Tales of Halloween (2015) | 31 Days of Horror: Oct 10

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Ten tales to traumatize, terrorize, and treat!

Tales of Halloween is a strong anthology film that literally delivers something for everyone. It’s scary, disturbing, funny, and also has a ton of great references to previous horror properties.

Before Viewing

The trailer for this film tells several things. Every year on Halloween, one town goes crazy. This is an anthology film with a whopping ten stories. Images of monsters and people screaming are intercut with pages of all the actors and directors working on this project. It’s time for some Tales of Halloween!

Presented below is the trailer for the film.

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After Viewing

“Sweet Tooth”

Young Mikey (Daniel DiMaggio) returns home from trick or treating (dressed as Snake Plissken) and begins devouring his candy. His babysitter Lizzy (Madison Iseman) and her boyfriend Kyle (Austin Falk) tell him the tale of Timmy, aka Sweet Tooth (Cameron Easton). Fifty years ago his parents wouldn’t let him eat candy after trick or treating. Sneaking out of bed he witnessed both parents eating all his candy, so he killed them and ate the remaining candy–including what was in their stomachs. Mikey, freaked out, goes to bed but leaves a chocolate bar by his door. Lizzy and Kyle are killed when Sweet Tooth appears and sees they have eaten all of Mikey’s candy. The creature takes the offering from Mikey and leaves him be. Mikey’s parents (Greg Grunberg & Claire Kramer) return home and find the two dead bodies, with Mikey standing over them, saying “They ate all of my candy.”

“The Night Billy Raised Hell”

Billy (Marcus Eckert), dressed as a red devil, is out trick or treating early with his sister Britney (Natalie Castillo) and her jerk of a boyfriend, Todd (Ben Stillwell). Todd convinces Billy to egg a neighbor’s house as part of a Halloween prank. The neighbor, Mr. Abbadon (Barry Bostwick) stops the egg and hits Todd with it before dragging Billy inside. Removing his hat reveals two horns on Abbadon’s head. He is going to teach Billy about real pranking. Both he and the little devil go into the neighborhood where they steal candy, set Halloween decorations on fire, hold up a convenience store, and even stab a local homeowner. Returning home, the little devil removes its mask, revealing a real imp named Mordecai (Christophe Zajac-Denek). Mr. Abbadon unites Billy and sends him home, where he is arrested by police officers for his terror spree.

“Our little town really comes alive on October 31st, when witches and devils, imps and monsters roam our town.” – Radio DJ in “Prologue”

“Trick”

Two couples are hanging out watching Night of the Living Dead on television and taking turns answering the door for trick-or-treaters. Nelson (Trent Haaga) answers the door and is stabbed by a girl (Mia Page) dressed as a witch. Maria (Tiffany Shepis) runs into the alley to grab the car but is attacked by four kids with knives. She staggers into the backyard and falls into the pool, dead. James (John F. Beach) is blinded and burned and then fed rat poison by a girl dressed as a devil (Sage Stewart). The remaining adult, Caitlyn (Casey Ruggieri) runs into the garage and hides. The group of children come for her. She quickly begins deleting graphics images from her phone, including ones of the adults covered in blood and holding an eyeball. The kids turn on the lights revealing a young girl (Bianca Rose Miller) strapped to a table, missing an eyeball. The other kids free the girl, and she picks up a hatchet and kills Caitlyn with it.

“The Weak and The Wicked”

Three tough teens, Isaac (Booboo Stewart), Bart (Noah Segan), and Alice (Grace Phipps), are roughing up another youth dressed as a sheriff when Jimmy Henson (Keir Gilchrist) appears. He is dressed in a strange outfit, with protective gear, a balaclava, and a horned helmet. The teens confront Jimmy, and he hands them a drawing of a horned demon–that looks similar to his outfit. They laugh at him. Alice and the gang chase Jimmy on their bikes after donning skeleton masks. They corner him in an alley, but using parkour he hops over the wall. They finally catch up to him in a poor area of town, by a burned-out camping trailer. Alice recognizes him as Jimmy, and a flashback begins of the trio–as kids–watching a burning camper as Jimmy looks on sadly. Alice and the other two teens begin to beat up Jimmy who laughs while checking his watch. The paper he showed them earlier had a second side with the instructions for summoning the Demon of All Hallows Eve, who now appears and slaughters the three troublemakers.

