Sep 7, 2024
The Last of Us (2023)
seen from China
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seen from Germany
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seen from Malaysia
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The Last of Us (2023)
Have you played this pinball?
Attack From Mars (Bally, 1995)
Yes
No
Fun fact: Attack From Mars was not licensed, or meant to be based on the "Mars Attacks" movie. According to George Gomez, Brian Eddy had the concept planned long before the movie.
Various Artists - Jackpot Plays Pinball Vol. 1 | Jackpot Records | 2023 | Orange
Beautiful Attack from Mars table - the Chicago Gaming remake - at 1UP in Greenwood Village. I've seen this one many times before - but all of their Chicago Gaming tables had new backglass artwork I've never seen. Here's a closeup
Credit throwupcult
Just a mess of cool pinball machines at Free Play Pinball Arcade in Fraser, MI.
Horror Pinball Paradise Lurks in Tarpon Springs, FL
"Ever since I was a young boy, I've played the silver ball." -The Who
Recently I paid my first visit to a peculiar little museum in the quiet little town of Tarpon Springs, FL, which lies just to the north of St. Petersburg and Clearwater. Unlike most museums, the Replay Amusement Museum is strictly hands-on and this museum is filled with horrors. Horror-themed pinball machines, that is. Something about this particular genre of pin always fascinated my friends (fiends?) and I, even as tiny little monsters. Unlike other pinball machines, these weren't 'nice'. They growled. They wanted to scare you. They played creepy music and unleashed nightmarish sounds upon the arcade. In short, they were irresistible to the darkly inclined! Instead of using quarters at Replay, you pay an entrance fee and you can play until you drop, or until closing time, whichever comes first.
Replay boasts almost all of the best horror machines, staring the number one, best selling pinball machine of all time, The Addams Family, based on the 1991 movie staring Angelica Houston and Raul Julia. This machine has sold a whopping 20,000+ units and is usually ranked as a top 5 personal fav of anyone who plays. Tons of sound captured from the movie puts this game into a category all it's own with world class gameplay to boot.
The second best selling horror-themed pin doesn't break the top ten, but comes in at the 11th best selling machine, and Replay has it, too. The Twilight Zone. As with The Addams Family, there's a huge arsenal of voice and sound straight from the 1960's TV show.
Now we move into the more niche games. They sold well enough, and are usually well regarded, but they were always harder to find and you rarely saw more than one of them in the same place. Call them victims of the 'we already have a horror pin' syndrome. My personal fav, Haunted House, is blessedly here and it looks almost brand new. Hadn't played it in forever and it was just like seeing an old friend who has been absent for far too long. We got along just like old pals. In my youth, this game ate fist-fulls of my quarters with it's irresistible 3 level playing field ("Triple playfields mean triple fun"). I especially appreciated the haunting green color of the 'basement' playfield. Everyday I played this beauty was like Halloween! If I was stupid rich and could own my own pin, this would be it. If I could also afford a Victorian mansion like the one on the cabinet to house it in, even better.
Next up is another popular one, Creature From the Black Lagoon. This one came out right after The Addams Family, and I played it a fair amount, but could never get the hang of it. Really appreciated the theme, though. Excellent sound from the movie and a genuine hologram of The Creature really set this one apart (the film was originally released in 3-D, hence the hologram).
Attack from Mars came out a few years after Creature, and features a strobe (seizure warning!) plus cute little Martian figures and a whole fleet of flying saucers - that light up!
Bram Stoker's Dracula, based on the 1992 move staring Gary Oldman and Winona Rider, is here with it's multi-ball play and interesting gimmick of a magnet that drags a ball across the playfield. Always looked great with it's red color theme.
And we'll round things out with a couple of newer games, Stranger Things and The Walking Dead. Loved both shows, but never got into the pins. Haven't really played much since about the mid-90's, with a couple of exceptions. Both seemed nice enough, but by this point in my visit, I was getting rather fatigued. And unlike the older machines where I could rely upon muscle memory, I'd never played these before and was terrible at them.
I have never seen so many fine horror pins under one roof, and I haven't even mentioned the dozens of other pins lining both walls of this place, with dozens of video games between. A perfect nostalgia trip for anyone who ever haunted an arcade with a few newer machines tossed in to keep it interesting. The one pin I was surprised not to see was one of the Elvira machines. But I'm sure Elvira will turn up sooner or later to complete the creepy collection. Once she does, she can wish you "Unpleasant dreams," when they finally toss you out at closing time.
