Just in time for Halloween! Flingcosound.com (FSS) has released The Black Box ($15), an ambient noise machine that plays disturbing sounds and spoken-word snippets. FSS notes that The Black Box is suitable for discouraging solicitors, relatives, and spouses from lingering at your front door. It's ideal for scaring the wits out of young trick-or-treaters too.

The portable, battery-powered box has specially designed, creepy loops with controls for volume and loop duration, so you can decide how long and how loud you want a banshee-like creature to mouth frightening threats to you. The Black Box also has a headphone output, so that you can, as FSS says, "keep despair to yourself."

Only 2000 of these novelty tombstone-like boxes will be made; however, Spencer's Gifts will likely sell a knockoff version within the next year.