Mashable

What a week, huh? Apple just had three straight days of announcements: First we got the new, colorful iMac, then the most powerful Mac mini ever, followed by the grand finale: the new MacBook Pro devices with Apple's new M4 Pro and M4 Max chips inside.

All of these new machines sound great. Apple's M4 chips are among the best — if not the best — PC chips you can buy when you account for power drain and performance. And yet, I've never been less compelled to upgrade.

SEE ALSO: Here's where you can preorder Apple's new MacBook Pros with M4 chips

I don't even have a very recent laptop. My main workhorse is a 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Max chip inside, and my wife works on a 13.3-inch M1 MacBook Pro. Neither of us ever feel the need for a more powerful machine, simply because the M1 and M1 Max chips, respectively, are already incredibly powerful.

I got the M1 Max MacBook Pro on a whim. Last year, it was discounted so hard at a local retailer that I actually both emailed and called to make sure that the discount was real. I thought it had something to do with the fact that M1 Max is a pricy, pro-grade machine, and that very few buyers were actually willing to dish out the full asking price for something they don't need.

It's true: I don't really have a use for 10 CPU cores and 32 GPU cores. I'm not a video graphics professional that runs complex projects in something like Blender. But the discount was there, and I got the M1 Max laptop because it cost less than the asking price of the M1 Pro just a few months earlier.

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And let's face it, even the less powerful, M1 MacBook Pro is more than enough to handle my everyday tasks.

If you read Apple's promo materials, you may have noticed that the company no longer compares its latest products with the last generation, but the one before that. In the case of M4, the company actually skipped two generations back, comparing the chip with the M1 (Apple says the M4 Max is up to 2.2x faster than the M1 Max, for example). But you get those results if you push that chip really hard. If you have 20 Chrome tabs open, a few social media apps running, and a game of Hearthstone running in the background...well, it may be faster on paper, but I don't really see how as my current laptop handles everything near-instantly.

I am some kind of computer professional, and I am also a huge computer nerd, and for these reasons alone, yes, I'd like to have the latest, most powerful MacBook Pro. But honestly, this desire has never been more subdued, as I just know that I literally would not be able to tell the difference between my three-year old laptop and the new one.

It's hard to blame Apple for making chips so good that you don't have a reason to upgrade every year or even every three years. But it does make you wonder whether there are other things the company could do to make these new computers a bit more desirable. The Space Black color only goes so far, and you could get the last generation in that color (albeit only with the 16-inch model). Thunderbolt 5, a slightly better battery life, and improved display are nice features, but are they nice enough to replace your old MacBook with a new one for a couple thousand dollars? The main selling point for these new MacBooks is the chip, and if that doesn't convince potential buyers, these other improvements inside won't cut it.

Perhaps more colors are the way, or perhaps a design change is in order. Maybe the company needs to do something radical, such as introduce the oft-rumored, but never-really-close-to-production foldable, all-screen MacBook. In any case, I need a better reason to want these new laptops than just the chip, because the chip has been way ahead of me for a while now.

SAVE $100: As of Oct. 31, the 13-inch 512GB WiFi Apple iPad Pro is on sale for $1,399 at Best Buy, down $100 from its $1,499 list price.

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Apple's brand-new iPad Pro was revealed earlier this year, packing the powerful M4 chip, a thinner, lighter design, and an OLED display. With specs like that, it's no wonder it comes with a hefty price tag. However, we're already starting to see some nice discounts on a few different models, including at Best Buy.

Right now you can score a 13-inch 512GB WiFi model for $1,399, $100 off its list price of $1,499. That's not the only good thing about this deal, though. Best Buy is also offering some free bonuses with your purchase in the form of Apple TV+ for three months, Apple Fitness+ for three months, Apple Arcade for up to four months, and Apple Music for up to three months. That's a plethora of Apple goodies with your purchase, but the iPad itself is certainly worth it on its own, too.

SEE ALSO: How to enable Apple Intelligence on your MacBook

We had high praise for the iPad Pro in our review. Mashable's Kimberly Gedeon said that the new iPad "has mind-blowing endurance on a single charge. On top of that, the new iPad Pro is as svelte as a haute couture model." The M4 chip works wonders in this tablet, with Gedeon saying "the M4 MacBooks are going to be killer laptops if the M4 iPad Pro is anything to go by."

Don't miss out on this excellent iPad Pro deal at Best Buy. If the cost of this tablet is still too much though, don't worry, there are still plenty of great discounts on other iPads to check out. And with Black Friday on the horizon, there will be even more to look through during the sale event.

"Daily Show" host Ronnie Chieng has responded to Joe Biden's recent "garbage" comment about Trump supporters.

SAVE $30: As of Oct. 31, the JBL Tune 770NC noise-canceling headphones are on sale for $99.95 at Amazon, down $30 from their $129.95 list price. That's a 23% discount.

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Good deals on high-quality headphones only come up every so often. Especially when they have features like noise cancelation, it can be tricky to track down decent models for under $100. Thankfully, Amazon is offering a great limited-time deal on the JBL Tune 770NC wireless noise-canceling headphones.

These headphones are currently available for $99.95, $30 off their list price of $129.95. This also marks their lowest price yet according to price tracker camelcamelcamel, making it a great time to pick them up for cheap.

SEE ALSO: We've tested a lot of headphones — these are the 6 best of 2024

The JBL Tune 770NC headphones offer Adaptive Noise Canceling, an absolute game-changing feature if you want to be fully absorbed in music, podcasts, audiobooks, or whatever else you choose to listen to. And for when you don't want to be completely tuned out, it also has Ambient Aware and TalkThru features to enhance the sounds around you. Not to mention, you'll also get a sleek, comfortable design and a whopping 70 hours of battery life.

With Black Friday coming up soon, there are likely to be even more headphone deals to check out, so if you miss out on this one you'll have even more opportunities for discounts. Some retailers, like Best Buy and Walmart, are even kicking off their sales early, so you can get a head start on the sale.

There are a whole host of tempting and terrifying horror movies out there. So many, in fact, that it can be difficult to know where to start.

But if you like your scares with a side of repression, bad weather, and occasional self-deprecation, then you could do a lot worse than beginning in Britain.

SEE ALSO: 34 bloody excellent Australian horror movies that'll mess you up (and where to watch them)

For the following list of best British horror films we've grouped together the old and the new, the weird and the terrifying, in no particular order — from cult classics like Threads and The Wicker Man to the more recent scares of Saint Maud and His House. Cushions at the ready...

His House (2020) Credit: Aidan Monaghan/NETFLIX

The best types of horror films are more than just a trickbox of scares. Some are character studies, others explore deeper themes or grapple complex social issues, and a few manage to move you in more ways than just a raising of the pulse. Writer-director Remi Weekes' debut His House does all of the above at once.

Following asylum seekers Bol (Sope Dirisu) and Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) as they arrive in the UK from South Sudan only to be thrust into an unforgiving world of bureaucracy and racism, His House melds drama with a claustrophobic haunted house mystery. Noises echo in the walls, and Bol's fear and paranoia grows along with ours. But it's only as the movie progresses, and Jo Willems' creative cinematography starts hinting at what took place in the past, that the true horror of His House is revealed.* — Sam Haysom, Deputy UK Editor

How to watch: His House is now streaming on Netflix.

The Appointment (1982)

Prophetic nightmares, a swooning score, and the uncanny feeling that if Twin Peaks had been relocated to middle class Berkshire, it might start like this…

Originally planned as part of a (promptly abandoned) series of TV films, this uniquely weird slice of anxiety from 1981 was to be director Lindsey Vickers’ first and only feature. Despite brief festival success and a few regional TV broadcasts, The Appointment slipped into mythic obscurity for 40 years. Rediscovered like a cursed tape from the vaults of repression, it follows Edward Woodward (flammable lead of iconic British folk horror The Wicker Man, also in this list) as a father who misses his precociously doting daughter’s violin recital in favour of a business appointment. And that’s about it.

