221. Halloween Pranks and Babysitter Terrorizer

April 18, 2010

Q: Hi. I’m looking for two things. The first is an issue of the mag that had halloween pranks. i.e. putting a dummy on a bike with a pumpkin head and pushing it in front of cars. Another story was this kid terrorizing his babysitter. I think the same issue had an advertisement for the ‘Dead Roadside Animal Identification Book’. The other is an article titled some thing like “Foreigners: What makes them mad and what they’ll do.”

A: Mrs. Roistacher provides an answer for the first part: “The pumpkinhead dummy and the babysitter stories are from ‘Halloween Rampage’ by John Hughes, in the Oct ’80 (Aggression) issue.”

As for the rest, The Lampoon Oracle tells all: November 1980 (Happy Thanksgiving) issue, an article titled “World Aggression” by Nora Quinn and John Hughes.

Comments

Here's a partial answer. The pumpkinhead dummy and the babysitter stories are from "Halloween Rampage" by John Hughes, in the Oct '80 (Aggression) issue. The dead animal book ad isn't in that issue (tho' there was an article about that in a mid-70s MAD, probably by Al Jaffee.) The thing about annoying foreigners isn't there either. BTW, it looks like Oct '80 was intended to be a Halloween-themed ish, but something went wrong. Is there a story behind this, I wonder?

—Mrs Roistacher

April 23, 2010 11:00 pm

I know all... I see all... the mystic mists part and there stands revealed... the November 1980 (Happy Thanksgiving) issue! And now the cover (a kid having a rather UNhappy Thanksgiving with punk rockers) begins to dissolve, fade... I see a vision of page 46. "World Aggression" by Nora Quinn and John Hughes, so reads the inscription. There is also a finely-wrought illustration by Elliot Banfield, almost illegibly reduced to the size of a nickel. AIEEE! BHALUAHEA! The spirits have spoken.

—The Lampoon Oracle

September 7, 2010 10:28 pm

The Oracle speaks truth! Thanks, Oracle.

—Mark

September 9, 2010 1:53 pm

Original material (excluding quoted material) © 1997-2024 Mark Simonson.
Mark's Very Large National Lampoon Site is not affiliated with National Lampoon or National Lampoon Inc.
Click here for the real thing.