SPOOKY ACTION CUT-OUTS

Remember book orders? In grade school about once a month our teacher handed out a brochure that was basically a two page catalog full of kids books. Because my folks had this funny idea that reading was good for me they were more willing to shell out cash for this particular cause as opposed to another stack of Wacky Packages.
(For the record, there were two companies in the book order biz that I know of.. Troll, who's pamphlets were printed in full color, and Scholastic who always used an inferior two-color process although I tended to prefer their offerings.)

Naturally, Halloween always elevated book orders to another plateau of excitement. Once a year the themes took a spooky turn and included topics such as monster make-up and "the unexplained" ala Bigfoot and Nessie. Also popular were anthologies of ghost stories that were a blast to read during class however, the tales never failed to resurface late in the night, leaving me in a state of frozen agony, regretting my decision to subject myself to such horrors. Spooky Action Cut-Outs appeared among the listings when I was in second grade. The synopsis promised "13 spooky action toys to make yourself. All you need is a pair of scissors." This concept paired with the subject matter awakened even more anticipation than usual. I could tell that this was going to be a new favorite and so I ordered two copies: one for cutting and one for keeping. Collectors are born, not made.

Unlike so many childhood mail order experiments this one did not end in disappointment. I got the book and I loved it and gleefully chopped it up. And thanks to my nerdy decision to purchase a duplicate, I'm able to enhance this post with some examples that when clicked, grow big enough to print out and cut into some spooky action...

UPDATE: This book is available and super cheap here on Amazon.