And yet, every scene in the ominously dreamy film trembles with unease. The film’s previous disappearance, like the disappearance that stalks its narrative, acts like a hard-to-decipher warning for something unseen. Without overt shock or graphic gore, it trembles with the same haunted logic and trauma of certain public safety broadcasts: mundane familiarity and the cautionary tale teetering over the clipped, polite abyss of English fear. — David Spittle, Writer

How to watch: The Appointment is available to stream on BFI Player via Prime Video in the UK and on Roku in the U.S.

The Descent (2005) Credit: Celador / Pathe / Kobal / Shutterstock

Experiencing Neil Marshall's spelunking nightmare The Descent in the cinema was truly a singular experience, especially if you had no idea you were in for a nasty little thriller about six female friends who reunite one year after a tragedy to explore an underground cave system together — as you do — only for it all to go terribly horribly wrong — as it does! The theater walls themselves seemed to close in on you as the film grew tighter, more constricted, and claustrophobic, and that was even before any of those creepy crawlers showed up. 

Even at home, the film still plays like gangbusters. Just wrap a blanket over your head and turn off all the lights, and you will feel like you’re right there in the Bava-esque underground alongside former besties Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) and Juno (Natalie Mendoza), third-wheel Beth (Alex Reid), sisters Rebecca (Saskia Mulder) and Sam (MyAnna Buring) — and who could forget the smidge-too-enthusiastic Holly (Nora-Jane Noone)? — as the walls close in and the blackness starts blinking, then biting, back.* — Jason Adams, Writer

How to watch: The Descent is available to rent/buy from Sky Store in the UK and is streaming on Max in the U.S..

Shaun of the Dead (2004) Credit: Big Talk/Wt 2/Kobal/Shutterstock

Edgar Wright may be a fairly well known Hollywood director these days, but two decades ago his big feature break came in the form of this horror comedy classic. Shaun of the Dead follows Shaun (Simon Pegg, who co-wrote the film with Wright) and Ed (Nick Frost), two friends making a last stand against the zombie apocalypse in their local London pub, The Winchester. The first instalment of the Cornetto Trilogy (Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz/The World's End) is an endlessly quotable mish-mash of sweary violence, memorable one-shots and Wright's trademark British underdog humour. — S.H.

How to watch: Shaun of the Dead is now streaming on Netflix in the UK and is available to rent/buy on Prime Video in the U.S.

Host (2020)

A near full-length Covid pandemic horror movie that takes place entirely via video chat, Rob Savage's Host follows a group of friends taking part in a Zoom seance that goes horribly wrong.

"Noting that Host is “almost” full length is not to designate it as a short, but to acknowledge how much story gets packed into a run time of under an hour," wrote Alexis Nedd in her Mashable review. "The movie uses every single minute to set up its characters, foreshadowing, and twists while still leaving time for screamingly violent horror goodness. Savage is no stranger to tight scripting, having drawn critical acclaim for his previous horror shorts Dawn of the Deaf (2016) and Salt (2017), but Host stands out as remarkable for getting a full film’s worth of plot within the external time constraint of a non-subscription Zoom call." — S.H.

How to watch: Host is now streaming on Shudder.

Dead of Night (1945) Credit: Glasshouse Images/Shutterstock

Misleadingly renowned for their comedies (realistically only a tenth of the studio’s productions), Ealing Studios conjured one of the greatest anthology horrors of all time: Dead of Night (1945). With distinct "tales around the fireside" vibes, this is a prime choice for anyone seeking a cosy autumnal classic.

An architect (Mervyn Jones who, in 1963, starred in The Old Dark House and Day of the Triffids) is called out to an old cottage where he loses no time in telling the owner, and his assembled guests, that he has seen them all before in a recurring dream. Each of the guests, after a hubbub of natter, begins to tell of their own encounters with, or coveted stories of, the supernatural.

With stories that range from the endearingly daft (a haunted golf course) to the genuinely chilling (mirror world murders and maniacal ventriloquists), Dead of Night spins a ruddy delightful smorgasbord of ghostly treats with the verve of truly classic British cinema. The highlight has to be Michael Redgrave and his terrifying dummy, Hugo: an incredibly acted forerunner to all things "creepy doll", from Magic (1979) and Dead Silence (2007) to Goosebumps and Child’s Play (1988). — D.S.

How to watch: Dead of Night is now streaming on BBC iPlayer in the UK and on Kanopy in the U.S.

The Wicker Man (1973) Credit: Studio Canal/Shutterstock

No, not the 2006 remake with Nicholas Cage. Robin Hardy's 1973 folk horror walked so the likes of Midsommar could run, following police officer Sergeant Neil Howie (The Appointment's Edward Woodward) as he investigates a disappearance on a remote Scottish island. The problem? The island is an absolutely textbook case of everybody-here-is-in-on-something, with strange rituals and bizarre encounters plunging Howie deeper into an entirely justifiable sense of unease. Splicing a haunting folk score with a truly horrifying final sequence that'll burn itself into your memory, The Wicker Man is British horror viewing at its most essential. — S.H.

How to watch: The Wicker Man is streaming on BBC iPlayer in the UK and on Prime Video in the U.S..

Saint Maud (2019) Credit: A24

The unnervingly sinister directorial debut from Rose Glass, Saint Maud will get under your skin, and we really mean that. This truly frightening, erotic, psychological horror is led by the terrifyingly talented Morfydd Clark, who brings a dark and disturbing level of care to her role as deeply pious hospice nurse Maud.

A masterpiece of maddeningly precise sound editing and lighting — Glass wields chiaroscuro and close framing with the same level of suffocating, sensual control as its protagonist — Saint Maud is unrelentingly threatening as Maud takes her role as her patient's "saviour" to horrifying lengths. We're already living in a constant state of unease this year, and Glass's brilliant film, with Adam Janota Bzowski's haunting score, will plunge you deeper into it.* — Shannon Connellan, UK Editor

How to watch: Saint Maud is now available to rent/buy on Prime Video in the UK and is streaming on Prime Video in the U.S.

The Power (2021) Credit: Shudder

Following a nurse starting at a London hospital in the 1970s, Corinna Faith's The Power uses its historical backdrop — in particular the nightly planned blackouts resulting from a war between trade unions and the UK government — to claustrophobic and unnerving effect.

"Faith pushes us to confront this with shaky, lamplit journeys down black corridors, and lingering shots of dark cupboards, constantly building tension that ramps up as Val's now-dreaded nightshift begins," I wrote in my Mashable review. "The nightly blackouts that form the film's backdrop mean that the majority of patients are relocated at the end of the day, with only a couple of hospital wards remaining operational. The rest of the building is plunged into oppressive darkness. It's the perfect setup for building a creeping sense of dread, in other words, and Faith does this with a deft hand. There are plenty of jump scares, too, but these never feel gratuitous — like all the best scary films, The Power's horror is used to draw out the movie's main themes, rather than wielding them for mere shock value." — S.H.

How to watch: The Power is now streaming on Shudder.

Threads (1984)

Infamously grim and enduringly potent, Barry Hines' Threads depicts the devastating fall out of a nuclear war with unsparing realism. Set in the grey and smoking ruins of Sheffield, it begins by recalling the social realist grit of a Ken Loach drama — Hines in fact (also a novelist) wrote the book that became Ken Loach’s film Kes (1969) and collaborated with him in its adaptation – and yet by the end of Threads, its gruelling futility drags it into a far heavier, and far too real, vision of horror.

It’s hard to believe it ever aired on TV in the first place, but these televisual roots go further back – having been partially inspired by another BBC film that, deemed too horrifying, was pulled from its provisional screening at the last minute: Peter Watkins' The War Game.

