The Wall Street Journal has reported that Disney is launching a line of “goth” merchandise as part of its Alice in Wonderland marketing scheme:

In the run-up to the March 5 opening of director Tim Burton’s movie “Alice in Wonderland,” Walt Disney Co.’s consumer-products division is aiming its marketing firepower at young women and teenage girls, particularly those who gravitate to darkly romantic entertainment like the “Twilight” series.

This has set off something of a firestorm, with Disney fans wailing that this unholy alliance with “goth” will tarnish Disney’s family image. First, the merchandise is so wonderfully vanilla (Hot Topic | Torrid | Disney Store) that I don’t think we’re in danger of seeing Minnie Mouse with thick dark eyeliner any time soon. Second, whatever the hell Hot Topic is, it isn’t goth. Third, having worked for The Mouse for several years, I can state with some authority that Disney would yank out cryogenically-frozen Walt’s teeth and sell them as jewelry if they figured they could make a buck on it, so I have no idea why fans are surprised that the company is exploring all potential revenue streams.

Anyway, Disney has officially licensed some Alice merchandise. The world is ending. Run for your lives.

A new gift edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has just been published, featuring the unabridged text with “a unique visual interpretation” by creepy-fantasy artist Camille Rose Garcia.

Hi-Fructose has posted some of the art from the book, along with information on west coast (U.S.) tour dates.

These are some very trippy images, and the hallucinatory quality of Carroll’s* story is front and center. I’d love a framed print of some of these illustrations.

I also love Garcia’s slightly-goth take on Alice’s costume. The bat-wing hair ribbon is adorable.

(via BoingBoing)

*[Pedantic footnote] You aren’t supposed to use just the last name of a pseudonym, so this should technically be either “Lewis Carroll” or “Dodgson.” To this I say phooey. [/Pedantic footnote]

Disney and Urban Decay are two great tastes that…have nothing to do with each other, usually. But they’ve teamed up to design a “book of shadows” to promote the new Alice in Wonderland movie.

The carrying case includes a mirror with a hallucinogenic scene of Alice amongst the mushrooms, and the eyeshadows have names like White Rabbit, Jabberwocky, and Oraculum. Since Urban Decay shadows usually sell for $16 apiece, $52 for 16 (plus primer potion and two eye pencils) is kind of a steal.

Link (via We Covet)

Here’s a little critter that’s perfect for the perkygoth. Graphic designer Mori Chack developed Gloomy Bear as the antithesis of the excessively cute characters peddled by Sanrio and Disney. He describes it as a 2 meter tall, violent, pink bear that eats humans (its human “friend” is covered with cuts and bruises).

The list of Gloomy Bear products is surprisingly diverse, including all kinds of plush (like the vampire bear shown here), hats, keychains (with extra blood), mittens, and much else.

I think the product line is too extensive for this to really be considered ironic any more, but bloody fanged accessories still beat fluffy cute ones.

(Hat tip to Kitten Herder)

Wondermark’s greeting cards have long amused me (I like this one in particular), and they’ve just released a series of offbeat Valentine cards that are perfect for the likes of us. The Victorian-esque imagery and peculiar messages are just the thing to make your intended’s heart go pit-a-pat.

I think the sentiment expressed in the card below is appropriate at any time of year.

Raven LizzBet recently brought my attention to her Goth/Horror publication The Club. It sounds like the sort of thing that might be right up our alley, in that it:

focuses on Goth, vampires, hauntings & ghosts, creatures, Samhain/Hallowe’en, Horror films / books / tv shows / games / cds, gothy home / garden / decor, etc… There are articles, reviews, art, news, writings, photos and much more.

The magazine is celebrating its 14th year in business and has just released its 100th issue. The site unfortunately doesn’t have any photos of the publication or sample articles so I can’t speak to its content, but it certainly sounds intriguing.

Artist Daniel Proulx creates amazing, intricate jewelry based on themes from “Victorian science fiction:” In a word, steampunk. His stuff is wonderfully imaginative, and much of it is surprisingly affordable. He created this video to describe his artistic vision, and you can check out his work on his blog (I love this robot ring and this dragon bracelet) and in his Etsy shop. Lovely!

(via GrimVisions)

Award-winning author Will Shetterly (Dogland, Elsewhere) recently wrote a “vampirish” YA novel about Cat Medianoche, a girl who discovers on her fourteenth birthday that both sides of her family are part of an ancient war and that each group sees her as the key to their victory.

Your dad used to be the spooky-mysteries TV show host Professor Midnight. Your grandmother lives in the basement and only comes upstairs after dark. Your mom died when you were a baby, and nobody will tell you about her. Oh, and you have two birthdays, both on Halloween. And that’s the part of your life that’s normal.

He sent it to his editor, then to the major YA publishers, and they all agreed that it was brilliant and also that they didn’t want to buy it. Everyone felt that vampire fandom was cresting, they didn’t want to commit to a “fad” that was mostly played out, and this is why the publishing industry’s current business model is looking more dinosaurian every day.

Shetterly has thus turned to the Internet, self-publishing the novel in a variety of formats including a free download.

Text (Free – Scribd).
e-Reader (Epub, Kindle, etc.) ($3.95 – Smashwords)
Kindle ($3.95 – Amazon)
Trade paperback ($14.99 – Lulu)
Hardcover ($21.95 – Lulu)

Yay, new media.

This novel sounds very cool, so if you’re looking for a new book for a teen fan (or just a fast and fun read for yourself–I won’t tell), check it out.

(via BoingBoing)

Disney is taunting us.

One of my friends who still works for The Mouse recently sent me this teaser for an extremely cool Haunted Mansion-themed game of “Life.”

It’s apparently available at retail locations in the parks, and although the Disney Store lists the item, it’s also marked as being unavailable. It’s not listed on Amazon (although this cute Pirates-themed version is available), and while it’s apparently in stock here and here they’re also selling it for significantly more than the regular retail price.

Poop.

I’m sure it’ll show up on Amazon eventually, although likely not until after the holidays. Oh well; I suppose there’s always next year.

Isn’t Spidey cute? Artist J Salvador has created a whole collection of adorably angsty little superheroes with a host of personal problems.

You can see the entire set here. He has a few prints of individual “heroes” available for purchase in his Etsy shop, but they’re selling out fast.

Not anticipating the high demand he’s received, the artist promised that the prints would be limited-edition runs of just 20 each. Some of the comments at his site don’t hold out a lot of hope for posters or T-shirts either, so we may have to just admire them from afar. That’s a pity, because I want to take the Green Goblin home and snuggle him.