“It’s kinda poetic, really. You, us, together, on All Hallow’s Eve.” – Alice in “The Weak and the Wicked”

“Grim Grinning Ghost”

A woman (Lin Shaye) tells the story of Mary Bailey to guests at her Halloween party. Mary was bullied and unloved because of a deformity. Every Halloween she returns to laugh at people behind their backs, and if they turn around she plucks out their eyes. Her daughter, Lynn (Alex Essoe) leaves the party, a little disturbed by her mom’s story and assures her she’s sober enough to drive home. Lynn stops short to avoid being hit by a speeding car, but she cannot get her vehicle started again. As she is walking home across a foggy bridge, a laughing figure appears behind her. Lynn fights the urge to turn around. She hurriedly gets home and into her house, only looking out the door after she’s safely inside. While she’s brushing her teeth the door behind her starts to open, but it’s only her dog. She sits down on the couch, thinking she’s heard something. When she leans back the ghostly Mary Bailey is right next to her grinning!

“Ding Dong”

At the house of Jack (Marc Senter) and Bobbie (Pollyanna McIntosh) one year ago, children ring the bell for trick or treating as Bobbie cries over not being able to have a child. Jack tries to console her by showing her their dog dressed up with a blonde wig as Gretel, but Bobbie turns into a red demon/witch and lashes out at him, cutting his chin. A year later the two seem in better shape. Bobbie is dressed as a witch and Jack as Hansel. They answer the door for trick or treaters with Jack looking glum as Bobbie performs a skit about eating Gretel. A little boy dressed just like Jack shows up, and Bobbie tries to usher him into the house. Jack calls out to the mother who stops Bobbie. Jack confronts Bobbie about her actions and that even if they wanted kids they couldn’t as he’s had a vasectomy. Bobbie begins crying and then snaps, turning into her witch form and stuffing Jack in the oven. Flashes of all the things that could have been run through her mind as she continues crying, saying that she’s melting.

“The things you do to me, the way you hurt me, I couldn’t let you do that to a child.” – Jack in “Ding Dong”

“This Means War”

Boris (Dana Gould) readies his classic Halloween decorations outside his home. They include skeletons, fake tombstones, and spiderwebs. His neighbor across the street, Dante (James Duval) has a truck drop off all sorts of gross and gory decorations, such as disembodied limbs, and bloody torsos. The loud rock music makes it so that trick-or-treaters don’t visit Boris’s house. Confronting Dante, Boris asks him to turn the music down, but Dante just makes fun of the quaint decorations across the way. This sets Boris off, who starts trashing the display in order to turn the music off. Dante takes a large bowl of fake blood and splashes it on Boris and his decorations, also knocking down a fake wall. Boris attacks Dante, hitting him repeatedly with no effect. The fight continues as onlookers stand around taking bets. The police arrive just as Boris tackles Dante and the two fall back onto a large wooden stake, impaling both men to death.

“Friday the 31st”

In what looks like the final scene of a slasher film, a sexy Dorothy (Amanda Moyer)–from The Wizard of Oz–runs across a dark field pursued by a machete-wielding killer (Nick Principe). She enters a barn full of dead bodies and weapons. She grabs a pitchfork to defend herself and escapes into a field. The killer picks up a spear and throws it, impaling Dorothy who falls dead to the ground. Checking that the body is dead, the killer looks pleased–until a UFO appears overhead and a small alien beams down, saying “Trick or Treat.” The killer stomps the alien who turns into a goo. The goo enters Dorothy’s body and reanimates the woman, who now has green glowing eyes. She levitates chasing the killer back into the barn where both take turns hacking limbs off each other. They both decapitate each other’s bodies at the same time. The alien re-forms outside of Dorothy’s head, and saying “Trick or Treat” again, takes the killer’s head back to his UFO with him.

