Graveyards and cemetery’s [sic] – Fun Pinterest board of unusual gravestones, many with commentary. (If Pinterest nags you to register, use a throwaway account from Bugmenot.)
Southern Gothic – Spotify playlist described as “Roots rock, folk, and americana–with a Gothic soul.” (Hat tip to Bruno)
Kittens Recreate Horror Movies – If you’re easily spooked, allow these soothing kittens to act out scenes from The Shining, Carrie, and other classics.
Raxfox Design – German woodworker who makes gorgeous Burton-esque furniture. (Hat tip to Fiend4Halloween)
We’re Wolves – The splendid vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows will get a sequel, focusing on werewolves.
Nightmerriment – Etsy shop full of original monster sculptures and plush toys, each with their own backstory. (Toasted Marshmallow monsters tend to be extremely fluffy and love doing math problems. They also love belly scratches.)
Ashes to Ashes – A timeline which explores David Bowie’s influence on goth.
@BatLabels – Oddly compelling Twitter feed which catalogues the explanatory labels from the 60s Batman TV series. “Anti-Lethal Fog Batspray” is…strangely specific.
The Killing Jar – Short story which follows a day in the life of the intern to a “public service” serial killer. “The last troubled, hard-drinking detective with unorthodox methods who Tony managed to hook into a daring cat-and-mouse game ended up in rehab for alcohol abuse, thus wasting months of painstaking antagonism.”
You gotta give it to the Victorians: When it came to death, they did not believe in half measures. There were strict rules about proper mourning attire, and one essential accessory was the mourning handkerchief.
The handkerchiefs were traditionally white, trimmed with a black border; the border width varied depending upon how long one had been in mourning. (There were rules about that, too. The customary mourning period of a widow for her husband, for instance, was a total of 2 1/2 years: First Mourning, 1 year and 1 day in bombazine and heavy crape; Second Mourning, 9 months with less crape; Ordinary Mourning, 3 months in black silk; and Half Mourning, a minimum of 6 months where “half mourning colors” like grey and purple were allowed, and a greater variety of fabric and trim was permitted.) A proper handkerchief would sport a heavy black band during First Mourning, after which narrower bands could be used.
As with most customs, eventually there were embellishments. The handkerchiefs might be made of delicate lace or feature embroidery and fancy fabric.
These are a perfect small craft project, whether or not you have any actual funerals to attend. (Although if you do, a pretty hanky decorated in a motif that was meaningful to the deceased would be a thoughtful gift; either for for a mourning loved one or as a keepsake for yourself.)
Handkerchiefs are easy to make–there are good instructions here and here–but you can also start with a premade handkerchief and add lace, ribbon, or embroidery. Tutorials for all of these techniques are just a quick google away.
It’s always a good idea to have a hanky on hand, and one with gothy overtones is even better.
Gryffindor: Do what is right
Ravenclaw: Do what is wise
Hufflepuff: Do what is kind
Slytherin: PUT A FUCKING BASILISK IN THE CASTLE
— HogwartsLogic
I feel like people in horror movies live in an alternate universe where there are no horror movies.
— BizzieLaehr
on earth: a magician puts his hand in his hat
in the rabbit realm: The Hand emerges. it is time. the rabbit council must chose a sacrifice
— jonnysun
Every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings. It’s always the same angel. It’s covered in wings now and wants to die but can’t
— iscoff
Winter is like the Earth’s period. No one likes it, but we get worried when it’s late
— Shower Thoughts
“A smile is the prettiest thing you can wear.” No. The prettiest thing you can wear is the flayed skin of a stranger telling you to smile.
— missokistic
I love how whenever ghosts or spirits are incorporated into television or film they’re always like 19th century British children or present-day deceased loved ones. Over 100 billion people have lived and are dead now. Do you know what percentage of 100 billion are from Victorian-era England or people you actually knew? Like negative zero percent is how many. And yet I haven’t seen a single movie where the ghost is some really confused guy from the Mesolithic period.
— outofcharacterquilts
In the dog world, humans are elves that routinely live to be 500+ years old.
— hypermog
“There’s a monster under my bed!”
“Yes. He watches over you at night and chases away your nightmares.”
“There’s a monster in my closet!”
“Yes. She loves the smell of the laundry detergent I use, and she’s busy trying to organize your shoes.”
“There’s a monster under the stairs!”
“Yes. She collects spiders and he makes sure you don’t trip while going to get water.”
“There’s a monster right outside my window!”
“Yes. He’s pulling weeds from the garden and protecting us from burglars.”
“There’s a monster behind the couch!”
“Yes. He’s eating all the crumbs you left behind and hiding pennies in the cushions.”
if i was a ghost i would do useful things like let the cat out or take flammable things off the stove and sing to small children when they can’t sleep and terrify the fuck out of assholes hell yeah bitches. what was that? did I hear you make a derogatory remark about women? bam, your lamp is now on the floor what cha going to do punk? are you abusing that child? wambo, your walls are now bleeding motherfucker
— no-need-4-hats-thx
I’m eating your food and your Netflix suggestions are gonna be fucked up.
