Halloween

No one's laughing about the rising COVID death toll, which is why this is a total WTF moment -- a senior health official announcing grim numbers ... while rocking a clown costume.

Try not to be distracted by the full clown makeup, red tie, polka dot shirt and yellow pants the official was wearing as she somberly rattled off the tally for COVID cases and deaths in Oregon.

The answer to your question -- who's this clown? She's reportedly Claire Poche from the Oregon Health Authority. We know it's Halloween and all, but Claire never addresses her attire in the video.

Officials are reportedly dismissing it as just a costume, but that doesn't square with the fact the video was recorded Oct. 14, making it 2 weeks old now and pretty early for a Halloween. Plus, the sign language interpreter isn't in a costume ... so, Claire really stands out.

A morbid, bloody and frightful Halloween display at a Texas man's home is eliciting more than gasps from his neighbors ... he's getting police visits too.

Artist Steven Novak turned the front yard of his Dallas residence into a gory scene straight out of a horror movie -- or several of them -- using dummies, props, and more than 20 gallons of fake blood.

Check it out -- there's a man killed by a chainsaw, another killed by a safe dropped on his head, one more with a knife to the skull, an apparent dead body in a bag ... and a wheelbarrow full of severed limbs!!!

Steve really went all out.

The shocking and way-too-realistic display might take the cake for 2020's best Halloween decorations, but it's also prompted several complaints from locals ... and cops have been called to the fake massacre location multiple times.

Novak says he's been home twice when police showed up, and the officers told him they just had to check it out because they received calls ... but they thought it was cool.

Heidi Klum's streak of owning Halloween is sadly coming to an end ... but that doesn't mean ya can't enjoy some of her best work over the last 2 decades.

Yes, the pandemic shutdown in the US of A has unfortunately reached its 7th month -- but who's counting -- and that means the shutdown has wiped off the super model's 21st Halloween bash. Horrible, yes. But, no need to be too terrified 'cause we've got a fun gallery showing off some of Heidi's best costumes.

Check out the pics ... who can forget her arriving in NYC last year in her goriest costume yet? Her mashup of alien and robot with faux guts and exposed brains required 12 hours of work to get it done. Goes without saying ... she always goes all out.

Her "Shrek" costume from 2018 was pretty badass too.

English actress Veronica Cartwright was only 13 years old when she was cast as the birthday girl Cathy Brenner -- who narrowly escapes the throngs of ferocious fowl in the small town of Bodega Bay -- in Alfred Hitchcock's classic 1963 horror film, "The Birds."

Cartwright shared the silver screen with Rod Taylor as the protective older brother, Mitch Brenner, Jessica Tandy as the unfriendly mother, Lydia Brenner ... and of course, Tippi Hedren as the famous socialite with a bad reputation, Melanie Daniels.

Cartwright went on to star in a long list of TV shows and movies including other fright films and spooky shows like "The Twilight Zone," "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Alien."

Oh my gourd Halloween is right around the corner, and that means there is only so much time left to get those pumpkins prepped and ready for the spooky season!

Don't you worry though, if you haven't figured out how to pimp your pumpkins, we've got you covered!

Our star-studded stencils are sure to be a hit in your household! From Joe Exotic and Patrick Mahomes to Dua Lipa and Kamala Harris there are plenty of famous faces to choose from for your gourd-eous pumpkins!

Start scrolling through our gallery of celebrity pumpkin stencils! Use the links to download and print out an easy-to-use PDF template to get started!

An 8-year-old kid named Harry may have figured out a way to save Halloween!!!

Harry lives with his fam in Washington, D.C. and was apparently noodling on how he and his pals could trick-or-treat in COVID times. He -- and we're guessing his family helped -- made a candy chute ... something that's catching fire as a way to safely dole out candy.

So, according to the family, Harry played a big part in designing the prototype. It certainly does the trick, although it's only gonna work on an incline. Nevertheless, the design is solid, so the family's now producing and selling chutes ... for a good cause.

Harry said, "I decided to sell them, exactly how much price they should cost -- which is exactly $25 and zero cents -- and how to decorate it," in an interview with NBC.

