Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Fill regular-sized cupcake tin with plain white cupcake liners, set aside.
In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar mix to combine.
Pour the vanilla into the hot water.
Add the oil, milk, and eggs, and water/vanilla mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until everything is combined.
Use a measuring cup or spoon to scoop batter into each of the lined cupcake cavities. Only fill each cavity approx ½ - ⅔ the way full.
Bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Check to see if they are cooked all the way through by inserting a toothpick into one of the cupcakes, if the toothpick pulls out without any raw batter (a few crumbs are OK) then the cakes are done.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.
While the cupcakes are cooling you can make the spiced vanilla frosting.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the butter and vegetable shortening until light and fluffy.
While the butter is whipping, add the pumpkin spice, vanilla, purple food coloring, and salt to the extremely hot water. Let this sit for 2-3 minutes.
When the butter has been whipped, add in half of the powdered sugar and mix on medium speed. While it is mixing, stream in the water mixture.
Once combined, mix in the remaining powdered sugar, and whip until all is combined and light and fluffy.
Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a grass piping tip. Or you can use a zip-top bag and snip off one of the bottom corners.
If the frosting is too soft to pipe, put in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to cool down.
Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, pipe frosting onto each cupcake. Pipe small spurts of fur all around the cupcake, then carefully place one large eyeball in the middle.
The set finished cupcakes in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to let the frosting set up or until ready to serve.
Serve same-day or store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.