Just in time for Halloween, how about baby naming inspiration straight out of Transylvania? Fictional vampires number in the thousands, from old school horror movies to modern day romances. Their names tend to marry a certain glamorous, foreign vibe with a surprisingly accessible style. After all, if you’re going to keep just one name for centuries, it’s got to be great.

Here are a dozen of the best vampire-inspired baby names for your new addition:

Adrian

Hogwarts meets Gossip Girl in the Vampire Academy series. The characters’ names range from the dramatic Vasilisa and Dimitri to girl-next-door Sydney. But plenty of are mainstream favorites with just a touch of sophistication, like handsome vampire aristocrat Adrian. The name ranks number 58 on the U.S. Social Security Administration list and is also popular internationally.

Amelie

Amelie comes from another bestselling series about the undead, The Morganville Vampires. She’s the founder of a Texas town where vampires secretly run things. As a given name, Amelie combines the appeal of popular picks like Amelia and Emily, but manages to feel fresh and different, too. Amelie ranks at number 641 in the U.S. ― but number 111 on Nameberry.

Emmett

Emmett has been one of the undead Cullen brothers in Twilight, as well as an unlikely hero in “The LEGO Movie.” Both contributed to the name’s rise in recent years, reaching number 139 in the U.S. Other gorgeous names from Stephenie Meyer’s series include Esme, Rosalie, Jasper, and Embry.

Bianca

The Dresden Files tells of a wizard-turned-private detective, who tangles with powerful vampire Bianca. Shakespeare used the romance language spin on Blanche not once, but twice. Today it stands at number 379 in the U.S., an alternative to more popular picks like Arianna and Gabriella.

Ivy

My Sister the Vampire takes young readers to an ordinary town, where twin sisters Olivia and Ivy are re-united for the first time since infancy. They have so much in common ― except Ivy is a vampire. That sharp ‘v’ sound and Beyonce’s Blue Ivy have boosted this eco-vintage baby name to number 129 in the U.S., and number 40 on Nameberry.

Louis

Ages before Twilight, Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire re-ignited the genre. Louis is 200 years young when he relays his life story to a reporter. Traditional Louis works for an eighteenth century New Orleans gentleman, but remains every bit as wearable today. Louis ranks number 297 in the U.S., but makes it into Nameberry’s top 100.

Mavis

Take Mabel and Ava and Frances, smoosh ‘em together, and you’ll have Mavis. Mavis is the adorable animated vampire at the heart of the “Hotel Transylvania” movies. Selena Gomez voices Dracula’s daughter, who falls in love with a human. Mavis ranks just outside the U.S. top 1000, but makes it all the way to number 152 on Nameberry.

Stefan

The Vampire Diaries is all about undead brothers Stefan and Damon, and the woman they both love, Elena. The novels inspired a long-running CW series by the same name. Stefan is used in German, Scandinavian, and Slavic languages as a form of Stephen. It feels fresher and more accessible than Steve, though it ranks just number 800 in the U.S.

Selene

Kate Beckinsdale has starred in four films in the “Underworld” series, with two more in the works. She plays warrior vampire Selene, set on revenge against the werewolves. In Greek myth, Selene is a moon goddess. With Luna so stylish, perhaps tailored, ancient Selene will rise again.

Silas

Namer extraordinaire Neil Gaiman wrote The Graveyard Book, a tale of an orphaned toddler raised in a cemetery, and the vampire caretaker, called Silas. The fashionable name makes the Nameberry top 10 list, and ranks number 129 in the U.S. Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel named their son Silas in 2015.

Sophie-Anne

Sweet Sophie-Anne can sound Southern or French. In a way, it’s both. In the Southern Vampire Mysteries, the inspiration for HBO’s “True Blood,” Sophie-Anne is the 500-year old Vampire Queen of Louisiana. The name might be just different enough from chart-topping Sophia/Sofia to make it distinctive.

Verona

Bram Stoker declined to name Dracula’s brides in his 1897 novel. But we’ve been naming them ever since. In 2004’s “Van Helsing,” starring Hugh Jackman, the brides were named Aleera, Marishka, and Verona. The Italian city brings to mind Shakespeare’s plays, and could fit right in with Savannah and Sienna.

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When Twitter announced Thursday that it was shutting down its video service Vine, the news sent a good many people into a state of shock, sadness and fury. 

While some celebrated the app by remembering the best Vines ever made, others praised Vine for the way it’s helped amplify the voices of countless marginalized people. In particular, many folks on Twitter noted how the end of Vine marks a severe blow to the creators of color who helped make the service what it was. 

Vine, which allowed users to make six-second video loops, was beloved by people everywhere ― but it held a particular importance for black people, who were among its most active users. The app, which was purchased by Twitter in 2014 and has an average of 200 million active monthly users, was dominated by millennials, many of them African-American. Users like King Bach and Alphacat and young funny women like Simone Shepherd are among the most popular black Viners, and the app gave them a reach that took their careers to a whole other level.

Over the years, Vine grew into a sensational display of often startlingly funny videos. Black creators, who remain underrepresented in the entertainment industry, used the platform to show each other, and the world, just how many forms black creativity and black excellence could assume. Through humor and joy, Vine allowed users to redefine blackness on their own terms and through their own reflections; it allowed them to show off sides of the black experience that don’t usually make it to air on national TV.

And when black people needed the world to see scenes of violence and injustice, Vine was there to help, serving as an invaluable communication tool during Black Lives Matter protests over the unjust killings of black men and women. Deray Mckesson, one of the movement’s more prominent activists, credited Vine this week for allowing him to share his experiences during the 2014 protests in Ferguson, Missouri.

Chaz Smith, a widely popular black Viner and a former Huffington Post video host, said he appreciated the app for the way it let users broadcast silliness as well as seriousness to the world.

“Vine was the perfect platform for making light of and finding humor in some very serious topics and situations affecting the black community in a very short amount of time, and that will definitely be missed,” he told HuffPost. 

However, Smith says other social media platforms, like YouTube and Instagram, also provide a space for the same influencers who thrived on Vine to share their work and expand their reach. “I believe that the transition to those platforms will be very smooth for many,” he said. 

Still, there was something about Vine that served as both an escape from and a response to the hostilities and dangers that people of color face every day. The contrast was especially clear when looking at some of the content that circulates on other social networks ― including Vine’s parent company, Twitter, which is letting users down with its haphazard approach to the ongoing problems of harassment, threats and hate speech.

This, among other things, is what makes the news about Vine’s fate so sad to hear. Twitter, whose executive board is majority white, didn’t give any particular reason for discontinuing the app, but some have speculated it’s because Vine faced monetization issues. 

To be fair, in the 10 years it has existed, Twitter has helped African-Americans to share their own stories and to have a greater voice in the national dialogue. In many ways, this is what has allowed Black Twitter to reclaim the black narrative by ensuring that it is told by those who know it best. 

Vine was like this in many of the same ways. It became a space where black users helped to craft a cultural force that changed the way people created and consumed video content. Hannah Giorgis, a black journalist who now works at BuzzFeed, once wrote in The Guardian: 

If the most static characteristic of the internet itself is its malleability and Vine steers the influence engine that is social media, then the power of its trend-setting black users is particularly prescient. Black Viners have birthed countless memes and accompanying sociolinguistic phenomena, from “or nah” to “hoe don’t do it” to “do it for the vine”.

Black Vine is unique in form, but it inherits the legacy of the analog black creative expression that predates it. Black cultural production – from art to music to dance – has always set trends and predicted the nation’s creative landscape, regardless of medium.

Vine has boosted ― and, in some cases, made possible ― the careers of black creators who only needed a way to show the world their skills. And while there are other platforms that offer similar possibilities, Vine was made up of a vibrant community, mostly consisting of people of color, that helped to define its greatness. 

As journalist Goldie Taylor pointed out on Twitter Thursday, “Who you gone do it for, it you cain’t do it for the Vine?”

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When Debbie Gibson was singing and performing during the early part of her career in the ‘80s and ‘90s, she had a pristine reputation. But now, she says, it’s time for her to get off her “high horse” and speak the truth.

As Gibson tells “Oprah: Where Are They Now?” in an upcoming interview, she wasn’t the drug-avoiding “good girl” that everyone thinks she was. “I remember being on the road at, like, 25, touring with theater and doing my own cocktail of Tylenol PM and Xanax,” she says.

Drug use in the industry as a whole, Gibson asserts, is a function of the job for many entertainers. “Performers use prescription medications to get through their careers and their lives ― to get a good night’s sleep and to get that body on the stage because they have to deliver,” she says. “It’s a really serious problem.”

Using drugs to manage or enhance a performance is often an issue associated with athletes, but Gibson believes it is rampant in entertainment as well, particularly in the theater community. 

“It’s as prevalent or more prevalent, maybe, than it is with athletes,” she says. “They should rescind so many Tony Awards because half of Broadway is on prednisone! It’s the truth!”

Though the prescription drug prednisone is typically used to treat inflammation, Gibson says performers often chose it for other reasons, despite any side effects.

“It makes you sing higher and it makes you have more energy,” Gibson says. “It then gives you this terrible emotional fall-out afterwards and it crashes your immune system. It’s horrible.”

