Here’s one of the reasons I really love the internet: Nothing is ever truly lost.
Back in 1983, when Tim Burton was working in Disney’s animation department, he directed a live-action Japanese adaptation of Hansel and Gretel for the Disney Channel. It aired exactly once, on Halloween, and was promptly shelved (ostensibly because Disney execs didn’t appreciate the “twisted” subject matter). According to Wikipedia, “prints of the film are extremely difficult to locate, fueling rumors that the project did not exist.”
And…here it is. This appears to have been transferred from videotape, so presumably some home viewer happened to tape it the single time it aired and eventually converted it to digital. Awesome.
NailSpin – Etsy store specializing in nail decals, including some neat spooky designs like vintage movie monsters and Poe. (via Spooky Moon)
Legends of Cthulhu – This Kickstarted set of retro-look Lovecraftian action figures is marvelous.
Online Papier Mache Workshops – Scott Stoll, papier mache artist extraordinaire, is offering an online course (he also teaches a meatspace class in Michigan).
If you’ve been looking for a new cross-stitch or similar artwork idea, check these out. The fogbound site recently posted this set of images taken at the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière in Lyon, France. They’re mosaics representing the seven deadly sins, plus an additional reptilian critter with the legend Vade Retro Satana (“Get thee behind me, Satan”).
There’s a set of photos of the same mosaics (minus the Satan one) on Wikimedia Commons; the resolution is a little higher on those, but the colors seem a bit washed out.
These would be splendid patterns for cross-stitch, beading, or (if you’re particularly ambitious) quilting. There are several online converters which will translate photographs into patterns: MyPhotoStitch, Pic 2 Pat, PictureCraftwork, and Stitchboard will all allow you to upload a photo for conversion, either for free or (if the stitch count is above a certain size) for a small fee. You can google “cross stitch pattern converter” for others.
A set of cross-stitched sins would look great on framed a wall or even used to decorate throw pillows. You could also choose your favorite sin to decorate everything from book covers to pocket patches.
As usual, here’s a bunch of images I’ve run across which I want to share but might not be able to hang a whole post on. Some of them have no attribution, so if you happen to know the source for any of these please leave a note in the comments. (Click to view larger.)
Burnt Paper Nails
This is a great-looking, fairly easy, nail treatment. Instructions are here.
Addams Family Easter Eggs
From Super Goody Bag. I unfortunately didn’t see these until after Easter, but you can bet I’ll be doing them next year.
Birthday Cake
All roads lead to Pinterest on this one, so I can’t tell you who the originator was. It’s funny and shouldn’t require much skill to pull off.
Stuffed Bat
This is a “Dust Bunny” art doll. There are lots more here and in the artist’s Flickr stream, but this one is my favorite.
The Canary Suicides (a.k.a. “Tiny Demises”) are a series of assemblage pieces by artist/taxidermist Catherine Coan. They’re macabre little dioramas featuring suicidal canaries, and each contains “money, a suicide note, a pet owned by the resident canary, and unique surprises.”
They’re marvelously detailed, with loads of miniatures setting the scene, each housed in a vintage-y birdcage which complements the interior. (The canaries, incidentally, while real, are birds which have died of natural causes, obtained from a reliable breeder.) One of my favorites is Contact, which tells a whole story with just a few details.
There are a few pieces in the gallery still for sale, and she also does commissions. There’s no mention of pricing, so I have no idea how much of a splurge a dead canary of your very own might be.
Spoiler Alert – A roundup of horror movies with twist endings.
Roots – Gorgeous ceiling light made of pewter wire. (Hat tip to Sisifo)
Dracula’s Grave Discovered – Or, as the Roadtrippers site phrased it, “Researchers finally discover, plan to open Dracula’s grave. We’re all going to die.”
Skull-a-Day Kickstarter – Noah Scalin is publishing a book of his 365 original Skull-a-Day pieces.
The Parasitological Museum of Meguro – There’s a museum in Japan devoted to parasites. I don’t recommend viewing these images if you’re snacking. (Hat tip to pdq)
Bejeweled Skull Cakes – I’ve mentioned Conjurer’s Kitchen previously; these cakes made to look like the relics of saints are just astonishing.
Yetis and Friends – Etsy store full of adorable plush mounted Yeti trophy heads.
Midnight Planetarium – Gorgeous wristwatch depicting planetary motion. I don’t even want to guess what this costs.
Cinder – SF-ish take on Cinderella, in which the heroine is a cyborg. There are two sequels so far: Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood), and Cress (Rapunzel).
As someone whose relationship with Tolkien tends to be on the casual side* it’s easy to forget just how rich and detailed his mythology and history actually are. Then I discover that not only did Tolkien create heraldic devices for many of his characters, he even laid out the rules (formulated by “the Elves”) for designing new ones.