Proceeds will go to D.C. charities that offer Thanksgiving dinners to folks in need.

Fall is in the air and that can only mean one thing ... pumpkin EVERYTHING!

We are celebrating the root of all things gourd-eous with stars like Reese Witherspoon, Brittany Furlan, Tommy Lee, Rico Rodriguez and Olivia Culpo all embracing the pumpkin season and heading to social media to share their favorite photos with a jack-o-lantern in the making.

Get into the spirit by scrolling through our gallery of celebrity pumpkin pics ... See all the other stars that have been getting cozy with the iconic Halloween tradition!

Oregon actor Erin Chambers was 20 years old when she landed the role of the super-smart Frances Bacon McCausland -- who is tasked with defeating the Boogeyman with her real (and imaginary) friends -- in the 1999 Disney Original Movie "Don't Look Under The Bed."

Erin Chambers shared the small-screen for the children's scary movie with Jake Sakson as the younger brother, Darwin, Nathan Stevens as the older brother, Bert, Steve Valentine as the trouble-maker from under the bed, Boogeyman ... and of course Ty Hodges as Frances' best imaginary friend, Larry Houdini.

Anyone hoping to be an extraordinary housefly for Halloween this year after tuning into the VP debate is s*** outta luck ... because the costume is sold out!!!

Sorry, seems lots of folks already decided to be the infamous housefly that landed on Mike Pence's head during the debate ... honchos at HalloweenCostumes.com tell us their "adult fly costume" is out of stock and their supplier is sold out too.

The Halloween costume retailer tells us they carried a normal amount of stock for this particular costume -- about 50 -- but they saw a huge demand right after the debate, causing the costume to fly off the shelf.

If you wanna settle for a housefly costume that's just headgear, you're gonna have to wait ... the site tells us their other fly costume is also sold out -- all 150 in stock were snatched up after the debate -- but they hope to get it back in stock by Friday.

Seems the only people who don't want to be a debate housefly are those too young to vote ... you can still find a fly costume for toddlers.

Gervonta Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz -- one of the biggest boxing matches of the year -- has officially been moved to October 31st ... and we're told it's all because they want fans in attendance.

The fight was originally set for Oct. 24 -- but we're told Gervonta's promoter Floyd Mayweather "wanted to ensure he would be able to fight in front of fans."

So, the fight was moved to the Alamodome in San Antonio -- where state guidelines allow the venue to hold 50% capacity.

The site can hold 32,000 people for boxing matches -- so promoters are expecting 16,000 fans (hooray math!).

It appears the fight will be the first major combat sports event with live fans in attendance since the COVID-19 pandemic began back in March.

The fight is expected to be awesome -- Davis is undefeated (23-0) and he's become one of the most explosive and exciting fighters in the sport. He's the current WBA lightweight champ.

Santa Cruz is the reigning WBA super featherweight champ -- and he's been in some wars (remember the Carl Frampton fights?!).

Hundreds of air-filled hippo suits are selling out, possibly because they provide extra protection for folks to hug their loved ones ... as demonstrated by one loving daughter on TV.

The hippopotamus ballerina costume is ballooning in popularity, and the latest display was featured on the news at the Fox Trails Senior Living Home in Stephens City, Virginia last week.

A daughter dressed up as a large gray hippo in a tutu in order to embrace her mother living at the residence ... while still protecting against COVID-19. The nursing home staff reportedly came up with the idea to use sterilized suits so family members can hug during visits.

Inflatable costumes like the ballerina hippo are in high demand right now, too. This particular suit has been getting scooped up by consumers since "social distancing" became a thing ... in fact, there are only a few left in stock at top online costume retailer HalloweenCostumes.com.

We're told the company sold around 75 of the same hippo ballerina costume in 2019, but this year ... 450 suits have pranced out of its warehouse, so far.

The item’s the third top seller on the site right now, even after doubling its original price tag to $120 thanks to popularity and white-hot demand.

