The Carrie remake is all about blood -fake blood, of course, but the modern movie audience expects it to be not only believable, but as scary as the 1976 version of the movie. Well, that scene cannot be as surprising as the original, but it may be more gory.

Movies have had bloody scenes as long as there have been movies, but back in the days of black and white film, it was easy to fake. Most filmmakers used chocolate syrup! After all, in black and white, the viewer was none the wiser. But when color came along, it had to be more realistic -and fake blood has been getting more realistic ever since. Movie makers often make their own, or they can buy it for $65 a pint -not as expensive as the real thing, but still pricy!

Often several different kinds of blood are used for the same movie. In addition to whether or not the blood is edible, each blood is selected according to the lighting, whether the blood should slowly dry or stay wet, whether it’s arterial (lighter) or venous (darker), and what kind of style the director is looking for. For one of his gorier plays, writer-director Martin McDonagh used nine distinct varieties of fake blood. And some filmmakers still want the old-fashioned stuff: For the nightclub massacre in Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (2003), Quentin Tarantino ordered more than 100 gallons of “samurai blood.” “I’m really particular about the blood, so we’re using a mixture depending on the scenes,” he explained. “I say, ‘I don’t want horror movie blood, all right? I want Samurai blood.’ ... You have to have this special kind of blood that you only see in Samurai movies.”

Read how fake blood technology has advanced through the history of film, in an article at Slate.  -via mental_floss

Jack the Ripper terrorized the Whitechapel district of London for a few months in the fall of 1888, exactly 125 years ago. No one has ever been officially identified as the murderer of at least five women that autumn, but many have been named as possibilities. As part of their 31 Days of Halloween series, Atlas Obscura looks at one of those suspects, an American named Francis Tumblety. Tumblety passed himself off as a doctor, although his education credentials were nonexistent. He'd been arrested several times, but never convicted for anything serious. He was also known to despise women.

Tumblety traveled frequently to London and often stayed in the posh West End hotels. However, despite his wealth, he was known to often “slum” in the unsavory East End. On November 7, 1888 he was arrested and charged with eight counts of gross indecency (homosexual activities) with four other men, and released on bail. Then on November 12 he was arrested on suspicion of the Whitechapel murders. He posted bail again on November 16 and fled under the alias Frank Townsend to France where he boarded a steamer ship and returned to New York City. An investigator from Scotland Yard was sent to New York and Tumblety was hounded by the American press, but no conclusive evidence against him was found regarding Whitechapel, and the gross indecency charges were insufficient cause for extradition back to England. Later, investigators scoffed at his being a likely suspect.

There were plenty of other suspects, but never enough evidence to tie any particular person to the murders. And just like the other suspects, there's a long list of clues that point to Tumblety as the Ripper. Read that list at Atlas Obscura.

(YouTube link)

As we've seen, groups of young people who take sensible precautions and make conservative decisions make for boring horror films. What we need to see is a lone, doomed, minor character take complete leave of his senses and volunteer to check out a suspicious noise. It happens all the time, as this supercut from Slackstory shows.

Along the same lines, if you want to find something in the dark, you need to split up your group -otherwise you'll all be killed at once and the movie would be too short! Although in a few of these clips, I can almost imagine the one suggesting that two people "split up" might really just want to get away from their annoying partner. -via Laughing Squid

One of the great things about being a new parent is getting to geek out with your youngsters who actually think you're pretty cool...at least until they hit about 12 and suddenly decide you are the lamest person on earth and that anything you enjoy must be the worst thing ever. That's why you've got to get in your family Halloween costumes while you can. If you still need some ideas for your family's costume, or if you just want to see what other clever parents have come up with, you won't want to miss this fun Oddee article with 12 fantastic families in matching costumes.

Josh Sundquist (previously at Neatorama) is a rapper, math nerd, and Paralympic champion. He lost his left leg due to cancer years ago, which gives him the ability to pull off some really clever Halloween costumes. His 2013 costume may take you a minute to figure out. Oh yes, he's a flamingo, but will he be up for doing this handstand for everyone who asks? Sure, he's an athlete, but that could get old when you're out trying to have Halloween fun. It might be better just to pull out the picture when someone asks him what's with the pink bodysuit and that goofy shoe. -via reddit

I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of most haunted houses, and not because I don't like the idea, it's just that most are overwhelmingly cheesy with no story line, bad acting, half-assed sets and mediocre make up to boot. That's why I was so intrigued when I got an email asking me to attend the media preview of the Blumhouse Productions take on the horror event called The Purge: Fear Night.

The event was put together by Jason Blum, producer of some of the biggest horror flicks of the last decade including Sinister, Insidious, Paranormal Activity and The Purge. And, as the name implies, the house itself was based on the concept of The Purge. These facts alone peaked my interest, and I knew I had to go when I started to read more about the event, discovering that there were fewer bloody scenes with people jumping out at you and more of a cohesive story line that was actually interactive. Also, you go in a small group together and aren't sent in one after another like you are in most houses, so you don't see what happens to the person in front of you before you get to the supposed scary part. Oh, and did I mention that the house is spread out over six floors and 700,000 square feet?

After going through the event, I'm now hesitant to even call it a haunted house because there is no paranormal aspect to this story line. Regardless, or possibly because of that, I think it was was of the best "haunted houses" I've ever been to and I highly recommend that you visit The Purge: Fear Night if you get the chance. And don't worry if you've never seen The Purge, even Jason Blum himself promises, "it won't matter...The Purge is about a law that is in the United States that is 12 hours of the year all crime is legal and if you know just that little fact, you will enjoy it just as much as if you've seen the movie."

