The Brooklyn Limestone blog is primarily devoted to recording the renovations being done to a Brooklyn limestone (duh), but they also have a healthy interest in Halloween.

A couple of their parties have included wonderfully elaborate invitations. Their 2009 party invitation was a box which included a “creature survival kit:” Wooden stake, silver bullet, holy water, and so forth. They followed up with a circus theme in 2010 with invitations featuring “preserved Siamese twins” in a little specimen jar. I don’t know if I’d have the energy to come up with any other party details after devising the invitations.

These really are a brilliantly effective means of immediately creating an atmosphere. They probably wouldn’t be practical for a very large gathering, but they’re just perfect for small-ish parties or weddings.

Be sure to search “Halloween” on the site to turn up lots of other posts, like this great Mad Scientist decorating scheme and these photos of the exterior covered with skeletons. Gorgeous stuff.

This is just marvelous. Nadia G, the “Julia Child of the Net generation” hosts a new show on the Cooking Channel:

Hilarious, informative and deliciously demented, this stylish comedy-cooking show is unlike anything else on TV. Set in a candy-colored kitchen decked out in animal print and leather, Bitchin’ Kitchen looks at the funny side of everyday life situations and turns them into occasions worth celebrating – with great food and big laughs.

Even if you don’t get the Cooking Channel, the site is worth checking out. It has recipes, videos (such as the one below), and all manner of cooking and style advice.

(Hat tip to Skye)

The Wall Street Journal recently published this article about edible insects, which rather breathlessly describes the Hot New Trend(tm) of occasionally letting a bug get within sniffing distance of a dinner plate. (On purpose, I mean; we eat bugs by accident all the time.)

I’m rolling my eyes a little bit at the article presenting the speculation that insects could become the Meat of the Future(tm) as though it had never been considered before. It was seriously suggested, with charts and graphs and everything, at least as long ago as 1976 in Robert Taylor’s Entertaining with Insects, a book that had quite a bit of influence on me* and eventually led to a college project wherein I ate crickets in front of 35 people.**

Insects really are an excellent source of nutrition, and they’re already widely eaten throughout most of the world. Grasshopper tacos are popular in Mexico, roasted termites are eaten like popcorn in South Africa, and scorpions are almost the national dish in Thailand. If you’d like to really shake things up at your next party, add a few bugs to the menu.

There are a variety of sources for ready-prepared insects: You’ve probably seen Hotlix scorpion lollipops at novelty stores, but they offer a range of other snack items, including salt ‘n’ vinegar crickets and chocolate-covered ants. A couple of UK-based stores offer mail-order insects: Lazybone has mostly snacky items, but Thailand Unique has a wide range of preserved insects that can be added to other dishes.

If you’re feeling a bit more ambitious, you can also prepare them fresh: Crickets, mealworms, and several other edible varieties can be mail-ordered from companies that raise them as reptile food. If you have access to a garden, meadow, or other open area, it’s easy to harvest grasshoppers and beetle grubs, with a couple of caveats: Collect them only where you can be certain that they haven’t been in contact with pesticides, and make sure that you recognize the species you’re collecting. Quite a lot of insects are unpalatable at best, and some (particularly caterpillars) can actually make you sick.

Wherever you obtain your insects, you should give them at least 24 hours to purge their gut before you prepare them (in case they’ve been eating something bitter), and since mail-order insects usually arrive having noshed on newspaper or sawdust you may want to feed them on flour for a couple of days to improve their nutritional value. Insects should also be cooked thoroughly, since some (particularly grasshoppers) can harbor parasites.

In addition to the Taylor book mentioned above (which is out of print but widely available secondhand), there are several other insect cookbooks, including The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook, Creepy Crawly Cuisine, and Man Eating Bugs. There are also a variety of online resources: Insects as Food has extensive information, and a number of university entomology departments also cover the subject: Iowa State and U of Kentucky are examples. Doing a search on “edible insects” will turn up many additional sources.

Eating insects may seem odd to the western palate, but it’s really no different than eating lobster (another arthropod). If you’re looking for a really unique new dish, give bugs a try.

*I was rather unhealthily interested in a lot of the tree-hugging stuff that came out of the 70s. If I’d been born a decade earlier I’d have probably wound up living in a yurt with kids named Sunshine and Starblossom.

**I got an A, although I suppose it’s possible that the teacher was afraid to give me anything else lest I pelt her with crickets.

The Web Design Library site is a fantastic resource for Photoshop tutorials and ideas, and their “special effects” tutorials are a great source of inspiration.

I was recently digging around on the site and a tutorial for adding a ghost to a photograph caught my eye. I grabbed a couple of family photos I had handy and with very little effort was able to combine this and this to create this (ghost dog! Aiyeee!) I particularly like that the tutorial includes instructions for desaturating and adding graininess to the photo to make it look like the sort of low-quality picture that “real” ghost photographs always seem to be.*

A bit more searching turned up instructions for several other spooky effects, so if you have access to Photoshop or a similar photo-editing tool (here are some free alternatives) you might want to give some of these a try:

Ghostly Effects – Add a spooky silhouette to a hallway.

