I've stayed away from this story for a few days to see how it develops, but now seems to be a good time to point you toward The Dark Knight viral site WhySoSerious.com, as it appears they're using a candle inside a carved-out pumpkin to count down toward some kind of announcement ... on Halloween, perhaps? Not long ago, this pumpkin with a candle inside appeared on the site, and folks immediately began to look for its purpose. Right from the start, it was obvious this was a nod to the pumpkin that appeared on the cover of Batman: The Long Halloween, which was a 13-issue comic book series that director Christopher Nolan used, in part, as a source for The Dark Knight. Among other things, The Long Halloween tells of Two Face's origins -- and, as we all know by now, this will be touched upon in the follow-up to Nolan's Batman Begins (with Aaron Eckhart playing Harvey Dent, aka Two Face).

What's interesting about the pumpkin and the candle, is that with each day that passes, the candle burns down a little -- leading many to believe that the candle will burn out completely on Halloween, at which time we'll be given some sort of Dark Knight trick or treat. What will they give us? Photos? Another teaser trailer? More riddles? Absolutely nothing? Who knows, but it's got the online community buzzing and we've got only 12 more days before the mystery will (hopefully) be over. So bookmark WhySoSerious.com, and you bet we'll be back here to let you know whatever it is that appears (or doesn't) on that page once the candle burns out. Any ideas? The Dark Knight will arrive in theaters on July 18.