Gibson opens up more about her health and career on Saturday’s “Oprah: Where Are They Now,” airing Oct. 29 at 10 p.m. ET on OWN.

Another entertainer speaks out:

Aaron Carter on dangerously self-medicating to treat his depression 

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American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature earlier this month, has now told the Swedish Academy that he will accept the prize.

The notoriously media-shy Dylan had not made any comment on the $900,000 prize, despite repeated attempts by award-givers the Swedish Academy to contact him since it named him as the winner on Oct. 13.

The Nobel Foundation said in a statement that Dylan this week told Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, that he now accepts the prize.

The committee that awarded the Nobel Prize to Dylan had said it was up to him whether to attend the prize-giving ceremony later this year or not.

“It has not yet been decided if Bob Dylan will attend any events during the Nobel Week in Stockholm in December,” the Nobel Foundation said on Friday.

“The Nobel Foundation will share information as soon as it is available.”

Separately, Dylan told British daily the Telegraph in an interview that he will be at Nobel Prize ceremony, if he can.

(Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru)

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Bryan Cranston has led a varied life.

The “Breaking Bad” star talked about the scary time he was a real-life murder suspect earlier this month.

And this week, Cranston revealed he became a minister and married a couple in an airplane that was flying over the Hollywood sign.

“It’s a twin-engine prop plane, and I have to scream,” the actor said in footage aired on “The Graham Norton Show” in the United Kingdom on Friday night.

He went on to describe the unusual nuptials which took place in the 1970s in hilarious detail, before likening the bizarre experience to “an acting exercise.”

The incident is one of many bizarre anecdotes featured in his new book, A Life in Parts, where he also recounts an uncomfortable meeting with legendary movie director Alfred Hitchcock.

Check it out in the clip above.

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“Hamilton” is a ground-breaking musical for many reasons. Beyond its score and story and performances, though ― all of which are fervently praised, and rightly so ― there’s a simple reason the hype behind this generation’s biggest theatrical moment is deserved: representation matters.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s retelling of America’s revolutionary history allows for young Black, Latinx, and Asian-American students to see themselves in the figures responsible for our country’s birth. Instead of casting white actors in the roles of Alexander Hamilton, Angelica Schuyler, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr ― all characters based on very real people from America’s past ― Miranda opted to cast men and women of color as the movers and shakers of U.S. history. 

Why? Because instead of tying his production to some ideal of historical accuracy, he’s chosen to underscore how universal the greatest attributes of our Founding Fathers are. He’s chosen to reflect on the ever-changing identity of America by filtering the past through the present, by telling our familiar tales of determination and resolve through bodies and faces that more faithfully represent the population of America today. And in the process, he’s not only made a space for actors not typically represented on Broadway, but he’s also shown Broadway’s youngest fans that history can be made by them, too.

Seeing the musical is the best way to grasp this purposeful sentiment. But, if you can’t get your hands on a ticket, perhaps glancing upon Josh Lehrer’s portraits are second best. His old-timey photos, on view at the Public Theater in New York City, were taken with an antique camera lens from the mid-1800s, the kind used shortly after Alexander Hamilton’s lifetime. And they perfectly capture the impact of “Hamilton: An American Musical.”

Behold, this is what American history looks like to kid fans of “Hamilton,” many of whom are learning to look at the past in a whole new way thanks to the #EduHam program in schools around the country:

You can see more of Lehrer’s “Hamilton” portraits over on his website. The exhibition “MY SHOT: Portraits From Hamilton,” featuring his photos of the original cast members, is on view in the Levin Mezzanine at The Public Theater through Sunday, December 18, 2016. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

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The latest of Hogarth’s retellings of Shakespearean plays by eminent authors is a match made in dystopian heaven. (If such a thing could exist.)

Margaret Atwood, the author behind great ecological speculative fiction like the chilling MaddAddam trilogy, meets William Shakespeare’s most climate-obsessed drama: “The Tempest.”

Not, of course, that Atwood goes with the obvious, stormy angle.

Instead, Hag-Seed leans into the elements of theatricality, imprisonment and deception within “The Tempest,” telling the story of Felix, a once-ambitious artistic director who’s been living in grim isolation since his righthand man stabbed him in the back and took over the Makeshiweg Theatre Festival in his place. His over-the-top production of “The Tempest,” in which he was to play Prospero, was canceled. Humiliated, he retreats from society. Alone in a tiny hut, he mourns his lost little girl, Miranda, who died not long before he was ousted from his position, and he plots his revenge on his replacement, Tony Price.

After years in virtual exile, Felix takes a position under an assumed name teaching theater at a prison. He has the Fletcher Correctional Players take on macho, violent selections from Shakespeare ― “Julius Caesar,” “Macbeth” ― and as the seasons pass, he wins the trust of the inmates he teaches, the prison officials, and Estelle, the local professor who instituted the program.

