halloween

It's that time of the year again. A time to turn off the lights and snuggle up with a game that's guaranteed to scare you silly. We've compiled a list of titles that are sure to keep you awake at night and a few that will be haunting you early next year.

But consider yourself warned; these games are not for trick-or-treaters.

Have a favorite scary game you'd like to share? Be sure to comment below. You can also check out which games made last year's list or watch our CNET TV feature that covers what we think are the seven scariest video games of all time!… Read more

Still don't have a Halloween costume? Check out Superpunch's list of downloadable masks--just print and cut them out, add a string or a Popsicle stick if you're extra lazy, and off you go. Happy Halloween!

Vampire power, also known as standby power, is a reference to some electronics sucking up juice even when they're turned off, but it also works for our ongoing Halloween show title theme! Check out this article on the Learning Thermostat to see what Nest Labs is doing to kill vampire power.

The iPhone Dev-Team is already close to finishing a preliminary jailbreak on the iPhone 4S that will eventually work with the iPad 2 as well, but what happened to good old analog piracy? As it happens, Activision Blizzard is knee-deep in pirates already circulating bootleg copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.… Read more

Nothing lasts forever in the tech industry, and Nintendo's upcoming Wii U, the Sony PlayStation Vita, and all other one-trick portable gaming consoles are next in line to get the axe! At least that's what Jeff hypothesizes, although the trolls in his CNET editorial have opposing opinions.

After we sort through all the hate mail, we turn to a story about Internet domain squatters taking advantage of the #OccupyWallStreet trend to make money off the protesters.

And in the same way that Bacolicio.us set the veganism movement back several years, a new site called OccupyTheURL is turning the 99 percent into an online gimmick. Type in any Web site--the 404 homepage works--and your page will soon be flooded with graphic pop-ups of protesters blocking your access. We'd rather have bacon.… Read more

What's an 8-foot-tall Lego man doing on the beaches of Siesta Key Village, Florida? We don't have the answer, but it's the third one that's washed ashore in the last three years--similar occurances were reported three years ago in Brighton, England, and Zandvoort, Holland; each bearing the same cryptic messaging: "NO REAL THAN YOU ARE."

Yahoo News did the dirty work and inquired about the phenomenon to Lego's assistant brand relations manager, who vehemently denied, on record, any affiliation with the stunt, eliminating the possibility of it being a viral stunt. Who knows, maybe it was printed on a 3D imaging device by the folks at MakerBot!… Read more

Whether you're throwing a big Halloween party or just planning a simple night in pretending you're not home and hiding from trick-or-treaters, you'll need a little cinematic entertainment, even if it's just as background noise.

My go-to used to be the nonstop scary movies on AMC, but in recent years the quality has taken a steep dive, abandoning true genre classics such as "Night of the Demon" for pointless schlock (to wit, endless repeats of "Halloween 4-6").

Fortunately, a high-quality alternative has presented itself in the form of the Netflix streaming service, which continues to add great atmospheric fright films on a regular basis.… Read more

BURBANK, Calif.--Every Hollywood studio is security-conscious in this era of online spoilers, but the folks at Disney play it tighter to the vest than most. To keep its news fresh (and to preserve the fairytale illusions for kids), Disney doesn't let "non-cast members" behind the scenes very often.

So it was a special (trick or) treat last week when Disney Interactive Media Group invited members of the press, staffers, and any kids in earshot to come on the studio back lot for a Halloween party.

The group used the event to hype its current slate of games across multiple platforms (Xbox 360, PS3, iOS, and PC), including Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, Cars 2: The Video Game, and Disney Universe. … Read more

It's becoming easier and cheaper for Big Brother to surveil and keep track of all us citizens, so the kids might as well get used to it at an early age--and there's no better time to start than Halloween.

Trick or Tracker 2.0 is a smartphone app that lets parents keep up with their children's exact location while they're out dressed as Lady Gaga begging the neighbors for sweet corn byproducts. … Read more

It's almost Halloween, which means lots of candy, trick or treating, and top-100 scary movie countdowns! For a bit of added fun, here are some themes to spookify your Windows 7 desktop:

Eerie autumn theme This theme from Microsoft, includes 15 spooky high-resolution wallpapers and some eerie system sounds. Just download the themepack and double-click on the file to install the theme.

Get it HERE.

Trick-or-treat theme This is another free Microsoft theme that includes five pumpkin-themed wallpapers. Again, download the themepack and double-click on the file to install the theme.

Get it HERE.

Ticket to fear theme This … Read more

The PlayStation Vita won't be out for the holidays, Apple stores are closing during a memorial for Steve Jobs, and Android's Ice Cream Sandwich version comes with several new camera features.

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded: