Zombies and Star Wars. They’re two great…oh, who am I kidding? This is just ridiculous. (Click the image to enlarge for full zombie Wookiee goodness.)

Death Troopers follows the adventures of a handful of survivors on an Imperial prison barge after everybody else contracts an horrific disease, dies, and comes back to life (boogedy-boogedy)!

Del Rey is doing a little viral marketing with some intercepted messages from the barge and a Twitter feed from one of the Storm Troopers on board (I had no idea that Storm Troopers used Twitter).

They’ve just finished up a contest for a fan-made trailer, and there’s also a tie-in video game planned.

Reviewers over at Amazon are gushing that the book is wonderfully refreshing for the Star Wars franchise, and I’m sure that’s very nice, but I also think that this particular mashup is a pretty solid indicator that zombies have jumped the horribly-decayed-yet-reanimated-by-eldritch-forces shark.

Nerdcore does a pinup calendar every year with scantily-clad models dressed as science fiction characters or superheroines or whatever makes the geeky heart go pit-a-pat. Their theme for 2010 is horror movies, featuring scenes from Carrie, The Shining, Psycho, and other genre classics.

Destructoid has the first nine images and Shock Till You Drop has the last three. Even with Nerdcore “modesty glasses” covering up the especially nekkid bits the images are pretty NSFW, so be warned.

The calendars are available for pre-order at the Nerdcore site. This would certainly be an…arresting gift for the horror movie aficionado.

(via io9)

Jones Soda has long amused me for their limited-edition flavors: They’re the ones who produce candy corn soda for Halloween and a turkey-and-gravy-flavored one for Thanksgiving (this has always left me speechless).

They currently have a couple of limited-edition variety packs based on Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons, so you can offer your guests Illithid Brain Juice, Eldrich Blast, or Necromancer’s Tonic.

Even if you don’t play the games, the artwork is lovely and would be a great addition to a Halloween party.

Jones also allows you, incidentally, to personalize soda labels with an uploaded photo, making it an interesting possibility for weddings or parties.

Marching Dog has created this amazing hand-sculpted chess set featuring monsters vs. hunters, and is offering a limited-edition series of 750 sets. Each one is cold-cast marble, and they are simply gorgeous.

The pieces for each side are captured in the same pose, and they’re (more or less) each other’s opposite:

Kings – Van Helsing vs. Frankenstein(‘s Monster)
Queens – Redneck vs. Death
Bishops – Priests vs. Vampires
Knights – Soliders vs. Werewolves
Rooks – Churches vs. Haunted Castles
Pawns – Villagers vs. Zombies

I especially like the queens; the “redneck” has a chainsaw, wooden stakes, bandolier of shotgun shells, and a shotgun hidden behind her back. Death’s robe is torn in the back, exposing her ribcage.

These aren’t cheap–they’re $400 per set and don’t include a board–but if you’re looking for a truly unique gift I think this would qualify.

(via BoingBoing)

Haute Macabre mentioned that a bunch of similar ribcage-themed tank tops have been showing up on eBay recently (the one shown here is from All Season Tops), which are adorable and quite reasonably priced.

A quick Google search turns up loads of tanks embroidered or printed with ribcages (I like this one and this one), but the cutout design isn’t easy to find elsewhere.

If you want a different size or style than what eBay’s got to offer, a DIY version wouldn’t be too difficult. Sandwich stiff fusible webbing between two pieces of fabric, cut out holes for the ribs, and zigzag over the raw edges. Draw details with fabric paint or (if you’re really hardcore) embroidery stitches. Stitch the ribcage to the back of a tank top, then cut away the tank fabric behind the stitching line. Definitely more work than buying one premade, but also more customizable.

Here’s a little something for Edward Gorey fans: in the 60s, Gorey illustrated a 20-card “tarot” pack for Esquire magazine. It was eventually published as an actual deck, along with an interpretation booklet also written by Gorey.

The cards have titles like “The Waltzing Mouse,” “The Burning Head,” and “The Limb,” and although tarot enthusiasts warn that they aren’t much good for actual fortune-telling (duh), they’d be a wonderful part of a collection. Or just frame them individually and hang them as art. It’s hard to go wrong with Gorey.

I like shirt.woot: They sell a different T-shirt every day, and their commentary is hilarious. My pal Kitten Herder recently hit their site and sent me a bunch of links that she found amusing. I love it when somebody else writes half my blog post for me.

Check these out:

Nevermore – An image of a raven composed of the words of Poe’s poem.

Grim Optimism – Death comes for a cute little squirrel.

Donut Panic – A jelly doughnut meets a grisly end.

You Have to Try This Guys – This is the kind of bunny that I suspect lives around my house.

It Came Out of Nowhere – More geeky than gothy, but it amused me anyway.

Dystopia Dark Lager – The heck with a shirt, I want beer labels with this imprint.

No longer available, but these also amused me: Friends Are Forever, Jimmy…is That You?, and The Devil is in the Details.

Quirk Books, publisher of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, has produced a sequel.

Sense And Sensibility And Sea Monsters promises “60% Austen and 40% additional monster chaos,” while still remaining true to Austen’s original novel.

As our story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. While sensible Elinor falls in love with Edward Ferrars, her romantic sister Marianne is courted by both the handsome Willoughby and the hideous man-monster Colonel Brandon. Can the Dashwood sisters triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels?

Better yet, there’s a promotional book trailer:

The book is due out September 15, so mark your calendars.

(via io9)

UK-based designer Reid Peppard has taken taxidermy to a whole ‘nother level with a collection of wearable dead things. She’s got loads of macabre accessories, including mouse head cufflinks and a guinea pig hair comb, but I think my two favorite pieces are the rat change purse (toward the bottom of the post) and this awesome rat headdress with Swarovski crystal-encrusted tail.

Her site is ridiculously hard to read because it’s got dark grey text against a black background, but it’s worth a visit just for the pictures. She doesn’t list any prices, but you can check this post for ordering details.

Acceptable DIY versions of some of the items might be possible using fake rodents, although I’m thinking that this might be worth digging my taxidermy books back out for.*

Link (via BoingBoing)

*I remember rather vividly walking into a crowded bookstore several years ago and telling the clerk that a book I’d ordered had come in. I said, “It’s called Home Taxidermy.” Jeffery Dahmer had been caught about two weeks previously; you should have seen the looks I got.

If you’ve been watching the HBO series True Blood, you may have seen Sookie wearing a T-shirt from the vampire bar Fangtasia. I’m amused to learn that the HBO store sells the Fangtasia T-shirts and quite a lot of other themed merchandise.

They also have Fangtasia pint glasses (unfortunately printed with the HBO logo on the reverse, which kind of, um, sucks), Eric Northman’s eagle claw pendant in copper-plate or sterling silver, and “Merlotte’s” pint glasses and T-shirts.

The pint glasses would make a nice addition to a home bar and the T-shirts would be handy in case you want to play “vampire and helpless barmaid.”

Wait…did I say that last part out loud?