Halloween Screensaver

If you're just not feeling the Halloween spirit, load up this creepy Halloween Screensaver--it'll get you in the mood right quick.

The graphics in this freebie are terrific. Each fully 3D setting is finely detailed, and the animations are smooth. The sound effects are fairly restrained, but suitably creepy--screeching bats, creaking tree branches, and the like. Halloween Screensaver cycles through three scenes: Abandoned Cemetery, Swamp of Death, and Witch's Caverns. Click your space bar to exit the screen saver--and be prepared for a surprise. (I cycled through each scene a few times in Preview mode just to click the space bar and see what happens.)

One caveat: The download uses InstallIQ, which Sophos flags as adware. The installer itself doesn't install adware--but it does make you click through several screen of junk. Just keep clicking Cancel until you can download and install the program. I usually don't recommend downloads that use InstallIQ--but in this case, Halloween Screensaver is worth the hassle. It's a terrific way to decorate your desktop for All Hallows Eve.

--Kim Saccio-Kent