Night Vision – Make a photo look as though it were taken with a night vision camera. This would be useful for creating something like the Louisiana Swamp Monster photo that was making the rounds a few months ago.

Adding Realistic Fangs – Nice way to add subtle vampire or werewolf fangs to a portrait.

Zombifying a Photo – This really looks more like plain blood spatter than decay, but it’s still a neat effect.

A couple of more complex multi-photo manipulations:
Forest Magical Scene
Night of Spells

Create a Classic Horror Movie Poster – I especially like this one because it would make a great wedding invitation for a couple of horror buffs. You’d probably want to play with the basic idea to include photos of both partners and perhaps give it some sort of wedding-themed “film title,” but it would certainly be a unique presentation.

*A note if you try this one yourself: Steps 3-5 of the instructions involve adding a layer mask and applying the background image to it. I have no idea why, because it doesn’t seem to add anything to the finished image. I didn’t bother.

I thought that I had a tendency to overdo party planning, but Matthew Baldwin of Defective Yeti blows me away. After reading an article about MIT’s annual Mystery Hunt he decided to do something similar for his birthday. The first one was such a hit that he’s done several others, and three of them are detailed at his site.

His guests gather on the University of Washington campus and follow clues on an extended scavenger hunt. Some of them are pretty elaborate, and definitely took some time to plan and execute.

The one for 2000 was inspired by Alice in Wonderland:

Clue One, “Down the Rabbit Hole”: On my signal, teams were allowed to open their envelopes, which contained two items. The first was a sheet of paper that had a map of the campus on one side, and the text of the first clue on the other. The Map showed all the buildings on the campus, a few of which had dots on them and a corresponding letter (see the map here). As explained prior to the Hunt, only the indicated buildings would have clues hidden in or around them. This was designed so that Teams wouldn’t have to search through scores of building names to find the one a given clue referred to. The clue itself (see the clue here) contained some text from Wonderland, and the message “Find the White Rabbit.” Below that was the warning “Note: don’t let this clue Bug you or otherwise drive you crazy.”

The other item in the envelope was a copy of “The Little Nickel”, a local classifieds-only newspaper. Teams that looked for the White Rabbit – found in the Auto section, under Volkswagons – found an ad that read “WHITE RABBIT: In good condition, but runs a little late. Comes with ears, whiskers, pocket watch. The next clue is in the eastern entryway to Bagley Hall.”

2001 was based around 2001: A Space Odyssey (natch), and 2003 was a tribute to The Wizard of Oz.

I think this is brilliant. A simplified version would be a really unique kids’ party, and I would love to do one for an adult Halloween party. I can think of several themes off the top of my head, such as one based on Dracula with clues related to characters in the novel, or a sci-fi one built around cheesy B movies.

The idea could also be modified for an indoor venue if the weather might not cooperate: A mall or museum might work nicely, although you’d probably have to figure out some method of providing clues that a) wouldn’t be found by non-players and b) wouldn’t annoy management.

This would certainly involve more work than a “standard” party, but the payoff might be worth it. I’m definitely going to have to think about this the next time I’m in a party-planning mood.

I am a complete sucker for faux “artifacts” that evoke mysterious pasts and forgotten history. Assemblages in particular just thrill me: Dodgy-looking parchment, strangely misshapen specimens in jars, and tools which hint at some eldritch purpose…these are a few of my favorite things.

Here are some spiffy ones that I’ve run across recently that I’d love to add to my (largely imaginary) collection.

The Dragon’s Path by JasonMcKittrick – This is a collection of documents which follow the search for Vlad the Impaler’s lost treasure. There’s a neat backstory and some really good-looking “old” letters and drawings.

Necromancer’s Briefcase and Portable Demon Oracle by FraterOrion – Both are chock-full of tools, equipment, and unidentifiable organic bits for use in summoning eldritch forces.

Steampunk Vampyre Slaying Kit by saqaxiwan – Destroying the spawn of the undead…with science! I just love the swoopy no-nonsense look of the gun, and how neat and shiny all of the equipment is. This is clearly the property of a gentleman who hunts nosferatu as a hobby.

Field Research Kit by Julian DiMarco – A Lovecraft-inspired kit for reanimating dead things. I like the nicely-organized look of the case, and the “logical” idea of practicing on a small skeleton before moving on to more dangerous reanimations.

Menes the Vampyr Pharaoh by Alex CF – Alex CF is a master of the assemblage, and his entire site is worth perusing. This “alternate history” box which details the reign of a mysterious vampiric pharaoh is wonderfully evocative.

After looking at all of these, I think I’m going to have to make another Vampire Slayer’s Kit. Time to start haunting eBay for Latin prayer books….

(Hat tip to Propnomicon for the Dragon’s Path and Necromancer’s Briefcase links)

I first encountered the 826 stores a couple of years ago in the form of some photos of The Echo Park Time Travel Mart. The link was presented without any sort of background, so I was left scratching my head as to whether it was some kind of temporary art installation, an actual store, or perhaps an elaborate work of private whimsy.

I recently ran across some photos of products from Hoxton Street Monster Supplies, and with a combined sense of déjà vu and WTF decided to investigate further.

