Google rotates 6 Doodles for Halloween and lets you spookify selfies

It's Halloween, so naturally we expected a themed Google Doodle to go along with the day

But this year, we were treated to six Doodles (in the form of GIFs) that alternate each time you load the homepage, from a witch stirring the pot to werewolves howling at the moon. While the mix is certainly fun, the Doodles are far less interactive than they've been in the past. Bing's following up its brilliant Halloween homepage from 2013 by taking visitors on a tour of famous scary myths, including the Flying Dutchman and Bloody Mary.

See also: 50 last-minute Halloween costumes

But the true standout this year comes from Google+, which is getting into the spirit with a #Halloweenify tool that gives your selfies a twist. After uploading a photo to the site, visit the Photos tab, and follow the commands at the top of the page Read more...

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Stories that will scare the bejeezus out of you in 5 words or less

Freddy Kruger wishes he was this terrifying.

Halloween is supposed to be scary — and nothing is scarier than your true fears about life that you would never admit it out loud. #ScaryStoriesIn5Words exploits that very fear.

See also: 12 Halloween costumes you can make in 5 minutes or less

The #ScaryStoriesIn5Words hashtag, which is trending on Twitter, was started by host of Comedy Central's @midnight Chris Hardwick. The stories are making us all laugh nervously (they're funny because they're true). Read more...

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5 Pokémon horror movies to thundershock you this Halloween

Maybe your Poké-pals aren't so cuddly after all.

In the spirit of Halloween, UK-based graphic illustrator and gamer Ed Krieger imagines a series of posters in which your favorite Pokémon characters were antagonists in classic horror films.

See also: The 10 Most Bizarre Pokémon Fan Theories

Jigglypuff alien invasions? Tangela deep sea creatures? We'd watch these movies!

"Pretty much all my inspiration is from gaming," Krieger told Mashable. "I've been gaming most of my life. I usually create art based on what I've been playing, Nintendo being the most influential."

You can check out more of Krieger's video game illustrations on Tumblr at his blog Purple Pixel. Read more...

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5 eery space images to celebrate Halloween

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'Costume Quest 2' is a wild goose chase to save Halloween

Candy binges. Pumpkin carving. Horror movie marathons. These are our Halloween staples — traditions people look forward to year after year

And then there's a tradition of games designer Tim Schafer: watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

"I grew up in California, where the seasons don't change, so the Charlie Brown special represented what fall was supposed to feel like to me," Schafer says. "Hearing that music, seeing the leaves blowing, it brings back great childhood memories."

See also: 8 Halloween games for the fraidycat in all of us

It's an association he felt while testing Costume Quest, a Halloween-themed game produced by Schafer's studio Double Fine. Though Schafer leads production on most games from Double Fine, this was the first time he took a backseat. Read more...

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Money flies onto interstate, motorists freak out

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The real Dracula is way more disturbing than any story

Count Dracula might be a fictional character who makes the blood curdle on Halloween, but his historical namesake is not. Vlad III, known in his heyday as Dracula — or Drăculea, in old Romanian — was a medieval prince with a figurative thirst for blood.

As his other nickname, "Vlad the Impaler," suggests, Vlad had a penchant for brutally punishing his enemies. However, much of what modern historians know about Vlad III comes from pamphlets and other texts printed in the 15th century, both during and after Vlad's reign. The historical accuracy of these texts — many of which were written by Vlad's enemies — can't be confirmed. Read more...

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For Microsoft Outlook for Mac, 2015 has come early

Microsoft Office for Mac won't be coming until 2015 but the new Outlook for Mac is available now.

The company rolled out an updated version of Outlook for Mac for Office 365 users Friday and revealed new details about when the rest of its Office software will be available.

See also: 10 Incredible Works of Art Made in Microsoft Excel

"This release offers a more familiar and consistent experience between Outlook on the PC, Outlook on the web and Outlook Web App (OWA) for iPad, iPhone and Android devices," the company wrote in a blog post.

The user interface in the newest version of Outlook has been revamped with a more modern design, improved scrolling and faster loading. Microsoft also improved its Exchange functionality with faster syncing and online archive support that allows users to search their Exchange archive from within Outlook. Read more...

