Tuesday, October 14, 2025

Katanaut Review: Slashy Slashy, Red Everywhere

 
 
Hoo boy, say, "Hello" to Dead Cells-lite. Not trying to be negative, even being on par with such a polished game is a compliment and Katanaut is getting there. A sci-fi tale with plenty of background lore and a huge amount of blood splatter to get behind. I'm not sure about commitment to a game like that right now. CloverPit and me are just starting to really get to know each other. And, you'll get to know Kataunaut, if you won't to put the time in. It's both a rogue-lite and a metroidvania, that's why I'm sticking to the Dead Cells reference. The "lite" I'll get too.
 
First up, the name is dope as Hell. Katanaut, c'mon, how has that not be a title already. That needs to be a poster and Saturday Morning Cartoon we never got.
 
The setting is a messed up space station in the future with some kind of zombie or alien virus turning people into a gross murder horde. You're stuck in a time loop with a plethora of skills and weapons to make the background in this game look like some really bad accident at a ketchup factory.
 
The "lite" comes from gameplay. I'm not that sold, sure, different skill attacks look cool, but I feel as though I mainly just use my main slashing technique to pulverize what's left of people into mush. It's why it's called Katanaut. I love their are skills that let you pull off amazing anime like fight moves, but mainly it feels like I'm just running through slashing people with little more to show for it based on whatever build I get on my new run-through.
 
If it's all about the blade, make the main strike ability addictive to do. What's the point of even having a gun or other skills if the main blade isn't that compelling? 
 
A few other issues with balance/weight and moves could be fixed with patches.
 
Now, I still could easily get lost in it. As every time you die and come back something comes out to make you a little bit stronger. So many skills and new weapons to try. And there was time taken to make it fun. I see there's a cat at your home base to pet and wait...did a pirate just show up? Oh and skippable lore cutscenes.
 
So, there's a game to keep playing over and over again to make the first boss wish he was never born. Or was created in a lab without skin and I think was the combination of canine and bovine DNA. In any case, to cut to the chase, there's a game you could get into here. But, it could have a more compelling main move or changed it up like when you change your powers/weapon in Dead Cells/Metroidvania. Ughh, so close to a perfect cut.
 
consoles TBA






 Game provided by publisher for review purposes

Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees Wins Harvey Award, Adorable Murder Bear Taking on Sub-Zero

Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees is the Harvey winner for Best Book of the Year! It's a great honor among comics. And, then it gets much much weirder for this true crime, killer bear story.

Yes, our favorite adorable serial killer, Samantha Strong is taking on DC Comics superheroes and villains and randomly enough possibly Sub-Zero. In an upcoming comic arc called DC K.O. she and other characters from across other realities are going to beat each other up. What's really strange is Samantha Strong is not even owned by the WB, she's from comic company IDW. And, most of the other fighters aren't adorable animals.
 

Monday, October 13, 2025

Halloween Hype: Good Boy, Fortnitemares, The Haunting, Airheads Decoy Boy, FruitHead, WNUF Halloween Special & Out There Halloween Mega Tape @ Walmart

 
Good Boy is a fun Sunday watch. What I mean is, I could see chillin out and being scared by this over a weekend cozy in bed. For those who don't know, this is the first horror movie completely from a dog's perspective. It totally works and has some good scares. No, the dog doesn't have a inner dialogue like we might have gotten from the 80's or 90's. This is a independent movie from IFC and Shudder. Oh, and if you see it in theaters you can learn some of how it was filmed. Here's some trivia the boggled my friends and I after seeing it 1. It was made over 3 and 1/2 years 2. It was filmed at the director's real house. 3. The dog has no training whatsoever for acting in movies/tv or commercials. 
 
Fortnitemares is going on now in Fortnite, special skins to buy for Halloween like the entire Scooby-Doo gang and Art the Clown from Terrifier.
 
