Muuuwaaaaahaaaaaahaaaaaaa!
With Halloween on Monday, thoughts immediately turn to pumpkins, trick-or-treaters and fancy dress.
But I’ve decided to give the annual scarefest a very modern makeover, by looking at the top tech to help your Halloween go with a bang.
From scary movies to gory games, here are our Top 10 bewitching gadgets, apps and websites.
Home Cinema System
There’s nothing like spending October 31 cuddled up on, or more likely behind, the sofa watching a good horror flick. Although hopefully the term ‘horror’ refers to the film’s scariness, rather than your home cinema set-up. For the ultimate Halloween experience we suggest surround sound, HD and 3D. Check out our complete guide to home cinema to find out more.
Best Horror Movies
This excellent website does exactly what it says in the URL and just entering will give you the shivers. But once inside there’s everything to help you find the ultimate fright film from a Top 100 run-down – The Exorcist beats Alien to No1 – to in-depth features with titles such as ’10 forgotten franchises you should watch’ and ‘the horror movie beginner’s shelf’.
It’s a site you’ll keep coming back to all year round.
Zombify Me iPhone App
When an app has a blurb that promises it will “turn fresh faces into those of the living dead”, it has to be tested. And anyone downloading this on an Apple device, for just 69p, won’t be disappointed with the results. Simply take a picture, or select one from your camera roll, crop the image and press the ‘transform’ button to see your friends and family turn into mutants!
The Zombie Survival Handbook
What if your nearest and dearest REALLY did turn into Zombies? How would you stop them trying to eat you? Where you would find the weaponry to fight them off? Just download this app onto your Android phone and you’ll be totally prepared should a Zombie Apocalypse ever come to fruition.
Call of Duty: Zombies for iPhone & iPod Touch
Sticking to the undead theme, this is the ultimate Halloween havoc for the iPhone/iPod Touch from one of the biggest gaming franchises of all time. Swapping the usual Call of Duty war theme for some less serious, and frankly more fun, Zombie slaying – this is great one to play with friends over WiFi or Bluetooth.
Halloween Soundlab
Want to give someone the frights? Then this simple sound app will do the trick. With 13 noises including ‘wicked witch’, ‘empty rocking chair’ and ‘boiling cauldron’ there’s something to scare everyone. Although we have to admit, it was a pretty twisted mind that came up with the ‘lost soul crying for help’ sound.
Haunted House HD for iPad
This Android app is part Haunted House tour and part live 3D wallpaper creator. All the art-work is hand-crafted and fully customisable and the large amount of five star reviews are testament to the quality of the scary designs you’ll end up with on your phone. And don’t worry, you can always change the wallpaper back to your wife/kid/dog on November 1.
A Quarter Of
A big fear of Halloween is not having enough sweets when the trick-or-treaters come knocking, which is where this popular website comes in. You can order your favourite retro Halloween treats – from brown mice to Dracula fangs – online and have them delivered in time for Monday. Just try not to eat them all yourself!
Witch and Warlock Name Generator
If you’re dressing up as a Witch or Warlock for Halloween then you’ll need a suitably frightening moniker to go with the outfit. Just type your earth name into this generator and it will do the rest for you – even giving your alter ego his/her own backstory. For example, who knew that the handsome and likeable Simon Rothstein could become: “The HIDEOUS Malcolm
Cockroachcackler. He has a mad cackle and he likes to eat your leftovers! He is ugly enough to blind cats!”
Flip Mino III HD Camcorder
Whether it’s recording the kids on their first ever trick-or-treat outing, capturing your partner’s face when you pull off a particularly scary prank or even trying to create your own Blair Witch Project style movie – a video camera can be a great gadget to have around on Halloween. There are lots on the market, to suit all budgets and requirements, but for quick and simple filming/uploading this HD Flip is a great starting point.
