A reader dropped me a line the other day, suggesting that I check out Annie M. Vicar’s Dolls and Skellery. I love it when people send me tips; they always suggest the coolest stuff.

Vicar went to school for animation, but when she realized that she missed getting her hands dirty she turned to dolls to make her creations come to life. Her dolls and miniatures are all hand-sculpted and -painted, and their costumes are designed and sewn from scratch. The result is appealingly weird and evocative.

You can see some of her past work on her site (she’s even got an absinthe fairy!) and in her Etsy shop. She will also do custom designs based on photographs or descriptions. Although there don’t appear to be any examples in her gallery, the site mentions that she also does wedding cake toppers; a custom piece featuring you and your intended could serve both as a cake topper and as a post-wedding piece of art.

The dolls aren’t cheap, but one-of-a-kind items rarely are. One of them displayed in a bell jar would certainly be a striking focus for a room.

Thanks, random link suggester!

It’s about time. Shadaughter had a summer job at Bath & Body Works, and several weeks ago she brought home a bunch of miniature Halloween-themed hand gel samplers for Shadowboy.* I’ve been waiting to mention them until they were finally released at the store and online, and it looks like BBW has finally got their autumn act together.

The online Boo-Tique seems to only carry a subset of what’s available in stores, but they’ve got several cute items that are worth a look; I particularly like the little bat fragrance plugin; it would be an appealing year-round accessory in a bathroom or kitchen.

If you’ve got a store near you, look for hand soap and sanitizer in fragrances like “Bat Bite” and “Zombie Squad” (the minis are perfect for slipping into a purse or pocket), plus lots of pumpkin/spice items like candles and air fresheners.

The seasonal items don’t hang around very long, so if you want your house to smell of Vampire Blood** in April, you’d better stock up now.

*Which he loved beyond all reason. For two solid weeks he reeked of candy corn.

**Vampire blood smells like plums. Who knew?

I’m tending toward ambivalence where posts about zombies are concerned. On the one necrotic, rotting hand, they were never really my favorite monsters even before their recent explosion in popular media left me with a severe case of burnout. On the other hand, their overexposure has resulted in some pretty clever riffs on the subject material. Hollywood is Dead is one such riff.

Artist Matt Busch has reimagined classic movie posters as the products of some alternate universe where zombies are the norm. He’s carefuly re-created the original poster and then given it a severe case of zombification, right down to the tagline and actors’ names.

The artwork is available on T-shirts and posters, which would be a fun way to dress up a bare wall. Shadaughter is a big fan of Audrey Hepburn; maybe I’ll get her the “Breakfast is Tiffany” poster as a gift.

“Armchair Treasure Hunt” books were immensely popular in the 80s (remember Masquerade?), and Tony Meeuwissen’s The Key to the Kingdom is of that general vintage and ilk. However, unlike most of the other books of its type, this one is worth picking up even though the original treasure is long gone. The puzzle involved clues found in custom-drawn playing cards, and the book includes a full deck of cards that are simply gorgeous.

The artwork on the cards is by turns whimsical and dark, featuring everything from spiders to tadpoles, and despite the intricate detailing they’re actually “real” cards: The suit and number of pips have been incorporated into the artwork of each card, so you could actually play pinochle with them if you wanted. In particular, they’d be perfect for tarot spreads.

Although no longer in print, the book and included cards are widely available secondhand. The puzzle solution and images of several of the cards are here. Limited-edition prints of some of the cards are also available at Folio Boutique.

(via Chintz of Darkness)

Occasionally whilst surfing the ‘Net, I’ll find a site that puts me in danger of spending way more than I should because everything is Just! So! Cool! The Bone Room is one of those sites.

They call themselves, “the web’s premiere natural history store,” but “the goth decorating superstore,” would also be appropriate. They’ve got all kinds of bones both genuine (including legal-to-sell human ones) and reproduction, and they even offer instructions for cleaning your own finds. They’ve got other bits of animals, ranging from fairly mundane things such as coyote claws to somewhat more arresting items like a purse made out of a cane toad.

Their natural jewelry features earrings made of real beetle wings, and lovely pendants made from real spider webs (they also have a lot of other mounted webs).

If you’re local to their brick-and-mortar store in Berkeley, CA, they also offer The Bone Room Presents, a “natural history salon” where they present lectures and other educational materials.