 
Face your nightmares in #TheHaunting coming to Black Ops 6 and Call of Duty: Warzone, which also has horror villains like Predator and Chucky.
 
Airheads Decoy Boy is marketing genius and also creepy as Hell, And, you can win one. Enter to win one here.
 

Gushers has made a horror short, are you brave enough to watch it?

 

We love these found footage movies and are so glad you can grab them both in one go on DVD at Walmart. They perfectly capture the feel of the 80's and early 90's.


 

Thursday, October 9, 2025

Review: Elvira’s Cookbook from Hell — A Devilishly Delicious Feast of Camp and Cuisine

By Eric Harris

Cover of “Elvira’s Cookbook from Hell” by Cassandra Peterson, featuring Elvira with recipes for Unpleasant Dreamz Upside-Down Cake and Black Magic Margaritas, published by Grand Central Publishing (2025).
Courtesy of Grand Central Publishing, 2025


Elvira, the girl with the enormous... flair for frightful feasts, has conjured up a devilishly delightful cookbook that's sure to haunt your kitchen in the best way possible. In Elvira's Cookbook from Hell: Sexy, Spooky SoirĂ©es and Celebrations for Every Occasion, Cassandra Peterson channels her iconic alter ego to serve up a campy cauldron of culinary chaos that's as fun as it is fabulous. This isn't your grandma's recipe book—unless your grandma hosts horror movie marathons and spikes her punch with a wink and a cackle. It's a playful plunge into gothic gastronomy, perfect for anyone looking to add a dash of macabre magic to their gatherings.

Plate of Slime Green Totchos made with crispy tater tots topped with slime-green Tex-Mex queso sauce blended from pureed spinach.
Courtesy of Grand Central Publishing, 2025

What makes this cookbook a graveyard smash? For starters, it's a team effort worthy of a Hollywood horror production. Peterson credits no fewer than 14 collaborators—from photographers and food stylists to prop masters and recipe developers—who've helped bring her spooky vision to life. The result? 72 mouthwatering recipes spanning food, alcoholic beverages, and non-alcoholic sips, plus 16 clever crafts and decorations to set the scene. We're talking spiked napkin holders (a cheeky nod to her pooch Gonk from the 1988 cult classic Elvira: Mistress of the Dark), a coffin-shaped serving tray that'll have guests dying for seconds, wineglass bug charms crafted from enameled plastic critters, and "smoke"-spewing pumpkins using dry ice for that eerie fog effect. Even your furry friends get in on the fun with "Gonk’s Bone AppĂ©tit," a batch of dog treats that'll have tails wagging from beyond the grave. Ugh, gag me with a spoon—these ideas are so wickedly clever and pun-tastic, they don't require exotic ingredients or cursed cookware, making them ideal for novice necromancers in the kitchen.

Elvira and skeleton sitting in a smoke-filled movie theater, creating a spooky, cinematic atmosphere.
Courtesy of Cassandra Peterson, 2025

Two Black Magic Margaritas garnished with skewered blackberries and rimmed with shimmering black sugar for a spooky cocktail presentation.
Courtesy of Grand Central Publishing, 2025
The recipes themselves are a scream, blending everyday eats with Elvira's signature campy twist. They're well-crafted and highly approachable, always striking the balance between playful and polished, but always keeping the horror hostess's irreverent spirit alive. Take my favorites—the “Barbecued ‘Bat’ Wings,” where juicy chicken wings get a midnight makeover with a barbecue sauce laced with black food dye or activated charcoal for that shadowy sheen. Then there's the "Devilish Spider Eggs,” deviled eggs cracked and dyed to reveal creepy spiderweb veins in black, blood-red, or purple, with yolks piped back in for a fiendishly flavorful bite. Don't miss the "Poison Toadstools," adorable cherry tomatoes dolled up as fly agaric mushrooms, perfect for popping at a creepy cocktail party. For heartier haunts, the "Living Dead Lasagna" emerges from the oven garnished with gnarly chicken feet, looking like a monster clawing its way out of a delicious doom. The "Slithering Serpentine Salad" coils cucumbers into snake shapes using the Japanese jabara-giri technique—an accordion-style cut that creates a mesmerizing zigzag effect—complete with a red pepper tongue for extra hiss. And oh, the "Bloody Orange Chicken," a takeout classic gone rogue, dyed red for a gory glow that's brilliantly bloody without the mess. These dishes embody Peterson's evolution into the “Martha Stewart of the Macabre,” proving she's the ultimate hostess with the most-ess when it comes to terrorizing taste buds.

