Talk or Treat- Ranking Classic Halloween Icons

Lately, I have been watching Jack Valentine on YouTube, and he has a segment in his Vlogoween videos where he has a "Talk or Treat". On Tuesdays, he sits down with a festive treat and talks about his experiences with that year's Halloween decoration shopping, his childhood Halloween traditions, movies, etc. Since I'm watching along, I wanted to participate with my own treats and topics!

This week, I want to rank the iconic spooky monsters that have shown up in many of our childhoods. I will cover five characters that I think are some of the most popular characters. Let me know who I should have included and if I should rate them in another part!

As for my treat, I recently got one of my favorites from the Apple Festival- cinnamon sugar roasted pecans. Fresh and hot, these things are addicting! They look like chicken nuggets on camera, but they are just pecan halves covered in sugary cinnamon goodness. They are delicious even when cooled, but I prefer to heat mine back up for a few seconds in the microwave. I have them in a bowl next to me on my desk so I can munch on them as I write this.

What have you treated yourself to today? Let me know, and if you haven't, use this post as an excuse to grab a treat and either agree or disagree with my takes on these classic icons of the season.

I will be rating each icon on two things: The first will just be my own personal bias and knowledge, the second will be on a scale of who would win in a battle, the monster or my fierce mini Schnauzer, Tori?

Each ranking will be displayed on a four quadrant graph, with 0 representing either no personal care/bias or Tori and the icon would just stare at each other and not interact at all. Dylan decided on the idea for the x-axis being showdown ranking, so creative credits go to him haha.

First Opponent: Count Dracula

Count Dracula and vampires in general are, in my opinion, one of the most popular caricatures during Halloween, second only to the classic witch. I know that Dracula is from a novel, but I have never read it. My experience with him is primarily from the children's movie series Hotel Transylvania. For my ranking, I will give him a 5, because I want to read the novel by Bram Stoker someday, and well just because he says "Bleh, blehbleh".

I think there would be a good brawl between Dracula and Tori, especially if he tries to show his teeth to intimidate her. Tori would take that as a challenge and go for the cape first and tug-of-war it into the sunlight and win. Easy. I'll go with 5 on that as well just because Dracula may get a few bites in before withering away.

Second Opponent: Zombie

I'll say it- I don't like zombies. They are so gross! Any version I see of them in media is just like seeing roadkill up close or something, I don't know😭. I like seeing people do special FX makeup I think it's really cool, especially Pop Art zombies. But the realistic ones, eugh. -8 rating from me.

Tori wouldn't even get a chance to fight a zombie, I'm taking her and running and then giving her and myself a bath just from being near them. I give the standoff rating a 0.

Third Opponent: Frankenstein

Once again, I have not read the classic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, but I feel as if I definetly should. I also don't think I've seen any movies featuring Frankenstein besides Hotel Transylvania. I do know Frankenweenie, though, and probably one of my most memory rich- movies from my childhood, Igor. I have a soft spot for franken-creatures, talk about the definition of an identity crisis. I give them a very high rating of 9.

Tori is amazing at somehow snagging any rip in tights or manage to scratch any leg wound I have, so Frankenstein's stitches don't stand a chance. I know Frankenstein is tall, but he will probably lose a foot or more (literally and figuratively), as Tori comes up and scratches his legs. I don't remember if Frankenstein is violent in nature or not, so I'll rate the fight a 7 in favor of Tori.

Fourth Opponent: Witch

The fourth character on our list is the classic Witch caricature- green skin, hooked nose, black pointy hat and rides on a broom. Think the Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz, because that is where that image for the icon began! I like witches as an idea, but I've never been a fan of them. I don't like the movie Hocus Pocus. I very much hate it, actually. I don't know why, all of it just annoys me. I do like normal witches, like in Harry Potter and in the Disney show Wizards of Waverly Place. Leave the cackling at home, please! Since we are rating the popular image of witches, I give them a -10.

I fear the witch may win by turning Tori into a toad, so Tori loses her first match with a rating of -3 because I think she would bark quite a bit at lol.

Last Opponent: Werewolf

Oh no, it's the full moon! Quick, I have to lock myself away before- Awoooooooooo! I have always liked werewolves and preferred them over vampires because of Twilight. Seeing the transformation process of becoming one in TV shows did put me off on them a little, though. I wouldn't mind being a wolf one night out of the year- wouldn't you get all the advantages of heightened hearing, vision, and sight? I rank them a 9.

Wolf vs. Tori... Hmmm... Tori wins, obviously. Not even by a little, she would destroy a werewolf. 10.

Wrapping Up

And here is the completed graph! Are your opinions way different than mine? Who was your favorite or least favorite Halloween Icon? My bowl of cinnamon sugar pecans was gone before they even cooled off, I think I had ate them by the time we got to talking about if Tori would win against a Zombie haha!

That was a lot of fun for me, and I hope it was a fun read for you as well. I will see you all tomorrow!