RJ Writing Ink

Jay’s Month of Screams, Day 29- Regular Show

I made a promise to take a look at every one of the Regular Show Terror Tales of the Park episodes, and I meant it. After a month of specials, I’m at the final episode; the one when the park gang was in space. Not even going to space will stop the Park Gang from their tradition of telling scary stories, though. It’s Terror Tales in Space!

As the Park Gang prepares to travel to the Halloween Nebula to party, they decide to help their friend Recap Robot get pumped for Halloween. So, the gang takes turns telling scary stories.

Fear Planet

Skips starts off with a story about the Park Gang forced to get gas for their ship from the worst possible planet: Fear Planet. It’s a planet made of material that bring people’s fears to life. The only way for them to get fuel is get out of the ship and walk across the planet, with their worst fears.

This story had a really good premise behind it. It’s like if Pennywise was an entire planet that tried to kill you. Unfortunately, it’s ruined by Skips’ fear: flying disc free-stylers. I’d say its the weakest story of Terror Tales in Space.

King Sized Candy Bars

In Eileen’s story, the gang goes trick-or-treating on the Space Tree when they see a quarantined dome with king sized candy bars inside. They decide to take a risk and go inside the dome. Unfortunatley, the quarantine was due to Vampires!

I’ve seen ninja’s in space before, but vampires in space was new to me. I’m all for mashing up different types of horror, but this seemed a little silly for me. If I think something from a surreal show like Regular Show is silly, then that’s saying something. Also, if there were vampires in space, then they’d never be able to go anywhere since there would be stars everywhere.

Alien Roomate

The last story for Terror Tales in Space is about the Park Gang trying to find a new roommate for income reasons. They get this creepy alien called Shannon to move in, but she ends up being the worst roommate ever. When they finally can’t take her anymore, the gang has to band together to force her out of the dome.

This entire segment’s an obvious parody of the Alien Franchise. Shannon’s appearance alone resembles a Xenomorph, but the plot also seems to follow the basic plot of the movie. It even parodies the climax of the original film with Muscle Man sacrificing himself to push her out of the airlock.

The Tyson Zone

The special’s over, but it had one last surprise for us. While traveling to the Halloween Nebula, the Park gets caught in a black hole. In all honesty, that’s downright terrifying, but still nothing compared to what happens next. The Park Gang wakes up to find themselves turned into actual spaghetti and meatballs. They then realize they ended up on the plate of Neil DeGrasse Tyson, voiced by himself, as he proceeds to eat them.

I genuinely liked the fact the DeGrasse Tyson cameoed as himself in the last Halloween special. That said, I think this was the weakest of all the Terror Tales episodes. I simply wasn’t feeling the same hype that I once did from them. The show ended a few months later on a very high note, though, so I can at least say that they went out with a bang. Terror Tales in Space may not be as fun as the other specials, but it was a fitting finale to the specials. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Click here to see the FANDOM Article I did for Halloween last year. Click here to see my other animation stuff. Or here to see all holiday related posts.

Jay’s Month of Screams, Day 27- Regular Show, Terror Tales V

With Halloween nearly upon us, I’m closing in on the last of my picks for the month of screams. Since I’m such a big fan of Regular Show, I’m going to finish my review on the Terror Tales of the Park series, and this next one may be my favorite. It’s got Steve Blum in it!

The episode starts off with Benson throwing a Halloween party that the gang agrees is awesome. The centerpiece to it is Racki the Wishmaker, a mechanical genie voiced by Steve Blum. Legendary for his baritone voice, Steve did a lot of the extra voices for Regular Show. I love the guy, and this episode has him at his finest as Racki. He can grant people visions of whatever they wish, but it’s made scary! One by one, the park gang tries it out.

Mr. Bossman

When Benson wishes to motivate Mordecai and Rigby at work, he gets a vision of him getting a dummy named Mr. Bossman to yell at them. The duo are so creeped out that it actually works. Then one night, Mr. Bossman comes to life and tries to kill Benson and take his job!

When I tried writing that FANDOM article on Terror Tales, I included this in my five favorite stories. I thought that Mr. Bossman reminded me of Slappy the evil dummy from R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series. I’ve seen reruns of the show on TV, and that’s one of the best episodes.

Werepops

Pop wishes that he could travel more, so Racki gives him just that. In his wish, the entire park gang’s doing jury duty on Halloween, with an actual werewolf as the defendant. When the criminal attack Pops in the bathroom, Pops turns into a werewolf and is left to take the rap while the real guy escapes. So Pops has to run all the way to London.

Steve Blum’s famous for the hundreds of roles he’s done, with some of them being in the same show. This story’s one such example, with him voicing the Werewolf and the man’s lawyer. Steve Blum aside, I enjoyed this story because it ends with the song “Werewolves of London”.

Going Up

Hi-Five Ghost wishes that he could visit his girlfriend Celia in Prague, so Racki grants his wish. Unfortunately, Fives makes the mistake of taking the elevator rather than walk 36 flights of stairs. Only he gets stuck inside the elevator!

