McDonald’s Happy Meals are a staple of happy childhood memories for anyone who remembers the disproportionate joy that came with finding a cheap plastic trinket tucked in with your cheeseburger and fries. In more recent years, they’ve also acted as a sort of mini-billboard for whatever movie, toy, or other product the marketing brains at Mickey D’s have teamed up with on any given week. But just in time for Halloween, Los Angeles-based graphic designer Newt Cloninger-Clements has come up with a much darker take on the kiddie banquet-in-a-box by imagining what a horror movie-themed Happy Meal might look like.
“I’ve been a huge fan of horror films ever since childhood, so it’s no surprise that Halloween is my favorite holiday,” Cloninger-Clements said in a statement. “My work is a tribute to all of the creative individuals that have influenced me over the years, and brought so much enjoyment to my life.”
While Cloninger-Clements hasn’t shied away from embracing current small-screen scary things like American Horror Story, The Walking Dead, Ash vs. Evil Dead, and Stranger Things, serious horror movie devotees will love his throwback pieces to cult classics and genre staples like The Exorcist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, The Thing, Sleepaway Camp, Fright Night, and Critters—each of which comes with its own clever toy (like an axe-wielding Jack Nicholson action figure with The Shining Happy Meal).
Take a look at some of the artist’s creations below; to see more, visit him on Twitter or Instagram (where you’ll be able to see some non-horror creations, too, including a Showgirls Happy Meal that we only wish were real).
All images courtesy of Newt Cloninger-Clements via Twitter.
[h/t Nerdist]
October 5, 2016 – 11:30am