It may be too early for some of you (amateurs), but the folks at BuyCostumes are offering a whopping 50% off all their clearance items until December 31, 2006. That’s 50% off adult costumes, kid costumes, pet costumes, costume accessories, party decor, party supplies and anything else that is marked as clearance. We’re using this opportunity to snag a couple costumes that we had our eye on this year, but were out of our price range. Assuming the holidays haven’t bankrupted you yet, this is a great chance to stock up on Halloween supplies at killer prices.

Coupon Code: use code OUTTAHERE06 to receive 50% off any clearance items, while supplies last.

I think it’s probably that other huge holiday that encourages the spirit of giving, but Ray from Raven’s Blight wants to share some Halloween freebies with you anyway. In addition to the 300+ spooky paintings, illustrations, and other artwork on display at his site, he also offers an ever-growing collection of free Halloween paper crafts. Using cardstock paper, you print out his intricate artwork, do some careful cutting and gluing, and you’ve created your own Hearse Playset, Deluxe Coffin Giftboxes, or Zombie Mask. There are tons of designs available beyond those, including other masks and playsets, board games, dice games, mini monsters, and book covers. It’s a fantastic resource for Halloweenies and those interested in “goth art”. The projects range from simple to “you’ll spend all afternoon …

There’s only 2 little weeks left until Halloween, but that’s still plenty of time to transform your home into a trick-or-treater’s best nightmare. Take these DIY wreaths, for example. While the wreath is typically used around Christmas time, this makes it perfect to transform for ghastly Halloween usage. People expect traditional pine boughs and red ribbon when they think of wreaths, and you can catch them off guard with spooky adaptations that include monster fur and fake gore. It is the ability to change the mundane into the macabre that has made Halloween so popular.

Both of these projects are incredibly simple, and don’t require sewing. Just a quick trip to your local Halloween store …

If you haven’t already, it’s time to start carving pumpkins. If you’ve already carved one up, it’s time to get a new one because it’s probably not as good as a Zombie Pumpkin. Each stencil is hand drawn and stylized by Ryan, the one man show, to work perfectly with traditional cut-out carving techniques. You don’t need to be a master carver for these stencils to come out looking good. But I’ll stop gushing over how awesome they are and let you get to choosing. The site’s been recently updated for the 2006 season with a new design and new stencils. Some of the newest are Stubbs the Zombie (personal fav), Head Cheerleader, Gizmo (from the 80’s flick Gremlins), and in honor of Friday the 13th, Jason Voorhees.

Don’t forget that the stencils can be used for other …

Other than the Attack
Alligator Prop that I mentioned a few days ago, a house full of haunted portraits are top on my list of Halloween props to get when I’m rich. Unlike the alligator, lenticular portraits don’t go for obvious shock, but instead create an eerie mood. Guests in your haunted home will have time to look at the pictures from a distance and perhaps shiver a bit when they realize they are surrounded by creepy old paintings. As they begin to approach, a distinct change occurs within the frame, and the eerie mood culminates with a shock as your visitors realise there is more to the portrait than they first assumed. It’s a more sophisticated way to scare people than just using gore, as it takes time to …

…