While it doesn’t seem too scary at first glance, its the ending that makes this segment scary. Celia reveals that the elevator’s been broken for years, and the repairman for it died a long time ago. Except Hi Five Ghost was talking to him right before he went inside the elevator. It’s creepier when you watch it.

Chocolatitude

In a change of pace, the special has four stories instead of three. When Rigby wishes to be popular as a kid, his vision shows him just that. After some kids make fun of his costume, Rigby accepts a dare to take candy from a creepy old house. When he tries taking more than one, though, he incurs the wrath of the witch that lives inside.

This segment, in hindsight, feels similar to the wizard one in the original Halloween special, but it’s got a few good differences. Instead of turning Rigby into a house, the witch turns him and Mordecai into chocolate to eat. That was disturbing, but I already saw a villain do that in Dragon Ball Z, so the effect gets diminished. I actually forgot about this story until I saw the special again.

Oh, and I think Steve Blum voiced one of the other kids.

Steve Blum Strikes Again

The Terror Tales almost always has a weird ending, but this one takes the cake. Racki the Wishmaker tries to make off with the Park Gang’s valuables, only to fail and get destroyed. He gets the last laugh, though, since Benson won’t get his security deposit back.

In a twist, the entire episode’s revealed to be a vision from Benson at the Halloween Party shop. He wanted to see his wish for the best Halloween party ever, and Racki’s powers turned him off altogether. At least Steve Blum sounded like he was having fun.

This was probably my favorite of the Regular Show Halloween episodes. The stories were fun, I enjoyed the pop culture references, and, of course, Steve Blum giving a hundred percent. I loved it, and I think you will too! Happy Halloween!

Click here to see the FANDOM Article I did for Halloween last year.

Click here to see my other animation stuff. Or here to see all holiday related posts.

Jay’s Month of Scares, Day 23- Regular Show, Terror Tales IV

It’s time to start another Terror Tales of the Park with a joke: you know who everyone talks about on Regular Show but never meets? Muscle Man’s mom! We’ve seen him make his “My Mom”, but Muscle Man’s mom was one of the show’s biggest mysteries. Imagine everyone’s surprise, both in-Show and in real life, when Muscle Man agrees to introduce his mom to everyone. However, since this is a Terror Tales episode, the Park Gang has to tell scary stories. Everyone knows my routine by this point: I tell the basic plot, then give my thoughts.

The Hole

In the first story, told by Pops, the Park Gang takes part in a dark Halloween Ritual. Every year, the park members draw from a raffle and choose an unlucky soul to sacrifice to a hole in the park. They think its the only way to survive a mysterious fog that keeps them from leaving the park. Pops is next up to be sacrificed, but he makes a plea to remember life before the raffle; they throw him in anyway.

Pops’ story was the weakest segment of the special, by far. Firstly, its a clear reimagining of the Lottery, a short story with a similar premise. I loathe that story because I think sacrificing someone’s life like that is stupid. Muscle Man even calls Pops out on the re-imagining part. Fortunately, the story ends with Pops choking the hole monster to death and the Park Gang realizing there was no fog.

Unfinished Business

Bensons’ story starts off with a bang: Mordecai and Rigby are dead, yet they never left the house. Since their ghosts are haunting the house, Benson’s has to fulfill his destiny and fire the two. Since the two are essentially poltergeists now, it’s easier said than done.

I admit, Mordecai and Rigby as poltergeists are scary. There’s only so far a kids show can go with scares, however. However, the real treat comes in the form of the ending: Benson was the one dead the whole time! He fell down some stairs and had been wandering around the house for months, freaking out at the sight of everyone. Mordecai points out that that twist’s been done plenty of times, but I still thought it was amusing.

Scary Movie Night

This last story’s brought to the gang by Rigby. One night when Mordecai, Rigby, Eileen, and CJ are picking a scary movie to watch. So, Rigby decides to show them Triple Threat, a VHS mash-up of three horror movies. However, the movie ends up sucking them inside the film. In order to survive, they have to make it to the end of the movie. It’s easier than it sounds, since the main thing is to not be stupid.

I thought that this was the best segment out of the three, mostly because it calls out the stupidity of everyone in horror films. Most of the problems in horror films could be solved by either carrying a weapon or common sense. Thankfully, the quartet’s smart enough not to fall for the obvious danger and gets out. Except ball lightning fuses their butts together!

Meet Muscle Mom

Aside from “the hole”, I thought the stories from this special were pretty solid. “Unfinished Business” felt like a PG version of Poltergeist, while “Scary Movie Night” was hilarious for pointing out horror characters dumb decisions. The real treat, though, comes at the end when viewers finally meet Muscle Mom. She freaks everyone out and makes them run for the hills!

I love shock twist endings like this, and it gets even funnier when its revealed that Muscle Mom’s wearing a costume. It turns out that pranking people and making bad jokes runs in the family. Happy Halloween!

