The year has finally rolled around to my very favorite day. By way of celebration, have an extra serving of piping-hot links.

Happy Halloween!

Bwitches – “A feminist comedy series about two friends who use their magic powers to vanquish the sexism and racism they face in modern Hollywood.”

Frankenkuties Pencil Dress – Cute Rockabilly-style dress featuring chibi versions of Frank and his Bride.

The Historian – Eerie novel which follows a fictional search for Dracula’s tomb.

7 Haunted Dolls You Can Buy on eBay – I love that one is described as a “rare antique” haunted doll. None of your modern poltergeist-infested Barbies for me, thanks!

The King in Yellow – Free online copy of the short story collection that helped inspire H.P. Lovecraft. (Hat tip to DeVries)

Frodo Didn’t Fail – I get a kick out of long, scholarly analyses of teensy little details in LOTR.

Pumpkinshine – Illustrations of an attempt to make pumpkin “wine.”

A Rather Haunted Life – New biography of author Shirley Jackson. There’s a review here. (Hat tip to pdq)

Harry Potter Boudoir Photoshoot – Woof. Semi-NSFW. (I’m trying to figure out what the big tattoo on his arm is. Any ideas?)

Candy Corn Crawlers – Edible googly-eyed spiders.

Harry Potter Makeup Brushes – Now you can apply your cosmetics with a wand.

Tiny Hamster is a Zombie – Yet another installment in the Tiny Hamster series. (via pdq)

Ghost Chocolate Cups – Easy, cute party-friendly candies.

Blood Lube – Indiegogo campaign for blood-red personal lubricant. There are so many potential jokes for this that my cerebrum just fused.

Spooky Podcasts – A roundup.

Signal Boost!: From the Darkness, He Boosted – An important message about Goth Awareness.

Diamond Skull Tutorial – This makeup instruction video is magnificent.

Skeleton Flash Drive – This li’l skeleton helpfully holds his skull in his hands when you insert him into a USB port.

DIY Pensieve Punch – Great party idea from EPBOT.

The Disrespectful Summons – Complete text/art of an Edward Gorey poem.

It’s time for the annual costume recap! Every year I spend entirely too much time making costumes for Shadowboy and one or two friends, then have professional photos taken. Sometimes I’m lucky and can talk them into matching costumes, and sometimes…not so much.

This year Shadowboy and one friend wanted to go as Mario and Luigi, and the other friend steadfastly declined to complete the trio by being Princess Peach and instead wanted to be Bloody Mary. Which, y’know, props for originality but you’re killing my costume photos, kid. Last year it was Doc Brown, Marty McFly, and…a frog. This year it’s two videogame icons and a hellspawn. Stahp.

The boys’ costumes were made by modifying a simple “loungewear” pattern, Simplicity 1605. The shirts were made from cotton jersey and followed the pattern with no alterations. The overalls were blue twill; I made the pajama bottoms according to the pattern and before inserting the elastic at the waistband I stitched on a front panel with straps that I made freehand (the big yellow buttons are nonfunctional). I toyed with making the hats from leftover jersey but found some online that were cheap, and since I get no joy from making hats I decided to cheat. The gloves were plain cotton parade gloves; Shadowboy complained that they lacked the cartoony black lines on the back, and since I was afraid that a black marker would bleed I wound up hand-embroidering cartoony black lines. Oy. The mustaches were cheap party favors and stuck about as well as you’d expect cheap party favors to stick; on Halloween I’ll be using spirit gum.

Despite being fairly simple, the costumes turned out pretty well. Here are the boys posing: Mario | Luigi. And here are a couple of “action shots” that the photographer managed to capture: Mario | Luigi

Bloody Mary’s costume was Simplicity 3725, view “C.” I omitted all of the recommended trim and instead used embroidered ribbon on the bodice and sleeves. The fabric was chosen the way I always choose fabric when I’m not entirely sure what the costume is supposed to look like: In a frenzy of indecision, throwing everything that looks vaguely promising into the cart and hoping I can figure something out. I wound up using everything; I had a yard of two different fabrics that I didn’t use in the dress, but I decided that she needed a veil and they worked perfectly. I stitched them to a fabric headband and then sewed a row of little silk roses along the top. After I finished the dress I realized that completely by chance I’d chosen a pattern that’s pretty similar to what Princess Peach wears so at least she can sort of match the boys’ costumes. It’ll be Mario, Luigi, and the malevolent ghost of Princess Peach, back from the grave and hell-bent on vengeance.

Here she is, with and without the veil. The photographer also did some action shots of her, running toward the camera and (my favorite) posing with a mirror. She’s definitely selling the spooky.

So that’s this year’s collection wrapped up. Maybe if I start lobbying now I can convince them to let me do something challenging next year, like Labyrinth or Beetlejuice or just about anything more interesting than overalls. Sigh.

Fruit Bat Feeding Tree – Livestream of a bat rescue facility’s feeding area.

J.K. Rowling Announces Five More Movies in the Harry Potter Universe – That’s…a lot of movies.

#MakeAHorrorFilmLessScary – This recent Twitter hashtag has some amusing entries.

