EzCards

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Halloween Cards from Ecardia.com

Ecardica.com offer you a choice of 28 halloween cards, most of which are flash but with a few postcards at the bottom of the group. You're not going to be scared by any of these cards since most are supposed to be funny although some of the humor is rather dubious.

Let's start with a harmless one, "Witch Halloween" where it takes the correct ingredients to produce a result. "Witch Stew" is a similar theme but with a healthy note.

"STEAK through the heart" is an amusing take on the dracula story.

"Bobbing for Apples" is a traditional game but this card is probably one that might scare some with its unexpected finale.

Let's finish with three that are not to my taste but you may find them side-splitting. "Ghost Poo" and "Bad Ass" are self-explanatory, and "The Boogie Man" is just yuk!

Monday, October 30, 2006

Halloween Cards from Bloom by AG.com

Bloom by AG.com have just eight halloween cards on their list but you'll find some real quality here with several novel themes. All the cards are described as animated but are, in fact, flash movies.

"Release your inner bitch" is a great skit on typical party chat where three girls survey the unusual guests and pass comments on each.

In "Magical Makeover" a traditional witch is transformed from an ugly green-skinned creature into a wow!

"Halloween in the O.C." describes itself as "A Halloween rap by the preps from Orange County". A great idea and a card that anyone would love to receive.

The rest of the group are not so exciting although "Personalize your Web" is a novel way of adding the recipient's name. Not sure what you will make of the "Freudian Pumpkin".

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Halloween Cards from Birthday Alarm

Birthday Alarm.com have just seventeen halloween cards on their site, but what they lack in numbers is more than compensated for by the quality of the selection.

The cards are divided into three groups - interactive, cute/funny and elegant. For my money the interactive cards are the best, in fact, some of them could be described as addictive.

"Witch Hunt" is billed as their most popular - a real shoot-em-up broomstick style. And you have to keep having another go to try and beat your previous score.

In "Whack a Ghoul" the instructions are: "Try to defeat the ghouls by whacking them senseless with a rubber chicken! You must be quick or you will be cursed to play again! Aaaaahhhh!"

The "Candy Game" is less violent but no less competitive. Play again and again to try to catch more candy to boost your score.

I found the cute/funny group rather more cute than funny. "George's Halloween" is a rather feeble joke but "Merry Halloweenie" is decidedly cute.

"Bloody Mary" is a long and rambling joke, but "Witch Tricks" is fun and makes a fitting end to this review.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Halloween Cards from Apple

Apple Computers is not a name that you would normally associate with halloween cards but they do have a dozen designs and so should be included in my review. No animations here, just plain cards but with some novel designs.

"All Hallows Eve" has a ghost, a witch and a devil holding hands under a moonlit sky with their pumpkins in attendance.

"Scaredy Cat" really does look scared as she perches atop a grinning jack-o-lantern.

"Sitting on the Fence" is a good combination of an atmospheric photo of bare-branched trees against the night sky with a cheery pumpkin superimposed.

"Trolling For Treats" has a bit of everything; a tall skeleton is surrounded by a ghost and three Trick-or-Treaters. In the background is a witch, a black cat and a rabbit? under a smiling moon.

And, of course, there has to be a "Web Sight".


Friday, October 27, 2006

Halloween Cards from Amazon.com

Amazon.com have a good selection of humorous halloween cards. To send one of their ecards you fill in the recipient's details together with your greeting but, not to miss a trick, you are also given the option of including a gift certificate.

Because of its primary business as a bookseller, it's no surprise that the first card on their list, "Subtle Haunting", concerns a bookmark.

The "Politically Correct Halloween" introduces you to some unusual characters. Meet the "Alternative Fluid Injester" and the "Mortality Challenged Individual" among others.

"Martha Stewart's Living Undead" is the opposite of politically correct and all the better for that.

"The Jokester Ghost" thinks he's really funny. "Get Into The Halloween Spirit" he quips. "I'm so funny it's scary!" Yes quite.



