If you are any kind of fan of this here little website, you know that I’m a pretty massive fan of all kinds of horror films. From the television I watch to the movies I go see, there’s a special place in my heart for things that try to scare me. My first ever Loot Crate was FEAR way back from 2014, and after missing out on a “Halloween” style crate last year (not to diminish the absolutely amazing “TIME” create of October 2015) we’re back with a horror themed crate once again.

No beating around the bush with the theme either, some particular creative individual at Loot Crate was probably like “What can we call the theme? Scream? Fright? Chills? Nah, screw it, Horror. It is the Horror Crate.” Everyone got to go lunch early that day I bet.

Going in I had a pretty solid idea of what was in store. We’ve got a new season of Walking Dead that just started this weekend, and the promise of classic horror icons meant Michael Myers, Freddy, Jason and Leatherface were all going to get their due as well.

Let’s take a look.

Nightmare on Elm Street Training Chopsticks

Two of Freddy’s classic “knife fingers” are now chopsticks! I have kind of flipped back and forth on what I think of these guys. On the one hand, I eat pretty frequently with chopsticks, so they’re oddly useful. On the other hand, they’re kind of weird “training” chopsticks that you can’t really use as actual chopsticks, which is a bummer. I’m pretty sure training chopsticks are also supposed to be sort of spring loaded too. All that aside though, the build is pretty sturdy, with the glove part being made of decently heavy rubber and the sticks made out of metal. Not sure how well they’d hold up under regular use and washing, but still, they feel pretty decent. It’s a neat take on the Kruger glove too that I haven’t seen before, so props for originality.

Happiness: ♥ ♥ ♥

Michael Myers Halloween Pin

I don’t know why, but I like my Loot Pins to be generic. But once again (much like the AvP Pin in VERSUS) this comes from a series that I’m into so I don’t mind so much. This is an absolute classic design reflecting one of “The Big 5” of contemporary horror icons. Those (in my mind) being, in order: Freddy, Jason, Leatherface, Michael Mayers and Pinhead. Ash gets an exemption since he’s a hero, not the villain (and Evil Ash isn’t nearly as memorable as Ash himself). I also don’t put the Xenomorph there since it’s the species that’s iconic and not just a singular alien. This is just how it works in my head guys, I can’t really explain all the rules to you. Anyhow, this is a cool pin. It also unlocks a download of Superfight on Steam (at a value of around 10$ I believe) which is cool. Even though despite having a mini Superfight deck I have never had a chance to play, I like the concept of a game revolving around arguments.

Happiness: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (3 hearts for the pin and a bonus for the game unlock).

Negan’s Sluggers T-Shirt

So The Walking Dead tv series has finally gotten around to introducing Negan, arguably one of the most bad ass characters The Walking Dead has going for it. I loved Negan in the books and even though I’ve more or less given up on the tv series, I think that Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a perfect casting choice if they’re being true to the character. Truth be told, I had all but given up on the comic series for more or less the same reason I’ve given up on the tv show: repetitive storylines that take way too long to move forward. Then “All Out War” came along back in 2012 and got me pretty much right back on board for a good little stretch. All that to say, this is a cool shirt. Long time readers of these reviews will know that I like my geek-wear to be a little more subtle though, so I would’ve probably preferred it if the t-shirt looked more like a traditional sports shirt and didn’t have the picture of the man himself. I think maybe just the “Negans Sluggers” font and a picture of Lucille would have made this a 5 heart t-shirt.

Happiness: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Leatherface Plush

I have no idea why, since I’m a grown ass man, but I love me adorable plushies of things that aren’t meant to be adorable. Jono had a little stuffed Cthulhu for a long time that was cool and I loved the Facehugger plush from the INVASION crate this year. So obviously I love little Leatherface. I’m a little sad I didn’t get the “unhappy” Leatherface, but happy Leatherface is kind of more terrifying. Presumably the only thing that could make Leatherface that happy is you know, taking your face off. So that he can wear your face. Adorable!

Happiness ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Camp Crystal Lake Pennant Flag

This is a cool idea for a decoration and I’m a little jealous that I don’t have some sports themed memorabilia room in my home to sneak this little flag into. Nor am I a high-school student who get away with having a pennant flag on the wall just for giggles. Why can’t you just give us fancy prints to frame and put on our walls? Anyhow, for what this is it’s pretty cool. I would (see my thoughts on subtlety above in the Negan t-shirt) have preferred that it didn’t have “Friday the 13th” written on it, but it’s still pretty neat.

Happiness: ♥ ♥

The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains Book

A book! It’s a book! The thing I have complained about for 10 months straight or more has finally happened! They gave us a book and a t-shirt! Glory be! I really enjoyed the Superheroes version of this book back in HEROES 2 last year, so I’m pretty sure I’m going to enjoy the same treatment of the villains. If you’re not familiar, the book digs up terribly ill conceived comic book characters and gives them their due, with little synopses about the character, including some scans of what is very often their only comic book appearance. FUN! It only tangentially fits into the theme but I don’t care, it’s a book!

Happiness: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I guess that’s pretty much it for this crate. Props for hitting all the right IPs (though I could’ve stood for something Evil Dead related, but I guess that’s only for subs to the DX crate) for the HORROR crate. Overall this was a perfectly acceptable crate that had a few things I’d like to keep, and a few things that will make pretty good gifts.

What’s this at the bottom of the box?

ZOMBIE MASK.

I guess bonus ♥’s since this is actually pretty cool.

See you next month!

Keith does all sorts of things here on 9to5.cc, he works with the other founders on 9to5 (illustrated), co-hosts our two podcasts: The 9to5 Entertainment System and Go Plug Yourself and blogs here as The Perspicacious Geek.