“Look at you, with that whole undead Dr. Nosferatu thing you got going on.” – Dante in “This Means War”

“The Ransom of Rusty Rex”

Two robbers, Hank (Sam Witwer) and Dutch (Jose Pablo Cantillo) come up with a plan to kidnap Rusty (Ben Woolf), the son of millionaire Jebediah Rex (John Landis). After abducting Rusty they call Rex with a $5 million ransom. He laughs at them and hangs up. Calling him back, they impress upon him that this is not a joke, but he says that Rusty is now their problem. Turning around, the two crooks discover the boy is no longer tied to the chair. Rusty attacks Dutch, biting him on the shoulder and the crook realizes that it’s not a boy–but some kind of creature. They knock it unconscious and throw it in a bog, but it returns. So they shoot it and dump it on a porch, lighting the bag it’s in on fire. They leave town and vow to keep driving. At a gas station some ways out, Hank returns to the van with snacks, tossing a candy bar to Dutch in the back. But when he glances back he sees Rusty, eating the candy bar and then part of Dutch. Hank screams!

“Bad Seed”

Ray (Greg McLean) carves a giant Jack O’Lantern which comes to life and bites his head off. His wife, Ellen (Cerina Vincent), calls the police giving the description of a pumpkin to the sketch artist. Detective McNally (Kristina Klebe) is put on the case by Captain Zimmerman (John Savage). Meanwhile, the pumpkin pretends to be a treat bowl on another suburban porch and eats a boy. Forensic Bob (Pat Healy) confirms the bite marks match the drawing of the Jack O’ Lantern, and McNally pursues the vegetable through the town. It hides in a patch of other carved pumpkins in someone’s backyard. As McNally gets close it jumps towards her, but Bob appears to blast it with a shotgun. They notice a sticker from the Clover Corporation on the back of the pumpkin. The two drive to the headquarters where they meet Professor Milo Gottleib (Joe Dante) who can’t understand why they’re interested in this work. It’s just a pumpkin he tells them. They enter the warehouse to see thousands of organic “super pumpkins” lining the floor!

“Every year on Halloween, this town goes batshit crazy.” – Captain Zimmerman in “Bad Seed”

31 Days of Horror loves anthology films, which is why there’s been one almost every year. For the 2024 entry, I chose Tales of Halloween, which is the biggest anthology so far, with ten (count ‘em!) tales designed to entertain horror fans. It may also be one of the most consistent collections of horror shorts to date. For any reader unfamiliar with the long history of horror anthology films, they date back to 1945 and the film Dead of Night, which featured a frame story and five spooky tales. The popularity of the genre peaked in the early 70s with adaptations of Tales from The Crypt and Vault of Horror, plus The House That Dripped Blood. The 1980s reinvigorated the genre with Creepshow (and its sequels) plus Twilight Zone: The Movie and Tales from the Darkside: The Movie–both based on popular television series. Since then, there has been a moderate stream of anthology films that have had mixed results including the excellent Trick ‘r Treat, and the uneven Holidays and Nightmare Cinema.