Thursday, October 26, 2006

Halloween Cards from Creative Cyberspace

Creative Cyberspace.com is the next on my list and here we are back to a decent selection of some fifty designs. They are nearly all animated, but quite different from many that I have already reviewed.

Unfortunately there are few titles so it makes it difficult for me to indicate which card I am describing. By and large the subjects are the usual ones - witches, skeletons, pumpkins and ghosts but with some rather odd additions.

Look out for the smiley face with fangs, the hand in a jar and the eyeball with flailing limbs.

Lower down a smiling red devil is next to a flaming skull which is obviously driving the next poor soul mad.

Oh, and if you're easily offended, close your eyes when you get to "When Pumpkins Go Bad".


Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Halloween Cards from Pocket Internet

The Pocket Internet.com has an entirely different system of delivery for its Halloween Cards. With all the other sites I have reviewed so far you choose your card, fill in the email address of the person for whom the card is intended and your name and greeting, and then an email is sent telling the recipient where the card can be viewed.

Pocket Internet allows you to download a file which you can then send to your friends as an email attachment. Since the files are in exe format they will only work on windows computers, so are no good for Macs.

"Haunted Castle - Please Do Come In" has some nice creaking doors but "Flying Witch - Needs Flying Lessons" is rather tame. More fun is "Don't Forget To Check Under The Bed" and "Halloween Apple and Witch" which is interactive.

My favorite from this group has to be "Eating Too Much Candy" - a real morality tale.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Halloween Cards from Omsakthi.org

Omsakthi.org has an even smaller selection than BlackDog - just three designs in their halloween card group. The pictures may not be very exciting but you have a large choice when it comes to customising your card.

There are six different fonts, choice of text size and color and five background pictures.

Then there a space to sign your card with suggested greetings such as "Love, Snookums" or "Best Wishes, Fred".

When it comes to the music you have eight choices ranging from Pop Music, Classical or Jazz. "All Over You", "That Thing That You Do", "Fall For You" or "Nocturne in D".

As you can see, I have struggled to find much to say about these cards, but it is only fair to include them on the list.





Monday, October 23, 2006

BlackDog's Halloween Postcards

BlackDog's Halloween Postcards are just sixteen different designs, four of which are animated and the remainder plain cards.

"Happy Halloween You Make Me Batty" is one of the animated cards with a swooping creature that is flying in a most un-bat-like manner.

The three other animated cards show a witch, a pumpkin and a skull which just flash on and off. Altogether a rather disappointing group.

The twelve plain cards have the usual assortment of witches, skeletons, frankensteins and pumpkins accompanied by somewhat uninspiring greetings.

Two that I did like were "Going My Way Little One?" with Dracula in a fearsome motor and "Trick or Treat" showing a smiling angel with a devil's tale.

You can add music to the cards and here you have a choice of sixteen different pieces ranging from Halloween Sounds and Organ Moan to Beethoven's Fifth, Dance of the Macabre to Phantom of the Opera.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Halloween Cards from Cyber-Cards.com

Cyber-Cards.com is another company that likes to emphasize the "Happy" in Halloween with their range of halloween cards. Mostly plain cards with no animation but plenty of humorous greetings.

Right at the beginning you find plenty of red hearts on display with greetings such as "Your love haunts me..". The ghosts either smile broadly or emit gentle "BOOO!!"s. Pumpkins grin, owls Whooooo and bats are just "Batty".

Page 2 has a few more pumpkins, then there are a series of cartoon cards. Here is Dracula on the witness stand "Yes, yes, yes, I sucked the plaintiff's blood... BUT I DIDN'T SWALLOW!".

Then there's "The Wicked Witch's First And Last Golfing Adventure" although I did not find that particularly funny. There are several more in similar vein, but I won't quote them all here so as not to spoil the jokes.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Halloween Cards from FunUtilities.com

FunUtilities.com have twenty halloween cards in their range. No animation or flash here but a series of spooky photo creations.

A pair of green eyes on a black background suggests a silent menace. A graveyard with "Halloween" in ghostly script is also rather creepy.