Just as he planned.

Seriously, he has a devious plan to use his position teaching drama at a correctional facility to get back at Tony and Sal O’Nally, once the Heritage Minister who’d helped Tony clamber over Felix’s back. The two, both Cabinet ministers now, plan to attend the fourth year program performance ― the perfect opportunity for Felix to finally stage his “Tempest” and exact his baroque revenge, which will involve drugging the ministers during the show.

If this all sounds a little farfetched, implausible, and unnecessarily complicated, that’s because it is. How could it not be? “The Tempest” itself features multiple shipwrecks of convenience, a wizard who commands island spirits, and a passionate love affair between the only two young people in sight. Atwood’s formidable skill as a wordsmith and storyteller makes Hag-Seed an engrossing tale, and a true update to “The Tempest,” but it’s too knotted up in its vengeful minutiae to stand as a distinctly worthwhile novel on its own merits.

Felix, the novel’s Prospero, is a study worth poring over, all the same. Ever sharp in her observation, Atwood prods at her hero’s ridiculousness ― his puffed-up certainty that Estelle is nursing a crush on him, even as he spends most days on sponge baths, nibbling on crackers at dinner time; his obsession with Googling men who wronged him over a decade ago.

She neatly skewers his self-satisfied pride in helping the inmates, whom, it turns out, he’s actually exploiting to his own selfish ends. The ingenuity and poetic license shown by some of his students, she suggests, is more meaningful than Felix’s own gifts, though he turns them to his own advantage. At one point, a cast member comes up with a rap interlude for Antonio, Prospero’s evil brother; Felix has to squash envy that his own students might outshine him during the production.

Oddly, the hip-hop verses of the inmates’ Antonio and, later, the imprisoned creature Caliban, leave a bit of the same uncomfortable taste they have in the world of the play ― the work and talent of the marginalized students is used as window dressing for the story of the aggrieved white man, Felix, who maintains credit and control. What would a novel look like that flipped the script, rather than simply ruffled it? Giving someone’s narrative other than Prospero’s centrality might just be the start.

The Bottom Line:

Margaret Atwood’s retelling of “The Tempest,” Hag-Seed, leans into the elements of theatricality and deception within the play.

What other reviewers think:

The New York Times: “The novel to this point is a marvel of gorgeous yet economical prose, in the service of a story that’s utterly heartbreaking yet pierced by humor, with a plot that retains considerable subtlety even as the original’s back story falls neatly into place. But the prison production of ‘The Tempest’ leads to some of the book’s clunkiest elements.”

The Guardian: “There is so much exuberance and heart and wonder in this novel that the only thing I want to happen next is for Atwood to rewrite the whole of Shakespeare. (No offence, Will.)”

Who wrote it?

Margaret Atwood is the acclaimed author of modern classics such as The Handmaid’s Tale and The Blind Assassin. Her most recent novel was The Heart Goes Last. 

Who will read it?

Fans of the Bard, fans of Atwood, and fans of revenge.  

Opening lines:

“Felix brushes his teeth. Then he brushes his other teeth, the false ones, and slides them into his mouth. Despite the layer of pink adhesive he’s applied, they don’t fit very well; perhaps his mouth is shrinking. He smiles: the illusion of a smile. Pretense, faker, but who’s to know?”

Notable passage:

“On their final ‘Hah!’ they all look at Felix. He knows that look. Love me, don’t reject me, say I’m in!

‘What d’you think?’ SnakeEye asks. He’s gone all out on the prancing, he’s breathing hard.

‘It has something,’ says Felix, who in fact would like to throttle him. Scene-stealer! But he tamps down on that emotion: it’s their show, he scolds himself.”

Hag-Seed
By Margaret Atwood
Hogarth, $25.00
Published October 6, 2016 

The Bottom Line is a weekly review combining plot description and analysis with fun tidbits about the book.

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We’ve never given up hope for a sequel to “Hocus Pocus,” the 1993 Halloween favorite starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy. 

Until “Hocus Pocus 2” materializes, we’ll just have to make do with inspired homages to the cult classic  ― including this adorable tribute, starring a cast of senior citizens.

The clip stars a cast of performers from Tuesdays With Matthew, a Los Angeles-based volunteer program for senior citizens. Together, they transport viewers to Salem, Massachusetts for the hilarious hijinks fans will remember from the film.

On Tuesday, the redux even caught the eye of Najimy, who tweeted her enthusiastic support. 