The names of the stores come from the address of their first location, the Pirate Supply Store at 826 Valencia in San Francisco. Proceeds are used to fund the 826 National writing program, which tutors kids ages 6-18 in expository and creative writing. The stores are works of creative genius all by themselves, consisting of (in addition to the Time Travel Mart and the Pirate Supply Store), The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company, Liberty Street Robot Supply and Repair, the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Company, The Boring Store, the Bigfoot Research Institute of Greater Boston, and The Museum of Unnatural History.

Inspired by the 826 program, a group in the UK created (with the founders’ blessing) the Ministry of Stories. They are responsible for the Hoxton Street shop, and perhaps we’ll see additional locations in the future.

If I have one quibble, it’s that the various stores don’t have extensive online catalogues. The relatively new Museum of Unnatural History happens to be near me (and I’m already planning an excursion there), but I may never get to sample Golden Horde brand powdered horse milk or pick up a couple of cans of A Vague Sense of Unease.

Fortunately, there’s also a book about the stores: Essentially Odd features photos of products from the various stores, plus anecdotes and design notes from the artists and designers responsible.

If you’re looking for some fantastic creative inspiration, the 826 product lines are an incredible resource.

A while back I did a post listing several holidays which provided excuses to party in a Halloween-like manner on dates other than Halloween. I keep meaning to expand that into a proper Goth Calendar with celebrations throughout the year, which at the rate I’m going will probably be completed some time in 2017. In the meantime, here are a few notable dates which might be worth hanging a celebration on.

Some of these don’t seem to have any sort of “official” imprimatur, but have at least made it far enough into the collective unconscious that you can pull up Google and say, “See? It is too a real holiday!”

January 3 – Memento Mori Day

January 5 – Befana Day

January 19 – Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday (1809)

April – The first week in April is Be Kind to Spiders Week

April 4 – World Rat Day

April 30/May 1 – Walpurgis Night

May 3 – Paranormal Day

May 11 – Twilight Zone Day

May 22 – World Goth Day

July – The first Sunday is Build a Scarecrow Day

August 7 – Erszebet Bathory’s birthday (1560)

October 15 – Jack the Ripper’s “From Hell” letter is received (1888)

October 20 – Bela Lugosi’s birthday (1882)

November 2 – Plan Your Own Epitaph Day

November 5 – Guy Fawkes Night

November 8 – Bram Stoker’s birthday (1847)

December 5 – Krampusnacht

Feel free to leave additional suggestions in the comments!

Bazaar Bizarre is an annual craft fair that emphasizes indie, punk, and goth aesthetics. Its organizer, Greg Der Ananian, wrote a book by the same name, and I recently picked up a copy under the assumption that it would be simply chock-full of subversive craft projects.

My final opinion: Meh.

I really wanted to love this book, but it’s short on crafts and long on…stuff that is not crafts. The format involves chapters which consist of profiles of various Bazaar Bizarre vendors, some musings by Der Ananian about each vendor’s representative craft project, and then–almost as an afterthought–instructions for the actual project. These are interspersed with “interludes” that have nothing to do with crafting projects and instead might involve anything from a “craft item word search” to an article about where the word “distaff” comes from. Interesting, but not exactly what I’m looking for in a craft book.

I’m afraid that the projects themselves aren’t terribly subversive either. A couple, such as soap shaped like the Anarchy “A,” are cute, but others are for things like making sock monkeys, and you can find that on the Internet for free. Additionally, although the project instructions are reasonably detailed, there are relatively few photos and illustrations. It’s certainly possible to follow the written instructions, but it would be a lot easier with pictures.

I also found Der Ananian’s remarks throughout the book somewhat jarring, as he appears to have made it his life’s work to let everyone know that he is a flaming homosexual. Hardly a page goes by where he doesn’t specifically call attention to it, until eventually you’re going, “Dude, we get it. You’re a big ol’ queen. Let’s concentrate on the crafts.” It’s disruptingly irrelevant, rather akin to Julia Child pausing between each step of a recipe to remind you how much she loves cock.

Where the book does do a fairly good job is discussing the equipment and skillset one might require for a particular craft, plus some notes about the terminology that might be encountered. There is some good advice for building a “crafting tackle box,” and many of the artists’ profiles include suggestions for suppliers and other resources.

Overall, I would say that this book might be useful for beginners because it’s reasonably good at covering some crafting basics, and more experienced crafters might find a project or two of interest, but it’s nothing particularly earth-shattering. A pity; it had a lot of potential.

Jacob Petersson of Curiomira is a Swedish artist and propmaker who creates ridiculously lovely, evocative stuff. I am a complete sucker for Wunderkammer objects, and I would love to have an entire room decorated with the “trophies” and other display items that he turns out.

Readers of this blog might particularly like his Memento Mori Music Box and Dracula Memorabilia (I’m especially taken with the “memorial altar” for Mrs. Dracula), not to mention the preserved fairy and Redcap relic. I love the “implied backstory” which objects like these suggest.

His photos should provide excellent inspiration for all kinds of Wunderkammer projects. He also does commission work, so if you really love his stuff you might be able to talk him into doing something custom.