The brutal and spiralling logic of Threads matches the upsetting intensity of a Michael Haneke film (like a global version of The Seventh Continent) which, when presented with the attributes of documentary realism, underlines its heavy truth: its horror is the horror of a tragic reality that has happened, and can happen again.

Combine with Raymond Briggs’ When the Wind Blows (1986) to really snuff out the hope in your heart. — D.S.

How to watch: Threads is now streaming on BBC iPlayer in the UK and on Shudder in the U.S.

28 Days Later (2002) Credit: Peter Mountain/Dna/20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock

Boyle and Garland revitalized the zombie genre with 2002's 28 Days Later, a film that throws us headfirst into a brutal world that's just 28 days into the apocalypse.

The apocalyptic culprits here are humans infected with the "rage virus," which turns its victims into mindlessly violent — and scarily speedy — attackers. (Though not the first film to feature fast zombies, 28 Days Later is certainly the movie that popularized them.) While the nameless Infected hordes provide many terrifying scares and some effective body horror, especially in the film's "turning" scenes, it's 28 Days Later's human drama that invokes the most fear. 

From the moment bike courier Jim (Cillian Murphy) wanders across a deserted Westminster Bridge, we're forced to consider how we'd react in the face of the apocalypse. Some of the survivors Jim encounters offer him kindness, while others, like army officers in the film's stomach-churning third act, have far more sinister, self-serving plans for the future. Blurring the lines between human and monster, and boasting some of the zombie genre's most iconic imagery, there's no doubt 28 Days Later is among Garland's best work.* — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: 28 Days Later streams on Apple TV+ but is currently unavailable.

Kill List (2011) Credit: Rook/Warp X/Kobal/Shutterstock

Crime meets folk horror in Ben Wheatley's gritty cult classic Kill List, a story about two former soldiers who've turned to contract killing to make ends meet. Jay (Neil Maskell) and Gal (Michael Smiley) receive the titular list from a shadowy figure who wants three people dead, and what follows is a twisty journey in which the two men quickly realise all isn't as it seems. This is one of those films that keeps you guessing right up until the end, splicing dark realism with a creepy side of witchcraft. — S.H.

How to watch: Kill List is now streaming on Prime Video in the UK and on Shudder in the U.S.

Attack the Block (2011) Credit: Big Talk Productions/Kobal/Shutterstock

Featuring John Boyega's feature-length film debut and co-starring future Doctor Who Jodie Whittaker, Attack the Block is one of the most creative and fun monster movies of the decade.

Written and directed by Joe Cornish (also his feature-length film debut), this British sci-fi comedy horror sees a group of teenagers, led by Boyega, who must defend their council estate from some incredibly pissed-off aliens — or rather, "big alien gorilla wolf motherfuckers" — all on Guy Fawkes Night. It’s gruesome and hilarious, and produced by the studio behind Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.* — S.C.

How to watch: Attack the Block is now streaming on Prime Video in the UK and on Max in the U.S.

The Other Side of the Underneath (1972)

Not a horror film by design, in fact nowhere near any kind of genre, Jane Arden’s 1978 radical feminist interrogation of mental illness becomes a truly horrifying form of feral catharsis, anguished therapy, and psychosexual derangement.

Adapting her own experimental play, A New Communion for Freaks, Prophets and Witches (1971), Arden’s painfully unsettling drama also acts as a provocative intervention in documentary. Much of the group therapy portrayed was collectively undergone by the cast, and often under the influence of psychedelic drugs and alcohol. The result, though less result and more labyrinthine record of a process, is a raw, nightmarish, and boldly incoherent howl of rage and resistance.

Defiantly counterculture, bridging aspects of the anti-psychiatry movement, feminism, avant-garde art, psychedelia, and insanity, Arden’s unique work is as intellectually uncompromising as it is conceptually and visually fractured. In short, this is not a film to recommend lightly.

If you want to be shaken, challenged, and confronted by a fiercely — even dangerously — volatile form of filmmaking, take a leap into the Other Side. — D.S.

How to watch: The Other Side of the Underneath is now streaming on Shudder.

Possum (2018)

Puppets have long been popular horror fodder, but the spider-like creation in Possum is its own unique breed of nightmare. Writer/director Matthew Holness' film is part psychological horror and part kitchen sink misery, following disgraced puppeteer Philip (Sean Harris) back to his childhood home to confront his past experiences — and the recent disappearance of a teenage boy. This one is disturbing for all manner of reasons, from the hideous and recurring puppet to the repressed memories that bleed from Philip's past into his strange present. — S.H.

How to watch: Possum is streaming now on Prime Video.

Censor (2021) Credit: MARIA LAX / MAGNET RELEASING

Censor is an unsettling debut from director Prano Bailey-Bond, a twisted ode to horror films and particularly "video nasties" (a term that rose to prominence in the UK in the '80s to describe unregulated horror or exploitation films distributed on VHS tapes that came under scrutiny for their "obscene" content). In Censor, meticulous film censor Enid (Raised by Wolves star Niamh Algar) valiantly shields audiences from gory or "inappropriate" content onscreen. When she's assigned a new disturbing film to review, it triggers memories of a traumatic event from her childhood. Bailey-Bond's lurid, vibrant, and haunting film references everything from Martin Parr's photography to Dario Argento's Suspiria to Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead and Lucio Fulci's The Beyond in a bleak, Thatcher-era Britain.* — S.C.

How to watch: Censor is available to rent/buy on Prime Video in the UK and is streaming on Fubo in the U.S.

Enys Men (2022)

Taking inspiration from the televisual BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas, lesser-known folk horror gems like The Shout (1978) and the crash-zoom enthusiasm of '70s cinematography, Enys Men (2022) is a timeless and timely ghost poem for the environment: An environment at once frail and elemental where time unravels in a looping (un)reality of menacing lichen and convulsive memory.

An isolated botanist (Mary Woodvine) carries out her research on an invented island ("Enys Men" is Cornish for "Stone Island"), an outpost at the end of the world, inhabited by the coal-smeared phantoms of a bygone mining community and the cosmic disorientation of a standing stone that refuses to stand still. Although this might sound like the genre pic ‘n mix of a psychotronic madman, it is in fact an elegantly unnerving tone-poem of landscape and loss. Or maybe it is better understood as director Mark Jenkin (of runaway Cornish success Bait) tuning into lost transmissions from another time — a world we have forgotten or try, at our own peril, to forget.

Rightly celebrated for shooting and processing his own films and working against the odds of industry funding, Mark Jenkin brings the corporeal grain and tactility of celluloid back into the soul of cinema. — D.S.

How to watch: Enys Men is now streaming on All4 in the UK and is on Hulu in the U.S.

Starve Acre (2023) Credit: BFI

Daniel Kokotajlo's nightmare folk horror – based on Andrew Michael Hurley's novel of the same name – will make you never look at rabbits the same way again. Following a university professor (Matt Smith) and his wife (Morfydd Clark) in the aftermath of their son's tragic death, the movie deals in local legends and the mysterious presence of a figure named Jack Gray — an unseen spirt that haunted their son and seems determined to continue haunting the couple. A truly upsetting meditation on unimaginable grief with some stunning performances and horrifying moments (if you're a bit confused after the ending, we have an explainer on Mashable). — S.H.

How to watch: Starve Acre is now streaming on BFI Player via Prime Video in the UK and is available to rent/buy on Prime Video in the U.S.

The Borderlands (2013)

Found footage, when done well, has the capacity to be one of the most unnerving horror subgenres of all. Elliot Goldner's The Borderlands (released in the United States as Final Prayer) is no exception. Following a team employed by the Catholic Church to prove or debunk miracles, the film follows Deacon (Gordon Kennedy) and Gray (Robin Hill) as they investigate a bizarre baptism video at a rural church in the South of England. Things get expectedly creepy, but the turn they take — and the movie's hellish final third — is anything but predictable. — S.H.

How to watch: The Borderlands is now streaming on Shudder in the UK and on Tubi in the U.S.