Now, I know that while we have a good number of Southern California readers, the rest of you probably won't be heading to LA to check out this attraction -especially before it closes November 2. That's why I'm going to include a walk through of some of the coolest parts to give you some idea of how fantastic this experience is. If you think there's any chance you might actually be able to make the event, do not read past the jump because there are all kinds of spoilers here and while some people might not mind spoilers in movies or TV shows, they really would make something like this less enjoyable.

It's hard to believe it's been 40 years since the release of the movie The Exorcist. The first horror film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, it scared the pants of a generation to watch an innocent young girl succumb to a demon possessing her body. There are plenty of things you probably don't know about the movie, like the extra who was found to be a murderer.

17. Paul Bateson, who appeared briefly in film as an X-ray technician, is a suspected serial killer in real life.

Bateson was an X-ray technician at NYU Medical Center and served as an extra on the film.

In 1979, Bateson was convicted in the murder of film critic Addison Verrill. Authorities believe that he was also responsible for “the bag murders” of six other men — whose mutilated and dismembered body parts washed up in black plastic bags along the Hudson River.

That's just one of 19 Fascinating Facts About The Exorcist you can learn at Buzzfeed. There's plenty more.

(YouTube link)

ZDoggMD (Dr. Zubin Damania), the musical M.D., sent this video parody of Miley Cyrus' song "Wrecking Ball" that tell the story of a zombie invasion of his hospital. No, I don't think a tetanus shot is going to help in this case! From the website:

Sometimes you just have to put your reflex hammer where your mouth is.

At least, that’s the argument Dr. Harry made when he sent me the lyrics to Infect Me. Apparently, he was sitting through yet another one of his kid’s kung fu classes, thinking wistfully of Hannah Montana, when BAM. It hit him like a wrecking ball: zombies + medicine + Miley = ZDoggMD. Problem was, it wasn’t twerking for me.

I gotta be honest: for me, Miley Cyrus just doesn’t stack up to living legends like Debbie Gibson and Tiffany. So I resisted. “Why, Dr. Harry, should I waste my hard-earned time on yet another dead-end medical parody?”

“Because.”

So there you have it. See more of their medical musical masterpieces at ZDoggMD. -Thanks, Doc!
 

(YouTube link)

Rick, Daryl, Glenn, Andrea, and many other characters from The Walking Dead sing that Halloween classic "The Monster Mash" without even knowing it, because it's an edit. Who knows better about what monsters really do? I don't think this contains any spoilers, but it certainly has a lot of gore, just like the show itself. -via Tastefully Offensive

Always check for a toilet paper supply before you sit down.

This mummy in the webcomic Berkeley Mews didn’t, but he seems to be content with his pricey solution.

Nalini Asha Biggs, who made and modeled the Medusa costume that was featured on our Halloween blog, is a pumpkin artist! Her latest creation is this Indiana Jones pumpkin sculpture, capturing Indy as a young archaeologist in the Raiders of the Lost Ark era.

I've been doing them since I was a kid this way, and every Halloween one of these new, fancy, professional carving companies offers me a job, and I'm like, no thanks! That would take all the fun out of it. But it is the highlight of my year.

Continue reading to see more of her gorgeous gourds.

Oh snap! That's right, it's an Oregon Trail costume. Now that's something I'd be into wearing, but I don't have the technical skills needed to build the wagon that's critical to the costume. 

No worries though, that's only one of the 8 great costumes on this list of creative cosplays by Fashionably Geek. The N67 cartridge is also pretty amazing, though you'll need some serious makeup skills to actually pull it off. The list also includes a few other great ones we've featured before, including Jayne's Hat, zombie Audrey Hepburn and 221B Baker's Street, but it's been a while since we put those posts up, so they'll still seem pretty new and exciting to most of you.

Neatoramanaut Nicole sent in a picture of a Halloween that traumatized her as a youngster.

this was at an annual school halloween party.  i think i was around 8 in that picture, in 3rd grade.  my mom, bless her heart, doesn't have much artistic talent so our face-paintings were rudimentary.  obviously i was not pleased about this year's attempt :P

We've all had Halloweens that didn't turn out as we had hoped. It makes for a great story later on in life! Thanks, Nicole!

If there's a picture of you in a Halloween costume, or maybe one that you made for a family member, we'd love to feature it on our Halloween blog. Whether it's awesome, embarrassing, funny, or just plain memorable, whether it was last year or 50 years ago, send it to tips@neatorama.com and and then look for it on the Halloween blog. Remember, the the top pictures will win the submitters t-shirts from the NeatoShop!

Marcella Clinard is a middle school English teacher. She dressed as Gimli, the bearded dwarf warrior from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, with an awesome braided beard made from her own hair! She posted a tutorial with pictures explaining how she did it, starting with

Step 1. (optional) Be born with red curly hair.

and ending with

Step 16. (optional) Get out your copy of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and threaten students with your axe unless they read them immediately. Gimli would be proud.

The tutorial is on Google docs, which I find easier to read by downloading it first.  -via Boing Boing

That's right guys and gals, it's time again for our photo-filled, funtastic Great Pics of the Week series and before Halloween comes around, we thought we'd enjoy one more fantastic set of spooky pics...this time all incorporating some kind of horror. But don't shield your eyes just yet -even the most squeamish of you should still get a kick out of these stupidly hilarious horrific pictures.

I Love You Chestburster

For many parents with kids who grew up in the 90s, this is far, far scarier than the original scene.

Via Unreality Mag

Cenobtes in a Box

When comedy and horror combine, things can get really scary.

Via Official Hellraiser

Star Trek Gives Us Nightmares

Is there anything scary than knowing someone's fate in advance?

Via George Takei

Spooptacularly Bad Spelling 

Terrified of bad spelling, than this whole Buzzfeed article will give you nightmares.

Image Via Zombie Patrol

No More Monkey Business

I bet you thought that monkey costume was adorable when you saw in the store.

Via Cheezburger