Here is a video of pumpkin thief. Deadspin's Dan McQuade offers critical analysis:
It appears they pulled over specifically to steal a pumpkin. One dude gets out, and then hauls ass to the car, screaming at the driver to hit the gas like he’s just robbed a bank. Check out that 40 speed!
Need some last-minute advice to make a costume so good, no one will recognize you?
Check out these 5 tips to remain incognito this #Halloween with the help of our spy dog, Calliope.https://t.co/JZNiqiU9kN#SpyKids pic.twitter.com/1F8Zc6ihzq
— CIA (@CIA) October 28, 2019
I don't think I ever related to the White Guy Blinking Meme as much as I did after this tweet crossed my timeline.
I did in fact click through to their "CIA Kids Guide: 5 Ways To Stay Covert This Halloween" and I…I don't even know where to begin.
I kind of love this as a piece of propaganda because the first tip and the last three are at least useful (if completely fucking obvious for anyone who's ever watched a spy movie). But then there's #2, "Think Simple," which … I know this is meant for the CIA's kids' outreach section, but come on. You're not even pretending that you're not indoctrinating kids to make it easier to surveil them!
I guess it'd be too much to hope for that the CIA might offer helpful advice on VPNs and anti-surveillance attire—but even then, I probably wouldn't trust it.
Image via Katerha/Flickr Read the rest
From Ross Wolinsky's "The Millennial Raven" in McSweeney's: Once upon a midnight dreary, Tinder swiping, buzzed and weary/I asked Siri about my sushi ordered one hour before/ While I chewed some pretzels, snacking, suddenly there came a tapping/As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my apartment door/“’Tis my roommate,” I muttered, “walking ‘cross the hardwood floor/Only this and nothing more.” (via Kottke) Read the rest
Finally, someone's asking the important questions.
As it’s Halloween, which baguette is the most scary? Give your reasoning pls pic.twitter.com/vQfuVx3HCW
— Dave (@sheepfilms) October 24, 2019
61 percent of respondents picked the #3, the "baguette skeleton," with the Spider Bread (#4) coming in second at 29 percent.
But clearly 90 percent of people are wrong, because nothing compares to the horror of my imagination as it speculates at what might lay beneath the ghostly sheet of Halloween Baguette #2. The possibilities in my mind are endless, and they are all fucking terrifying. Read the rest
Halloween, like many modern American holidays, is a kind of mashup of different cultural traditional traditions rooted in the autumnal harvest, and some kind of celebration or connection with the spirit world. You see it in Mexico with Dia de los Muertos; and in pre-Christian Ireland, it was Oíche Shamhna ("Shamna" being the genitive form of "Samhain," which is pronounced kind of like "SOW-un," and actually just means "November").
An episode of The Irish Passport podcast takes a close look at the roots of those Gaelic traditions, and the kind of generation loss that happened when it was exported to the United States, and then re-imported back to Ireland. The result is kind of fun-house-mirror reflection of itself—modern Irish imitating a mutated American imitation of older Irish traditions. You'll also get to learn a bit about how the faeryfolk in Ireland, the Aos Sídhe, still play an active role in modern real estate development in the Republic (yes really).
Just below the surface of modern Ireland, a parallel world exists with its roots in pre-Christian belief. Irish fairies aren’t like Tinkerbell—they’re more like a supernatural mafia. So be careful what you say, because as the story goes, they’re probably listening. Tim talks to one of Ireland’s last seanchaí or story-teller historians, who once managed to get a highway diverted to prevent the felling of a fairy bush. We also hear about modern traditions from the streets of Galway as the Celtic New Year Samhain festival is underway.
You can download the mp3, or find the episode on iTunes/Stitcher/Google Play/Spotify/etc. Read the rest
This is an excellent Halloween costume.
Read the rest
Scary stuff! These 'Haunted House' operations require their patrons to sign a 40-page legal waiver. Before entering the venue, Halloween revelers must also possess insurance. Read the rest
Landon Meir creates convincing "Hyperflesh" masks of celebrities like Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson. Read the rest
“Corgi’s first pumpkin patch.” Read the rest
"Look into my pies"
Baker Lorraine Elliott has just the thing to bake this Halloween: creepy, vanilla-scented rhubarb "eye pies." A conversation with her friend Nina inspired them:
"I'm so hungry I'm going to eat someone's face off!" she said with madness in her eyes, while kneeling dangerously close to my face.
"How long have you been on this diet?" I asked.
"A day," she said solemnly.
...I offered her a rhubarb tart but alas that wasn't high protein enough. Moral of the story: eat pies even ones with eyes or you could possibly want to eat someone's face off.
Go to her blog, Not Quite Nigella, for the recipe.
photo by Not Quite Nigella Read the rest
Trimbandit's Scary Animated Zombie Groundbreaker Instructable uses two pneumatics to make a partially buried zombie jerk and pitch and seem to try to claw its way out of your lawn -- it's an incredibly effective illusion, one that capitalizes on the jerking, sudden motions of the pneumatic to lend a terrifying, otherworldly vigor that makes the mannequin skinned over the pneumatics seem like the living dead. Read the rest
Boo! Read the rest
From 2009 to 2011, Radboud University in the Netherlands featured a "purification grave" as a place of meditation:
Good news, the purification grave is once again available, as announced in this cheerfully macabre video:
Per Google Translate:
Students and staff are welcome to spend time in the grave during office hours and to reflect on their lives, their choices, their questions and doubts. Register here if you want to participate. We will then give you a mat and pillow and you will receive some explanation. Your belongings are stored in a locker. Afterwards a conversation is possible if you need it.
(Via @SpyKids2.) Read the rest
All hail the queen of Halloween. You gotta watch the video, the chainsaw arm makes a scary sound and everything. Read the rest
Esmée Kramer is student in network and systems engineering. Read the rest
Last year, I posted about the spooky painted lightbulb Halloween ornaments of David "gnarledbranch" Irvine; since then, Irvine has created a new, more ambitious batch. He writes: "Some bulbs I salvage are oversized/too heavy to hang, so I had custom designed wooden stands made and they turn into an 'art object'...some even with a wraparound scene!" Read the rest
I love a good flea market. Even though I don't really collect anymore (I make exceptions for extraordinary items), I love seeing what weird, old stuff is out there. Here where I live in Alameda, California, on the first Sunday of every month, there is a massive vintage and antiques sale with over 800 dealers. The most recent Alameda Point Antiques Faire was this past Sunday and many vendors brought out their vintage Halloween wares. Here's a look at some of the old-fashioned paper trick-or-treat bags, plastic kiddie costumes, ephemera, blow molds, and other fun seasonal items I spotted out there.
This E.T. Halloween costumes deserves a special shout-out -- it's 100% handmade with love!
Sexy Darth Vader!
If you go: The best time to arrive to the Alameda Point Antiques Faire, in my opinion, is at 7:30 a.m. when the price drops from $15 to $10. Yes, at 9 a.m., it drops to $5 but then it starts getting crowded and/or hot. Children under 15 are free with an adult. There is tons of parking and a free shuttle if you end up at the back of the enormous lot.
Pro-tips:Wear a sun hat, sunglasses, and comfortable shoes (my Fitbit tells me I clock in around 15,000 steps!). Also pack a water bottle and a snack, though you can also purchase food and beverages. Bring small bills and negotiate for what you want. The faire closes at 3:00 p.m., so that's when big deals start happening (the vendors have been there since around 4:00 a.m. Read the rest
