After trapping Slimer in Ghostbusters: The Video Game and witnessing Bill Murray’s excellent cameo in Zombieland, there is only one true Halloween costume option this year.  Lucky for you, and much like Peter Venkman’s multi-tired laundry system, there are a good number of options available for aspiring Ghostbusters this Halloween.

Super Casual: Ghostbusters “ROOKIE” Uniform Tee ($15)

This tee is available online @ Hot Topic for $15.  It is similar to the glow-in-the-dark Venkman uniform tee, which is also available.  Take note, the Venkman tee glows in the dark, but it doesn’t have the proton pack printed on the back.

Casual: Ghostbusters Uniform w/ Inflatable Proton Pack ($25 - $40)

The Ghostbusters costume with inflatable proton pack is the perfect option for fans who are willing to kick it up a notch and cross the streams.  Available in kids and adult sizes, you can find this costume in most retail stores including Target and Walmart.

DIY / Hardcore Fan: Ghostbusters Flightsuit /w “real” Proton Pack ($100 - $1000)

Last, but certainly not least, you can re-create the real thing with a little blood sweat and tears (and some cold hard cash as the offset).  You can go all in and download plans to assemble your own proton pack and Ghostbusters flight suit like Egon Spengler himself.  Alternatively you can gather patches, flight suits, proton packs, and other props on Ebay.

Big ups to Proton Charging for inspiring this updated version of the classic Ghostbusters costume - cheap and easy post from 2005.  Use your imagination and have a Happy Halloween!

Paul Rudoff, one of the original ghostheads and creator of Spook Central, published an interesting sneak-peak of The Real Ghostbusters Pilot, which is what I believe to be the most anticipated feature of The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection on DVD from Time-Life.

If that isn’t enough to get you excited about the DVD set, Paul has also been counting down his 31 favorite Real Ghostbusters episodes.  As a very big fan of The Real Ghostbusters, I want to thank Paul for doing a magnificent job with this blog series.

Ghosthead Kevin Race decided to walk into the Brass Monkey in Los Angeles, California on Halloween in full Ghostbusters gear.  We’re talking head to toe: ecto-googles, flight suit, proton pack, two ghost traps and a PKE Meter.  Kevin then proceeded to sing Ray Parker Jr.’s Ghostbusters during a karaoke contest.

True dedication, thanks for sharing with us Kevin!

As the great Norman Gagnon once said, Greetings and Hallucinations!

We’re all waiting on tender hooks for Ghostbusters: The Video Game to be released, and as such, I know that most (if not all) of you have seen the many screen shots and gameplay videos the internet has to offer on the subject; I sure have.

Those of you who recognize my name will also know that my thing has always been the Ghostbusters’ equipment (and subsequently prop-making). I devoted a lot of time to knowing all there is to know about the Proton Packs in the hopes of one day building one of my own. One decade and 5 packs later, I consider myself not an expert by any means, but yet still extremely well versed.

Okay, I promise I’ll get to the point now. I was watching the latest video with all of that new, exciting in-game footage when I noticed two lights on the proton pack in the game that aren’t supposed to be there in the movie. Now, before you start to throw roasted marshmallows at me, I know as well as the next ghosthead that there are MANY differences between the movie packs and the game packs. One glance reveals this obvious fact. From what I understand, the myriad of added lights and whatnot on the right hand side of the pack will be used to indicated health, pack heat, or whathaveyou. I can totally dig that.

Note the semantics of my assertion: I noticed two lights on the game pack that aren’t supposed to be there…in the movie.

In the first film, during the first call at the Sedgewick hotel, observant fans have undoubtedly noticed that there’s something slightly wrong with the pack Dan Aykroyd is wearing. The “power cell” (read: the little box on the left side with the blue lights) was either damaged by a careless stage hand or painted improperly, because the lights from inside the box - which are actually white lamps that shine through a blue gel of sorts - are prominently visible shining out of the front and sides of the box, as seen in the pictures below.

Clearly, this wasn’t by design, because nowhere in either of the two films do any of the other shots exhibit this detail. One viewing of the scene makes it obvious to anyone who has had the pleasure of constructing a proton pack that they simply didn’t paint the inside of the pack 100% thoroughly, allowing some light to spill through. Surely, this must have been noticed during viewing of the dailies, but what director would let such a minor inconsistency spoil a perfect take by these three comedic legends? I sure wouldn’t.

At any rate, the designers of Ghostbusters: The Video Game, in their thorough and amazing quest for ultimate attention to detail, very well might have gotten this production gaff confused for an intentional nuance, because these same two accidental lights appear quite intentionally in the in-game pack, as seen below.

How interesting! It’s much more noticeable if you actually watch the gameplay footage itself. Now it can be told, to those who might have had reservations before.

Alas, I am a huge nerd.  Hope to share more insight with you all soon.

- Astantax