Last Night in Soho (2021) Credit: Focus Features

Writer/director Edgar Wright’s latest outing involves a hopeful fashion student (Thomasin McKenzie), a '60s lounge singer (Anya Taylor-Joy), and – as Mashable’s Alison Foreman writes in her review – an "eerily enchanting time travel voyage."

"The result is a fascinating meditation on externally inflicted self-doubt, which is somehow both profoundly heartbreaking and a bit of a popcorn thriller," she writes. "It's an exquisite change of pace for Wright that feels less like the darker side of the guy behind Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World than the twisted sister of Damien Chazelle's La La Land or Whiplash."* — S.H.

How to watch: Last Night in Soho is available to rent/buy on Prime Video in the UK and is now streaming on Peacock in the U.S.

*This blurb has appeared on a previous Mashable list.

SAVE $45: As of Oct. 31, Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is on sale for $229.99 at Amazon, down from its typical price of $275.

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Interested in digital art but not ready to splurge on a high-end tablet? Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is your affordable ticket to creativity, available for $229.99 at Amazon. This deal saves you $45 and gets you an S Pen and a vibrant 10.4-inch screen, making it a solid pick for beginners and pros alike.

The Tab S6 Lite’s 2000 x 1200-pixel display shows off colors and details beautifully, so your sketches, doodles, and masterpieces will look sharp. Plus, the included S Pen feels like a pen in your hand, with precise control that makes drawing and note-taking smooth and natural. It’s a tablet designed to go wherever you do, thanks to a sleek, slim metal build that slips easily into any bag. Your digital sketchpad is ready whenever inspiration strikes.

SEE ALSO: Picsart's new SketchAI app is transforming images into digital art

Beyond its art-friendly features, this tablet doubles as a portable entertainment hub. Dolby Atmos surround sound is a great companion for streaming movies, playing games, or just vibing to your favorite playlist after a day of creating. The long-lasting battery also gives you up to 14 hours of use, so there’s plenty of time for multitasking, lounging, and scrolling through inspo.

With 64GB of storage (and the option to expand with a microSD card), you’ll have all the space you need for apps, files, and creative projects. Suppose you’re looking for a reliable entry point into digital art or a budget-friendly tablet without skimping on quality. In that case, the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite is a great choice. And if you’re approved for an Amazon Visa, you can instantly knock an additional $50 off.

SAVE $50: As of Oct. 31, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ is available for $219.99 at Amazon. That's 19% down from its usual price of $269.99.

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Need a family-friendly tablet that handles streaming, games, and kid-safe apps without missing a beat? Samsung’s Galaxy Tab A9+ checks all the boxes. It’s on sale for $219.99, a sweet $50 discount on Amazon.

With an 11-inch display, 128GB storage, and quad speakers powered by Dolby Atmos, this tablet packs a punch, making it perfect for movies, music, and maybe even a little screen time for the kiddos.

SEE ALSO: Ready to upgrade your smartphone? Grab the Samsung Galaxy A15 for less than $200

The Galaxy Tab A9+ isn’t just about size; it’s got the tech to back it up. Its upgraded chipset and 8GB of RAM keep things running smoothly, whether multitasking or enjoying a 90Hz refresh rate that makes every swipe seamless. Plus, it’s designed with families in mind. The Samsung Kids app offers a colorful, interactive experience that entertains and educates, so you can hand it off without a second thought.

Samsung also packs in extra versatility: use multiple apps on one screen with Multi Window, quickly share files with Quick Share, or cast videos to your Samsung TV using Smart View. With a slim, durable design, the Galaxy Tab A9+ is easy to carry, making it an ideal sidekick for road trips, flights, or anywhere else family adventures take you.

At $219.99, the Galaxy Tab A9+ is a solid pick if you’re looking for a reliable, family-friendly tablet with impressive sound and plenty of storage. And if you’re really budget-savvy, Amazon’s offering an additional $10 gift card if approved for the Amazon Store Card, so you can save a little extra.

SAVE $250: As of Oct. 31, the Shark AZ3002 Stratos Upright Vacuum is on sale for $249.99 at Amazon, a 50% discount from its usual $499.99 list price.

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$499.99 Save $250.00 Get Deal

If pet hair has taken over your home, the Shark Stratos Upright Vacuum is here to help. Equipped with a self-cleaning brushroll, ultra-powerful suction, and a built-in odor neutralizer, this vacuum is made for pet parents, allergy sufferers, and anyone tired of chasing dust bunnies around. Right now, it’s available at Amazon for $249.99, saving you a cool $250 on a device that just might bring your floors back to their glory days.

The Shark Stratos AZ3002 is loaded with DuoClean PowerFins, a two-brushroll system that digs into carpets, tackles hard floors, and picks up everything from crumbs to pet hair in one go. Thanks to the self-cleaning brushroll, hair clogs won’t be part of the routine, and the HEPA filter paired with an anti-allergen seal traps 99.9% of dust and allergens. For hard-to-reach spots, the Powered Lift-Away feature lets you pop off the pod for under-furniture cleaning or detach the nozzle to tackle curtains and other high-up places.

SEE ALSO: The new Shark FlexFusion is a multi-styler designed to replace all of your hair styling tools

For homes with pets, Shark’s Odor Neutralizer Technology traps and minimizes smells inside the vacuum while LED headlights on the nozzle reveal all the pet hair and debris you missed. The dust cup is also easy to empty, so no accidental messes on your way to the trash.

At 50% off, this deal on the Shark Stratos makes it easier than ever to give your space a refresh. And if you’re looking for even more savings, Amazon offers a $50 instant discount if you’re approved for their Visa card, dropping the price to $199.99.

SAVE $210: As of Oct. 31, the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool is on sale for $399.99 at Amazon. That's down by 34% from its original $609.99 list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: Dyson Dyson Hot+Cool Purifier $399.99 at Amazon
$609.99 Save $210.00 Get Deal

When you’re over-cranking the heat in winter, blasting the AC in summer, and buying filters left and right, Dyson’s Hot+Cool HP10 swoops in to save the day. This purifier not only cools you off and heats you up but also tackles airborne irritants year-round. It’s currently on sale at Amazon for 34% off, down to $399.99 from $609.99. Plus, it has an extra filter to keep things fresh without shelling out mid-season.

The HP10’s Air Multiplier technology ensures that every inch of your space enjoys purified air thanks to a powerful HEPA filter designed to trap the usual suspects: dust, pet dander, and allergens. Unlike some fans that whip air around, the Dyson HP10 sends out a smooth, controlled airflow covering up to 73 square feet. If you want to turn a stuffy room into your personal oasis, this fan has your back (and front, thanks to its 350-degree oscillation). For those low-key evenings, pop on night mode to keep things quiet and dim.

SEE ALSO: The Dyson Purifier Cool is a 2-in-1 device made for spring allergy season

This purifier is perfect for indecisive weather days. With its sleek remote, you can switch from warm to cool air in seconds, all without app complications or tangled cords. And if the $399.99 upfront price seems steep, Amazon offers an interest-free payment option at $33.33 per month if you’re approved for their Visa.

Other sellers may have it, but they likely won’t offer Prime benefits or that bonus filter, so don’t wait on the Dyson Hot+Cool if you’re after a more comfortable winter (and a less sneezy spring).

SAVE $65: As of Oct. 31, the Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet is down to $74.99 at Amazon. That’s a 46% discount on its original price of $139.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Fire HD 10 Tablet $74.99 at Amazon
$139.99 Save $65.00 Get Deal

Amazon's Fire HD 10 tablet is more than just another gadget; it's designed for the "lounge and chill" lifestyle. With a vibrant 10.1-inch Full HD display, an octa-core processor, and 3GB of RAM, this tablet is ideal for streaming, casual gaming, or knocking out a few chapters of that book you've been putting off. And right now, you can score it for just $74.99, the lowest price we've seen recently.