Led by director-founder Matthew Hoffman, Tuesdays With Matthew participants have tackled other scenes from hit films, including “Titanic” and “The Notebook,” among others. Last year, they put their signature spin on “Brokeback Mountain” in honor of the gay cowboy drama’s 10th anniversary. 

“The goal of Tuesdays is to prove that old is the new young and sometimes the last act is the best,” Hoffman, who is also a television host, told The Huffington Post last year.     

Well, if this doesn't put you in a perfectly spooktacular mood, we don't know what will! 

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COLUMBUS, Ohio ― Vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine thinks Bob Dylan absolutely, 100 percent deserved to win the Nobel Prize in literature. He has no doubts or second guesses about it. It’s really not worth debating. 

“Oh, yeah, oh completely. Absolutely. I’m so in the tank for this. I think this is great,” Kaine told The Huffington Post in an interview Thursday here at the Land-Grant Brewing Company, in what was easily his most enthusiastic answer of the sit-down interview. 

Kaine, aka America’s dad, is a huge Dylan fan. He’s even performed Dylan songs on his harmonica. 

Kaine, in short, is a Dylan groupie. The fact that the Nobel Committee couldn’t reach Dylan ― a controversial choice for the honor ― to give him his award simply added to the allure.

“It’s weird,” the Democratic senator from Virginia admitted. “But isn’t that part of why Bob Dylan won the prize, and why we like him? ... I mean, he’s not Robert Zimmerman, he’s Bob Dylan.”

Between the interview and the publishing of this piece, Dylan finally broke his silence on winning the award, telling The Telegraph that he would try to attend the awards ceremony in Stockholm.

Watch The Huffington Post’s full interview with Kaine. 

Video produced by: 

Senior producer: Sharaf Mowjood; Producer: Omar Kasrawi; Editor: Adriane Giebel; Director of photography: Chelsea Moynehan; Cameras: Dan Fox, Shane Handler; Audio: Mike Caravella.

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Intricately detailed and larger than life, stunning murals line the streets of Glasgow, Scotland, attracting spectators from near and far.

The port city’s Mural Trail connects more than a dozen featured pieces of artwork, which rejuvenate tired buildings and draw in widespread admiration. The diverse works range in style from quirky to poignant.

The city encourages local artists to contribute to the growing project, which has continued to expand with permanent and temporary installations since the first mural went up in 2008. About seven years later, Glasgow established the walking trail to link works of art within walking distance near the city center. 

Project organizer Jane Laiolo said the purpose of the mural trail is to “brighten up drab and dark areas” in the city. “We want to provide an opportunity for artists to showcase their talents across the city in prominent locations.”

Take a look at some of our favorites below:

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New York City’s Metropolitan Opera was evacuated Saturday after an audience member sprinkled an unidentified powder into the orchestra pit during the second intermission of a performance of “Guillaume Tell.”

The Met said on its Facebook page that it had canceled the evening performance of “L’Italiana in Algeri” while police investigate the incident.

There were no reports of any injuries or any harmful reaction to the unidentified substance, though the theater was evacuated, and the New York Police Department dispatched a special unit to investigate the incident, Officer Tiffany Phillips said.

The suspect, a man who was not identified, had fled the scene, and no arrests have been made, Phillips said.

Police were still examining the powder to determine whether it was harmful or inert, she said.

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Playing pumpkins makes this YouTuber feel good!

Dan Newbie put a Halloween twist on the “Ghostbusters” theme song in his new video uploaded Wednesday. 

He magically transforms the pumpkins into musical instruments, which he then “plays” alongside an assortment of other devices. 

The edited result? It’s simply spooktacular!

Check it out in the clip above, and see how it compares to the original below:

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A new picture book is creating space in the world of children’s literature for South Asian kids who don’t ascribe to traditional notions of gender expression.

The Boy & The Bindi tells the story of a young boy who becomes fascinated with his mother’s bindi ― a dot worn by South Asian women on their foreheads that has religious and marital roots, but is commonly worn as an accessory.

Author Vivek Sharya told The Huffington Post that while there is a growing market for books that feature the lives and stories of gender-creative kids, few of these cater to the experiences of brown children. She wanted to use the bindi to complicate and explore notions of gender expression among South Asian children.

“A few years ago, when I started wearing a bindi in public, I noted the ways it would elicit staring. I found it bizarre and fascinating that even a dot on a forehead is gendered and consequently discomforting when worn by someone who is seemingly the wrong gender,” Sharya told The Hiuffington Post. “I was excited about writing a story that not only pushed against this discomfort but that also featured a supportive parent... it has been my experience that being brown has room for queerness in ways that Western culture does not.”

Sharya went on to tell The Huffington Post that, more than anything, she hopes gender creative children will see themselves and their identities reflected in the pages of The Boy & The Bindi and that the book encourages all children to “treasure and celebrate their own symbols and feelings of difference.”

