Sorry zombies, but this is why you can't have nice things. You get a manicure and then within one day of shuffling around attacking the few remaining humans, they're all bloody and frayed again.

These delightful nails were created as part of a Halloween contest by Berry Polished. While some of the other creations may have took more technical talent, the creativity and goriness of these helped secure The Polished Mommy first place.

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Piranha plants are creepy enough as is with the whole being able to eat humans thing, but what if you crossed a piranha plant with a human? The results are even more disturbing. You can thank DeviantArt user dogzillalives for these horrific plant creations -just be glad they aren't actually alive.

Link Via io9

Cosplayer Emma Franks allowed makeup artist JWBeyond to turn her into a fungus-infected clicker from the video game The Last of Us. The result is one of the most terrifying examples of cosply I've ever seen. Remember to think positive thoughts before you go to bed because you're sure to sleep poorly if this is the last thing you think of before falling asleep.

Link Via Fashionably Geek

We've featured Alien-egg treats before, but those were actual eggs with cucumbers. These Xenomorph eggs are made with figs, candied orange peel and almond paste, so they're more of a dessert. Just try to resist this tasty invasion!

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You may not have heard of Snoova, but he is a wookiee bounty hunter from the Galactic Civil War. He is also seriously awesome-looking, which makes for some impressive cosplay when attempted by Flickr user mcm1015.

Link Via Obvious Winner

Every year, the Haunted Mansion is dressed up in Nightmare Before Christmas style between early Halloween until after Christmas. Outside, you'll see a great clock counting down the days until Xmas. Now you can make your own countdown to Halloween clock with this guide by DIY Nightmare Before Christmas Halloween Props.

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Whether you want to add a little extra bloody gore to your Halloween costume or just want something a little morbid to add to your regular wardrobe, these blood-drip earrings are easy to make and they look quite impressive.

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The following is an article from Uncle John's Legendary Lost Bathroom Reader.

Here's a bit of American history we're all familiar with... but know almost nothing about. The BRI wants to change that, because we don't want witch trials -or with hunts- in our era. After all, someone just might decide that reading in the bathroom is a sign of demonic possession.

(Image credit: Flickr user Lexie Rydberg)

BACKGROUND The trouble at Salem, Massachusetts, began with two young girls acting oddly. It explodes into one of the strangest cases of mass hysteria in American history. In the six-month period between March and September 1692, 27 people were convicted on witchcraft changes; 20 were executed, and more than 100 people were in prison awaiting trial.

CHILD'S PLAY

In March 1692, nine-year-old Betty Parris and her cousin Abigail Williams, 12, were experimenting with a fortune-telling trick they'd learned from Tituba, the Parris family's West Indian slave. To find out what kind of men they'd marry when they grew up, they put an egg white in a glass... and then studied the shape it made in the glass.

But instead of glimpsing their future husbands, the girls saw an image that appeared to be "in the likeness of a coffin." The apparition shocked them... and over the next few days they exhibited behavior that witnesses described as "foolish, ridiculous speeches," "odd postures," "distempers," and "fits."

Reverend Samuel Parris was startled by his daughter's condition and took her to see William Griggs, the family doctor. Griggs couldn't find out what was wrong with the girl, but he suspected the problem had supernatural origins. He told Rev Parris that he thought the girl had fallen victim to "the Evil Hand" -witchcraft.

The family tried to keep Betty's condition a secret, but rumors began spreading almost immediately -and within two months at least eight other girls began exhibiting similar forms of bizarre behavior.

THE PARANOIA GROWS

The citizens of Salem Village demanded that the authorities take action. The local officials subjected the young girls to intense questioning, and soon the girls began naming names. The first three women they accused of witchcraft were Tituba and two other women from Salem Village, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne.



The three women were arrested and held for questioning. A few weeks later two more suspects, Martha Cory and Rebecca Nurse, were arrested on similar charges. And at the end of April a sixth person -the Reverend George Burroughs, a minister that Abigail Williams identified as the leader of the witches- was arrested and imprisoned. The girls continued to name names. By the middle of May, more than 100 people had been arrested for witchcraft.

THE TRIALS

On May 14, 1692, the newly appointed governor, Sir William Phips, arrived from England. He immediately set up a special court, the Court of Oyer and Terminer, to hear the witchcraft trials that were clogging the colonial legal system.

* The first case heard was that against Bridget Bishop. She was quickly found guilty of witchcraft, sentenced to death, and hung on June 10.

* On June 19 the court met a second time, and in a single day heard the cases of five accused women, found them all guilty, and sentenced them to death. They were hung on July 19.

* On August 5 the court heard six more cases, and sentenced all six women to death. One woman, Elizabeth Proctor, was spared because she was pregnant- and the authorities did not want to kill an innocent life along with a guilty one. The remaining five women were executed on August 19.

* Six more people were sentenced to death in early September. (Only four were executed: one person was reprieved, and another woman managed to escape from prison with the help of friends.) The remaining sentences were carried out on September 22.

*Two days later, the trials claimed their last victim when Giles Cory, an accused wizard, was executed by "pressing" (he was slowly crushed to death under heavy weights) after he refused to enter a plea.



REVERSAL OF FORTUNE

By now the hysteria surrounding the witch trials was at its peak: 19 accused "witches" had been hung, about 50 had "confessed" in exchange for lenient treatment, more than 100 people accused of witchcraft were under arrest and awaiting trial -and another 200 people had been accused of witchcraft but had not yet been arrested. Despite all this, the afflicted girls were still exhibiting bizarre behavior. But public opinion began to turn against the trials. Community leaders began to publicly question the methods that the courts used to convict suspected witches. The accused were denied access to defense counsel, and were tried in chains before jurors who had been chosen from church membership lists.

