Artist Beth Church creates lovely, intricate beaded jewelry with a vintage-gothic vibe. There are some really unique pieces, and I love how complex they are; there’s always something new to draw the eye. I particularly like her bat choker and this vintage cuff.

She does bridal work, too, so this might be a good place for the goth bride to find the perfect accessory.

Link

The Corporate Zombies are little desktop toys who resemble office workers, only zombified. They come with accessories such as laptops and cell phones, and they’re ready to sit on your desk and threaten to eat your co-workers’ brains. They even glow in the dark!

I plan to give everyone on my dev team one of these sets for Christmas.

Link

In 2007 author J.K. Rowling created seven copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a work referenced in the final Harry Potter book. She gave six to people who were deeply involved with the Potter series and auctioned off the seventh for charity. It was ultimately purchased by Amazon.com for nearly $4 million. Part of the cachet of the books was that there were only ever going to be seven in existence.

Uh huh.

You will perhaps not be shocked to learn that the book is now going to be published and widely available. It’s available for pre-order at Amazon now. The standard edition will feature the five stories and several illustrations reproduced from the original handcrafted book, plus commentary on each of the tales “by Professor Albus Dumbledore.” (Isn’t he dead?)

There will also be a collector’s edition which more closely replicates the design of the original books, including the cool skull on the cover and all the metal clasps. Yours for a mere $100.

The book is very pretty. I’m nowhere near sufficiently Potterphilic to buy one, but it might be fun to decorate a blank leather journal with similar hardware.

No, really. This site started out as a used bookstore for cavers (spelunkers), but at some point veered sharply into bat-themed merchandise.

They’ve got clothing. They’ve got jewelery. They’ve got household accessories and plush toys and vintage artwork and books and candles and desktop toys and sculptures and stationery and…let’s just say that if it’s got a bat on it, they probably carry it.

Some of the bats are cutesy (natch), but many of them are elegant and lovely. They have many unusual items from all over the world. I particularly like the Art Nouveau bat brooch and the Bat Faces vintage print.

The Christmas cards imprinted with, “I Guano Wish You A Merry Christmas” alone are worth a trip to the site.

Link

The Silver Needle is taking pre-orders for this cute etui kit by Just Nan. Bats, ghosts, and spooky trees adorn the outside, and there’s a pumpkin pincushion and straps for scissors and other supplies inside.

The shop also sells Victorian mourning pins for use with the kit, although these might be nice to use for everyday sewing as well (you can never have too much black, in my book).

The kit isn’t cheap–nearly $80–but even if that’s currently out of your price range you can still use it for inspiration. A similar box might be made out of squares of plastic cross-stitching canvas; stitch a spooky motif of your choice on each one, then stitch the pieces together at the edges. There’s also a free pattern for a simpler needlework “book” here; just replace the swan with a bat or a spider.

If you enjoy doing needlework, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have a sewing kit that reflects your personality. I love all the little details on this one.

Link (via Stitch Bitch)

Freelance artist Matthew Woodson was recently bitten by a poisonous spider, and the wound became badly infected. In order to pay his medical bills, he’s taking commissions for artwork.

Any possible commission you could have for me; gifts, wedding invitations, cards, wall art, tattoos, anything. I am interested in the job. I will also definitely consider larger personal commissions, considering the work involved. I would prefer to only be working in black and white, but don’t be afraid to ask about color. I haven’t exactly figured out how pricing will go yet, but obviously pricing will be negotiable and varying, but for small to medium sized drawings I was thinking between $100 – $500 through paypal.

His drawings are lovely (portfolio here), so if you’ve been yearning for a unique piece of spooky art, this might be your chance.

Link (via BoingBoing)

Designer Tord Boontje has created a lovely–and insanely expensive–collection of kitchenware “inspired by the witches and wizards of western lore.” In addition to this utensil set there are some neat black casseroles that are reminiscent of cauldrons, some gothy-looking aprons, and a pair of spooky oven mitts.

I’m not kidding about the expensive part: The salad “hands” in the upper-left corner are $330 per pair, and one casserole will set you back $1,150. Whoooa, doggies. However! Could you ask for a better source of inspiration for a little kitchen witchery? Take a careful look at the style of these items, then keep an eye out for similar (cheaper) kitchenware.

The apron is an easy do-it-yourself job: It’s little more than a carefully-shredded hunk of black cotton.* Similarly, the oven mitts could be copied by buying or making a pair of black cotton mitts and then adding some rough stitching with heavy thread.

Pair your cast-iron cauldrons and pointy utensils with some artfully-decorated storage jars, and you can add a spooky vibe to your kitchen without cleaning out your bank account.


*I would, incidentally, caution against wearing something like this around an open flame. Too many loose floaty bits to catch fire. And flaming goths smell terrible.

Shadow Manor just started carrying these and they’re sufficiently unusual that I wanted to share.

These are “souvenir” fangs from some vampire slayer’s successful hunting expedition. A pair of real teeth in a collecting vial, complete with a tag listing the date and location they were, um, collected.

The tag can be customized with the species, location, and date, so if you’d prefer that these were werewolf, troll, or demon fangs, you have only to ask. This would be an unusual accessory for a desk or bookshelf. Or just pull it out of your pocket the next time you go clubbing and regale your friends with the story of how you acquired your souvenir….

Link

What would happen if Buffy the Vampire Slayer got married, moved to the suburbs and became a stay-at-home mom? That’s the plot of the Carpe Demon series of books by Julie Kenner. Sequels include California Demon and Demons are Forever. Har har har.

This is a rather strange mix of “vampire slayer” and “mommy lit”–I didn’t realize that the intersection between Buffy fans and soccer moms was sufficiently great to market a whole series of books toward them– but the books have pretty decent reviews and look like fun.

If you’re looking for a beach read (assuming you don’t burst into flames in the sunlight), these would probably be an excellent choice.

(via Memarie Lane)

NECA’s newest “cult classics” action figure features the very creepy scene from The Exorcist where a possessed Regan does the spider walk downstairs.

It’ll be out in September, but is available for pre-order several places online (such as here and here) for about $16.

This would be cute as an office desk accessory, and reasonably effective at keeping people out of your cubicle. Although not nearly as effective as something featuring pea soup would be.

(via BoingBoing)