Whether you like em’ gory or silly, chances are you have some favorite “scary movies”. The ones you break out every Halloween season or just when you need a freaky mid-year fix. The ones that chill your blood and/or make you roar with laughter. We’ve already shared our favorites in the Top Scary Movie list, and now it’s your turn.

Dredge up all your spooky favorites then head over to the Top Scary Movies comments section. Don’t see your favorite movie listed yet? In about 2-4 sentences, let everyone know which scary movies are your favorite. We’ll add your reviews and the list will just keep getting better. With the Halloween rush almost upon us, we’ll be up to our eyeballs in creating new projects and contests for you; scary movie lovers everywhere (us included) could really use your expertise!

Drew Falchetta’s dark art is beautifully unsettling. His water color paintings range from sweetly twisted to dastardly epics. His subjects are equally diverse; robots, snowmen, and creatures from the deep sea make frequent appearances. I especially like how he presents traditionally peaceful characters – such as nuns and cupid – and is able to put them in bloody situations without seeming trite. Something about the deadpan expressions of most of his subjects makes them seem perfectly creepy no matter what’s going on. A gallery is available on his website, and a few prints are available from I Vote For Art. Hopefully he will start offering more prints thought, because his creations would make wonderfully spooky decor.

Remember about a month back when we talked about making your own mad science lab? We mentioned artist Alex CF and his cryptozoological retrofuture art pieces. At the time, none of his amazing creations were available for sale, but he currently has a new piece on eBay! Check out the level of detail that was put into this strange artifact:

“Contained in this large unique display case are the preserved embyronic alien, and a piece of the wreckage from the craft. In the small draw space are other paraphanalia linked to this cover up – alien implants found on board the craft, their obvious goal was to be inserted into the bodies of abductees. a stack of papers regarding MAJIC 12, illustrations of the craft and the aliens themselves, the newspaper from the fated day, photographs of autopsies on the aliens, and much more.”

Talk about one of a kind. There are actually a few people creating knock-offs of Alex CF’s signature style of multimedia art assemblages, so please make sure to support the original artist if you’re looking to purchase.

As someone who has a rotting zombie head on my kitchen table year-round, I have some decidedly unique ideas about decorating and displaying art. What about you? If you won the Crash at Roswell research case, where would you put it? How would you display it? I’m really curious how you Halloweenies would feature it in your home or haunt (or office or nursery or…) so let me know your ideas in the comments section below.

Inspiration can come in the most unexpected places. So can Halloween decorations. A few days ago, some aimless browsing on eBay produced a wondrous discovery: the Vintage Science & Medicine category. Talk about the mother-lode! Collectors of antique items are probably the most frequent visitors, but for a creative Halloweenie it’s a treasure trove of creepy old artifacts that would be perfect to decorate a Halloween mad scientist party. Here are just a few of the curious, archaic, and sometimes chilling items that I found;

• 18th Century Pewter Leaching Jars (you know, to hold your leaches)
• Exceptional antique brass microscope (functional)
• 61 Year Old Syringe and 12 needles (mint condition)
• Antique dental chair (with spooky padded-electrode-looking headrest)
• Victorian Anatomical Watercolor Posters of creepy skin conditions

With a Steampunk aesthetic that merges medical past with a more technological future, you can create an amazing DIY mad science lab. For a quick Martha Stewart inspired Mad Science Halloween party, check out this how-to. A more DIY version can be seen at ljcfyi’s Mad Scientist Dinner Party, complete with tons of inspiring pictures. Want to see what can really be accomplished with a lot of creativity and 80 hour work weeks? AlexCF is a an amazingly talented artist who creates “things you wish existed in forgotten attics or secret rooms“, deftly mixing the past with imagined technology. His work is wildly imaginative and instantly seems to draw you back into a time of wonder that may, or may not have happened…

And if you’re interested in conducting some genuine feats of mad science, I direct you to- of course- Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories. And some safety goggles.

If you’ve never made the acquaintance of Madame Talbot, you are in for a treat. Madame Talbot’s “Victorian Lowbrow” is like an e-curio cabinet, brimming with “one-of-a-kind gothic death-themed creations”. Entering their online store is like stepping back to a time when science was nearly synonymous with magic: when a few leaches and a mixture of alcohol, opium and a little sugar cured all that ailed you. As you navigate through the endless, eerie categories, you’ll be greeted with circus freak shows, folklore creatures of the night, southern Gothic, traveling medicine shows and archaic Victorian funeral practices. Sounds fun, doesn’t it?

They offer “unique dark art”, much of which is produced by Ashleigh Talbot herself. A skilled pen-and-ink illustrator, she creates such wondrous art as tombstone paintings mourning dolls, and creepy Victorian posters. To add to the period-perfect mystique of these one of a kind items, Talbot does everything by hand, without the use of computers or a sewing machine. Now that’s dedication. Her sophisticated art style paired with the bizarre and ghoulish topics is our favorite mix for spooky decor. Like haunted portraits, it gives a more subtle, yet extremely creepy vibe that most Halloween/horror themed decor and art just don’t have.

There is also a selection of vintage items that would be equally great for grim room decor or as props for your Halloween haunt. Our favorite from this section is definitely the poison bottles, some of which are still full!

Whether you’re looking for nightmarish inspiration or want to go vintage Halloween this October, you can do no better than Madame Talbot’s. Step right up, and tell em’ 365 Halloween sent you.

It’s been a while since the last Zombie Friday, but I’ve got a handful of news that will satiate your hunger for the undead. Spanning film, design, zombie walks and more, it’s been a good week for zombie fans…


First up is an incredibly useful roundup of Photoshop tutorials for those of us with a darker artistic sense. 70 Horror, Blood and Gore Photoshop Effects and Brushes covers everything you’ll need to know to transform even the prettiest of photos into a decaying mess… but in a good way.

If you’ve been following the progress of George A. Romero’s latest zombie movie, you know that a release date for Diary of the Dead was uncertain until January. For a while it looked like it would be a direct to DVD release, but thankfully it will have a wide release on February 15, 2008. W00t! (As if that weren’t enough, Zombie Honeymoon will also be playing on Showtime around the same time. Talk about a bloody Valentine’s Day.)

There’s a new entry into the world of niche social networking websites, and this one’s actually useful. Crawl of the Dead has a section that lists Zombie Walks, allowing the undead hordes to better plan their attack. If you know of a local Walk/Crawl going on, please list it here. If you’ve never attended one, now you know where to look!

And because zombies and bad jokes were made for each other, I have a bit of cheesy humor for you, in Photoshop form: What do vegan zombies eat? LAWLS!!1

Know of a website that zombie fans would devour? Tell us about your online zombie finds in the comments below.