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Silent massacre: A month of slaughter in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Editor's note: Some may find the imagery below to be disturbing.

Throughout October, the death toll in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been steadily increasing. Rebel groups have carried out a series of seemingly arbitrary killings and kidnappings against civilians, murdering men, women and children with machetes, batons and axes. The attacks have left at least 100 dead in the past month, Amnesty International said on Friday

One armed group being credited with most of the violence is the Ugandan-based Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which has been hiding out in the Congolese forest. The most recent attack on Thursday night claimed the lives of 18 civilians. Locals reported that groups of men entered villages with child soldiers as young as 7 years old, then ordered the children to kill civilians. Read more...

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British Museum now lets you 3D print its artifacts using Sketchfab

Why visit a museum halfway around the world, when you can check out 3D scans, and print them from your own home?

Sketchfab, a platform that lets users publish and share 3D content online, unveiled on Thursday an option for users to make their files downloadable. Under Creative Commons licenses, a user can either publish 3D content "for display and download" or "for display only," Sketchfab said in a blog post. Users can apply the content in a variety of ways, such as using it in virtual reality environments, when developing video games or, if the files are compatible, for 3D printing.

See also: 3D Printing: Everything You Need to Know in 2 Minutes Read more...

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Baby's Halloween costume does Ruth Bader Ginsburg justice

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Your Michael Jackson costume will never be as cute as Blue Ivy's

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Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo reportedly crashes with 2 aboard

A spaceship that has promised to shuttle hundreds of paying customers to space when it begins commercial flights next year experienced an "in-flight anomaly" during a test flight on Friday.

See also: Virgin Galactic SpaceshipTwo: What Your $250K Flight Will Feel Like

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo had taken off at 12:19 p.m. ET from Mojave, CA for what the company was calling a "Halloween treat."

But less than an hour later, the company tweeted that something had gone wrong. Reports say there were two pilots on board

Initial police reports, according to NASA watch, say that one of two pilots has been located with injuries "with moderate neck and back injuries" and that there is "quite a bit of wreckage." Stu Witt, Director of the Mojave Air and Space Port, reportedly said it has crashed. Read more...

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Spirit of adventure: A stunning photo diary of the American West

Jordan Herschel is a professional photographer and outdoor enthusiast based in Northern California and Nevada, pursuing his fascination with social media and love of the great outdoors — you can follow his adventures on Instagram at @jordanherschel.

Jordan Herschel isn't your typical poli-sci graduate. Despite a background (and degree) related to government relations, Jordan recently left the realms of the office nine-to-five to further explore his passions — namely, the great outdoors and sharing his experiences with them via social media

Jordan's hugely popular Instagram account has close to a quarter of a million followers — and his photography roots are traceable back to his father, who instilled in him not only an appreciation for the art, but for the open road and the sense of adventure and possibility it represents. Read more...

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35 Hallowmeme costumes more intense than your Internet addiction

When the Internet starts a party, it does not stop.

Web culture addicts gathered in Brooklyn Thursday night for the 6th annual HallowMEME costume party, hosted by Forced Meme Productions

See also: 32 Halloween Costumes for People Who Love the Internet

"Media Criticism of Renee Zellweger’s new face" was the won this year's costume contest, but Apparently Kid, Keyboard Cat, Pharrell's Hat and many other viral tributes were also present in the Halloween celebration of everything Internet.

BONUS: Internet Meme Jack O' Lanterns for Halloween

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments. Read more...

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Upgrade your Halloween selfie with professional doodlers

Happy Doodle Day, ghosts and goblins!

In celebration of Halloween, the talented Mashable crew of artists, illustrators and oddballs is revamping your throwback photographs

To participate, share your favorite Halloween photo from back in the day on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook using the hashtag #SpookyDoodleDay . Or send a photo directly to the Mashable Snapchat account or Watercooler Twitter page. We'll send it back to you, new and spooky. This is definitely easier than trying to sew an authentic-looking Jon Snow costume.

Submissions will be accepted until Oct. 31 at 4 p.m. ET

Art is by the talented Bob Al-Greene, James Dybvig, Max Knoblauch and Dasha Battelle Read more...

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