Oh, the horror!

When George Romero first brought his vision of horror to the big screen in Night of the Living Dead (1968), moviegoers were likely shaken with thoughts of zombies long after leaving the movie theater. Horror has since evolved into even creepier, CGI-affected spookiness, but the films of yesterday are as much appreciated today as newer ones. And these days, horror fans have more to latch on to than just the film and its video release date. Lunch boxes, statues, apparel, busts, action figures and other licensed collectibles sell fast to rabid collectors.

When it comes to classic horror properties, limited-edition collectibles are better, insiders say, because chances are fans already have the general-issue product tied to a favorite flick.

Throughout 2006, New Line Cinema, Los Angeles, will be working with NECA, Clark, N.J., to release various 7-inch figures based on characters from Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978). This month, NECA's Cult Classics Series III includes an assortment of figures that come with a diorama base of the shopping mall floor. Series IV, which will launch this May, features a figure assortment with diorama base from outside the filling station. And in the fall, a Zombie Ranger/SWAT Gear boxed set will be available featuring figures of Zombie Roger in bed as Peter stands by in his SWAT gear. Glassware shooters are also available this month, as well as a Dawn of the Dead tin lunch box.

“The things we're doing are based on movies that have stood the test of time,” says Dave Imhoff, senior executive vice president, worldwide licensing and merchandising, for New Line Cinema. “People have a love and respect for the characters and stories that makes them that much more attractive than the new computer-generated [films].”

Imhoff says he will work with retailers to stock special items, and hold in-store events along with a “huge” spring launch at one to-be-announced major retailer this spring. New Line has signed a license with NECA for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, scheduled for release this October. Additional product tied to the House of Horror initiative, started fall 2005 and surrounding Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, will also continue throughout 2006.

Also on the spooky side this year are Dracula figures from McFarlane, Tempe, Ariz., depicting Bram Stoker's vampire anti-hero as a werewolf and a bat. This is the first action figure license based on the 1992 Francis Ford Coppola thriller. The boxed set includes both figures for less than $30.

Following on the heels of the recent Peter Jackson mega-million dollar remake of King Kong, Sideshow Collectibles, Westlake Village, Calif., offers a reproduction of the actual skeletal model used to make and animate the original ape. The 1933 King Kong Stop-Motion Armature Replica comes out this fall. Eighteen-inches tall and weighing 20 pounds, the figure will cost collectors a cool $499 to take home and display on their shelves.