a hit sequel in 1989 and three successful animated television shows. Ghostbusters and its sequel grossed over $500 million world-wide. Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, produced and directed by Ivan Reitman, starred Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson as ghost hunters for hire, cleaning up Manhattan's buildings of slime-spewing spooks.

About Sony Pictures Consumer Products Inc.
Sony Pictures Consumer Products Inc. (SPCP) is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (SPE) based in Los Angeles which handles the merchandising and branding efforts for some of the most recognized properties in film and television.

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution, operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in more than 130 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com.

About Infogrames Entertainment and Atari
The Infogrames group, including the Atari brand and the massively multiplayer online game company Cryptic Studios, is a global producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment software for all market segments and all interactive game platforms including consoles from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, advanced smartphones, Personal Computers, web and online. Its games are sold in more than 60 countries through an international distribution network and direct to consumers via www.atari.com.

Atari's extensive catalogue of popular games is based on original franchises (Test Drive, Alone in the Dark, V-Rally, My Horse & Me, Backyard Sports franchise, Total Annihilation, Outcast etc.), Cryptic Studios titles (StarTrek Online, Champions Online), publishing properties (Ghostbusters, The Chronicles of Riddick, The Witcher, Race Pro etc.), international licenses (Dragon Ball Z, Dungeons & Dragons, Jamie Oliver etc.) and classic games covering the entire history of the video game industry (Pong, Missile Command, Asteroids etc).

© 2009 Atari Europe SASU. All rights reserved.
Atari word mark and logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc.

"GHOSTBUSTERS", The Video Game: © 2009 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. "GHOSTBUSTERS" with the "GHOST DESIGN" is a registered trademark of Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. "GHOSTBUSTERS", and "GHOSTBUSTERS 2" movies: © 1984, © 1989 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. Game Software excluding Columbia Pictures Elements: © 2009 Atari, Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

"PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The PlayStation Network Logo is a service mark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Wii and Nintendo DS are trademarks of Nintendo. © 2006 Nintendo.

Windows and the Windows Vista start button are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries and are used under license from owner.

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