This Fire HD 10 offers faster performance (up to 25% faster than the previous model). Whether binge-watching, flipping through social media, or reading your favorite book, the experience should be smooth and lag-free.

SEE ALSO: The newest Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet is wallet-friendly and made for streaming

Storage won't be an issue either. The tablet comes with 32GB of storage but has a slot for a microSD card, allowing you to add up to 1TB of extra space for all your apps, downloads, and photos. The 13-hour battery life also ensures you're set for long sessions without scrambling for a charger.

The tablet is also designed to be family-friendly, with Amazon Kids parental controls. It's built to take a tumble or two, as well. Its strengthened aluminosilicate glass claims to make it 2.7 times more durable than Samsung's Galaxy Tab A8.

Aside from its impressive specs, the Fire HD 10 also has some Alexa magic. Just say, "Alexa, read my last book," or "play the latest episode" of your go-to podcast, and let the tablet handle the rest. It even has sustainability features, like a body made from 12% recycled materials and 98% responsibly sourced packaging, so you're getting eco-conscious tech without the hefty price tag.

This discount will only stick around for a while. Amazon's Fire HD 10 might be your new favorite companion if you need a budget-friendly tablet for everyday tasks.

The universe is rife with mystery.

Ambitious space missions, like the James Webb Space Telescope and Martian rovers, are helping scientists grasp what's out there: Could any of the rocky, Earth-sized planets in the TRAPPIST solar system host life? How did galaxies teeming with stars and planets, like our Milky Way, come to be? Did hellish Venus once harbor oceans?

Some of these cosmic questions may be answered in the coming years and decades; some will take longer.

Yet these same spacecraft also beam back patterns and images that we sometimes interpret as being familiar: perhaps a face in rock, or a colossal hand in a cosmic cloud. This tendency to see a distinctive image in a foreign (or one might say extraterrestrial) pattern is known as "pareidolia."

"Here at NASA, we often hear from people who think they see something familiar in an image from Mars, or another planet, or somewhere else in the cosmos. And it's true — they do see something familiar, but it's actually because they're experiencing pareidolia," the space agency explains.

SEE ALSO: Aliens haven't contacted us. Scientists found a compelling reason why.

What follows are some instances of skulls seeming to appear in space images. Of course, there really aren't colossal skulls zooming through the cosmos, or our solar system. Right?

The Perseus cluster A cluster of galaxies captured by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Credit: Chandra X-ray Observatory ACIS Image

This haunting image was captured by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, an instrument that detects X-ray emissions (as opposed to something like visible light emissions) from hot areas of the universe.

This skull-like pattern actually shows the core of a group of distant galaxies called the "Perseus cluster." You're essentially looking at the extremely hot gas in and around the supergiant galaxy, Perseus A. Directly at center, between two dark cavities, is a supermassive black hole, a region with such enormous gravity not even light can escape. The twin dark cavities are giant — "each large enough to contain a galaxy half the diameter of our Milky Way galaxy," NASA explains — and likely created by bursts of energized particles released from around the galactic black hole. ­

The "mouth" of the skull, seen at two o'clock from the image's center, is a smaller galaxy (with some 20 billion stars) that's falling into the more massive Perseus A (yes, galaxies tend to collide).

The skull asteroid (aka the "Halloween asteroid") Asteroid 2015 TB145, which looks similar to a skull, once passed within 302,000 miles of Earth. Credit: National Science Foundation / Arecibo Observatory

In the right light, asteroid 2015 TB145 looks awfully creepy.

What's more, astronomers discovered this space rock in October 2015 — and then it made its closest pass to Earth that Halloween.

Asteroid 2015 TB145, measuring some 2,050 to 2,300 feet wide, is awfully dark. It reflects almost no light, just around 5 percent of sunlight. "This means that it is very dark, only slightly more reflective than charcoal," Pablo Santos-Sanz, an astronomer from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia, told the Spanish science publication SINC.

Like most asteroids, the "Halloween asteroid" is a relic from our early solar system. It formed some 4.6 billion years ago, but never developed into part of a larger planetary mass, the likes of which created our planets. NASA calls Asteroid 2015 TB145 a "dead comet," meaning it's shed much of the water ice and other "volatiles" around its rocky or metallic core.

It's a "near Earth asteroid," i.e., its orbit brings the rock somewhat close to Earth (but it isn't on track to hit our planet) from time to time. In 2088, for example, the asteroid will come within 20 lunar distances (a lunar distance is the length between Earth and the moon, or some 239,000 miles) from us. And in the right light, it might continue to intrigue, or creep out, the masses.

Skull Nebula The "Skull Nebula," formed from the outgassed layers of a dying star. Credit: ESO / VLT

Some 1,600 light-years away lies the "Skull Nebula."

Formally called NGC 246, it's a cosmic object called a planetary nebula, which forms when a medium-sized star like the sun grows old and sheds its outer layers of gas, often in a grandiose cosmic display. An extremely dense core (a white dwarf star) is left in the middle of the clouds.

The Skull Nebula is located in the constellation Cetus, which means "The Whale." "This ethereal remnant of a long dead star, nestled in the belly of The Whale, bears an uneasy resemblance to a skull floating through space," writes the European Southern Observatory (ESO), a collaborative science organization of European nations.

One-eyed space skull? A planetary nebula, created when a star around the mass of the sun sheds its outer layers near the end of its life. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / S.Carey

Like clouds in the sky, nebulae take many shapes. What do you see here?

"A grinning one-eyed skull? Actually a complex planetary nebula around a dying star," writes NASA.

This is planetary nebula NGC 5189, created when a star around the mass of the sun sheds its outer layers near the end of its life. Unlike our solar system, astronomers suspect this solar system contained two stars (a "binary system).

Face on Mars A natural feature on Mars that, from an image taken in 1976, looks similar to a face or skull. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech

The "face on Mars" is a famous example of pareidolia.

NASA's Viking spacecraft captured a feature on Mars with a face-like pattern in 1976. Yet, "The 'face' does not stand the test of time," writes NASA. Decades later, other spacecraft took higher resolution images of the face, showing that it's simply natural Martian topography.

On far left is an image taken by NASA's Viking spacecraft in 1976. The images at center and right were snapped by the Mars Global Surveyor in 1998. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS

Indeed, you can find instances of pareidolia all over the cosmos. It's not inherently a bad thing — it can be a valuable way to draw interest to a cosmic object.

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Though, sometimes, the resemblance can be a little too close for comfort.

This story has been updated.

The Daily Mini Crossword is one of the many popular daily word games available on Mashable. Powered by Arkadium, the mini crossword offers a speed round of puzzle fun with clues that are sure to challenge experienced crossword enthusiasts.

But there's no need to let the challenge get in the way of your enjoyment! If moments are turning to minutes after getting stuck on a clue, find the answers you need to progress right here.

And when you're done, check out the many other word games you can play on Mashable, including a full-size crossword.

Also, if you get stuck on any other daily word games, such as Wordle, Connections, or Strands — we have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle hints and answers for October 31 SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

Here are the clues and answers to Daily Mini Crossword for Thursday, October 31, 2024:

AcrossFlabby

• The answer is Soft.

Dragon's down

• The answer is Scale.

Artist's aid

• The answer is Easel.

Disney princess

• The answer is Ariel.

Dry run

• The answer is Test.

DownHalloween habit

• The answer is Scare.

Mirage subject

• The answer is Oasis.

Armada

• The answer is Fleet.

Show and ____

• The answer is Tell.

Airplane assignment

• The answer is Seat.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Featured Video For You The Wordle Strategy used by the New York Times' Head of Games

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Mini Crossword.

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hint

Similar to an onion.