Tales of Halloween was the brainchild of Belgian actress and director Axelle Carolyn (Soulmate) who recruited nine other writers and directors, including her husband at the time Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers), to flesh out the idea of short horror films all happening on the same Halloween night. Some of the other creators included Lucky McKee (The Woods), Mike Mendez (Big Ass Spider!), Dave Parker (The Hills Run Red), Adam Gierasch (Autopsy), and Paul Solet (Grace). Don’t worry if you don’t recognize any of these names or their work. None of them are that famous, but they all have a distinct style and have all made other films you can watch should you like the segment that they directed. The film also has a number of notable cameos from famous horror actors and directors. Adrienne Barbeau is the first one seen and heard. She was famously married to John Carpenter and appeared in several of his films as well as the 1982 version of Creepshow. The second segment includes Barry Bostwick, known for his campy horror roles in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Dragula, and Adam Pascal, who originated the role of Roger in the stage musical Rent. Some of the best cameos are the horror creators that were put in the film. Director John Landis (An American Werewolf in London, Innocent Blood) plays Rusty’s father in the second to last segment. Horror director Joe Dante (Piranha, Gremlins) is the scientist at the Clover Corporation in the final segment. But the winningest series of cameos goes to Axelle Carolyn, who was able to get writer/director Mick Garris (Stephen King’s The Shining, Stephen King’s The Stand, Sleepwalkers), writer/director Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, From Beyond, Robot Jox), actress Lisa Marie (Ed Wood, Mars Attacks, Sleepy Hollow) and actress Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator, Chopping Mall, Puppet Master) to cameo as guests for the brief opening of her tale.

The great thing about the anthology format is that different styles of horror can be presented to the audience. For example, “Sweet Tooth” is a gory tale, while “Friday the 31st” is a comedic riff on the predictability of the final female in 1980 slasher films. “The Night Billy Raised Hell” and “The Ransom of Rusty Rex” both have those classic Tales from The Crypt style twist endings. For fans of darker horror, “Trick” offers an interesting and unforeseen twist with the adults being revealed as psychopaths being stalked by tweens. “Ding Dong” is also a dark psychological film that sets a darker tone than other films. And as with any horror anthology, several segments offer a modicum of predictability, which some horror fans find comfort in. “Grim Grinning Ghosts” comes to mind with Lynn doing her best not to turn around until she got inside her house. The whole segment is about building the tension until the inevitable reveal of Mary Bailey on the couch. Finally, “Bad Seed” is a wacky, slightly scary, homage to several different B-grade horror films. The obvious reference is to Halloween III: Season of the Witch, which is the only Halloween franchise film not to feature Michael Myers. The super pumpkin is labeled from the Clover Corporation, a nod to the villainous Silver Shamrock corporation in that film. It also pulls off a nice homage to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, a 1978 film about mutated tomatoes that attack humans. But you didn’t see that coming!

Having anthologies where the individual stories relate to one another is fun and can create cool easter eggs for audiences to spot in subsequent viewings. I very much have a spot for Creepshow as one of my favorite horror anthologies, but Tales of Halloween and Trick ‘r Treat round out my top three favorites. These types of films can be hit or miss, but Tales of Halloween is much more of a hit, allowing audiences to have fun as well as frights.

Assorted Musings

• Adrienne Barbeau’s Radio DJ character, who is seen briefly at the beginning and heard between the various segments, is very similar to the character she played in John Carpenter’s The Fog.
• Clare Kramer and Greg Grunberg reprise their characters from Big Ass Spider! in the first segment, “Sweet Tooth.” Also, the candy bar Mikey leaves is a Carpenter Bar, named after horror director John Carpenter.
• The teens dressing up as skeletons and terrorizing weaker kids is reminiscent of Johnny Lawrence and his pals terrorizing Daniel in The Karate Kid.
• The way Boris fights Dante in “This Means War,” is a two-fisted attack that looks the same as William Shatner as Captain Kirk fighting The Gorn in Star Trek.
• The Dorothy character in “Friday the 31st” is referenced in the Kevin Smith segment of the anthology film Holidays. One of the call girls is wearing a costume exactly like the one here, complete with runny mascara.
• “The Ransom of Rusty Rex” is based on an O. Henry story, The Ransom of Red Chief, which tells a non-horror story about the kidnapping of a young boy that the family doesn’t want back.