"Green Ghost" is billed as one of the most popular from this group, and I can see why. "Greetings From Afterdeath" relies more on the title than the picture I feel.

"Halloween Theatre" gives you pause for thought, although I'm not quite sure exactly what!

Page 2 has more of the same, but right at the end are my favorites - "Happy Pumpkin 01" and "Happy pumpkin 02".





Friday, October 20, 2006

Halloween Cards from Greetsomeone.com

Greetsomeone.com have what has to be described as a "nice" collection of halloween cards. Nearly all are animated and, although they have a "Haunted" and a "Horror" section, there's nothing to scare you here. The clear intention is to provide a cheerful greeting for your friends.

The first group "Wish Everyone a Happy Halloween" has the usual collection of ghosts, witches, black cats and bats but with a few unusual twists. I loved the witch who landed with a "Blonk!!". "Ugh! what a mess" is certainly different.

The "Haunted" section, with its two-state animation, I found irritating rather than scary. But I did like some of the captions - "Time to let your dark side show..!" and "A Bewitching Halloween Becons You!".

And finally the "Horror" group. For me these can only be described as funny. If the animation played at half the speed it might be better, but "Rising From The Dead" at the regularity of a trafficator just makes me laugh.




Thursday, October 19, 2006

Halloween Cards at MySpace.com

I've been preoccupied with other things for the last few days and so have not had time to continue my investigations into the wonderful world of Halloween Cards. In the meantime I thought I would list a few of the Halloween sites I have found on MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/halloween_tshirts
The MySpace home of the Halloween T Shirts man. He's mad about Halloween T Shirts and wears a different one for each day of October! Catch his ramblings on his blog at Halloween T Shirts.

http://myspace.com/halloween_eyes
This MySpace.com site is dedicated to sharing information about contact lenses that you can wear this Halloween to accent your costume. Specialty contact lenses can give your eyes a completely different look. You can even get special lenses if you require a prescription. Check it out!

http://www.myspace.com/halloween_food_ideas
Halloween has become one of our favorite holidays. We will help you make your Halloween food fun and find creepy ideas to help you choose the scariest, hariest Halloween food to serve to your ghosts and goblins.

http://www.myspace.com/halloweencards
Halloween cards are a fun way to send scary and horror greetings to your friends. Follow me as I investigate the best and the worst halloween cards on the net.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Halloween Cards from Ecard4all

Ecard4all is another site where you will find plenty of flash halloween cards. Some you will recognize from sites that I have mentioned before, but there some interesting variations on the theme.

"Witches. Halloween greetings!!!" describes itself as a fun witch for all your friends and loved ones! Click the box for a scary surprise.

The "Trick or Treat" group has a selection of cheery ghosts suitable for the young. "Happy Hunting" is a good example. Click on the house and watch the action.

The "Spanish Halloween" link takes you to four cards with the greeting in spanish, but below you come to "Fearful Photos" where you can upload your own picture to add to the horror effect.

Back to the first page and follow the "Halloween Critters" link and then go down and click "Horror" to bring you to the scary section. "Blood-curdling Halloween" and "Scary From The Scratch.." are two to give you nightmares.




Saturday, October 14, 2006

A Few More Halloween Links

Although my blog is just about halloween cards, I am keeping my eyes open for interesting sites on the subject of halloween in general.

Here are a few that I have found:

http://itishalloweendecor.blogspot.com/
This blog is about halloween decor, with comment and opinion on such things as scary halloween decor,pumpkins and candle decor,animated halloween decor,spooky decor, black light, jack O'lantern and pumpkins carving.

http://halloweengifts.blogspot.com/Witches aren't the only ones who exchange gifts at Halloween! Give your loved ones some special Halloween gifts this October 31st.

http://halloween-trick-or-treat.blogspot.com/Halloween is a time when kids trick or treat. This blog specializes in that subject and everything halloween happy trick or treating.

Friday, October 13, 2006

Halloween Cards from American Greetings

American Greetings is another site with a good collection of flash halloween cards.

