In honor of Halloween, we asked photographer Brad Walsh to concoct a totally frightful photo shoot. Aiming to please, Mr. Walsh enlisted a few of his friends for a living dead spread.

See the horrific results, after the jump.

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Looking for a positively frightful Halloween costume? Perhaps Part Two of The 20 Most Frightful Anti-Gay Activists can be of assistance…

Be warned, however, these folks aren't for the faint of heart…

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It's rare to find a gay movie as touching, realistic and - most importantly - funny as Ash Christian's debut, Fat Girls. In celebration of the movie's official New York release this Friday, our vacationing editor sat down with the twenty-two year old Texas-born filmmaker for a homo heart-to-heart.

Read what Christian has to say about his first flick, growing up "fat" and why his father thinks he's going to hell. After the jump, of course…

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Artist Michael Bilsborough's delicate, yet violent drawings definitely leave a mark. Our editor exchanged a few words with the California-born, New York-based dynamo. Read the results and see some new pieces, after the jump!

And, of course, be sure to check out Bilsborough's website.

If your boss objects to drawings of boozing, purging and illustrated sex, consider this feature NSFW.

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Sex scandals certainly aren't anything new. Politicians and public figures have been canoodling since the beginning of time. The frequency and potency of sex scandals, however, seems to be on the rise.

No surprise, then, that it only took Joseph Minton Amann and Tom Breuer about six months to write The Brotherhood of the Disappearing Pants: A Field Guide To Conservative Sex Scandals. Why just conservative sex scandals? Says Amann, "Liberal scandals aren't as fun. And, honestly, it doesn't look like there are as many."

In Disappearing Pants, Amann and Breuer - who previously wrote Fair and Balanced My Ass, about Fox News - skewer the most repugnant, disgraceful and ultimately hilarious of the conservative sex scandals. As the publication date rapidly approaches, we'd like to share a conversation between our editor and Amann.

Lap it up, after the jump…

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Dan Savage seems to have it all: looks, brains, a steady income. Underneath his boyish, sly smile, however, Mr. Savage suppresses a deep, paralyzing fear. What does Savage have to fear, you may ask? Well, plenty.

First and foremost, politics are frightening, something he's learned during his career and various editorial positions at The Stranger. So, sex's - a subject of which Savage has written extensively on in his syndicated column, "Savage Love". Desert islands are particularly horrific, especially when the escape hinges on unthinkable sexual acts. What else frightens Savage? Pictures of your oozing penis, so stop sending them.

How do we know all of this? We asked him. Read what Savage has to say about totally frightful things like Larry Craig, sexual hypocrisy and the aforementioned oozing penis.

After the jump, of course…

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There are some righteous looking gals at the Family Research Council Values-sponsored Voters summit. We're particularly fond of the woman who's second from the right. Love those swooping bangs. We can't tell for sure, but the woman on the end looks like frightful Madeline Crabb. Unless, of course, Mad Crabb's started some sort of regressive fashion trend, which would make sense considering she and her colleagues live in a time warp.

People For The American way have some actual photos from the summit, including some anti-hate crime propaganda and Ronald Reagan idolatry. Again: time warp.

Human Rights Campaign's Joe Solmonese asked for some space to reply to yesterday's Necessary Evil: Why We Need - But Shouldn't Always Use - HRC.

Read what he wrote, after the jump.

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Civil society's essential to the democratic process. It's that nebulous, accessible space between the state and the people in which the masses can rally for or against particular issues. Nailing down a definitive meaning of "civil society" has proven to be a matter of political contention, so we're going to settle on a fairly well-regarded and flexible definition from the London School of Economics: "Civil society refers to the arena of uncoerced collective action around shared interests, purposes and values".

The United States constitution reserves a special place for this special social space. Our first amendment reads: "Congress shall make no law…abridging the [freedom] to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Our democratic process thrives on - and incorporates - a variety of civil organizations, including nonprofits such as Human Rights Campaign.

Arguably one of the most well-known and mainstream gay rights organizations, HRC has come under serious fire over what some activists perceive to be a soft stance on trans rights. As more than 300 activist groups coalesce to fight for a trans-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act, HRC refused to actively oppose an orientation-only act. Rather, the group says they're not supporting it, but hesitates to come out for trans rights, despite the fact they've worked on this bill for over three years. So, why's HRC rolling over? One Washington insider has a theory:

HRC can't be trusted on this issue. They're desperate for a legislative victory. They're as desperate for the victory as the democratic leadership is, because they're about to kick up their fundraising and they want the gay money.

While that may be true, such an accusation's only part of the story. And, even if it were the whole truth, it wouldn't necessarily be wrong. Not politically, at least.

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Regular readers know that we're bent a little to the left. Just because our politics veer in one direction, however, doesn't mean we're afraid to engage other ideological adherents.

We've given the Log Cabin Republicans some hell in the past, but we're hardly against offering them some space. Thus, we asked Log Cabin president Patrick Sammon to contribute to The Totally Frightful Issue II.

Read what Mr. Sammon has to say about gay rights, queer conscious Republicans and why no one party can go it alone. The prospect of a one party government, actually, can be pretty frightful.

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Monsters and ghouls roam this American land, friends. Some of the most frightening ghouls in history currently stalk our streets, looking for gay souls to squash and civil rights to crash. Since sequels always have more gore, we're featuring some of the foulest, gnarliest anti-gay activists. And, as you can see, we're starting with the most hellish homo-hater: Fred Phelps.

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Ahhhh!

Just when you thought it safe to cruise the internet, The Totally Frightful Issue's back and it's more horrific than ever. Over the next couple of weeks we're going to look at some scary people, places and trends. Before things get down and dirty, however, we're kicking the issue off on a noisy note with some tunes from grim punk rockers, The Cramps!

Here's "I Was A Teenage Werewolf," "Garbage Man" and "Ultra Twist" featuring Kitten DeVille. Enjoy…if you dare!!

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