First, I think that “Angus Oblong” may be the best author name I’ve ever run into, ever.

Second, Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children looks like just the sort of thing to leave open on your desk to encourage the mundanes to leave you alone. I love this Promo from Random House.

Here’s the Amazon link to buy the book.

UglyShyla created this adorable cake topper for her friend’s wedding cake. The bride, wanting to make sure the groom knew just what he was signing up for, wanted the topper to depict her eating his brains.

She doesn’t specify what it’s made of (could be clay, could be marzipan), but it’s a pretty good likeness.

Link (via BoingBoing)

Today I turned 39 (for the first time). When I was a kid, I calculated that in the year 2000 I would be 32–ancient!–and wondered if I’d still be young enough to appreciate the new millennium. Um. Heh.

I’m afraid that I’m going to have to buck the trend and admit that I’m a lot happier as an aged crone than I was as a sweet young thing. (Saggier, maybe, but happier.) To paraphrase something Scott Adams said recently, people tend to feel that “aging” is automatically bad, but the accompanying perks–having more self-confidence and fewer zits–seem to me like an excellent tradeoff. And frankly, if you told me I could have my 19-year old body again, but I had to take my 19-year old brain with it, I’d tell you to forget it.

I love my husband. I love my family. I love my job. I love my life. And I love being 39.

So I’m going to borrow Scott’s suggestion. For my birthday, I want you to send someone an e-mail and tell them how much you appreciate them. Do it right now. Then tell me about it in the comments. That’s what I want. It’s my birthday so you have to do it.

Go.

Jodi of Tattered Rags makes the most gorgeous handmade raggedy dolls I’ve ever seen. She has dozens in her gallery, most of them wearing outfits that I’d like to own. (It’s depressing when a dolly’s wardrobe is better than yours.) She says that she designs all of the clothes herself, many from vintage fabrics, and the accessories and jewelry are all handmade originals too.

I want to take ’em all home and hug ’em.

(I especially love this pair; I aspired to be Morticia Addams when I grew up, and I actually think I’ve done a pretty good job.)

First, a bit of background:

1. I grew up in Southern California, where my experience with nature was largely confined to sparrows and sewer rats. I have since been bodily transplanted to a semi-rural area of Northern Virginia, where my relationship with the natural world is both immediate and confrontational. (Ticks? Snow? The Hell?)
2. Our yard is unfenced and backs up to some woods.
3. We have a dog,* of the large-and-galumphing variety, who is black and thus invisible at night.
4. And who views, “Come here,” as a suggestion rather than a command.
5. Perhaps you can see where I’m going with this.

So, imagine yourself (or, rather, imagine me) on a dark and moonless night, chasing a happily idiotic dog who has decided to go exploring. Slithering across fallen leaves, scrabbling through unseen spiderwebs, you follow her crashings through the underbrush, and suddenly, very very close to you, there is this sound. For full effect, turn your speakers up loud and turn off all the lights in the room before clicking that link.

Underwear changed? Good.

Despite my certainty at the time that it was a fiend,** some subsequent searching allowed me to identify this as the distress call of a red fox. Which are the sort of foxes that live in the woods behind our house. Who were not happy to have a human blundering through their territory and, instead of slinking off silently and unobtrusively, decided to be loud and obtrusive all over my psyche. I don’t believe I touched the ground all the way back to the house, and have vowed to turn the dog into a casserole.

Man, I miss California.


*Actually we have two dogs, who defy several physical laws by each being dumber than the other. But only one happens to figure in this story.

**Although I don’t believe in haints, boojums, or spooks, in certain situations I am willing to entertain the notion that my skepticism may have been a trifle hasty.

The Fall issue of Knitty features this great design, which converts from a pretty hat to a Jack Skellington-inspired ski mask. The instructions look pretty straightforward, so even if you aren’t an accomplished knitter you could probably pull this off.

Something similar would be cute done in orange with a pumpkin face, too.

Link (via CRAFT)

Crafty Chica has a great take on skeletal decor. She prettied up some cheap plastic skull decorations using little more than paint and glitter.

I love the big red lips on this one.

Link (via CRAFT)

The Australian Museum has an interesting online exhibit entitled, “Death: The Last Taboo.” From the site intro:

Throughout the world, death and the rituals that surround it are steeped in taboos. Death is celebrated, embraced and feared. Around death and the dead, cultures put in place diverse restrictions and practices associated with clothing, food and ritual. This website explores what happens to us when we die and the different ways we deal with death.

The site covers a range of subject material, from safety coffins to autopsies, and includes multimedia and links to other sites. The Victorian section has some nice photos of traditional mourning attire and mementos mori.

Link

“Haunted Bela” is a mashup of the narration from Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion and Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.” This is really rather wonderful.

Coral Cache Mirror Link (via BoingBoing)

This isn’t precisely a how-to, since the instructions consist largely of “hang a bunch of pictures,” so it’s more just a source of inspiration.

(Okay, if you want to get completely technical, it’s because I feel like bragging.)

My love of Halloween and sewing intersect every year in Shadowboy’s Halloween costume. After I make his costume, we take him to a local photography studio and have his picture taken. Then I select a frame that themes well with the costume and hang it on a wall that’s become my Halloween Gallery. This year’s photo goes in an ornate wrought-iron frame, joining a court jester in a shiny jeweled frame, a cowboy in rough pine, and a pirate in carved and painted wood. The pictures keep me in a Halloweeny frame of mind year-round, and also make my heart shatter into a million shards and tinkle down around my ankles when I realize how much he’s grown.

Click the thumbnail for a larger image. And here’s one of Shadowboy and his big sister Shadaughter. I made her costume, too. Because I apparently have too much time on my hands.