A Very Spooky Edition of Evening Wire

Garrett Van Team opens the Halloween edition by reporting that Loch Ness Monster sightings have more than doubled in 2026. An official registry has accepted 15 reports so far, compared with six during all of the previous year. The latest accepted report came from a German tourist in August, who said a roughly 20-foot-long creature surfaced about 1,000 feet offshore and then disappeared. Other visitors described seeing a dark mound rise above the water or a large eel-like animal swimming against the current. Longtime Nessie investigator Adrian Schein cautions that the reports may not mean a monster is present, noting that the creature is typically seen in calm water. Scientists have also found eel DNA throughout Loch Ness, which raises the possibility that unusually large eels account for at least some sightings. Even with the uncertainty, Nessie remains a major tourist attraction, generating an estimated $55 million annually for the region.

The program turns next to Heidi Klum, who is teasing her 2026 Halloween costume with two mysterious photographs. The newest image, posted the previous day, showed pale, slimy-looking faux-organ material and carried the caption, “Can you guess? Here’s your next clue.” Fans have proposed several explanations, including a character from The Last of Us, a creature from Pirates of the Caribbean, and a cow shown with its digestive system exposed. Klum has built a reputation for elaborate Halloween transformations and has previously appeared as a giant worm, a peacock, E.T., and Medusa. The report does not reveal what the new costume will be. Instead, it says the self-proclaimed “Queen of Halloween” has kept the guessing game going as the holiday approaches, with the final reveal still pending only days before Halloween.

Hammer Films is releasing a newly restored 4K version of its 1958 Dracula, starring Christopher Lee as the vampire. The restoration includes more than three minutes of footage that had been considered lost. Those scenes survived in the film’s original Japanese theatrical version, which avoided cuts imposed by British and American censors, but the material remained unavailable for decades until Warner Brothers found pristine reels in its archives. The restored release restores graphic violence, including longer scenes of Dracula attacking victims and ultimately meeting his end in sunlight. The report also connects the project to Hammer’s new owner, theater impresario John Gore, who is investing in restoration of the studio’s back catalog and the production of new horror films. One upcoming original, Ithaca, stars Luke Hemsworth, draws on Indigenous Canadian mythology, and is currently screening at film festivals.

Scientists at the University of Bonn have found that Australian jumping spiders may sleep in ways surprisingly similar to humans. Researchers monitored the spiders and observed eye movements and muscle twitches during a sleep stage resembling REM sleep, the phase in which humans often experience vivid dreams and nightmares. The researchers also found evidence of regulated sleep cycles and sleep rebound after the spiders were deprived of sleep. The findings are notable because jumping spiders already display sophisticated behavior, including hunting strategies that involve deceiving other spiders with deceptive vibrations. However, the scientists caution that the observations do not prove the spiders dream. The evidence supports a physiological comparison between their sleep stage and human REM sleep, but it does not establish what, if anything, the spiders experience mentally.

Google’s annual Halloween costume rankings show that costume choices are increasingly shaped by streaming entertainment, video games, and internet trends. The most searched costume this year is Buddy the Unicorn, the murderous children’s television mascot from the horror film Buddy. It is followed by the Neato sensory toy; Nikki from Obsession; Agamemnon from The Odyssey; and Lily Lovebraids from Poppy Playtime. The report says Netflix has repeatedly influenced Halloween trends through shows and films including Squid Game, Wednesday, and K-pop Demon Hunters. Viral figures and collectibles have also entered the rankings, including Olympic breakdancer Ray Gunn and the LaBubu collectible toy. Van Team closes by calling these the “Fright Home updates,” directing listeners to DailyWire.com for more Halloween headlines, and signing off until the next Morning Wire edition. The episode also includes repeated Anthropic advertising after the news segment.