Plate of deviled eggs decorated with purple spiderweb-style patterns, styled as spooky party appetizers.
Courtesy of Grand Central Publishing, 2025
Reviewing this book has been a wicked walk down memory lane for me. As a young lad growing up in Southern California during the 1980s and 1990s, Elvira was an inescapable icon of Halloween havoc—from her sassy appearances on local TV like KHJ-TV's Movie Macabre (where the character debuted back in 1981) to cable reruns, T-shirts plastered with her image at record stores, posters in countless teen bedrooms—especially the boys’—and even catching her live at Knott’s Scary Farm. She was the queen of camp, and seeing her pivot to this cookbook direction at 74 feels like a natural next act. After all, Cassandra Peterson is long past the tassel routine (as she herself has joked, citing those "two big reasons" and a desire to retire the character on a high note), but her talent for blending humor, horror, and hospitality shines brighter than ever.

Elvira in her iconic black dress reclining on a red sofa surrounded by gothic, macabre decorations and artifacts.
Courtesy of Cassandra Peterson, 2025

If you only have room for one Halloween cookbook in your crypt, make it Elvira’s. Elvira, Mistress of the Dark—your hostess with the most-ess, and the gal with the enormous... love for the macabre—serves up frightful fun on every page. Out now and available wherever books are sold, this cookbook is a must-have for fans of spooky style and campy cuisine. As Elvira herself would say: “Unpleasant dreams!”

Playful image of Elvira depicted headless, reaching for her detached head in a humorous spooky scene.
Courtesy of Cassandra Peterson, 2025


Disclosure: The publisher provided Things To Do In LA with a complimentary advance copy of this book for review. No payment or editorial input was received, and the opinions expressed are entirely independent.

The Art of KPOP Demon Hunters: Exhibition & Panel Oct 18th - Nov 2nd

 

OPENING RECEPTION Saturday, October 18, 2025
NUCLEUS
210 East Main St. Alhambra CA 91801

*Listen the panel & signing has long been sold out, it was sold out before we even wrote this, but as of writing this you can still go to the opening reception for $5.

 OPENING RECEPTION (TICKET REQUIRED)

    October 18 at 5:00 - 8:00 PM PT
    $5 Admission
    Tickets will be available at 1:00 PM PT on October 1 HERE
    Limit 4 tickets per person.
    No cancellations/Refunds.
    E-Tickets are transferable only by email notification to [email protected], no later than 3 days prior to the event.
    2 time slots available, 5:00 - 6:30 PM and 6:30 - 8:00 PM
    Please do not purchase more than one time slot per person. Multiple time slot purchases will be refunded.
    New artwork by artists from the KPDH production and others will be on display and available for sale

Gallery Nucleus, in conjunction with Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation, is proud to bring you a look behind-the-scenes of KPOP DEMON HUNTERS. In addition to a panel and signing with some of the creatives behind the film, the gallery will feature a stunning collection of concept artwork ,as well as tribute artwork from some of the film's production artists! Guests on opening day will also be able to purchase special KPOP Demon Hunters donuts, courtesy of Moonbridge Donuts!

POPEYE & BRUTUS English Editions

 

POPEYE & BRUTUS English Editions are gonna be available in the US. We heard word of these about a month ago, finally they're reaching North American shores Oct 10th.
 