Creepy Chocolate Chip Cookies – I like the little almond fangs.

Spooky Glowing Skull – Great-looking DIY “quick craft” from EPBOT.

Updated Post on the Bat Dress – Roundup of some gorgeous interpretations of the Victorian “Bat Dress” replica pattern by EvaDress.

Knitted Scale Armor – These aluminum scales knitted into armor are amazing for cosplay. If you want to try your hand at it, there are some tutorials here.

Knick-Knacks of the Damned – Some awesomely creepy ceramic sculptures. (Hat tip to pdq)

The Occult, Witchcraft and Magic – An illustrated history of the occult. There’s a review here.

Creative Halloween Costumes – A roundup of costume ideas.

Eye of the Beholder – Upcoming documentary about the art of D&D.

Divine Interventions – NSFW. Religion-themed sex toys. I…got nothin’.

The Magician Longs to See – Indiegogo campaign for a Twin Peaks-themed tarot deck.

Googly Eyed Pumpkin – The project itself is so easy as to really not need instructions, but the article is funny.

Morbid Curiosities – Book which offers glimpses into various “bizarre” collections, such as body parts or sideshow ephemera.

Facehugger Dog Leash – I don’t think I’d be able to countenance shelling out 150 bucks for a leash, but the idea is great.

Emily’s Cartoons – Home of “My Life as a Background Slytherin.” This one particularly cracked me up.

10 Morbid Must-Reads for the Fall Season – Some really interesting titles here.

A Dark Song Review – io9 reviews a “black magic” movie where the people summoning a demon are supposed to be the good guys.

Dr. Fell and the Playground of Doom – Described by a fan as a kid’s book that’s smart enough for adults to enjoy, this sounds like a fun read.

If you’re not carrying around matchbooks from places you’ve been recently I don’t know why you don’t want your murder to be solved
— AndyRichter

tie a yellow ribbon ’round the old oak tree – quick – bind it with the old magics before it wakes and turns to us again
— mallelis

I saw a blind guy with a full sleeve tattoo and it made me wonder if he’d always been blind. Because that’s a lot of trust.
— mimismartypants

Pro tip: “Foolish mortals” is a gender-neutral form of address.
— Black_Isis

Now hang on–How are all these bats *getting into* hell in the first place?
— dessadarling

Because telescopes work using mirrors, we will never know if space is full of space vampires. #Showerthoughts
— rShowerThoughts

Google should do a thing where if you type in “clown sighting” the first result is always “BEHIND YOU” in blood-red.
— pattonoswalt

*birds dress Cinderella for school*
*gets to school, goes into bathroom*
*buncha rabid squirrels gather and re-dress her in goth shit*
— _ElvishPresley_

Alright kid I’m gonna kill your whole family and leave you the sole survivor but don’t like, dedicate yourself to revenge about it
[10 years later while hanging off the side of a bridge on fire, about to fall to my doom] man what did I say about this
— iscoff

THIS PUB SELLS A BEER CALLED DORIAN GRAY. IT DOES NOT SELL THIS BEER IN PITCHERS. I CANNOT GET A PITCHER OF DORIAN GRAY.
— applebamos

This animated doorbell decoration is pretty neat in its own right, but also seems ripe for a DIY makeover.

The case could easily be repainted and embellished with extra doodads to make it look spookier, but it’d be especially neat if you could wire it up to your actual doorbell. I’d just leave it up year ’round.

It’s manufactured by Gemmy, and if you can’t find it locally (the video and comments mention Big Lots and WalMart) it’s available on BoingBoing)

Update: The fabulous Anne found these suckers at Target for ten bucks. Thanks, Anne!

Pressing Questions – An amusing speculation about Medieval witches.

Jack-o’-Lantern Stamps – The U.S. post office has just released a set of four commemorative pumpkiny stamps.

Octopus Ferry Disaster – This is both a great hoax in its own right and also an interesting look at how people can be made to believe false things.

Black Garlic Doritos – Frito-Lay has developed a new variety of Doritos for their Japanese market, available in time for Halloween. I’m all jealous.

What We Do in the Shadows TV Spinoff – Oh, I hope this series makes it beyond the borders of New Zealand.

Newport Jerky Company – In addition to the standard beef and venison jerky, this company offers earthworm, octopus, alpaca, and tarantula. Yum! (via pdq)

HandiCraftKate – Etsy shop featuring gorgeous felted fantasy witch hats and other cosplay items.

Hogwarts Nine Nine – Mashup of Harry Potter and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I had never heard of the latter (apparently it’s a police sitcom), but even without any knowledge of the source material the choice of images to accompany each quote is inspired. (via xJane)

Ben Lovatt Sells Dead People and Animals for a Living – As you do.

Gute Nacht Lied – German comedian Martina Hill sings her daughter to sleep with Prodigy’s “Firestarter.”

I’ve mentioned The Great Pumpkin Project previously, and a timely note from Shellhawk has reminded me that it’s just kicked off again. Read all about their mission here and do your part to bring more random pumpkins to the world!