(No prizes, but if you can answer them all without googling you get bragging rights.)

1. John Carpenter wrote and directed the movie Halloween, but his first film was a student project in which four astronauts cope with a runaway alien who resembles a beachball, faulty computer systems, and a “smart bomb” that thinks it is God. Name it.
2. The original film versions of Dracula and Frankenstein were released at the same time in what year?
3. What well-known horror film marked Johnny Depp’s first major acting role?
4. Finish this old Gypsy warning whispered to Larry Talbot just after he was bitten. “Even a man who is pure at heart, and says his prayers by night…”
5. What store does Ray Stantz own?
6. In what classic horror movie do you hear the line, “We all go a little mad sometimes”?
7. On what novella was the movie Hellraiser based?
8. What is the title of Humphrey Bogart’s only horror film?
9. What is the name of the infamous mortuary in the movie Phantasm?
10. In this much-adapted novel by Richard Matheson, a terrible plague has decimated the world, and those who were unfortunate enough to survive have been transformed into bloodthirsty creatures of the night…except for one man. What is the title of the book?

(Answers below the fold)

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The Edward Gorey House Museum – Joanna of the Morbid Anatomy blog visited the museum and wrote about her pilgrimage. I must own the weathervane in the second photo.

Cthulhu Stuff – Toys, collectibles, and whatnot from Entertainment Earth. (Hat tip to Charity)

33 A.D. – Straight up, Jesus vs. the vampires. I blame Stephenie Meyer.

Spooky Knit Patterns – Some free patterns from Lion Brand Yarn. (You have to register at the site to access them, which is why the link goes to some photos at CRAFT.) I like the witch-finger gloves.

The Halloween Bride – New-ish blog devoted to…just what it sounds like. (via hinkenhook)

Science Saved My Soul – Not goth. Just lovely.

Funeral Wreath – Photo snapped at a wake by someone on Reddit. “He had a huge sense of humor.” Hee.

The Art of Darkness – Makeup collection from Illamasqua. Since it shows up in my Google Alerts ALL THE DAMN TIME, I may as well link to it.

Murder Pamphlets – Online collection of the lurid “true crime” pamphlets that were popular in the 19th Century.

John Cusack as Poe – First photos from a movie I wasn’t even aware they were making. He looks pretty good.

Star Wars Calaveras – Various Star Wars characters drawn as traditional “Day of the Dead” figures. Little Darth Vader is adorable!

I have a teensy little ribbon addiction, in that any time I see an unusual pattern I buy some even if I have no idea what I’m going to do with it (see also my teensy little fabric addiction). The Long Thread may have just given me an answer.

This ribbon wreath could hardly be easier, consisting of ribbon wrapped around a styrofoam wreath form and tied into bows. For such a simple presentation, it’s really quite striking.

Since all of the emphasis is on the bow-tie portion of the ribbon, instead of a styrofoam form it might be possible to just use wire bent into a circle (or, I suppose, into other shapes as well). This would cut down on the amount of ribbon used, since you wouldn’t be “wasting” several inches per bow by wrapping it around a wider base.

Depending upon how messy or careful you are with the bows, this could be fun and casual or really quite formal and funereal. Although I quite like the monochromatic look of the black-only ribbon, it would also be fun to do with several different colors. I suppose you could even use red, gold, and green and make a wreath for that other holiday.

(Hat tip to xJane)

Scare Tactics is a hidden-camera program on the unfortunately-named SyFy channel, where: “Set up by friends and loved ones, unsuspecting victims are placed in elaborately staged and scary situations involving movie-style special effects and makeup.”

We will not speculate on whether or not the pranksters remain friends and loved ones afterward.

Anyway, this one is pretty nicely done, particularly since the “spooky” stuff is all so simple.

(via I have seen the whole of the internet, whose logo always makes me smile)

Jenny The Bloggess is one of my favorite bloggers, who can write both meaningful, touching posts and stuff that makes me snort coffee out my nose. She also apparently contains multitudes.

In a recent post about Neil Gaiman’s book swap idea she just casually happened to mention that, by the way, she’s been building a phenomenally-detailed haunted dollhouse for the past three years.

I’ve built an entire dollhouse filled with hundreds of tiny hat-tips to the horror books and films that made life in small town Texas seem (just for a moment) a little more dark and exciting and open to the chaotic terror of not knowing what might be lurking in abandoned houses and echoing wells.

Way to bury the lede, Jenny.

She included a link to an older post she did about the project, with some lovely photos and a brief description of some of the rooms (I adore the attic’s “thing in the mirror”).

This has prompted me to: a) Seriously consider digging out the dollhouse kit I’ve had stashed in the closet and finally getting to work; and b) Wonder if there’s some way to lobby for a more extensive post about the dollhouse. I’d love to see more.

This is kind of blowing my mind a little. The Science Tarot is a set of standard tarot cards illustrated with various scientific concepts, the point being to combine “science, art and mythology into a tarot deck to engage and awaken people’s curiosity about science and the natural world.”

Although I’m all over the idea of awakening curiosity about science, I’m not sure that the best medium (har!) to do that is tarot cards. Divination does not exactly lend itself to scientific rigor, and the notion that science and mysticism can be good bedfellows gets pretty muddy pretty fast.

