osu! Spooktacular Halloween Special

All Hallow's Eve is upon us, the blood moon has risen, devilishly delightful depictions and murderous medals abound—this can only mean one thing... HALLOWEEN IS HERE!

You know it, you love it, our yearly descent into madness is finally here and with it, the results from the Halloween 2019 Fan Art Contest are shambling to the stage for their moment in the moonlight.

Ready? I know I am!

Soaring to victory with an incredible 6136 votes, Sunako's broomstick-toting pippi and Mocha flying across a city skyline was a hit, and it shows!

Absolutely beautiful work from one of our most widely-known regulars. Sunako gets to notch another win in her belt, and the rest of us get to enjoy more adorable mascots. Woo!

4669 voters were held at knifepoint and forced to cast their lot for SJPumpkin's rendition of a very... passionate pippi.

We're sure the splotchy streaks on the walls are just pink spray paint. Right...?

3863 pumpkin ghosts were enchanted by 157's take on a rather spooky Mocha and her eerie one-eyed cat.

Someone is going to invariably point out the phrase on one of these pumpkins in the comments, and when they do, you have my express permission to crack the worst imaginable Halloween-themed joke you can think of at them.

Enchanted by her great lengths of billowing hair, 3850 voters approved of xxxxxx2800's devilishly demure pippi enjoying a definitely-not-poisoned apple in a rather picturesque Halloween town.

I personally suspect that the trees are dead because pippi keeps eating the apples from them. Certainly better for your teeth than candy is.

3423 were clued in to 10nya's witch pippi and her fearsome secret: she's adorable as all heck.

Who said Halloween had to be dark? Those pumpkins are sparkling, that's how you know they mean business.

3414 voters got sparkles in their eyes from Salty Because's rendition of a gorgeously attired witch Mocha taking a joyride through the sky.

Rumour has it that the tome she's holding contains centrefolds of all her favourite osu!taiko mappers, but you didn't hear that from me.

AWOO! 2925 people rolled over at Laridae's werewolf Mocha and her costumed compatriots.

Weep a single tear for the poor lollipop-don. A single, delicious tear.

2793 voters adored Tachion1's beautifully unique take on pippi and Mocha taking flight in true Halloween spirit beneath the full moon. With bats.

Because it isn't Halloween (or osu!) without the BAT. If you understand this joke, you've been playing the game too long.

2792 voters got snatched away, much like LanceLMiku's take on Chirou being pilfered from a demon-pippi and Mocha showcasing her uncanny ability to balance oversized vegetables (and a don) on her head.

It seems Chirou is used to this turn of events, judging from the look on her face. We'll leave you to figure out why.

Like stars in the night sky, 2734 voters could not resist Arind's hooded Halloween pippi striking a pose before the full moon.

Simple and wonderful, that's all there is to it.

2530 voters were asked "trick or treat?" by Dreamy Daylite's mischievous vampire pippi and witch Mocha, only to find out that it was a rhetorical question and the devil don had already made off with their candy.

2468 minions bowed before the gaze of saoie's' fallen angel Mocha. If you squint really hard, you can see their faces in the darkness of her window.

I lied, you can't, but you should absolutely be squinting at that gorgeous rendition of a decidedly more mature Mocha. Damn.

2460 voters watched on in horror as pyun's Chirou zoomed away on her broom nomming on some pumpkin candy, presumably stolen from a witch-attired pippi in hot pursuit, complete with a neko-themed Taikonator.

She must've picked this trick up from the ravens.

AVAST ME HEARTIES! 2406 scurvy dogs set sail on snowyani2000's harrowing piratical seas sporting more references than you can shake a stick at, including a suspiciously familiar seagull figurehead getting up close and personal with a rather enthusiastic tentacle.

There's something I'd never thought I'd have to write in one of these posts.

2333 voters joined Misakko's batwinged Aiko in a flight above eerie, skyborne ruins, with lakes that look strangely like liquid taffy.

All of the entries showcased above are now the spooktacular background for our upcoming Halloween escapades, and will remain for a goodly week or so alongside some extra tunes made just for the occasion.

Check out the rest of the entries and their scores over at the Halloween Fan Art 2019 contest listing!

You can also download a zip of all the high-quality winning entries here. Be sure to check each artist out!

But wait, that's not all!

It wouldn't be Halloween without some brand new medals, and with that, I am delighted to announce 10 brand new Hush-Hush style riddle-medals to stoke the agony of completionists everywhere.

They are as follows:

• Inundate: Swept away.
• Not Bluffing: Did that with my eyes closed.
• Eureka!: By Jove, you've got it!
• Regicide: A king no more.
• Permadeath: One life, one shot.
• The Future Is Now: The stars showed you all that was to come.
• Natural 20: Rolled it.
• Valediction: One last time.

And for EXTRA DEBILITATING AGONY, we've thrown in the following two super difficult medals, one of which sports a special set of criteria - it requires you to play multiple maps to qualify for it.

One of them is also so difficult that we're not wholly sure if anyone can actually do it. It sure won't be easy, despite what the label says:

• Kaleidoscope: So many pretty colours. Most of them red.
• AHAHAHAHA: TOGETHER FOREVER. (Yes, that is the medal's name.)

Good luck in your searching! And don't spoil the medals for other people, dammit! Half the fun is in trying to figure them out. If you're in need of a hint, maybe you should visit the Medals section in your profile page and mouse-over the one you're having trouble with.

From all of us on the osu!team, we hope you have a wonderful Halloween!

We'll be back later in November to kick things off for the Winter Fan Art contest to cap off the year in some chilly comfort, as usual.

Until then, stay spooky and have fun!

—Ephemeral