Every Halloween, the Internet floods with new photos of celebrities in costume. (We’re especially enjoying Robyn as Robin and Amy Poehler and John Krasinski as Andie and Duckie from Pretty in Pink.) But, over the years, a few famous people have emerged as Halloween all-stars. They always dress up, and their costumes are often awesomely outrageous, impressively elaborate, or both. Last year, we pitted daytime TV hosts against each other to determine who (or, more likely, whose wardrobe department) was creating the most entertaining masquerade. Since it looked like Martha Stewart was the clear victor then, in 2011 we’ve thrown her into competition with pop culture’s reigning Queen of Hallowen: Heidi Klum. Follow along from 2005 to the present as we pick a winner.
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Happy Halloween, everybody! Since the ghoulish holiday falls on a Monday this year, we’re assuming many of you hit your Halloween parties over the weekend — and have had your fill of putting on a ridiculous costume and enjoying far too many adult beverages. So if, like us, you’re staying in for the night, we’d like to suggest a few cinematic All Hallows’ Eve celebrations that you might visit this evening instead. After the jump, join us for a look at a few movie Halloween parties we’d like to attend.
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The United States of America. Land of the free, home of the Bray Road Beast. Most areas have one — a cryptid, that is. A legendary, unlikely creature that has yet to be proven nonexistent. Some US towns have lake-dwelling monsters, while others have big-eyed demons and lizard men. These under-the-radar characters are often only famous in their respective regions, and it’s about time we give them some well-deserved Halloween loving. Thanks for Harry and the Hendersons, Bigfoot, but let’s check out what else is lurking in our North American forests, shall we? Read on to find a cryptid near you.
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In honor of Halloween, some culinary artists are corrupting the sweetness of cake, fondant, and molding chocolate by transforming them into horrifying, ghoulish sculptures. Wounded zombies dripping with blood, grim pumpkins, eyeball-filled cauldrons, and eerie sugar skulls are just some of the All Hallows’ Eve staples that have been re-imagined with the aid of piping bags, buttercream spatulas, and layers upon layers of cake that have been carved down to form seriously creepy creations. In honor of the spooky holiday’s imminent arrival, we’ve rounded-up a batch of exquisitely detailed cakes that’ll give you a fright after the jump.
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If you’re a cult film fan — or if you just love movies, period — then you’ll want to become familiar with the team at Trailers From Hell. Led by Gremlins director Joe Dante, this group of cult cineastes — comprised of writers, directors, and other industry experts — truly know their stuff. Their casual, honest, and totally informative approach is also helped by the fact that they’re giant movie geeks — so really, they feel like the pal you obsess about your favorite films with.
What do they do exactly? The Trailers From Hell guest introduces a film — usually by sharing its trailer (they often choose rare cuts) — and chats about it, filling you in on great behind-the-scenes info and other fascinating facts that you probably never knew. Even if you’re a die-hard cult cinema fan, TFH are full of surprises, so you’ll probably learn something. The best part is, they do it all in under three minutes. Past the break, learn some interesting tidbits surrounding the slasher horror classic, Halloween. Filmmaker Adam Rifkin tells you about the evolution of the movie, which part Christopher Lee was almost cast in, and more.
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While they might have been fine back when we were kids, today it seems like the world finds plain old jack-o-lanterns sad and boring. Instead, they’ve become a canvas for proudly carving allegiance to your favorite TV character, most beloved musician, or the YA series that you can’t put down. Which is great news for us! But first, a quick disclaimer: while plentiful, the selection of pop culture pumpkins isn’t quite as diverse as you might hope. We struggled to find jack-o’-lantern homages to Flavorpill favorites like Patti Smith, Liz Lemon, and Daria, only to come up empty-handed. Get on that people! That said, we think you’ll be happy with what we’ve come up with after the jump. If you happen to have a pop culture pumpkin of your own to contribute to our list, please leave us a link in the comments!
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There’s nothing we enjoy more than a good Halloween party. Costumes, drinks, general merriment of a creepy sort. Music can make or break your Halloween party; we know this, and that’s why we’ve already offered you some gruesome songs for your Halloween playlist. Perhaps, though, you’re the rare breed who wants things even darker than Nick Cave (and there isn’t much that’s darker than Nick Cave). Or possibly you’re using the occasion of Halloween to celebrate the remarkable achievements in witch house this year. Or maybe you just want to keep kids from ringing your doorbell. Regardless, your author, who’s in the midst of writing a book on the witch house scene, has handcrafted a spooky mix of dark, new songs for your Halloween party brooding. From the opening haunted house drones of The Haxan Cloak through the shocking zombification of Brooklyn’s own Class Actress, this is the soundtrack of nightmares. Don’t worry, though, there’s a chance to dance at the end.
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Has your lifetime been overwhelmed with terror tales of vampires, witches, werewolves, and zombies to the point that these overly familiar creatures are too boring to give you nightmares? Let’s face it — we’ve fallen into a repetitive freak funk, and we could really use some new ghouls to give us goosebumps. Fetus-licking bat torsos from the Philippines? Sure, why not! Corpse-craving Japanese greed ghosts? Sounds good to us! Gather ’round the campfire and lend us your ears, Halloweenies; we’ve scoured the ponds of Bohemia and the banana trees of Indonesia to bring you some of the globe’s finest frighteners. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, we call this “The Tale of Other Cultures’ Creatures.” Read it after the jump.
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As we discussed last week, it’s a weird month to be a movie buff it you’re not also a horror movie fan. All of your cinephile friends on Twitter and on message boards are breathlessly updating their progress on whatever insane Halloween-month horror movie challenge they’ve undertaken (some do the “31 Days, 31 Horror Movies” thing; others push even further, proclaiming that they’ll do a full 100 scary flicks by month’s end); creepshows of all stripes are analyzed, recommended, and quoted. It’s even tougher to get by if you’re expected to write about cinema — where are your horror movie lists? What’s your ten scariest? Ten scariest horror movie kids? Ten bloodiest? Ten goofiest? And so on, and so on.
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‘Tis the season for creative gourd art, and this week, the folks over at Dangerous Minds clued us in to these incredibly detailed carved pumpkins by renowned sand and pumpkin sculptor Ray Villafane. We’re blown away by the detail of these pumpkins, and even more so by how he almost makes the hard pumpkin flesh look soft and malleable, like a real human face. If you’ve got upwards of $400 that you are willing to spend on the best pumpkin you will ever own, you can even purchase custom carvings to guarantee yourself a wickedly wonderful Halloween. Click through to see some of our favorites of Villafane’s “gordgeous” carvings, and then be sure to head over to his website for even more.
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