Welcome to the best free Death Pool on the Internet. You can join in on the fun and be like these two far-out chicks and three wacky guys. Join anytime; unlike other Pools, the Ghoul Pool is open 365 days a year!

First, The Game.

This is basically a game of prognostication. We, the Major League members of the Ghoul Pool, each choose 25 different celebrities that we believe will leave this mortal coil in a calendar year. After the draft and the new year begins, each Minor Leaguer then gets to pick 10 celebs that are still open for picking (unchosen). First come, first serve! Yes, it's that easy.

And, of course, there's the Rules (updated 1/1/09).

This year we're trying something different:

The Majors' Draft picks were posted during the early afternoon of January First.

Your mailed entry of 10 PICKS plus 10 to 20 ALTERNATES with their Claims to Fame is now being accepted by sending it to ebrake at theghoulpool dot com.

There's also a brand-spanking new Ghoul Pool google group for periodic updates by the pool overlords and you can register right this very instance:

http://groups.google.com/group/the-ghoul-pool

Now, the main rule that separates this glorious death pool from others is that we all can't select the same darn celebrities. Sure, anyone can snap up 10 of the oldest, sickest celebrities that can be found in the pages of the National Enquirer. But with our pool, once a celeb is picked they're not up for grabs anymore. When Sydney Omarr was picked by E-Brake for 2003, no other player could take him. Capiche?

Second Rule of Fight Club, er, I mean The Ghoul Pool: Entries are taken all year 'round. You can enter on January First, or wait until October First. Just make sure your celeb hasn't been snapped up already.

You MUST submit your 10 picks all at once, no trickling or hemming & hawing - and if an Alternate Pick is required, it must be submitted to us within one week after it's requested. All lists will be final one week from requesting an alternate.

And for pete's sake, make sure your picks aren't already dead - you are stuck with any pre-stiffed picks. Yes this means YOU, Gerald Ford!

Spell your picks name correctly AND INCLUDE A "CLAIM TO FAME" FOR ALL PICKS INCLUDING ALTERNATES so we know which flippin' Bob Smith* you're talking about (*not his real name). There's nothin' that E-Brake likes less than trying to figure out who someone is picking. Life's too short, baby.

Celebrities can be from any genre. And what, you might ask IS a "Celebrity"? Well there are death pools out there that require publication of an obit in at least two national publications to qualify as a "Hit" blah blah blah. We don't go that far. We figure that if we Majors know who the person is, or research them and find them worthy, they qualify. Get the picture? All "Fame Decisions" are made by the Majors and are final. Any questionable celebs are Googled (with protection, of course); a google hit count of 1000+ or a decent (more than a couple paragraphs) wikipedia/imdb/nndb page are good barometers if you're in doubt, but they're not mandatory. Remember, Fame is fluid; someone who may not qualify in January may qualify later.

The Nos-Nos: No Death Row picks, unless they die from some other means than a scheduled execution (aka, Dahmer'd with a broom handle); No Fame By Association - if Bob Hope's cousin Eldred's only "claim-to-fame" is that he's, um, Bob's cousin Eldred, then he ain't famous; and No "Fame-by-Illness" either, folks. Yes, I'm pointing at YOU, Terry Schiavo. Not that you can tell.

Oh and none of this "World's Oldest Person" crapola - people have to be famous because of what they DO, not because they eat right, don't smoke and live to be a gazillion years old. Big whoop, heck even I could do that *cough*.

And we discourage the picking of children (under 16, for those so inclined to ask); as E-Brake has been quoted as saying in a major publication, "That's just kinda mean". So please don't bother. And it should go without saying but...No damn animals! I'm glaring intently at YOU, Cheetah!

The game is open all year and started on January First at 1pm Eastern, and will be declared OVER at the stroke of midnight December 31st Eastern Time at year-end. No late-received obits past the Majors Draft will count as the new game MUST start on the first of the year. All winners and hits known at that point of the Draft are declared final and the game is officially over. Yes, there is a reason for this: In order to start the new game on the First, with a new Minors Champ drafted, we must finalize the game as soon as possible.

When you get a hit, you must notify E-Brake by email or post it on the Forum, or risk that your hit will be overlooked and not counted. With over 5732 or so international picks (or thereabouts) that make it onto the Master List, one might fly under the radar, so you need to notify us. Muchos grassy.

AS OF 2005: No Iraq/War Hostages! They are victims, NOT "celebrities", and are only in the news because they might get de-noggined. Also, no war casualties who weren't already a celebrity before. Joe Soldier - no; Osama bin Laden, yes (please). If you have any questions, just send an email.

New Members MUST include a short Bio and a Picture of yourself (not your pet but you; in a wacky costume is OK and encouraged even).

In the case of a tie in the leadership of either the Majors or the Minors, the winner will be determined by the lowest mean average age of each player's picks.

E-Brake is the keeper of the lists and will be the final arbiter as to who picked what name first. No arguments or you will be put on waivers. This is a fun and free pool, not life and death. Please don't take any decisions personally, we love all of you equally.

So, just head on over to the Minor Leagues Page and Join Up by emailing ebrake at theghoulpool!