On the other hand, I have to give mad props to the clever artwork. The suit of Cups is represented by beakers, Swords are scalpels, Pentacles are magnifying glasses, and Wands are bunsen burners. The major arcana are all famous scientists, and the deck attempts to match their work with the various cards’ “meanings” (the nurturing Empress, for instance, is represented by Mendel and his peas). The minor arcana illuminate various scientific ideas, and again an effort has been made to match them appropriately: The ambitious Seven of Swords is represented by the expansion of a red giant star, and the partner-oriented Three of Cups is illustrated by an orchid and its symbiotic fungus.

In particular, the fact that the Wheel of Fortune is represented by Schrödinger’s Cat is utter genius.

This might be an interesting gift for a collector of unusual decks, or for a scientist with a sense of humor.

(via BoingBoing)

Little Orphant Annie

Little Orphant Annie’s come to our house to stay,
An’ wash the cups an’ saucers up, an’ brush the crumbs away,
An’ shoo the chickens off the porch, an’ dust the hearth, an’ sweep,
An’ make the fire, an’ bake the bread, an’ earn her board-an’-keep;
An’ all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an’ has the mostest fun
A-list’nin’ to the witch-tales ‘at Annie tells about,
An’ the Gobble-uns ‘at gits you
Ef you
Don’t
Watch
Out!

Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn’t say his prayers,–
An’ when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an’ his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An’ when they turn’t the kivvers down, he wuzn’t there at all!
An’ they seeked him in the rafter-room, an’ cubby-hole, an’ press,
An’ seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an’ ever’-wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found wuz thist his pants an’ roundabout:–
An’ the Gobble-uns ‘ll git you
Ef you
Don’t
Watch
Out!

An’ one time a little girl ‘ud allus laugh an’ grin,
An’ make fun of ever’ one, an’ all her blood-an’-kin;
An’ wunst, when they was “company,” an’ ole folks wuz there,
She mocked ’em an’ shocked ’em, an’ said she didn’t care!
An’ thist as she kicked her heels, an’ turn’t to run an’ hide,
They wuz two great big Black Things a-standin’ by her side,
An’ they snatched her through the ceilin’ ‘fore she knowed what she’s about!
An’ the Gobble-uns ‘ll git you
Ef you
Don’t
Watch
Out!

An’ little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
An’ the lamp-wick sputters, an’ the wind goes woo-oo!
An’ you hear the crickets quit, an’ the moon is gray,
An’ the lightnin’-bugs in dew is all squenched away,–
You better mind yer parunts, an’ yer teachurs fond an’ dear,
An’ churish them ‘at loves you, an’ dry the orphant’s tear,
An’ he’p the pore an’ needy ones ‘at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns ‘ll git you
Ef you
Don’t
Watch
Out!

— James Whitcomb Riley

(No prizes, but if you can answer them all without googling you get bragging rights.)

1. This Hugo Award-winning author is also known for his dark graphic novels, many of which feature Death as a character.
2. In Stephen King’s The Stand, a U.S. military facility accidentally releases a deadly mutation of what illness?
3. What was the name of Wednesday Addams’ favorite pet spider?
4. This vampiric demon from Philippine mythology can separate its body into two halves: The upper half flies around on huge bat wings, and the lower half is left standing around, where it is vulnerable to an application of salt or garlic. Name it.
5. According to fossil evidence, how long have bats been around?
6. What is the only horror movie to have been nominated for 10 Academy Awards?
7. In Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Black Cat,” what is the name of the cat?
8. What classic horror movie was originally titled The Babysitter Murders?
9. What was Boris Karloff’s real name?
10. The music video “Thriller” contains a monologue by which horror star?

(Answers below the fold)

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Fabric Skulls – Easy tutorial for making whimsical little “sugar skulls” from fabric and paint.

Adam’s Spooky Candy Apples – I can’t believe how gorgeous the black ones are. (via hinkenhook)

Silly Rhymes for Belligerent Children – This looks entertaining.

Wedding at ZomBcon – Oh, lawsey. Bruce Campbell was ordained as a minister and officiated at a wedding. Ted Raimi was scheduled to participate as well. This is pretty much made of awesome.

Ghost Host T-shirt – Disney’s Haunted Mansion spiel on a T-shirt (unathorized). I like the various typefaces.

Harry Potter Film Wizardry – Book about the props and design and whatnot of the Harry Potter movies. This would probably be an excellent source of inspiration.

Spider Web Necklace – This is the description of a class which teaches you how to make the necklace, but there’s a nice, clear photo of the finished product as well.

Genre Savviness Is Not Enough – A nicely original update to the tired old “horror movie cliches” list.

Van Gogh’s Ear – Organic catnip cat toy. Shaped like an ear. Because why not?

Zombie Felties – Patterns and instructions for 16 wee undead creatures made of felt. These would be adorable as Christmas tree ornaments.

Spooky Styles from a Century Ago – National Geographic slideshow featuring Halloween costumes from around the turn of the last century.

Every time I almost convince myself that I have enough damn hobbies and don’t need to try my hand at polymer clay, I run into something like this.

Tala of Corvus tristis is a “multifaceted nerd” whose many hobbies do include working with polymer clay, and she has put together some lovely tutorials on making “canes” that look like skulls, eyeballs (that hair clip makes me squirm), and a suspiciously Cthulhoid octopus. Her instructions and photos are so clear that even a clueless n00b such as myself should have a shot at making something that looks reasonably decent.

If you’re able to successfully resist taking up clay as a hobby, she also sells some of her creations on Etsy.

Be sure to nose around the rest of her site as well; she’s got all kinds of interesting stuff.

(via The Zombie Crafter)