SEE ALSO: Mini crossword answers for October 31 Hurdle Word 1 answer

CHIVE

Hurdle Word 2 hint

Emerged.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for October 31 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

AROSE

Hurdle Word 3 hint

More this than older things are.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for October 31 Hurdle Word 3 answer

NEWER

Hurdle Word 4 hint

YouTubers ask you to do this to subscribe.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for October 31 Hurdle Word 4 answer

CLICK

Final Hurdle hint

A font feature that some prefer over sans.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answer

SERIF

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Connections: Sports Edition is a new version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for October 28's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: Hurdle hints and answers for October 31 What is Connections Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for October 31 Here's a hint for today's Connections Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: If you're not this, you're last

• Green: Ground game

• Blue: Bracket terms

• Purple: Funny sports fiction

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow - In No. 1 position

• Green - Football running plays

• Blue - Starts of NCAA Tournament rounds

• Purple - Abbott and Costello's baseball lineup

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections Sports Edition #38 is...

What is the answer to Connections Sports Edition today

• In No. 1 position: FIRST, FRONT, LEAD POLE

• Football running plays: DRAW, SNEAK, SWEEP, TOSS

• Starts of NCAA Tournament rounds: ELITE, FINAL, SECOND, SWEET

• Abbott and Costello's baseball lineup: BECAUSE, I DON'T KNOW, WHAT, WHO

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

SEE ALSO: Mini crossword answers for October 31

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

As the leaves turn and the crisp autumn chill seeps into the air, one thing becomes crystal clear: It's Over the Garden Wall season.

That's true every year, but especially in 2024, which marks the 10th anniversary of Patrick McHale's beloved Cartoon Network miniseries. So whether you're new to the series or are a devoted re-watcher, consider this your reminder to tune in. Plus, on Nov. 3, you can celebrate further with the release of a brand-new stop-motion Over the Garden Wall special, courtesy of Aardman!

SEE ALSO: 'Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl' review: A delightful romp with an anti-AI streak

In 2015, Over the Garden Wall won the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program, and for good reason. Throughout its 10 stunning episodes, the series captivates you with two brothers' odyssey through the strangely beautiful (and beautifully strange) land known as the Unknown. There, they discover curious communities, solve pressing mysteries, and ally themselves with the most unexpected of friends. The only thing they can't seem to find is their way home.

What makes Over the Garden Wall the ideal fall watch? Ain't that just the way. Credit: Cartoon Network

You can definitely enjoy Over the Garden Wall at any point in the year, but its palette of orange-hued trees, golden sunsets, and dark nights just hits harder in the fall. Plus, the show is the perfect combination of autumn's coziest and spookiest elements. Falling leaves, piping hot comfort food, and a whole slew of seasonal pumpkins appear alongside treacherous spirits, witches, and an encroaching entity known simply as the Beast (voiced by Samuel Ramey). When you're in the Unknown, you don't know if you're about to be comforted or creeped out — or some strange fusion of the two.

SEE ALSO: What to Watch: Best Scary Movies

Our entry points into the Unknown are teenager Wirt (voiced by Elijah Wood) and his younger stepbrother Greg (voiced by Collin Dean). They're lost in this new world and haven't a clue how to get out. Luckily for them, the denizens of the Unknown are happy to help. Well, most of them are, anyway. A mysterious Woodsman (voiced by Christopher Lloyd) provides Wirt and Greg with shelter, while a talking bluebird named Beatrice (voiced by Melanie Lynskey) offers to take them to a wise woman named Adelaide who could bring them home. Among the rest of the Unknown's charming ensemble are a town of pumpkin people, a schoolteacher dedicated to educating animals, and a pub full of character archetypes like the Tavern Keeper, the Tailor, and the Highwayman.

While these characters know exactly where they fit into the Unknown's ecosystem, Greg and Wirt are outliers. Greg, with his cheerful disposition, is endlessly excited about discovering more of the Unknown. He'll talk to anybody, try anything. He's got a teapot on his head, a pet rock that spouts Rock Facts, and pants full of candy — he's like walking childhood whimsy.

By contrast, Wirt is a bundle of teenage angst and fried nerves. He approaches every situation with a heaping amount of trepidation. Pair that with his annoyance with Greg, and you're looking at two main characters who are excellent foils for each other. Both Greg and Wirt's reactions to being somewhere as new and bizarre as the Unknown are valid — yet neither quite understands where the other is coming from. Their resulting journey brings them together in masterful yet surprising ways. In fact, the same could be said of the rest of Over the Garden Wall.

You may think you know where a certain plot is going, but the series often plays with your expectations: A sinister old woman may not be as evil as you'd think, or a beautiful ghost may be something else entirely. What you think you see is never the full picture.

Over the Garden Wall is a beautiful, nostalgic ride with dark undertones The Woodsman and his lantern. Credit: Screenshot: HBO Max

Even though Over the Garden Wall came out in 2014, it has a timeless quality to it. You know you're watching something produced in the 21st century, but it could just as easily fit into the landscape of mid-20th-century animation.

That timelessness is due in large part to the show's gorgeous animation, which evokes hand-drawn, hand-painted styles that we rarely see in modern animation. Visual inspirations range from vintage Halloween postcards to the work of animator Max Fleischer to the 1890s board game "Game of Frog Pond." The Unknown is a beautifully crafted world that you'll want to get lost in again and again, just so you can catch all the show's lovely visual details.

Adding to Over the Garden Wall's charm is its soundtrack, a collection of folksy, jazzy songs by McHale and The Blasting Company. "Potatoes and Molasses" is a delightful earworm, while "Over the Garden Wall," performed by the late Jack Jones, who voiced a frog in the show, has the feel of a classic love song.

The standout number is the show's title theme, "Into the Unknown," also sung by Jones. A lone piano accompanies him as he croons about the arrival of autumn and pretending dreams can come true. Like Over the Garden Wall, "Into the Unknown" is haunting yet beautiful. In listening to it, you've gained something special. But at the same time the song acknowledges a loss — of spring, of memories, of simpler times.

Much of Over the Garden Wall concerns itself with these kinds of loss. For both Greg and Wirt, this is a coming-of-age story, and therefore, involves a loss of innocence. For many of the characters they meet, this is a story about overcoming grief. The cause of much of that grief, as well as a large part of Greg and Wirt's emotional journey, is the Beast.

Antlered, wreathed in darkness, and sporting a deep, operatic voice, the Beast looms large over the woods of the Unknown. Encounters with him — and with several of the Unknown's spookier citizens — are genuinely frightening. From demonic dogs to hungry ghosts, Over the Garden Wall doesn't pull its punches with its scares. Nor does it shy away from any of the existential dread such explorations of loss can evoke. The series balances this darker, more mature content with lighthearted moments and musical bangers, ensuring that people of all ages and entertainment preferences will find something to love here.

Over the Garden Wall clocks in at ten 11-minute-long episodes, so you can binge it all the way through or spread it out and savor it. Whichever option you choose, you'll feel like you've stepped out of time and into some long-lost Halloween special.

I recommend bundling up in a blanket, grabbing a mug of tea or apple cider, and jumping right into the Unknown alongside Greg and Wirt. There's no better way to spend your fall. And that's a Rock Fact!

Over the Garden Wall is now streaming on Hulu.

UPDATE: Nov. 1, 2024, 5:00 a.m. EDT This article was originally published on Oct. 21, 2022. It has been republished and updated to include references to "Over the Garden Wall"s 10th anniversary and the upcoming short film spinoff.

TL;DR: Hurry and get lifetime access to Supermusic AI for $39.97 by November 3 and start creating professional-grade music in minutes.

Have you ever thought, I wish I could write a song about [x]? The introduction of artificial intelligence into our world may spark caution, but its ability to create music is pretty darn cool. Supermusic AI takes the complexity out of composing and puts the power of music creation right in your hands, with no training required. Get lifetime access to this AI songwriting tool for only $39.97 (reg. $319) if you act quickly and purchase by 11:59 p.m. PT on Nov. 3.