Want more information about The Boy & The Bindi? Head here to visit Sharya’s website and check out some other images from the book below.

The Boy & The Bindi is illustrated by Rajni Perera

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Amber Rose is not OK with presidential candidate Donald Trump saying he grabs women by the pussy ― because she knows what it’s like to be groped without her consent.

In an Oct. 28 interview with Yahoo! Style, the model and feminist activist discussed Trump’s many misogynistic comments the recent sexual assault allegations against him. 

“I want him to get in trouble for it because I cannot even count how many times a famous guy touched me inappropriately,” Rose told Yahoo’s Joe Zee. 

It’s unfortunately no surprise that many people don’t believe women when they come forward with these stories, Rose said, adding that women tend to just “get over it” because there’s no other option.

She told Zee:

Seriously. Imagine this: Donald Trump comes and touches me inappropriately, right? I’m a regular ass girl. Do I call 911? Do I get on Twitter and tweet about it? How should I go about letting people know that this guy did it to me and who’s actually going to believe me, you know what I’m saying? You just try to get over it, and it happens to so many women.

Rose said that the whole reason she created her SlutWalk, a feminist event where people of all genders walk against slut shaming, is to create a safe space for women to discuss their sexuality and sexual experiences. 

“People not understanding that women are sexual beings as well is the reason why I refer to myself as a slut,” she said. “It really just takes away the pain, takes away the bullying that we deal with as women.”

Watch the full Yahoo! Style interview below. 

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Journalist Maria Hinojosa knows that words matter, particularly when politicians and their advisors are discussing human beings.

During a Saturday morning appearance on MSNBC’s “AM Joy,” the anchor and executive producer for NPR’s Latino USA  schooled Steve Cortes, a member of Trump’s National Hispanic Advisory Council, after he used the term “illegals” in a conversation about immigration reform. 

Hinojosa first explained that “illegals” is “not a noun.” But when Cortes responded that he’d use it as an adjective instead by saying “illegal immigrant,” the Latina journalist told him that wasn’t a viable option either. 

“What you can do is that you can say it is an immigrant living illegally or an immigrant living without papers or without documents in this country,” she told Cortes. “But what you cannot do is to label the person illegal.

She then went on to invoke the memory of late Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel to break down why referring to a human being as “illegal” is so dangerous.

“The reason why I say this, is not because I learned it from some radical Latino or Latina studies professor when I was a college student,” she continued. “I learned it from Elie Wiesel, who survived the Holocaust, who said, “you know what? The first thing they did was that they declared the Jews to be an illegal people.” And that’s what we’re talking about at this point.”

Hinojosa invokes the memory of Wiesel once before when discussing the use of “illegals” in politics during a 2012 interview on MSNBC’s Chris Hayes. During a conversation with Hayes and activist Jose Antonio Vargas, she shared a conversation she had with the Nobel Prize-winning author on the topic. 

“He said, ‘María, don’t ever use the term ‘illegal immigrant,’” she recalled. “And I said, ‘Why?’ And he said, ‘Because once you label a people ‘illegal,’ that is exactly what the Nazis did to Jews.’ You do not label a people ‘illegal.’ They have committed an illegal act... But they are not an illegal people.”

Watch the moment when Hinojosa schooled Cortes in the video above. 

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The argument that we no longer need historically black colleges and universities is beyond tired and played out. 

For decades, those with little-to-no knowledge about these institutions have received misinformation thanks to stereotypes. Most recently, for instance, Wendy Williams got schooled by Roland Martin (and apologized) for calling HBCUs offensive to white students. 

It’s been said that colleges like Hampton University, Spelman College and North Carolina A&T promote racism (no), provide an inadequate education (still no), aren’t diverse (nope) and other fallacies for years. 

The only way to correct misinformation is with receipts. With the help of Howard University professor and historian Edna Medford, we’re here to clear up some of the most egregious misconceptions. Grab a pen and take notes because class is in session. 

1. HBCUs are racist.

To call the existence of HBCUs racist is to ignore the foundation on which they were built. Black people have long faced barriers to acquiring an education. Medford explained that HBCUs were therefore built to combat racist laws that disenfranchised black students. 

“I think what we need to remember is that HBCUs were there for people of color when we were not wanted in predominantly white institutions. When we were denied access to those institutions, HBCUs were here for use,” Medford told The Huffington Post. “So education means so much to us and higher education becomes significant because we understand that we’re not going to be able to enter the mainstream society unless we can compete on that level.”

Medford also pointed out that just because these schools are predominantly black doesn’t mean they promote segregation. These institutions have never in their nearly 180 years of existence said that only black people are allowed to attend black colleges, she said.

