Debt - Additional Information (Detail)			1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	0 Months Ended					1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			1 Months Ended				1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 ABL Facility, expiring May 24, 2017 [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 ABL Facility, expiring May 24, 2017 [Member] Other assets [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 14, 2013 EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member]	Feb. 14, 2013 Minimum [Member] LIBOR [Member] EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member]	Feb. 14, 2013 Minimum [Member] ABR [Member] EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member]	Feb. 14, 2013 Maximum [Member] LIBOR [Member] EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member]	Feb. 14, 2013 Maximum [Member] ABR [Member] EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member]	Dec. 30, 2012 HGI [Member] 10.625% Senior Secured Notes, due November 15, 2015 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 HGI [Member] 10.625% Senior Secured Notes, due November 15, 2015 [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 HGI [Member] 10.625% Senior Secured Notes, due November 15, 2015 [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 HGI [Member] 10.625% Senior Secured Notes, due November 15, 2015 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 HGI [Member] 7.875% Senior Secured Notes, due July 15, 2019 [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 HGI [Member] 7.875% Senior Secured Notes, due July 15, 2019 [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 HGI [Member] 7.875% Senior Secured Notes, due July 15, 2019 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 Spectrum Brands [Member] ABL Facility, expiring May 24, 2017 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 Spectrum Brands [Member] Term Loan, due December 17, 2019 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 Spectrum Brands [Member] Term Loan, due December 17, 2019 [Member] CAD	Mar. 31, 2013 Spectrum Brands [Member] Term Loan, due December 17, 2019 [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Spectrum Brands [Member] Term Loan, due December 17, 2019 [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Spectrum Brands [Member] Term Loan, due December 17, 2019 [Member] Other assets [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 Spectrum Brands [Member] Previous Term Loan Facility [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Spectrum Brands [Member] Previous Term Loan Facility [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Spectrum Brands [Member] Previous Term Loan Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 Spectrum Brands [Member] 6.375% Notes and 6.625% Notes [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Spectrum Brands [Member] 6.375% Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Spectrum Brands [Member] 6.375% Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Spectrum Brands [Member] 6.375% Senior Notes [Member] Other assets [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Spectrum Brands [Member] 6.375% Senior Notes [Member] Other assets [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Spectrum Brands [Member] 6.625% Notes [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Spectrum Brands [Member] 6.625% Notes [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Spectrum Brands [Member] 6.625% Notes [Member] Other assets [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Spectrum Brands [Member] 6.625% Notes [Member] Other assets [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 FGL [Member] 6.375% Senior Notes, Due April 1, 2021 [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 FGL [Member] 6.375% Senior Notes, Due April 1, 2021 [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 FGL [Member] 6.375% Senior Notes, Due April 1, 2021 [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 EXCO/HGI Partnership [Member] EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 05, 2013 EXCO/HGI Partnership [Member] EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 14, 2013 EXCO/HGI Partnership [Member] EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Salus Capital Partners L L C [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 14, 2013 Salus Capital Partners L L C [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 14, 2013 Salus Capital Partners L L C [Member] Maximum [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Salus Capital Partners L L C [Member] 5.80% Unaffiliated Long-Term Debt of Consolidated Variable-Interest-Entity [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Salus Capital Partners L L C [Member] 5.80% Unaffiliated Long-Term Debt of Consolidated Variable-Interest-Entity [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Salus Capital Partners L L C [Member] 5.80% Unaffiliated Long-Term Debt of Consolidated Variable-Interest-Entity [Member] Minimum [Member] LIBOR [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Salus Capital Partners L L C [Member] 5.80% Unaffiliated Long-Term Debt of Consolidated Variable-Interest-Entity [Member] Maximum [Member] LIBOR [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt, face amount										$ 498,000,000.0	$ 498,000,000.0			$ 700,000,000.0				$ 800,000,000.0	100,000,000.0								$ 520,000,000				$ 570,000,000				$ 300,000,000
Long-term debt, interest rate										10.625%	10.625%		10.625%	7.875%	7.875%					4.60%	4.60%				5.10%		6.375%				6.625%				6.375%		6.375%							5.80%
Discharge of remaining outstanding										2,000,000
Cash charges on Interest Expense											58,900,000
Cash charges for fees and expenses											45,700,000
Cash charges related to the Satisfaction and Discharge											200,000
Non-cash charges for the write down/write-off of debt issuance costs and discount/premium											13,000,000
Long-term debt, percentage														99.36%
Original issuance discounts on debt, net														4,500,000
Other assets	374,700,000	172,600,000													20,000,000																						10,200,000
Redemption price of debt instrument to percentage of principal amount														100.00%
Debt instrument principal amount redemption percentage														35.00%
Proceeds from repurchase of equity, percentage														107.875%
Original maturity date														90 days
Redemption percentage of aggregate debt outstanding														65.00%
Debt maturity date																		Dec. 17, 2019	Dec. 17, 2019				Jun. 17, 2016
Basis spread on variable rate						1.75%	0.75%	2.75%	1.75%																																					2.50%	10.50%
Long-term Debt	4,605,200,000	2,165,000,000											500,000,000		700,000,000.0					795,000,000	795,000,000		370,200,000		370,200,000		520,000,000				570,000,000				300,000,000									63,500,000
Adjustment to increase interest expense																					5,500,000
Debt issuance costs																				400,000	19,100,000
Unamortized Debt Issuance Costs				300,000																		16,700,000							100,000	12,900,000			100,000	14,100,000
Interest Expense, Debt																					2,400,000
Minimum percentage of aggregate outstanding principal held by registered holders																										25.00%
Asset based lending revolving credit facility, before increase			300,000,000.0
Asset based lending revolving credit facility			400,000,000.0															800,000,000	100,000,000																				470,000,000.0	400,000,000.0
Extended Maturity Date			May 24, 2017
Aggregate borrowing availability																	238,400,000
Net of lender reserves																	8,700,000
Letter of credit outstanding																	26,300,000
Line of credit, amount outstanding to partnership																																						374,000,000
Line of credit amount outstanding																																						278,600,000
Line of credit agreement, minimum percentage of secuity interest in oil and gas properties collateralizing borrowings					80.00%
Line of credit agreement, days after forrmation partnership required to enter into derivative financial instruments					60 days
Line of credit agreement, partnership required to enter into derivative financial instruments, minimum percentage covering forecasted proved natural gas production, year one					75.00%
Line of credit agreement, partnership required to enter into derivative financial instruments, minimum percentage covering forecasted proved natural gas production, year two					50.00%
Line of credit agreement, partnership required to enter into derivative financial instruments, maximum percentage covering forecasted proved natural gas production, year one and two					100.00%
Line of credit agreement, partnership required to enter into derivative financial instruments, maximum percentage covering forecasted proved natural gas production, year three					90.00%
Line of credit agreement, partnership required to enter into derivative financial instruments, maximum percentage covering forecasted proved natural gas production, year four and five					85.00%
Line of credit facility, convenant terms, current ratio					1.0
Line of cedit facility, covenant terms, ratio of indebtedness to EBITDAX					4.5
Collateralized loan obligation of consolidated VIE																																									63,500,000
Asset-backed loans	$ 241,600,000	$ 180,100,000																																								$ 175,500,000	$ 250,000,000