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!

Why wait until dinner to enjoy a plate of toasty Mummy Dogs? Holly at Unfurled had the great idea to make a simple breakfast version using Nutella and bread mix. As a big fan of food with other food inside it, this gives me all sorts of related ideas like wrapping up breakfast scramble or veggie sausages in the same way. Seriously, what doesn’t taste better wrapped up in a mummy pocket?

On an unrelated note, we just upgraded a lot of stuff on the backend of the site, so if you see any errors, please let us know. New features and content will be up very soon!

Gory decorations and pet costumes: how’s that for an unusual combination of themes?

The folks at Halloween Forum and Pet Butler recently let us know about the contests they’re running. They’re perfect for Halloween fans and Howl-o-weenies alike, so it’s time to get creative!

The first contest is hosted by Halloween Forum and the objective is simple. Create the scariest scene. All experience levels are encouraged to enter. So far there are simple entries like this yoga skeleton all the way up to a “blood” splattered bathroom like this chilling “Hot Dose” entry. 3 winners will be chosen and will receive prizes from BodyBag.

ENTRIES DUE: August 12, 2008
Full details here

The other contest is hosted by Pet Butler and they’re looking for pictures of your dog in his or her Halloween costume. The categories are;

• Overall Best Costume
• Cutest Costume
• Most Photogenic
• Scariest Dog
• Cutest Group photo

For inspiration you can check out last year’s winners.

ENTRIES DUE: October 15, 2008
Full details in PDF file

If you enter either of these contests, we would love to see your photos. Please leave a link to your entries and photos in the comments!

Remember the Yip Yip Martians from Sesame Street? Yep yep? Unh huh unh huh? Instructables user sliny shares a pretty easy tutorial for making this costume idea. It’s almost no-sew except for the mouth area where a needle and thread can be used. k7lim also documented a version of the Yip Yip costume on Flickr which makes for a great photo reference.

Below are some more completed DIY Yip Yip costumes for inspiration. Like the first image shows, this makes an easy group costume idea since you just need to choose different color “fur” for everyone. When making several at one time should be easy to set up an assembly line style of production. Although the idea comes from a kid show, this is definitely an adult costume due to the visibility. The black mouth opening uses some semi-sheer material that allows the wearer to see without showing his face. Looks great, but could impair your vision a bit especially at night. The material and flowing shape also mean that it will make a great choice for those cold fall nights and as a Halloween costume idea for pregnant women. Yep yep!

It’s finally that time of year again, Halloween fans. The summer is in full swing, but it’s like retailers are reading our minds because they’re offering Halloween sales! These are really the first Halloween sales of the year and are meant to usher in the new for 2008 items. That means lots of deep clearance sales, coupon codes, and peeks at a few new items. In about another month all the new items should be available and we’ll have a whole new batch of spooky stuff to drool over. Until then, now is the perfect time to stock up and save a bundle.

Buy Costumes
Sale: 50% off all Clearance items (costumes, decorations, party supplies)
Coupon Code: off50
Expires: July 14, 2008

Fright Catalog
Sale: 50% off all Clearance items (some exclusions apply)
Coupon Code: none needed
Expires: No expiration date mentioned

Department 56
Sale: 40% off selected Halloween collectibles
Coupon Code: none needed
Expires: July 11, 2008

Annie’s Costumes
Sale: Free shipping on orders $60+
Coupon Code: none needed
Expires: July 31, 2008

Shindigz Costumes
Sale: Free Shipping on orders $30+
Coupon Code: CSCJF8
Expires: good until Halloween 2008!

If you love a good deal, be sure to sign up for our Halloween Deals RSS feed. If it’s Halloween and on sale, you’ll know about it.

Have you seen any Halloween in July sales worth sharing? Either online or in-store, let us know about your best Halloween deals.

The summer may have just started a few days ago, but we’ve always got Halloween on the brain. Judging by some of the comments that you have left recently, we’re not the only ones. Robin and G.Tischer got bit by the Halloween bug this June, while Ivey has been pining away since February.

Don’t worry Halloweenies, we’ve got just the solution. Why wait for October when you can have a mini Halloween any day of the year?