10 iPhone, iPad Apps for a Spooky, Spectacular Halloween

By Nathan Eddy

Playing pranks is part of Halloween, and what better way to scare the pants off your friends than sneaking up behind them and unleashing the sound of a bloodcurdling scream? This app offers more than 20 scary sounds, from various monster growls and shrieks to haunted house sounds.

Sink into a modern retelling of the classic vampire tale, sent to you via text, email or even voicemail. Messages in your app will be unlocked daily at midnight as the story progresses so you can virtually experience the chilling events as they occur.

Free until Halloween, this app comes with an impressive array of virtual makeup options to turn your friends into zombies, ghouls and other bloody, disgusting creatures. Even better, you can share your creepy creations with built-in social media functionality to Facebook and Twitter.

What more do you need to know? The perennial classic is also available in a seasonal edition, complete with Halloween-themed levels where your goal is to launch those angry aviators into pumpkins and zombie pigs under the light of a yellow moon.

Parents looking for innovative ideas on how to carve their pumpkins can use this app to mix and match different design ideas before trying them out on the real thing. Once you’ve carved your virtual pumpkin, you can share your creation with friends through email, Facebook or Twitter.

If you are looking to visit a haunted house or other spooky site this Halloween, look no further than this app, which finds haunted attractions big and small within 200 miles of your location. Web links and driving directions help you find your favorite place to soak in the scary atmosphere.

We’ve thrown in one iPad-only app for this year’s list, which will help you surprise your friends and family with diabolically delicious Halloween treats like Swamp Monster Pie, Toasted Bats, Jack-o-Lantern Burgers and, our favorite, Halloween Brain Dip. With more than 30 recipes to choose from, you’re likely to find some scarily good ideas in here.

This app attempts to detect paranormal activity by making various readings on your iPhone and analyzing bursts of energy to determine where the ghouls, goblins and spirits are hanging out. As a bonus, the app can translate energy impulses into words.

Frighten your friends and family by sending them an unexpectedly ghoulish greeting with this app, which features more than 150 pieces of creepy clip art with tons of backgrounds, the ability to share your creations through email or social media platforms, and near-endless ways to customize your card.

If you have a paranormal experience you want to share this Halloween, this is the place to do it. Post details as to where, when and how your spooky situation unfolded, and read up on what other creepy occurrences have been going on around the world. You be the judge as to which ones are true.