Many of their items are surprisingly affordable and would make a lovely addition to a cabinet of curiosities. There are also some wonderfully unique gift ideas: Even the person who “has everything” probably doesn’t have a Pleistocene bear tooth.

Bonus Link: Check out their video, The Perfect Pet, offering “an overview of the process of turning your ‘late’ (high maintenance) companion into an articulated skeleton.”

I love beer, and although I’m not quite so far gone as to choose one based solely on the label, I have to admit that if all other things are equal I can be swayed by eye-catching packaging; this is particularly true if I’m choosing something to serve at a party, where I’m fond of theming my drink selections.

I can only hope that the newly-opened Grimm Brothers Brewhouse has a quality product, because their labels are awesome.

The brewhouse, located in Loveland, Colorado, specializes in German-style lagers and ales. It’s named, obviously, in honor of the German collectors of folktales, and each of their microbrews are named after one of the stories. The first three they plan to produce are Snow Drop (an alternate name for Snow White), The Fearless Youth (based on Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was), and Little Red Cap (aka Little Red Riding Hood). They chose those stories because “They’re a little darker, a little bit whimsical…more adult story lines,” and the labels bear that out; I particularly like Little Red Cap’s sly smile and hidden hatchet.

The Grimm Brothers site is fairly sparse, and doesn’t currently list any non-local distributors for the beer. I do hope they’ll eventually make it outside the Colorado area; I’d love to try them.

Hilary Pfeifer specializes in handmade carvings made from reclaimed wood, and her particular forte is cake toppers. She does monsters and robots and witches, and recently made this lovely pair of Edward Gorey-inspired toppers. (They were quickly snapped up by a Halloween bride; a few photos of them atop the cake are here.)

In addition to the blog she’s got an Etsy shop, and some additional photos of her toppers are here. If you’re looking for a custom topper with a sort of rustic/shabby chic vibe–that are attractive enough to display as art after the wedding–this might be just the ticket.

I first ran into Iron Fist a couple of years ago when I found their Zombie Stompers (now available as flats! Hee), but didn’t realize that they actually had a whole line of footwear and clothing.

They sell a subset of items on their site, but it appears that they mostly sell through retail outlets. However, searching for “iron fist clothing” or “iron fist shoes” turns up loads of items for your perusal: Amazon has shoes and wallets, Google Shopping lists a wide selection of products, and simple searches on Yahoo (Shoes | Clothing) and Google (Shoes | Clothing) turn up lots of individual retailers.

The prices are generally fairly reasonable, and the designs and colors are certainly arresting. Many of the shoes also appear to be Vegan-friendly.

(Incidentally, the shoes pictured above, which I am currently lusting after, are available at Hot Topic.)

I have no particular interest in owning an iPad, but I have to say that I’m sort of in love with this iPad cover from SwitchEasy.

They claim that the ribcage design dissipates shock just like a real ribcage, which I’m not entirely sure I buy, but you certainly can’t beat it for pure style.

The company makes some other interesting covers for Apple products, like the menacy-looking CapsuleRebel for the iPhone and the cute ChocoShuffle for the iPod Shuffle.

(Their marketing department also appears to be overly fond of CamelCase, but that’s another story.)

I like accessories that make people vaguely nervous, and a Giger-esque iPad case certainly qualifies. Lovely!

(via Nerd Approved)

This is both a post and a request for comments.

I recently got a note from RahneFan, who said:

I was looking recently for men’s rings, specifically for a jack-o-lantern one or other Halloween-themed rings. Real ones, I mean. It occurred to me that you may know of a good resource for this. I had very little luck myself, finding only one: http://www.jewelrybyemmy.com/jack-o-lantern.html. If you know of a good resource for this kind of thing, I’d sure appreciate you linking me up.

I replied that I didn’t know of a resource for that particular kind of ring offhand, and suggested Etsy’s Alchemy feature. He wrote back with a note that good-quality JOL rings seemed pretty scarce, with searches only turning up two others: this one on eBay and this one (scroll to the bottom and click “pumpkin”) by Brent Michael Kelley, which is the one pictured above.

I can’t find any information about whether the Kelley ring is even available for sale; it may simply be part of his portfolio. And I’ve gotta agree with RahneFan: Good-looking rings featuring a pumpkin or jack-o-lantern seem to be few and far between.

So I’m asking you guys: Anybody out there have a source for a JOL ring that doesn’t look like it came out of a Cracker Jack box? Let us know in the comments!