Plenty of kids who grew up with the Creepy Crawlers Thing Maker still remember the burns. The original 1964 version was definitely unsafe, and a lot of kids got burned on it. With stricter toy safety rules, those early ovens eventually fizzled out. So when Toymax revived the toy in 1992, it added safety features, including a design where you could not pull the hot mold completely out of the oven until it had cooled.

That is the word from Thomas of Thomas Goes Nostalgic, who ranked it number 10 on his list of the 13 spookiest toys from the 1980s and 1990s and before. Even with the new safeguards, he admits he burned himself on those metal molds multiple times and still cannot get the smell of the plastic goop out of his nose.

His list is the third week of a Halloween series, following spooky action figures and the twisted figures of Todd McFarlane. This time it covers non-action-figure toys that kept the monster theme going all year round.

Numbers 13 to 9

At number 13 is Mattel’s 1979 Gregory the big bad vampire bat. It was a big rubber vinyl bat with a 15-inch wingspan and a clear cavity on the front where you could pour fake blood, then pump it through the body with a button on the back. Loops on the feet let you hang it upside down in your bedroom.

Number 12 is Hasbro’s 1976 Weebles Haunted House, from the Romper Room line. The three-tier foldable house opened to six scenes, with a chimney slide, a revolving bookcase with a mirrored side, and a treasure chest full of bats. It came with four Weebles, including a scared brother and sister, a witch with a removable hat, and a glow-in-the-dark ghost.

Number 11 is Boglins, from 1987, distributed by Mattel. These rubber vinyl hand puppets of gross swamp creatures, with names like Dwork, Vlob and Drool, had mouths you could move and eyes you could operate from inside. Thomas notes that three creators from the Jim Henson studio, who had worked on The Dark Crystal and Fraggle Rock, helped make them. Their shipping-crate packaging later influenced toy lines such as Street Sharks and the modern Plunderlings.

Number 10, as noted, is the Creepy Crawlers Thing Maker. You poured plastic goop into a metal mold, baked it, and pulled out snakes, bugs and tarantulas. Thomas says mixing the colors together was half the fun.

Number nine is Things That Go Bump in the Night, a 1997 line of miniature figures from the UK company Fiva. Each came with a fun fact and a storybook, and every name included the word thing, such as the thing under the bed, the dust ball thing and the smelly cheese thing. They had nice paint detail, but they were not as popular as the micro toy lines before them.

Numbers 8 to 4

Number eight is Matchbox’s Monsters in My Pocket from 1990, with over 200 characters in bright neon colors. The line grew into comics, video games and an animated show, plus spin-offs like Dinosaur in My Pocket, Space Aliens in My Pocket and Monster Wrestlers in My Pocket. Thomas remembers a haunted house multipack he got for a birthday, and a Kellogg’s promotion that let you add Tony the Tiger.

Number seven is Hasbro’s 1992 Monster Face, a gruesome take on Mr. Potato Head. It had a head on a base with holes for over 30 pieces, including eyeballs, mohawks, bugs and decaying noses, plus controllers that moved the eyes and mouth. It even had a pump to inflate blisters and a slime that could be pumped from the nose. Number six is the 1996 Goosebumps Monster Head Maker, which reused the base in purple and added Play-Doh and molds.

Number five is Tyco’s 1994 Dr. Dreadful Food Lab, which Thomas calls an Easy-Bake Oven for boys. You could make edible worms, cockroaches, tarantulas and monster skin, and wash it down with zombie barf. Number four is Tyco’s Gorsac, a voice-activated wolf warrior with glowing red eyes and a battle axe, the only toy on the list he only discovered recently.

The Top Three

Number three is Bluebird Toys’ 1992 Mighty Max, the boy version of Polly Pocket. Each character’s head, called a Doom Zone, opened to scenes like the Mummy’s Tomb and Frankenstein’s Lab. Thomas still has most of the ones he owned as a kid.

Number two is Tyco’s 1994 Haunted Highway, a slot car set with two monster trucks, the Grave Runner and the Road Reaper. A green monster in the middle swung eyeball arms back and forth. If you made it past the eyeball, you drove straight through his mouth, and if you did not, you got knocked off the track.

Number one is Playskool’s 1992 Big Frank, a 16-inch Frankenstein monster in an orange jumpsuit with five points of articulation. A chest compartment opened to gears and a heart, and kids used tools to repair him. He would say things like fix me, I’m alive and thank you, and his eyes glowed red. Thomas remembers someone bringing it to show and tell and wanting it badly. He never got one, but he recently found Big Frank at a vintage toy store and had his brother buy it for his daughter.

Why These Toys Stick

Thomas says it was a great time to be a kid because monster toys were available all year, not just in October. That is a big part of why the list still lands for grown-ups. Many of these toys are being rediscovered by adults who want to pass them on, as Thomas did with Big Frank. If you spot one at a thrift store or toy shop, you may be holding a piece of your own childhood.

More Stories You May Like

• Tossing The Original Box Can Shrink What Your Old Toys Are Worth And Collectors Say Packaging Is A Big Part Of The Value
• Repainted Tin Toys And Replaced Parts Are Often Sold As All Original So Ask These Questions Before You Pay
• Over 200 Pieces Of Jewelry Hidden In A Family Attic For Decades Went To Auction With No Reserve And A $200,000 Estimate