The Council of Elrond discusses how to design a woman’s device, with the main points being:
It must be circular
The background is generally black
It usually contains a flower which has special significance to the bearer
There can be a mark which identifies the bearer’s family (such as a detail from the family coat of arms)
The number of points touching the edge of the field relates to the bearer’s rank
The Tolkiensällskapet Forodrim site has a detailed article on Middle-Earth emblems and heraldry; the rules for men don’t seem to be quite as cut-and-dried as for women, other than that it should be lozenge-shaped and you need to pay attention to the number of points touching the edge. There are additional examples at the Tolkien Gateway wiki, and you can also look at sites devoted to “real” heraldry for ideas on color choices, placement of charges, and so on.
If you can draw or have access to a computer graphics program, this would be an interesting way to create your own unique “brand.” Once you have a design you like, it could be used as a pattern for all sorts of craft projects: Quilts, wall hangings, cross-stitch, personalized stationery, painted fabric, and lots more. (And, obviously, if you’re into LOTR cosplay, embroider the design on a cloak or paint it on your shield.)
*Saruman and Sauron should have had less-similar names. The Two Towers could have been replaced with a pamphlet saying, “They rode and rode and rode and rode….” The Silmarillion is a loooooong way across. That sort of casual.
The Toast has an amusing list of modern curses that you can yell the next time somebody cuts you off in traffic.
A few of them aren’t really “modern” in that they’d work in pretty much any day and age:
May you achieve just enough success to keep you from giving up and finding satisfaction elsewhere, but never enough success to truly relax.
May everyone you lend books to return them unread or keep them forever.
Many of them are technology-dependent:
Whenever you want to watch either Working Girl or 9 To 5, may the other one always be the only one streaming on Netflix Instant.
May none of your friends take your food allergy seriously; may they always pretend to forget just before serving you something you’ve told them you can’t possibly eat.
I think this one is my favorite:
May you never be understood in the comments.
Many commenters have contributed suggestions of their own, and some of them are lethal:
May the username you chose in 1997 because no one else had it (no numbers after your name!) and have had ever since, which you use on all social media and your personal email, become the name of a hate group, a boy band, or a reality show.
— Vera_Knoop
May your google image search results (for anything, and everything) always include a photo with holes and pods.
— omg_kitties
And commenter Elsa is Emily rejoined with a list of modern benedictions:
May your readers always know that you keen out not an indictment but the common anxieties between you.
May your wifi never waver, nor your bars drop below four.
May your co-workers understand the mundane truth that “It is what it is,” but never give you a plaque inscribed with those words in the Secret Santa swap.
May the world be large enough to accommodate your idiosyncratic passions, and small enough to find others who do.
I can think of a few other curses too:
“May your Save function always fail.”
“May your boss stumble upon your Twitter feed.”
“May online dating sites pair you repeatedly with your ex.”
“May you be logged out of eBay just as you go to place a last-minute bid.”
“May you accidentally hit Reply All.”
If you have any free time and value its continued existence, you’d probably better skip this post.
Venerable goth internet fixture Dark Side of the Net has recently branched out into a goth-centric online university which teaches free classes with titles like, “History 103: The Life and Work of Edward Gorey,” “Horticulture 101: Gothic Gardening,” and “Mythology 102: Dark Goddesses.”
Dark Side University is a goth community offering free classes on gothic, horror, vampiric, and Halloween topics. You don’t get credit or a grade, just the fun of learning new things and discussing dark topics alongside other cool people from the subculture.
Our instructors are knowledgeable, passionate people who donate their time to share information with students.
The site is a trove of resources and fascinating subject matter, and provides several avenues for interacting with like-minded people. Particularly nice, of course, is that geographic boundaries are no limitation for this type of study.
If you have passion for some particular aspect of goth culture and want to share your knowledge, the university is also looking for instructors. The position is unpaid, but it’s a fantastic opportunity to connect with others who share your interests and value your contributions. You can view information about that here (requires registration/login). They’re particularly looking for “practical” instruction with real-life applications: Goth-oriented sewing or baking tips, how to get one’s horror stories published, and ways to promote and manage a festival or other event.
My single quibble about the setup, and it’s a relatively minor one, is that everything beyond the front page requires registration. (Additionally, the registration has to be approved by a human being so signup is not instantaneous.) I can understand things like the forums and classroom areas not being open to the public, but I would expect the FAQs and possibly the base course descriptions to be more accessible. Since the university is hosted on Ning, I’m going to assume that’s a limitation of the platform itself.
The university also has a Facebook presence which posts news about upcoming classes and shares interesting gothy tidbits.
The 
As someone whose relationship with Tolkien tends to be on the casual side* it’s easy to forget just how rich and detailed his mythology and history actually are. Then I discover that not only did Tolkien create heraldic devices for many of his characters, he even laid out the rules (formulated by “the Elves”) for designing new ones.
The Toast has an amusing list of 
If you have any free time and value its continued existence, you’d probably better skip this post.