"Happy Halloweenie" is a cheerful introduction to this group. Lots of pumpkins and a long dog.

"Frankenstein" is another of those talking cards where you can type in your message and it will then speak your greeting. Great choice of voices: US male, US female, US female 2, Valley girl, English male, Scottish male or Male sportscaster. Just a pity they all sound the same.

"The Stalker" is really quite sinister and not a card that I would send to a nervous relative. See what you think.

"More Trick Than Treat" is a good animated card of the scary/funny variety. Enjoy the confrontation between Dracula and a black cat and watch out for the sting in the tail.

"Pirate Puppy" would be ideal for dog lovers, of any age.

Turn to page 2 and look for the "Pumpkin Carver Cardmaker". This is another interactive card where you can choose implements and styles, and then press "play" to see the result. Stand well back from this one.




Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Halloween Cards from Card Fountain

Card Fountain.com has today's selection of halloween cards. Here you will find a great collection of flash cards with plenty of novel ideas.

Let's start with the "Talking Halloween Ghost". Type in your greeting and he/she will announce it in a male or female voice.

Next there's one to get the ladies cooing - the "Singing Halloween Baby". Enjoy the cheerful rhyme, but you'll have to watch right to the end or you'll miss a trick.

Two "trick or treats" follow. The first is similar to several I have reviewed in earlier posts, but the second is interactive allowing you to choose the reward. Just don't choose the trick! See, I did warn you.

Apart from the flash cards there are four cartoons which are worth a mention. My favorite here was "Born on Halloween".

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Halloween Cards from Halloween Card Shop

Halloween Card Shop.com offers no fancy flash or animation, just plain cards with conventional greetings. The joke is in the combination, as in "Wish You Were Here" with a picture of a graveyard. "I'm Dreaming About You" above a picture of corpse in her coffin is another example.

If this type of humor is to your taste, turn the page for more.

"Happy Anniversary" and "Just Married RIP" have pictures of a husband and wife lying in their coffins.

Closer to home is "Sorry I Haven't Written" with a ghost looming out of a computer screen above a terrified lady.

Slightly more sinister is "Let's Carve a Pumpkin Together". Take a look to see what I mean.

But my favorite from this group has to be the grinning pumpkin with "You'd have a stupid smile on your face too, if you just had all your brains scoped out!".




Sunday, October 08, 2006

Halloween Cards from Blue Mountain.com

Blue Mountain.com is another of those sites that you have to join as a member before you can send one of their halloween cards. But there is nothing to stop you taking a look at their selection.

You'll find some weird and wonderful ideas here. What on earth have worms and hearts got in common? To find out, take a look at "Kissing Zombies".

"Halloween Hoedown" is a lively number, and not a ghost in sight.

"Ghost of a Chance" is interactive. Win the game or you're "toast". "Ghost Toast" is the next one to see, but this toast has nothing to do with burnt bread.

"The Flasher" is a sinister character in a great video, but did they have to drag politics into it?

For some light relief, watch "Crossing Paths", a tale of two black cats.




Saturday, October 07, 2006

Halloween Cards from 101Halloween

101Halloween.com has a nice line in flash halloween cards. They are all fairly light-hearted with nothing too scary.

For a gentle introduction to this selection, try "Happy Halloween" at the top of page one. Lower down the page "Halloween Alive With Frightful Fun!" is set in a graveyard with a black cat, skeleton, ghost and bat all accompanied by a jaunty tune.

Turn to page 2 for "Witch Ya Halloween Spell-ebrations" which sets out to "Show ur dear ones what's in the cards for them this Halloween".

For some more shocks dare to open "Frightful Fiendisssh Halloween!". Then move on to "Wish You a Real Scream" but watch out for the tomato juice, or was it really blood?

Friday, October 06, 2006

Halloween Cards from E-cards.com

This is the URL for todays selection:

http://www.e-cards.com/catalog/cat-selection.pl?group=Halloween&cat=Halloween

If you're feeling creative you can send in your own photo to be added to their collection - just address it to Goblins@e-cards.com Mind you this probably explains why there is a somewhat unusual selection of halloween cards on this website.