Holding the top spot is the "Jurassic World" T-Rex inflatable suit, which is currently out of stock. Owner Tom Fallenstein tells us only 20 of the air-filled $89.99 dino costumes were purchased in 2019 ... but it came roaring back this year with 600 units sold.

A few of the customers decked out as dinosaurs paid a visit to another senior living home’s parking lot earlier this month ... to lift the spirits of the residents sheltering indoors.

Chris Kirkpatrick thinks Jessica Biel deserves some king-size candy bars for this year's Halloween costume ... and even though his look-alike wasn't up to snuff, he's still proud of his retired hairdo.

We got Chris at LAX and our guy asks about Jessica dressing up as Justin Timberlake for an 'NSYNC group costume ... and he says she absolutely nailed it!!!

Yes, that's Jessica in the middle rocking what Chris describes as Justin's "old ramen noodle head."

Chris explains the backstory behind the costume ... it's payback from Justin after Jess told Jimmy Fallon she didn't know any of her husband's old 'NSYNC songs. Chris rated her costume for us, pretty generously. He was much less impressed with Justin's unhappy microphone.

The singer also throws some shade toward the guy who tried to recreate his "old pineapple head" from back in the day. Naturally, we asked Chris if he ever regrets that old style.

Look at the pic again. You'll be surprised by Chris' answer.

Heidi Klum did not disappoint when she revealed her highly-anticipated costume ... and ditto for the rest of the celebs who showed up.

Heidi arrived for her 20th annual Halloween bash Thursday night at Cathédrale Restaurant at Moxy East Village in NYC where she arrived in her goriest costume to date. Call it a mashup of alien and robot ... with faux guts and brains exposed and bolts and pipes attached to her body.

It took 12 hours to perfect the look ... and when it was complete she had a hankerin' to scare the bajeezus outta our camera guy.

Mariah Carey, Coco Austin, Ice-T and Reggie Bush were also on hand.

Over on the West Coast ... Kourtney Kardashian looked giddy in a cowgirl outfit for Kendall Jenner's shindig at the Blind Dragon in WeHo. Gigi Hadid looked SSSMOKIN!!!!

Miley Cyrus and Cody Simpson aren't just a fun couple -- they're a couple having fun with their fans ... especially for Halloween, when they opted for a 'Wedding' themed costume.

Miledy, or Comiley -- your choice -- busted out the eyeliner, spiked hair and leather to step out in NYC as Billy Idol and his 80s rocker GF, Perri Lister.

Idol and Lister were a music power couple in NYC after Idol released his 1983 album, "Rebel Yell." Now, Cody and Miley could've posted themselves rocking to any number of Idol hits -- "Rebel Yell," "Eyes Without a Face" come to mind -- but they went with "White Wedding."

Not that we think their whirlwind romance is heading to an altar anytime soon -- but they gotta know using that track will keep fans buzzing.

If the song wasn't enough -- there's also the PDA they packed on throughout the night ... including this half-naked one to end their evening. "After party" indeed!!!

Mariah Carey's blown away by what Kanye West is doing at his Sunday Services, and she plans to take a page out of his book ... to make Christmas even better!!!

The legendary singer was leaving Heidi Klum's Halloween party in NYC -- dressed up as the front woman for an '80s hair band -- when we asked about her song "My All" which Ye featured at a recent Service.

She tells us it's incredible and she loves what he's doing with the choir and church service aspect at the events ... and she's going to incorporate it into her upcoming Christmas shows.

Carey had previously tweeted that Kanye's choir was "killing this arrangement and song!" and added ... "I neeeed to speak to whoever put the arrangement together and rewrote the lyrics.. Beautiful. Thank you." Sounds like she got what she wanted.

If ya don't know, Mariah's been hyping up the rerelease of her iconic Xmas album, "Merry Christmas," which came out 25 years ago ... along with her All I Want For Christmas Is You Tour.

She's been playing with her fans on social media by telling them they gotta wait, but now that Friday, November 1 has arrived ... she says it's officially time to get in the spirit.

BTW -- according to Mariah's IG, her Halloween costume is part of a fictitious hair metal band called Spit ... and she's their lead singer, Mimi.