In fact, HBCU students have worked tirelessly to end segregation and racism. For instance, Thurgood Marshall studied under Charles Hamilton Houston at Howard School of Law. He later became a Supreme Court Justice and faved the way for the landmark ruling of “separate but equal” in the 1954 case, Brown v. Board of Education. 

2. HBCUs offer an inadequate education. 

The abundance of black excellence at HBCUs isn’t by coincidence. For the first time in many of these students’ lives, they see a reflection of themselves in textbooks that goes beyond just civil rights. To mistake a curriculum that focuses on black history and culture as inadequate is a notion rooted in white supremacy.

“It doesn’t mean that we ignore the larger education, it’s just that we make a point of incorporating ourselves as well,” Medford said. “So we’re no longer at the periphery. And I think that is so important to training young minds because if we don’t know who we are, how are we going to go out into the world and really make a difference. I think HBCUs do that better than any other place.”

3. HBCUs don’t prepare you for post-grad life.

A 2015 Gallup-USA Funds Minority College Graduates Report found that black HBCU graduates are more likely to say they felt prepared for life after college than black graduates at non-HBCUs. The report also found that HBCU graduates are also most likely to have strong relationships, enjoy what they do each day for work, and they are more goal-oriented.

HBCU graduates are also making major nationwide and global contributions. These schools are producing more black people who earn their doctorate degrees in STEM than non-HBCUs, according to the American Institutes for Research. HBCU graduates also dominate other fields like art and entertainment (Phylicia Rashad), politics (Rev. Jesse Jackson) and more (Oprah Winfrey).

Medford, who graduated from Hampton University, said that the mentoring and nurturing students receive at these schools is a factor that sets HBCUs apart from predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Aside from preparing them to thrive in their career, students at black colleges learn how to navigate racial microaggressions they’ll face and empower them to make a difference.

“I think that what HBCUs do is they don’t just attempt to educate the student for the workplace or for the career, they also have a mission that ties into the idea that these students are responsible for giving back,” Medford told HuffPost. “Now, perhaps you can get that at other institutions as well but... there’s a special sense of mission here.”

4. HBCUs aren’t diverse.

In recent years, HBCUs have seen an increase of non-black students. Students come from all over the world to attend some of these schools. 

Howard University in Washington, D.C. is among the most diverse black colleges, with students from nearly each state and more than 70 countries around the world. Some international students at schools like Howard come from the diaspora while others are from countries like Russia, Nepal, China, Saudi Arabia and other non-African countries.

While most HBCUs remain predominantly black, some schools ― such as Lincoln University of Missouri, West Virginia State University and Bluefield State College ― have a majority white population.

5. HBCUs are irrelevant.

One of the most asked questions about HBCUs (right under if Hillman College is a real university) is if they are still relevant.

The answer has always been yes.

The more than 100 HBCUs are vital and still serving their purpose in creating a necessary and safe space in which black intellectuals can talk freely about the issues they care about.

Medford said that HBCUs help teach black people who we are, especially in a world that constantly tells us otherwise.

“It’s not just about teaching our children the relevance of those institutions, but it’s using those institutions to teach our children that they are relevant that their lives have meaning that they have a history, that they have a culture they can be proud of.”

Medford said when she attended PWIs for graduate school, she was often questioned about whether or not she was “good enough.” But during her time at Hampton, that was never the question. She said she was expected to do well and if she didn’t, her professors would make sure she got the tools she needed. Medford said this is a universal theme among HBCUs.

“If you don’t know who you are and you cannot appreciate who you are and what your people have accomplished then you’re not going to be able to move forward,” Medford said. “It’s unbelievable that that happened [to me] and I know that was many years ago, still that attitude is there. So that’s why HBCUs are still, not just relevant, but absolutely necessary.” 

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Glow, baby, glow.

Redditor Vito Polizzi just brushed away all competition for costumes this year with his Vincent van Gogh getup.

The damn thing GLOWS under a black light. Reddit is referring to the already iconic costume as “Vincent van Glow.”

Polizzi, a 34-year-old recording artist from the Metro Detroit area, has played around with makeup in the past (he went as Beetlejuice last Halloween), and thought it would a cool idea to dress up as van Gogh since he’s been told he resembles the famous painter. 

“It was one of those light bulb moments,” he told The Huffington Post.

The entire costume took only a couple of hours to make, despite the intricacy.

Polizzi said he had a concert at 7 p.m. on Saturday and started putting the whole thing together “around noon.” He said he spent about two hours painting the jacket. 

When asked how he could outdo this costume next year, Polizzi said “it’ll be tough to top, but that won’t stop [him] from trying.”