Whether you’re a hobbyist looking to experiment with different genres or a content creator in need of original tracks, Supermusic AI’s innovative “prompt-to-song” feature lets you craft unique songs in minutes. You choose the style, input your ideas, and watch as AI transforms them into studio-quality tracks.

It doesn’t matter if you’re into pop, jazz, electronic, or something more niche — this tool is designed to handle it all. Want to create a high-energy dance track or even a mellow, jazzy background for a video project? The AI behind Supermusic is powered by cutting-edge models, ensuring that the music generated isn’t just passable, it’s professional-grade. You can use it to produce tracks that sound like they’ve been crafted in a studio.

And while the AI does a lot of the heavy lifting, you’re still in the driver’s seat. With Supermusic AI, you’re not just pressing a button and hoping for the best. You have the ability to adjust tempo, tweak melodies, and fine-tune every aspect of the track. This ensures that every piece of music you create is tailored to your exact specifications.

Forget about monthly fees or expensive software — this one-time purchase gives you all the tools you need to keep making music for years to come.

Turn your musical ideas into a reality and secure your lifetime access to Supermusic AI today for just $39.97 through Nov. 3 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Opens in a new window Credit: Supermusic Supermusic AI: Lifetime Subscription $39.97 at the Mashable Shop
$319.00 Save $279.03 Get Deal

TL;DR: Give your files a forever home with a 2TB FileJump Lifetime Cloud Storage Subscription, now on sale for 80% off at just $89 (reg. $467). 

With everyone working, studying, and collaborating online, having secure, accessible cloud storage is no longer optional — it’s essential. But not all storage solutions offer the same level of reliability, ease, and cost savings. FileJump delivers on all three counts with its lifetime 2TB cloud storage plan, and it's only $89 (reg. $467) at the Mashable Shop. 

A lifetime of cloud storage for a one-time fee

Some cloud storage services have the space, but the UI is so frustrating that it's hardly worth it. FileJump’s drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to upload files directly from your computer or phone. Whether it’s high-resolution photos, videos, or large presentations, the platform can handle it all with a 15GB limit per file.

Built-in previews for images, videos, and PDFs allow you to view your content without needing to download anything, saving you time when working on the go.

Security is a must, especially if all your files are under one roof. With FileJump, your data is encrypted with AES technology, meaning only you and the people you trust can access your files. Whether you’re using the service for personal photo backups or professional projects, your files remain protected. Plus, with its lifetime access plan, you won’t need to worry about running out of storage space or losing access when your subscription ends.

FileJump platform supports mobile, too. So you can upload or manage files from your smartphone or tablet with no problem.

No subscription fees ever

One place and one purchase is all it takes to store your files for life. There's still time to get a FileJump 2TB Lifetime Subscription for $89. 

StackSocial prices subject to change. 

Opens in a new window Credit: FileJump FileJump 2TB Cloud Storage: Lifetime Subscription $89.00 at the Mashable Shop
$467.00 Save $378.00 Get Deal

When it comes to streaming options, the list goes on and on: Hulu, Netflix, Max, Disney+, Apple TV+, Prime Video, Shudder, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. And that's before you even look at their vast libraries of movies and television within each one!

It can be overwhelming. So Mashable offers watch guides for all of the above, broken down by genre: comedy, thriller, horror, documentary, animation, and more. But maybe you don't know what you want beyond something new and entertaining. No worries. 

SEE ALSO: The best Netflix TV shows of 2024 (so far)

Mashable's Entertainment Team has scoured the streaming services to highlight the most buzzed-about releases of this week and ranked them from worst to best — or least to most watchable. Whether you want rocking concert films, heartwarming comedies, or juicy political thrillers, we've got you. 

7. The Manhattan Alien Abduction

Tales of alien abduction are often set in areas rural and remote, meaning there are few witnesses who might corroborate a self-proclaimed abductee's story. But, incredibly, in November of 1989, a Manhattan woman named Linda Napolitano claimed she'd been plucked right out of her apartment by a beam of light, which lifted her body into the sky and up to a spacecraft. Numerous witnesses shared accounts of seeing strange things that night, which inspired devoted UFOlogist Budd Hopkins to write the book Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions, focusing on Napolitano's abduction and her subsequent run-ins with otherworldly creatures. But was it all a hoax?

Two sides of this story face off in The Manhattan Alien Abduction. Directors Daniel Vernon and Vivienne Perry sit down with believers, including Napolitano and her son — now grown — who also claims to have had close encounters. They also give space to outspoken skeptic Carol Rainey, the late Hopkins' ex-wife who once worked closely with him as he interviewed alleged abductees. But as Rainey examined his tactics — which included hypnotism and some dubious deductions — she began to become skeptical of his evidence, and especially of the charismatic Napolitano. While life beyond Earth is all but certain, whether or not this supernatural story is true is still a matter of debate. With fresh interviews and never-before-seen footage, this three-part documentary invites audiences to play Mulder and Scully themselves. But be warned; this is not one of the better Netflix documentaries. Like too many of the streaming platform's doc series, it feels overlong, as if there was studio pressure to add filler. Ultimately, The Manhattan Alien Abduction is an easy binge-watch, but it's not a satisfying one. — Kristy Puchko, Entertainment Editor

How to watch: The Manhattan Alien Abduction is now streaming on Netflix.

6. Despicable Me 4

The Despicable Me franchise keeps chugging along. This time around, Gru (Steve Carell) must face off against supervillain Maxime Le Mal (voiced by Will Ferrell), who's busted out of prison and is hellbent on taking Gru down. The escape sends Gru and his family (including new baby, Gru Jr.) into witness protection program in a sleepy little town, but it's not long before the pressure of new identities and Gru Jr.'s hijinks get to Gru.

Despicable Me 4 is fine enough, with a rollicking heist set piece and a twist that sees the Minions getting superpowers. But after a while, the barrage of bits fades together, leaving you exhausted. Ultimately, Despicable Me 4 may be fun for the youngest of viewers to let off steam this weekend, but when it comes to 2024's animated offerings, you could certainly do better. After all, The Wild Robot and Inside Out 2 are out on digital and streaming. — B.E.

Starring: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell, Joey King, Sofia Vergara, Stephen Colbert, Chloe Fineman, Miranda Cosgrove, Steve Coogan, Pierre Coffin, Dana Gaier, Madison Polan, and Chris Renaud

How to watch: Despicable Me 4 is now streaming on Peacock.

5. Olivia Rodrigo: GUTS World Tour

If you're wondering, "Watching GUTS tonight, it's a good idea right?" the answer is a resounding "Yes!" Olivia Rodrigo continues to cement her status as a pop superstar with her concert special — and fans are in for a treat. Rodrigo invites viewers to sing along, spill their guts, and quite literally scream about their feelings, all set to a soundtrack of her biggest ballads and bangers.

GUTS classics on display include "all-american bitch," "bad idea right?," "get him back!," and "vampire." And don't worry, there are a ton of SOUR songs in the mix, including "drivers license," the hit that catapulted Rodrigo into a household name status. Plus, get ready to dance your socks off when Chappell Roan cameos for a rousing rendition of "HOT TO GO!" — B.E.

Starring: Olivia Rodrigo

How to watch: Olivia Rodrigo: GUTS World Tour is now streaming on Netflix.

4. The Diplomat Season 2

One of Netflix's most addictive political dramas of 2023 is back for Season 2, and after that finale we're ready to dive into more diplomatic tension, secret workplace romances, and Keri Russell generally kickin' ass. Created by Debora Cahn (The West Wing, Homeland), this wildly popular series returns with Russell in the lead as Kate Wyler, the U.S. ambassador to the UK amid an international crisis. In the finale, the real villain was unmasked as a very influential caller from inside the house, and an explosion left some of the main characters' fates uncertain. Who survived the blast? And how will Kate figure out who's behind it, especially when she's distracted by the dishy UK foreign secretary, Austin Dennison (David Gyasi), and the arrival of U.S. Vice President Grace Penn (Allison Janney)?* — Shannon Connellan, UK Editor

Starring: Keri Russell, Allison Janney, Rory Kinnear, David Gyasi, Rufus Sewell, Ato Essandoh, Ali Ahn, Nana Mensah, Miguel Sandoval, Michael McKean, Celia Imrie, and T'Nia Miller

How to watch: The Diplomat Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.