For a start there's "Halloween Squirrel", but you have to be a member before you can send this one. "Snapshot" is a nice little animation, but "Food to Go" from North Creek Farm is one of the "unusual" ones. I rate "Halloween Light" as the best of the bunch on this page.

Page 2 has some more conventional images featuring witches, a dancing skeleton and Buzzards?! Plenty of pumpkins also, flashing, dancing and sitting under the haunted tree.

Last, but not least, "Let it Fall" - very spooky?





Thursday, October 05, 2006

Halloween Cards from Care2

Care2.com have over 200 halloween cards in their collection. I haven't had time to check all of them but I think you will find that the best are on the earlier pages.

There is a huge variety of styles here, including some really good flash cards and interactive games as well as the usual animations. Here are some of my favorites:

Start with "Trick Poem":

"Trick or treat, Trick or treat
Give us something good to eat"


In "Deck The Halls" you are invited to sing along and you can choose one of three partners to make sure you stay in tune.

"13 Days" is based on the Twelve Days of Christmas but with a halloween theme. All the spooks you can imagine, but nothing to scare you here.

Finally for his group, try "Ghosthunt". This is an interactive card where you have to find the dead pirate by searching around a darkened room. Great fun!

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Halloween Cards from G Cards

Today I am talking about cards from:
http://www.gcards.com/halloween/greetings.html

Here you will find a collection of nearly fifty halloween cards. Most have some basic animation and the others are just picture cards. The cards are divided into eight groups which include Witches, Jack-o-Lanterns, Trick or Treats and Haunted Houses.

There is a Family section designed for the very young. Here you will find "Coziness of Halloween", "Family Wishes" and "Enjoying the Fun".

You can choose from four witches who are either flying, stirring a cauldron or "Puffing Away The Evils!".

In keeping with tone of this collection, the cards in the Horror Section will only give you a gentle fright.

The section I enjoyed the most was Halloween Fun. Look out for "Dracula Dance", "Boney Beloved" and my favorite, "Ravishing Eyes".

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Halloween Cards from USA Greetings

USA Greetings is responsible for this next selection of halloween cards. We are back to flash animation and music, and there are some really good ones here.

Try the "Friendly Pumpkin" for a start and enjoy the magical transformation. Then go back to number three on the top row, but watch out for the howls and screams that make this a seriously scary card. There's no title on the thumbnail but I have dubbed it "The Revenge of the Pumpkin", and when you reach the end you will see why.

Move on to "A Horrifying Thing Out To Get You" for thunder and lightning coupled with yet another pumpkin horror story.

Turn to page 2 for my final choice "Dressed to Kill". After the intro, click the link and a terrifying spectacle will be revealed.



Monday, October 02, 2006

T.G.I.H. Halloween Cards

Here's another selection of flash halloween cards but without the scream this time. Go to http://www.greetingcards.com/?RCAT=1&CAT=105 and try the Trick or Treat first. This turns out to be a rather boring game where you open the door and have to choose whether to give out chocs or fruit to a series of visitors. Once you've had enough of that, take a look at Scary Halloween. This is more like it!

T.G.I.H. opens with a haunted castle which you enter to discover a real live frankenstein. Good animation but rather spoiled by the jaunty music.

Halloween Balloon Ride is harmless and Don't Drink and Fly a simple moral tale. Not one of the best collections of halloween cards I've found, although I did like the Scary Halloween.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Awesome Halloween Cards

Awesome Halloween Cards http://www.marlo.com/hallowee.htm are responsible for this next batch. See what you think, but I'm not terribly impressed.

"Special Delivery" is the familiar Witch on a Broomstick theme. Less common is the "Witches' Brew" and that face might well scare the very young.

"Animated Green Thing" looks as sick as its name suggests. Although the graphics are rather crude, I rate "Boo" as the best of the bunch.

Awesomely awful, I'm afraid, is my verdict on these.