Click here to see the FANDOM Article I did for Halloween last year.

Click here to see my other animation stuff. Or here to see all holiday related posts.

Jay’s Month of Scares, Day 18- Regular Show III

By now, it should be clear that I really enjoy the “Terror Tales of the Park” episodes from Regular Show. They’re the “Treehouse of Horror” specials of the decade. As such, I intend to include all of them in my month of scares. In Terror Tales III, the Park Gang makes a bet on who can tell the scariest story on Halloween. Winner gets all their candy, and the loser gets stuck in their costume until Thanksgiving Dinner (*cough* Thomas *cough*). As usual, here are the stories and my thoughts on each of them.

Killer Bed

Rigby starts the special off by giving us a story about a bed that’s to die for. After carefully saving up his money all year, Rigby’s able to buy a real bed for himself! However, he soon learns that his bed’s special. It was made by a murderer who fell into a bed-making machine, and the bed comes to life and tries to kill Rigby!

I found this story to be very entertaining, as it’s similar to the backstory of Chucky the killer doll from Child’s Play. However, I enjoyed the ending the most. While it looks like the Park Gang lets the killer bed go, they wait until the next day and chop him to pieces. I thought it was a funny bait and switch.

Jacked-Up Jack-O-Lantern

In Muscle Man’s story, he, Fives, Mordecai and Rigby go around smashing all the pumpkins in the park. When they come across a pair of pumpkin scarecrows with a “do not smash” sign, they smash one anyway. As a result, the angry scarecrow comes to life and attacks the guys so he can do some smashing of his own!

This story may have been the weakest out of the three in the special. I admit, a scarecrow voiced by Mark Hamill’s scary, but his revenge’s lackluster. He turns them into pumpkins so he can smash them, take the seeds, and grow them into talking pumpkins. It’s ironic, but not really good.

Previous Owner

In Benson’s tale, the park gang makes the mistake of staying in the house on the worst possible night. Two hundred years ago lived Jebediah Townhouse, the previous owner of the house. He looked and acted like someone from the 1980’s, but his people couldn’t understand him. So he fused his soul into the house to wait to return. What up, home boys, Jebediah in the house!

When I saw this story, two things immediatley came to mind for me. Firstly, this seems a lot like that film Monster House, but funnier because uses 80s lingo. Secondly, it epitomizes all the things that were lame about the 1980s in hindsight, like the slang terms and hair styles. It’s a good thing I keep up with modern lingo and terms. Happy Halloween, Fools!

Click here to see the FANDOM Article I did for Halloween last year.

Click here to see my other animation stuff. Or here to see all holiday related posts.

Jay’s Month of Scares, Day 6- Regular Show, Terror Tales of the Park

Last year when I was writing for FANDOM, I tried following up my Nicktoons Halloween post with another one. This time, it would be about Regular Show and their series of Halloween specials, Terror Tales of the Park. They didn’t approve it in time, so I scrapped it. No ones stopping me now, though!

If you haven’t seen “Terror Tales”, it follows the same formula as The Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror.” It’s a stand-alone episode that let the cast and writers do some fun short stories. It was a staple of the show until it ended.

Creepy Doll

In the first segment, Pops reunited with his childhood doll, Percy. Mordecai and Rigby try to get him to get rid of the doll, but it keeps coming back. It also wants to draw on people’s faces, so there’s that, too.

I get that this story was supposed to be a PG version of Chucky from the Child’s Play series, but this wasn’t that scary. Which was the point; this was a story that Pops was telling to the Park Gang. No one else thought the story was scary, just weird.

Death Metal Crash Pit

In Muscle Man and Hi-Five’s story, they decide to crash an old RV into the park’s crash pit. Turns out that RV is the resting place of a deceased death metal band. A really terrible death metal band, too!

I almost forgot about this story until I rewatched the episode, and it reminded me of why. The ghost band played the worst music I’ve ever heard. It explains why Muscle Man decides crash the RV into the Crash Pit with him in it. As a side note, this moment also introduced us to the Crash Pit, which plays a big role in Muscle Man and Fives friendship.

In the House

When Rigby’s refused candy on Halloween, he eggs an old wizard’s house. Furious, the wizard vows to make Rigby pay. How does he do it? By turning him into a house and attacking his friends when they try to interfere.

This was my segment on the first Terror Tales special, because it’s equal parts scary as it is absurd. The Park members end up dying gruesome deaths, or about as gruesome as a kids show allows. Then it turns into something absurdly silly when the Wizard’s ultimate payback… is to egg Rigby. I couldn’t help but laugh at how petty it was!

Of course, it helped that the Wizard was voiced by Mark Hamill, and that the episode ends with this jumpscare! Happy Halloween!

This was a good start to a new Halloween tradition: the tradition of the Terror Tales of the Park! I looked forward to seeing it every Halloween, and I still back on it fondly. Happy Halloween!

Click here to see the FANDOM Article I did for Halloween last year.

Click here to see my other animation stuff. Or here to see all holiday related posts.