SEE ALSO: 'The Diplomat's Eidra and Stuart embody the practical puzzle of secret work romances 3. The Gutter

Seeking a side-splitting comedy that's perfect for a movie night with friends? We recommend audacious and hilarious new release The Gutter. This outrageous from directing brothers Isaiah Lester and Yassir Lester delivers a tale of lovable losers that's wacky, heart-warming, and will bowl you over with jaw-dropping jokes. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse's Shameik Moore stars as a bowling prodigy whose drunken mentor (The Good Place's D'Arcy Carden) hopes to roll him to victory over a vicious long-standing champion (Susan Sarandon). But between handling the pressure of the game, dubious advertisers, and psychological warfare of fame, the path to success is anything but smooth.

SEE ALSO: 'The Gutter' review: The right kind of stupid

In my review out of SXSW, I proclaimed The Gutter "absolutely hysterical," praising its proudly stupid silliness and comparing it to such comedy classics as Dumb and Dumber, Cabin Boy, and The Big Lebowski. (Some of my personal favorites!) Simply put, "The Lesters have strategically stuffed so many goofy gags and such cleverly cast comedic performers, that from the first frame to the last The Gutter is a winner." — K.P.

Starring: Shameik Moore, D'Arcy Carden, Paul Reiser, and Susan Sarandon

How to watch: The Gutter opens in theaters and on Video On Demand on Nov. 1.

2. Janet Planet

Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Annie Baker makes her directorial debut with the quietly affecting Janet Planet. The film examines the relationship between rising sixth grader Lacy (Zoe Ziegler) and her mother, the eponymous Janet (Julianne Nicholson), who are almost inseparable. Told in three acts, each named after a new friend or partner who arrives in Janet's life, Janet Planet positions Lacy as a mostly reserved observer trying to understand the intricacies of adulthood from afar.

SEE ALSO: 'Janet Planet' review: Annie Baker's mother-daughter story is a quiet marvel

The result is one of the most moving films of the year, and an impressive first directorial outing from Baker. As I wrote in my review, "Every line, every beat of Ziegler and Nicholson's performances — and yes, every silence — contributes to this thoroughly grounded, thoroughly in-the-moment portrait of Janet and Lacy's lives. This is a film that washes over you in a wave of quiet subtleties, marking a profoundly striking debut." — B.E.

Starring: Zoe Ziegler, Julianne Nicholson, Elias Koteas, Sophie Okonedo, and Will Patton

How to watch: Janet Planet hits Max Nov. 1.

1. Somebody Somewhere Season 3

Looking for a great comedy to get into? Look no further than Somebody Somewhere, which just kicked off its phenomenal third (and tragically final) season. An understated slice-of-life series that only gets better over time, Somebody Somewhere tells the story of Kansas native Sam (Bridget Everett), who's all but given up on herself in the wake of her sister's death. In Season 1, she finds new friends and a new community in Joel (Jeff Hiller) and Fred Rococo (drag legend Murray Hill). By Season 3, that community has blossomed — but Sam can't help but feel she's been left behind. Can she grow against all odds?

As I wrote in my review of Season 3, Somebody Somewhere is "a show that takes all of life's ups and downs in stride. In any other show, a big development like a successful business pitch, a disheartening trip to the doctor, or an encounter with a homophobic high school bully would cause a commotion and take up an entire episode. That's not a bad thing in itself, but Somebody Somewhere simply plays by a different set of rules, taking these developments and weaving them quietly into these characters' lives to inform their actions. It feels as true to life as TV can get, and it's an absolute gift we've gotten to experience it." — B.E.

Starring: Bridget Everett, Jeff Hiller, Mary Catherine Garrison, Tim Bagley, Murray Hill, Jennifer Mudge, Mercedes White, Meighan Gerachis, and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson

How to watch: Somebody Somewhere is now streaming on Max, with new episodes premiering Sundays at 10:30 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.

(*) denotes a blurb has been lifted or modified from a prior TV preview.

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On an unassuming morning off the Norwegian coast, millions of small fish called capelin began to gather in the ocean. Soon enough, they amassed to 23 million individuals, forming a group over 6 miles long.

Nearby predators, Atlantic cod, took notice.

Over just a few hours, marine researchers, using a sonar imaging system, observed a colossal congregation of cod consume over 10 million capelin. It was the largest predation event ever documented in the ocean.

"It’s the first time seeing predator-prey interaction on a huge scale, and it’s a coherent battle of survival," Nicholas Makris, a professor of mechanical and ocean engineering at MIT and one of the study's authors, said in an MIT statement.

SEE ALSO: A dominant shark lurks in the deep, dark ocean. Meet the sixgill.

This research from the Barents Sea was published in the peer-reviewed science journal Nature Communications Biology. The observations are from February 2014, but new techniques have illuminated the predation event by allowing scientists to clearly differentiate the cod from the capelin.

To our species, the event appears extraordinary or violent. But nature is commonly ruthless. In the dark deep sea, home to sprawling groups of animals, such natural happenings certainly impact a certain population, but don't necessarily spell doom for the greater species, like the capelin. The 2014 fish gathering, called a shoal, makes up just 0.1 percent of capelin in this ocean region.

"In our work we are seeing that natural catastrophic predation events can change the local predator prey balance in a matter of hours," Makris explained. "That’s not an issue for a healthy population with many spatially distributed population centers or ecological hotspots."

Yet, crucially, as marine ecosystems are threatened and the oceans warm relentlessly, not all populations will always be able to absorb such momentous losses.

"It’s been shown time and again that, when a population is on the verge of collapse, you will have that one last shoal. And when that last big, dense group is gone, there’s a collapse," Makris noted. "So you’ve got to know what’s there before it’s gone, because the pressures are not in their favor."

"It’s a coherent battle of survival"

Marine researchers couldn't be underwater to observe such an expansive, rapidly evolving predation event. But they used an acoustic instrument attached to the bottom of their vessel to beam sound waves into the water below. These acoustic signals, which are commonly used in ocean exploration and mapping, bounce off objects like fish, revealing what's down there. This specific instrument, called the Ocean Acoustic Waveguide Remote Sensing (OAWRS) system, captured the imagery below.

Importantly, the acoustic signals pinging off each type of fish are distinct, allowing the marine researchers to see both the congregation and predation event.

"Fish have swim bladders that resonate like bells," Makris said. "Cod have large swim bladders that have a low resonance, like a Big Ben bell, whereas capelin have tiny swim bladders that resonate like the highest notes on a piano."

Here's what you're seeing below:

- Row (i): Both species are seen spread out and randomly moving about the Barents Sea.

- Row (ii): In the early morning, both species create miles-long dense shoals.

- Row (iii): On left (a) is the surviving prey capelin; on right is the "vast engulfing cod shoal," the researchers wrote.

The acoustic maps show quickly forming and evolving shoals of both capelin and Atlantic cod. Credit: Courtesy of the researchers / MIT Two capelin fish. A fish is about the size of an anchovy. Credit: Craig F. Walker / The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Scientists estimate that the larger cod rapidly consumed over half of this giant capelin shoal, numbered at 23 million. Why might the capelin have formed such a massive, conspicuous group? Biologists suggest it allows the migrating animals to save energy as they cruise on the motion created by millions of traveling fish.

And in doing so, they attracted some 2.5 million Atlantic cod — a species commonly eaten by humans.

Such happenings below the surface are often unseen to us, but with these modern expeditions, it's growing evermore clear that Earth's seas are profoundly biodiverse and active.