The integrity of the girls then came into question. Some of the adults even charged that they were faking their illnesses and accusing innocent people for the fun of it. One colonist even testified later that one of the bewitched girls had bragged to him that "she did it for sport."

As the number of accused persons grew into the hundreds, fears of falling victim to witchcraft were replaced by an even greater fear: that of being falsely accused of witchcraft. The growing opposition to the proceedings came from all segments of society: common people, ministers -even from the court itself.

THE AFTERMATH

Once the tide had turned against the Salem witchcraft trials, many of the participants themselves began having second thoughts. Many of the jurors admitted their errors, witnesses recanted their testimony, and one judge on the Court of Oyer and Terminer, Samuel Sewall, publicly admitted his error on the steps of the Old South Church in 1697. The Massachusetts legislature made amends as well: in 1711 it reversed all of the convictions issued by the Court of Oyer and Terminer (and did it a second time in 1957), and it made financial restitution to the relatives of the executed, "the whole amount unto five hundred seventy eight pounds and twelve shillings."

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The article above is reprinted with permission from Uncle John's Legendary Lost Bathroom Reader.

This special edition book covers the three "lost" Bathroom Readers - Uncle John's 5th, 6th and 7th book all in one. The huge (and hugely entertaining) volume covers neat stories like the Strange Fate of the Dodo Bird, the Secrets of Mona Lisa, and more ...

Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts. Check out their website here: Bathroom Reader Institute

The best thing about this happy Harry Potter family is that the adults told the kids they would be going as Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore only to shock the kids by showing up as two of the most evil characters in the series.

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Always forget what to include in your zombie apocalypse survival kit? Then head over to PlayBox's Etsy shop and pre-order this I've Got A Zombie Plan charm bracelet. It's not only fashionable, but it could save your life one day by reminding you what you need to pack when the walkers come moaning down your street.

Link Via Laughing Squid

Gearing up for the zombie apocolypse or periodic yard work? Well, this storage method for your yard tools can help with both while still making your back yard look all the more impressive and organized.

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Marc Derepentigny has created what is possibly the coolest fan-made Transformers costume ever! The 7-foot suit comes complete with servo-actuated claws, moving LED eyes and smoke thrusters.

Our pal Yan of Geeks Are Sexy found out that he lives nearby and went over to interview him:

Marc has been building costumes as far as he can remember, even dating back to his early childhood. It first started with cardboard and hot glue, eventually evolving into styrene plastic and Crazy Glue, which is what the robot is made of. He estimates the time it took him to build it at two years, with around two hours of work per day, and a total cost of about $2000.

Read more over at Geeks Are Sexy (don't miss the video clip!): Link

Ancient tales of vampires later split into two modern mythic characters: vampires and zombies. Movies characterize vampires and zombies as quite different, yet tales from history tell of vampires with characteristics of both: basically undead formerly-human monsters who want to eat humans. An article at the Verge compares the nonfiction book Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus and the novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War to show how the real disease rabies led to the vampire myth.       

Spanish physician Juan Gomez-Alonso explains four connections between rabies and vampire myths in a 1998 Neurology journal article, the most obvious being infection through the blood via bites. Rabies victims also often suffer from facial spasms, lending them an animalistic appearance. The third connection is the time frame: vampire lore had them living for forty days before being turned, the same amount of time it usually takes for the victim of a rabies attack to die after their initial bite. The final connection is probably the most surprising: sex drive. The insatiable sexual desire that’s a trademark of both traditionally gothic and sparkly modern vampires can also be traced to rabies. Male rabies victims often get involuntary erections and have spontaneous orgasms. Unsurprisingly, this was not often spoken of outright, but was alluded to in much of the early medical literature, with one eighteenth century Austrian physician noting “his seed and his life were lost at the same time.”

What's really scary is that 55,000 people still die of rabies every year. Link -via Digg

(Image credit: Flickr user Jere Keys)

The following post consists of two articles from Uncle John's Triumphant 20th Anniversary Bathroom Reader.

For some reason, Great Britain has more than its share of mansions, estates, and old homes that are reported to be haunted.

Leeds Castle is said to be haunted by a dog. He pays no attention to the people who visit the castle, but he's said to bring bad luck to anyone who spots him. (Image credit: Flickr user Gauis Caecilius)

St. Donat's Castle is a 12th-century Welsh castle that's now a boarding school ...and they say a ghost panther stalks the corridors. In a parlor, a piano plays itself ...even when the lid is closed.

Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire supposedly has a mischievous spirit that loves to fling open doors. Billionaire J. Paul Getty said it once terrified him by barging into the room.

Chatham House is haunted by the ghost of the "Hanging Judge" George Jeffreys, the former Chief Justice of England who liked to hand out death sentences. Jeffreys is said to walk around Chatham House in his black judicial robes, carrying a bloody bone.

(East Riddlesden Hall image credit: Flickr user floato)

East Riddlesden Hall in Yorkshire hosts the "Grey Lady." She reportedly paces up and down the stairs, looking for her lover,  who was sealed in a room by her jealous husband and left there to die.

Dover Castle is said to be haunted by a boy murdered during the Napoleanic Wars. The headless ghost stalks the halls, drumming.

(Raby Castle image credit: Flickr user Mark Loveridge)

Raby Castle near Durham is the home to the "Old Hellcat" -a ghoulish old woman who sits in a chair, knitting. (If you get close enough, you can feel the heat coming off her glowing red knitting needles.)

This is not a painting, drawing, or Photoshop. DeviantART member Battledress decorated the head of model Michael Foster at the International Make-Up Artist Trade Show (IMATS) in Los Angeles. This is all makeup, with the exception of tape to hold his eye shut and to cover the eyebrow. The goal was to evoke classical medical illustrations. The project does that well! Link -via Laughing Squid