5th July, 2021

After weeks of teasing, Spooky Pinball today unveiled their next title, John Carpenter’s Halloween.

The Halloween backbox image
The Halloween backbox image

Halloween marks a number of changes in the way the Spooky Pinball titles are sold.

For a start, there are three models of Halloween – Standard Edition, Blood Sucker Edition and Collector’s Edition priced at $6,995, $7,995 and $8,995 respectively. The playfield features are the same across all three but the trim finish, interior cabinet art, speaker lights, knocker, shaker, plastic protectors, target decals and build order varies, with the Collector’s Edition built first followed by the Blood Sucker Edition and finally the Standard Edition. For all three variants, glossy “butter” cabinet decals are available for an additional $995.

The three variants of Halloween
The three variants of Halloween

As we said though, the playfield gameplay features are consistent across the three models. Here’s Spooky’s description of them.

Halloween's in-game features
Halloween’s in-game features

Another first for Spooky is the way this playfield design is being given two separate themes. Halloween is the first with a maximum of 1,250 of these being built. The second is the Japanese cartoon superhero, Ultraman. Only 500 of these will be built. Although there is a cap on the overall number of each title produced, there is no defined split between the three variants – the numbers of Standards, Blood Suckers and Collectors will depend on how many of each are ordered.

We’ll look at Ultraman a little later, but let’s begin with the main Halloween theme. The pictures seen here are believed to be of the Collector’s Edition which comes with all the add-ons installed except the butter cabinet decals.

The left side of the backbox
The left side of the backbox
The right side of the backbox
The right side of the backbox

The backbox translite artwork for this Collector’s Edition model doesn’t include the name of the game. That’s because it is on the animated topper which features a motorised stabbing knife. Likewise, there are special powdercoated speaker grilles and a bespoke shooter rod. The variants without the topper do include the Halloween title on the backbox translite.

The animated topper with the game's name
The animated topper with the game’s name
Tha backbox translite for the variants without the topper
The backbox translite for the variants without the topper
The speaker and display panel
The speaker and display panel
The knife shooter knob and pumpkin side rails
The knife shooter knob and pumpkin side rails
Cabinet artwork
Cabinet artwork
Cabinet artwork
Cabinet artwork
The left side of the Collector's Edition
The left side of the Collector’s Edition
The right side cabinet artwork
The right side cabinet artwork

The Halloween playfield is heavily-themed on the movie and the key characters of Tony Moran’s Michael Myers, Donald Pleasence’s Loomis and Jamie Lee Curtis’s Laurie with repeated use of the knife and pumpkin motifs.

The Halloween playfield
The Halloween playfield

One of the key scenes in the movie is where Myers appears from and then disappears behind a hedge. This is played out in triplicate with three hedges and three animated Myers models.

The main playfield area
The main playfield area

Each hedge features a subway entrance beneath which all feed the ball to an elevator. This lifts the ball from the subway into the inlane to feed the flippers.

The left flipper area
The left flipper area

There is a corresponding subway on the right with its own elevator to lift the ball into the right inlane.

The right flipper area
The right flipper area

Unusually, rather than relying on the LCD panel to give information about ball locks and tilt warning remaining, these are indicated by playfield inserts in the inlane feed to the flippers.

Balls locked and tilt warning remaining are shown by playfield inserts in the inlanes
Balls locked and tilt warning remaining are shown by playfield inserts in the inlanes

We’ll add much more detail to this article about the playfield features very shortly, but in the meantime here are some pictures of all the key areas.

The mid-playfield area
The mid-playfield area
Close-up detail of the mid-playfield area
Close-up detail of the mid-playfield area
The three hedges with appearing/disappearing Michael Myers models
The three hedges with appearing/disappearing Michael Myers models
The left ball return wireform runs behind the hedges
The left ball return wireform runs behind the hedges
The illuminated pumpkin scoop and Judith Myers ball lock
The illuminated pumpkin scoop and Judith Myers ball lock
The Judith Myers ball lock
The Judith Myers ball lock
The illuminated pumpkin drop targets
The illuminated pumpkin drop targets
The three upper playfields
The three upper playfields
The first upper playfield on the mid-right
The first upper playfield on the mid-right
The upper-upper playfield with dual spinners
The upper-upper playfield with dual spinners
The ramp out of the upper-upper playfield
The ramp out of the upper-upper playfield
The route to the third upper playfield
The route to the third upper playfield
The third upper-playfield
The third upper-playfield
The Halloween playfield
The Halloween playfield

You can watch Spooky Pinball promotional video of John Carpenter’s Halloween right here.

We said earlier how Halloween is not the only theme Spooky Pinball are applying to this playfield design. Ultraman: Kaiju Rumble! is a second theme using the same layout.

Spooky Pinball's second theme for the Halloween design
Spooky Pinball’s second theme for the Halloween design

Ultraman is a total retheme, with new artwork, plastics, playfield toys and topper, along with separate game software, sounds and animations.

The Ultraman translite artwork
The Ultraman translite artwork
The Ultraman animated topper
The Ultraman animated topper

As with Halloween, we’ll have more details of Ultraman very soon, but here are some playfield pictures and a promotional video.

Ultraman backbox artwork
Ultraman backbox artwork
Ultraman cabinet art
Ultraman cabinet art
Ultraman cabinet art
Ultraman cabinet art
The left side of the Ultraman Collector's Edition
The left side of the Ultraman Collector’s Edition
The right side of the Ultraman Collector's Edition
The right side of the Ultraman Collector’s Edition
The view of the Ultraman playfield from the main flippers
The view of the Ultraman playfield from the main flippers
The Ultraman playfield
The lower part of the Ultraman playfield
The three upper playfields and ramps
The three upper playfields and ramps
The flipper area
The flipper area
The left inlane area
The left inlane area
The right inlane area
The right inlane area
The first upper playfield
The rocket scoop and first upper playfield
The upper upper playfield
The upper upper playfield
The exit to the third upper playfield
The exit to the third upper playfield
The three upper playfields
The three upper playfields
The ball return wireform behind the buildings
The ball return wireform behind the buildings

Finally for now, here’s Spooky Pinball’s promotional video.

UPDATE:

Sales to the general public began at 9am Central Time on 7th July, 2021 and within three hours all 1,750 units (1,250 Halloween + 500 Ultraman) had sold out. Spooky Pinball estimate it will take eighteen months to complete orders, so we shouldn’t expect any new game announcements from them until the end of 2022.

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