Debt - Additional Information (Detail)	9 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	9 Months Ended							1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			1 Months Ended									1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended			9 Months Ended														9 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 ABL Facility, expiring May 24, 2017 [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 ABL Facility, expiring May 24, 2017 [Member] Other assets [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 14, 2013 EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Minimum [Member] LIBOR [Member] EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Minimum [Member] ABR [Member] EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Maximum [Member] LIBOR [Member] EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Maximum [Member] ABR [Member] EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 6.625% Notes [Member] Other assets [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 6.375% Senior Notes, Due April 1, 2021 [Member] Other assets [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 HGI [Member]	Dec. 30, 2012 HGI [Member] 10.625% Senior Secured Notes, due November 15, 2015 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 HGI [Member] 10.625% Senior Secured Notes, due November 15, 2015 [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 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 ($)	Jul. 23, 2013 HGI [Member] 7.875% Senior Secured Notes, due July 15, 2019 [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 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 ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 Spectrum Brands [Member] Six Point Three Seven Five Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Spectrum Brands [Member] Six Point Three Seven Five Senior Notes [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 Spectrum Brands [Member] 6.625% Notes [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Spectrum Brands [Member] 6.625% Notes [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	Jun. 30, 2013 Spectrum Brands [Member] Term Loan, due December 17, 2019 [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 Spectrum Brands [Member] Term Loan, due December 17, 2019 [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Spectrum Brands [Member] Term Loan, due December 17, 2019 [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 Spectrum Brands [Member] Term Loan, due December 17, 2019 [Member] Other assets [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 Spectrum Brands [Member] Previous Term Loan Facility [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 Spectrum Brands [Member] Previous Term Loan Facility [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Spectrum Brands [Member] Previous Term Loan Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 Spectrum Brands [Member] 6.375% Notes and 6.625% Notes [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 FGL [Member] 6.375% Senior Notes, Due April 1, 2021 [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 FGL [Member] 6.375% Senior Notes, Due April 1, 2021 [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 FGL [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 FGL [Member] 6.375% Senior Notes, Due April 1, 2021 [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 EXCO/HGI JV [Member] EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 05, 2013 EXCO/HGI JV [Member] EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 14, 2013 EXCO/HGI JV [Member] EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 EXCO/HGI JV [Member] EXO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement, due February 14, 2018 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 EXCO/HGI JV [Member] EXO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement, due February 14, 2018 [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 EXCO/HGI JV [Member] EXO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement, due February 14, 2018 [Member] EXCO/HGI Partnership Credit Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 Salus Capital Partners L L C [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 14, 2013 Salus Capital Partners L L C [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 Salus Capital Partners L L C [Member] Maximum [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 14, 2013 Salus Capital Partners L L C [Member] Maximum [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 Salus Capital Partners L L C [Member] 5.80% Unaffiliated Long-Term Debt of Consolidated Variable-Interest-Entity [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Salus Capital Partners L L C [Member] 5.80% Unaffiliated Long-Term Debt of Consolidated Variable-Interest-Entity [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 Salus Capital Partners L L C [Member] 5.80% Unaffiliated Long-Term Debt of Consolidated Variable-Interest-Entity [Member] Minimum [Member] LIBOR [Member]	Jun. 30, 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	$ 225,000,000				$ 520,000,000		$ 570,000,000		$ 800,000,000.0	100,000,000.0									$ 300,000,000
Long-term debt, interest rate													10.625%	10.625%		10.625%	7.875%	7.875%	7.875%			6.375%	0.00%	6.625%	0.00%			4.60%	4.60%	0.00%			0.00%	5.10%		6.375%			6.375%				0.00%							5.80%
Proceeds from Dividends Received																																						73,000,000
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%	101.50%
Original issuance discounts on debt, net																	4,500,000
Other assets	271,900,000	172,600,000																	20,000,000																				10,200,000
Document Period End Date	Jun. 30, 2013											Jun. 30, 2013
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	4,562,300,000	2,165,000,000														500,000,000			700,000,000.0			520,000,000	0	570,000,000	0			757,500,000	757,500,000	0		370,200,000	0	370,200,000		300,000,000														57,500,000
Adjustment to increase interest expense																													5,500,000
Debt issuance costs																												200,000	19,300,000
Unamortized Debt Issuance Costs				300,000						14,100,000	12,900,000																				16,900,000
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																					228,100,000
Net of lender reserves																					7,900,000
Letter of credit outstanding																					38,500,000
Line of credit, amount outstanding to partnership																																								369,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Amount Outstanding																																													274,900,000
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																																														57,500,000	63,500,000
Asset-backed loans	$ 430,200,000	$ 180,100,000																																													$ 175,500,000	$ 225,000,000	$ 250,000,000