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Today’s piece, by “The Embrace,” (Lili Daniel, Lok Hwa, Teri Osato and Wileen Rungsiridacha)  is a chilling scene that might make you think twice about leaving the house alone in the wee hours of the night. Here are some fun facts about today’s spooky film:

1.) The dog in the piece belongs to Teri’s neighbor and her name is Lola. She barks at everything so they weren’t sure if the performers actually scared her or if she just wanted attention. If she wasn’t scared, she should get a doggie Gothtober Pumpkin award for her thespian talents.

2.) The boom box in the scene was hunted for far and wide! The crew looked everywhere actually for their perfect Boom Box. Name any thrift store and they were probably there from Downtown LA, Burbank to flea markets in Pasadena and they finally found one in Atwater Village that was perfect.

3.) The blood is actually chocolate cherry syrup, so don’t be alarmed, no blood donations were required in the making of this film.

4.) The players worked hard on their make-up, here are some close-ups so you can see just how much effort went into appearing stomach-churningly convincingly gory.

Want to view the carnage? See for yourself.

DAY 16

Christine Panushka is an independent filmmaker, freelance animator, artist and teacher. She is currently a professor in the John Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

She’s also just lots of fun, and this piece proves it! Watch the magical musical shapes twirl and swirl to a jugband tune from the olden days, and then… when you’re done watching it, you should watch it again. Stuff is always interesting when it’s coming from all sides; you just never know what’s coming next in this little ditty, and I must say, its charm and mischief warms the cockles of my heart. When I light the candles, put on the spooky record and wait for the kids to come trick-or-treating, I’ll be thinking of the crisp fall weather and this enchanting orange animation.

Click here to go find DAY 16 on Gothtober.com

The rumours are TRUE.

As you may or may not know, back in the day, Dr. Henry Frankenstein, using electricity and leftover human parts, made a monster. The only problem is, the monster wasn’t really relating to the people around him that weren’t held together by artificial means or salvaged cadaver pieces… he was mighty lonesome. After many months of the monster’s relentless pestering, Frankenstein created a beautiful blushing bride for his solitary modern prometheus.

Everything was going great, until the Doctor awoke one morning to find both creations missing, as well as his car!

All of us were worried sick, until it was revealed that the couple merely eloped and went on worldwide holiday to um… a few choice honeymoon locations.

Okay, maybe more than a few, maybe they’ll read this and eventually come back at some point, but for now, Congratulations, you two! Gothtober wishes you all the best, and when you come back, we’ll unplug all the appliances, and you can attach yourselves to the outlets and blow out the neighborhood transformer, just for fun!

But seriously, folks, this day was made by Lori Meeker, accomplished costumer and puppet maker and general all-around artist expert-a-gogo. You can actually catch a glimpse of her puppets that she made for the Pop Ups in The Wall Street Journal, as well as NY 1 TV.

Here’s a little trivia about the SONG in Lori’s movie, do you remember the 1983 movie it was featured in many years ago?

Well, I totally thought this song was very Kenny Loggins, but no no no nooooo…. I was wrong, and startled to find out it was actually this guy, and how did I not make that connection all these years? Anyway, Cheers, Lori Meeker and her right hand Gothtober helper, Jeff Levine and the rest of her crew, you guys made a wonderful keepsake the Frankensteins will be able to look at for years to come.

Apparently, mind-blowing fingernails are the sub-theme to this year’s Gothtober; check out those Halloweeny stripes and stars!! Day 12 might be a little jealous.

No matter the state of your manicure, YOU can make an adorable print+sew hobgoblin for Halloween, thanks to the lovely and crafty Miss Christy Chambers. All you need is some printable fabric and a few other widgets and doodads that you probably already have at home! Then just print, bedazzle, clip and assemble per Christy’s fun and easy-to-follow instructions. And just wait till you see the finished product: cutest. hobgoblin. ever.

Also, enjoy the sultry, New Orleans style tune by Doodle M. Farnieflox. Was that the character who made the star-belly-on machine for the Sneeches? In any case, it’s great music to download by.

Make your hobgoblin now!

Meet Fangerson, Squish, Noodle, Trungpa, Zoe, Diabla, Pierre: a parade of baby monsters and their teacher, Mrs. Cuttlefish! Stephanie Abler brings us a very special hand-illustrated treat. You’ll see a wonderful cartoon portfolio scrolling the story of active little individuals having a day at school. Remember: while little monsters may be hard to understand, or may freak you out or make you feel weird,  they just want to go to school like anyone else.

This piece was drawn completely by hand, using good ol’fashioned paper, brushes and ink. Read more about Stephanie’s process in creating this tableau of fall schooltime fun on her blog. And you can see more of Stephanie’s work at StephanieAbler.com

Break out the FunDip and the Lick’m’Aide, because as usual, Monica Howe is back with an Atomic Fireball of a music video piece called “Come On, Taste My Rainbow.” It just isn’t’ Halloween without candy, so Monica thought she’d send a siren song to your sweet tooth to signal the season!

Cheezy alliteration aside, you might get a cavity if you watch this more than 5 times, and with the electric stylings of musician/producer, Josh Fielstra at the helm, it’s only going to get sweeter. Look closely at Monica’s nails: each nail has been carefully painted with a TINY RAINBOW from the adroit skills of an extremely patient and caring manicurist in Downtown Los Angeles.

This, and many other strange and sugary distractions and details is the video’s real achievement. In addition to the fabulous rainbow-poof-hairpiece-performance lies engaging lyrics written by Howe, such as “I caught you in my tractor beam of Haribos and Jujubees” and “I got you in my sight, my marshmallow delight.”

That said, after watching this, should you scarf an entire gallon of candy corn or caramel apples and wake up remembering nothing… you can blame it on Come on, Taste My Rainbow.

Visit Monica (aka MuffMaster Flash’s) MySpace Page or her website to glean new information.

Lush Newton has graced Gothtober for many years now with her classic cut-and-color crafts. This year, the craft is boombox related, for the Story of the Haunted Boom Box, read this, and then act out the story with these crazy haunted breakdancing puppets!

Lush works as a designer and illustrator and was recently voted Best Visual Artist in Humboldt County by the readers of the Northcoast Journal for 2010.

Newton shows annually at Arts Alive! and Arts Arcata.(If you’re in Humboldt February-March 2011 come to First Street Gallery, in Eureka. Lush has somethin’ BIG planned. You will HAVE TO SEE TO BELIEVE!)

Accompanying Lush Newton’s piece is original music by Brooklyn based musician Jason Rabinowitz, who you can find in the Wall Street Journal this week!