He added, “However, if future Halloween costumes don’t get media attention now, I’ll probably feel like a failure.”

We have a feeling you won’t have a problem thinking of something clever, Vito. Happy Halloween!

(H/T Mashable)

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For this family, dressing up in costumes is a great way to bond with the many animals in their care.

Pennsylvania mom and photographer Lindsey Bonnice captures her children’s dress-up adventures with their animal friends for an Instagram series she calls #SweetFluffDressUp. 

Bonnice has two sons, 8-year-old Noah and 7-month-old Finn, and one daughter, 3-year-old Libby. The family also has two dogs, four cats, two pigs, a hamster and a tortoise. Their small farm in rural Pennsylvania includes two goats, a sheep, bunnies and chickens as well. 

“The kids all love the animals,” Bonnice told The Huffington Post. “Noah is old enough to be really helpful with them, so he is my big helper with all the animal chores.”

“Libby thinks she’s every animal’s mother,” she added. “She loves to carry them around, talk to them and cuddle up with them. Finn is so fascinated by all the animals. He loves watching them all and now that he can crawl he crawls up to them and tries to pet them. It’s so sweet!”

This month, the kids have dressed up both in animal costumes to match their pets, and costumes that coordinate with the animals. The result is sheer, unadulterated cuteness. 

“These pictures make me laugh every time I look at them,” said Bonnice of the costume photos. “I know they aren’t perfect and were all crazy and exhausting to photograph, but they make me so happy. I hope others will enjoy sharing them with their friends and laughing at the thought of how funny they were to create!” she added.

Keep scrolling to see more of Bonnice’s family costumes. 

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A Virginia artist is making thousands of dollars not just by using his head, but using the skulls of others.

Zane Wylie carves intricate designs on to real human skulls he has obtained legally, usually online.

He sells them online at RealHumanSkull.com for as much as $8,000 each.

The bone-carving business has its roots in Wylie’s childhood. He was fascinated by skulls, especially the flaming one of the Marvel character Ghost Rider.

Later on, he saw the online popularity of bones and bone carvings, and he decided to take a stab at it himself, according to Vocativ.com.  

Wylie first practiced on deer and goat skulls before setting his files to human bone.

“I wish I would have clocked how many hours it took me [to carve] the first one,” he told Vocativ.com. “And it wasn’t just because the equipment that I had wasn’t the best. It was because I was just so paranoid about doing something wrong and disrespecting what I was carving.”

Wylie has dozens of skulls waiting for carving, which is good since EBay banned the sale of human remains in July.

Previously, the auction site allowed the sale of human bones as long as the remains were clean, articulated, and for medical purposes.

According to the FAQ page on Wylie’s website, he legally purchases the skulls he carves from multiple sources including SkullsUnlimited.com, as well as archeologists and businesses that sell to medical schools.

For people willing to use their own noggin, Wylie also says you can will your skull to him for future carving ― if you pay him a $950 non-refundable deposit first.

Wylie discusses his work in the video above and says there’s one question he asks himself before he starts carving a design.

“I think, ‘Would I find this disrespectful if this was carved on my skull?’”

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Three-year-old twins, Elli and Max, love to wear costumes all year long, but this October, they got to do it every single day. 

For their “31 Days of Halloween,” the toddlers dressed up as their favorite Disney heroes, as well as characters from other pop culture universes. The twins’ mom, Jillian Robinson-Garcia, told The Huffington Post she tries to make dressing up a fun adventure for the kids.

”It’s not just put on a costume and smile,” she explained. “We have theme days. We make up games to go with that day’s costume. We watch YouTube videos of the characters and pretend we are them in our living room.”

Robinson-Garcia said the costumes are a combination of secondhand purchases, DIY creations and gifts from their grandma. 

The daily costumes project has been a positive experience for the twins in many ways.

“They have been potty trained for some time, but Max was experiencing what his pediatrician called ‘regression,’” their mom told HuffPost. Following the doctor’s advice to focus on positives, Robinson-Garcia offered costumes as a reward.

“When he had an accident, we took off the costumes and washed them,” she explained. “That was it for costumes that day.” With the incentive to stay in his costumes, Max soon returned to fully potty-trained status and wore costumes all day. 

Robinson-Garcia said she wants her kids’ dress-up adventures to inspire others. 

“I hope parents who see the photos show their kiddos and are inspired to whip up something to get their imaginations going,” she explained. 

The “31 Days of Halloween” project has gone over so well that the mom is planning to do a “24 Days of Being Thankful” activity in November and “25 Days of Giving” in December. 

Until then, keep scrolling and visit Robinson-Garcia’s Instagram for some awesome Halloween costumes

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