What's the big deal? If you ever eyed around a Kinokuniya book store (ughh, we miss the one in Little Tokyo, temporarily at The Bloc downtown) you've probably seen the covers of POPEYE & BRUTUS magazines. They'd always show off the coolest stuff around Tokyo and the rest of Japan. And, I think sometimes have a reverse issue showing the coolest places and food in America. Heinz Beans, ever heard of it?
 
Now for the 80th Anniversary of the two magazines we're getting special English editions showcasing the major tourist destination of everyone's friends, Japan. And, we didn't mean Japan is everyone's friend, we mean all our damn friends want to or have gone their, sheesh.
 
From a press release here's what's inside each special issue: 
"BRUTUS’s English edition bookazine “NEWPERSPECTIVE TOKYO” features 78 pages that share 545 hidden spots, known mainly
only to Tokyo locals and not featured in guidebooks or on social media. POPEYE
presents “Hello,Tokyo!” and highlights Tokyo’s gourmet spots, apparel shops and urban
discoveries with page after page of captivating photos and illustrations."
 
Now available at Kinokuniya stores, McNally Jackson SOHO (Prince Street), online at Amazon.co.jp and the Magazine House 80 th Anniversary Site (https://magazinehouse80th.jp), as well as other fine
retailers. Digital editions are also available through iOS and Android apps, as well as on
Kindle.

Halloween Hype: Universal Commercial, Halloween Music, Boo Buckets & Hallmark's Haul Out the Halloween

 

 

Universal's Halloween Horror Nights 2025 commercial goes hard this year.

 

George Streicher – MUSIC FOR HALLOWEEN NIGHT is perfect for background music for any Halloween party when you want to chat and drink but still get some chills. A fictionalized soundtrack of orchestral sounds from your favorite non-existing horror movies from the past. No lyrics, just easy spooky beats. If you can find it online, yes, it's on Spotify, and set it to play on loop at your Halloween get-together your golden.

 

 

Crazy Lixx -Thrill Of The Bite just dropped this year. If you want some thing a little more adult and glam band than you have Crazy Lixx's Thrill Of The Bite that's into horror and being thirsty for not just blood, but anything with two legs. Horny Halloween music perfect for any adult party. Don't worry, the lyrics will probably pass by any kiddos, just like any rock band's normal dirty lyrics.

McDonald’s Boo Buckets are back October 21st with two new additions, Zombie and Cat. 

 

The Monster Munchie Meal is back at Jack in the Box and they have a spooky color changing cup for purchase.

Burger King also has a Monster Menu

 
   - Jack-O-Lantern Whopper – The iconic flame-grilled Whopper, stacked with American cheese, bacon, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, pickles, ketchup, and mayo, on a striking Jack O’ Lantern orange bun topped with black sesame seeds that gets its festive hue from natural spice.
   - Vampire Nuggets – Crispy chicken nuggets shaped like vampire fangs and bats served in a carton designed as a coffin, perfect for dipping and sharing with your coven. These fang-tastic treats are available as part of the King Jr. Meal or a la carte.
  -  Mummy Mozzarella Fries – Crispy mozzarella sticks “wrapped” in golden breading, paired with a marinara dipping sauce and served in a special limited-edition mummy-themed box.
 -   Franken-Candy Sundae – Creamy vanilla soft serve topped with a franken-mix of OREO cookie crumbles, purple franken-candy syrup, and purple and green popping candy, stitching together one electrifyingly sweet dessert.

Hallmark is making their first romantic nonsense film for Halloween with their all-star X-Mas actress Lacey Chabert. October 11th marks the release of Haul Out the Halloween. It looks, beyond basic for the Halloween fan, but of note it's a reunion of actors Kimberly J. Brown and Daniel Kountz, who you might remember from Halloweentown, btw, they're married in real life.

Synopsis: New, Halloween-obsessed neighbors inspire residents of Evergreen Lane to haul out their spookiest costumes and décor to become EverSCREAM Lane.