“Why the fuck would I be watching Supernatural?”
“Ooooooo don’t take that off your queue oooooo.”
— Tyree
You guys, have I ever mentioned how very, very stabby Pinterest and similar aggregators make me? This damn photo is everywhere, but I can’t find an original source or any other information about it. It’s a pretty neat-looking prop that would be great for a “witch’s kitchen,” but would also be attractive just displayed on a shelf. (It’d also be an awesome library display piece for Banned Book Month.)
I found a somewhat similar book that was previously available on Etsy from which it’s possible to glean a little more of the general construction.
Here’s my best guess on making a similar prop:
Get a large hardback book from a thrift store; if it’s a little battered-looking, so much the better.
If you intend to display the book opened flat or with the cover only slightly visible, just spray-paint the cover black (cover the edges of the pages with masking tape if you’re concerned about overspray). If the cover is going to be visible, you may want to decorate it further.
Open the book to the middle, place it at the angle it’s going to be displayed at, and liberally paint white glue or Mod Podge around the edges of the pages to stick them all in place. (If desired, before this step you can spray all of the edges with water and let them dry so they’re a little more crinkly and old-looking.) There’s a good step-by-step tutorial for making an open-book spellbook here, to give you a general idea of what you’re shooting for.
Distress the edges of the pages and add fake text to the visible top pages, if desired. This site has good instructions for doing that.
Use an X-Acto knife to cut a hole in the center of the pages, large enough to accommodate a flickering LED tea light.
Cut scraps of paper and glue them around the edges of the hole; stiffen them with a little Mod Podge if necessary. Build them up and out so they’ll hide the tea light, but don’t make them so dense that they hide the flicker. You could use paper with text for the outer edges and thin tissue paper for the inner stuff. You might also try tucking in a bit of red or orange cellophane to suggest flames.
Make a few twists of black wire and attach tufts of scrap paper to one end of each. Hot-glue the other ends amongst the bits of scrap paper around the edge of the hole.
Nestle the tea light inside and you’re good to go.
It’s a reasonably straightforward project; the hardest part would be making the central combusty bit look right. It might be worth doing a couple of test runs of just that part on other thrifted books before committing to the full paint job.
Pixel Pixie alerted me to this awesome live performance from the 1995 Dissonance tour. If you’ll pardon me, I’m going to go kick myself for missing it in 1995.
That Holiday is coming up soon, and Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena has the cure:
Valentine’s Day does not have to be the most dreaded holiday of your year anymore. Stop by after 7pm and join us for our Anti-Valentine’s Day party. Make your own voodoo doll, swap stories of dates gone wrong, and enjoy a little food and drink!
This would also be a fun party theme to try at home: Supply your guests with the materials to create their own voodoo doll pincushion and let them decorate as desired.
The photo above is Valentine, the patron saint of “romance-resisting, Hallmark-hating, Cupid-cursing folks everywhere.” He was originally featured on a site called IndieSpotting, which sadly seems to be as dead as chivalry, but fortunately WonderHowTo has a materials list and a copy of the original pattern. There aren’t any instructions, but the photo makes it reasonably clear how it should all go together: Sew buttons on one of the body sections and then add a stitched mouth and a few “scars.” Stitch the two heart pieces in place, then blanket-stitch the two body sections together and stuff with fiberfill. If you’ve never worked with felt before, Lit’l Brown Bird’s Ideas has instructions for basic hand stitching, and you can find lots of tutorials by searching “DIY felt toys” (look at this adorable felt clam!)
Serve conversation heart sugar cookies with messages like “Drop Dead” or “Meh.” Make Stupid Cupid cocktails with extra bitters. Play a party mixtape like I Hate Valentine’s Day or have a movie marathon featuring Fatal Attraction, What Lies Beneath, and My Bloody Valentine.
If you want to be a little more ambitious and throw a dinner party, start with a salad featuring chopped hearts of palm and artichoke hearts. The main course could be jerked chicken or back-stabbing shish kebab (for extra points, shape your favorite meatball recipe into little hearts, bake or fry as usual, then serve on skewers as “shots through the heart.”) Finish up with chocolate skulls (linking more for the shape rather than the recipe, since I’m still not sure how I feel about chocolate-covered bacon).
It’s time for another bunch of random stuff I want to share but can’t 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.)
Found via Jes, this was originally posted on Imgur. MAKE has instructions for building a coffin bookcase, if you’re feeling ambitious and want to try something similar.
“Time Flies” Clock
This awesome wall decoration is by Mr. Kate, and there’s even a tutorial. I love the black butterflies, but this would look great with bats, too.
Spooky Signpost
This would be a neat outdoor Halloween decoration. I can’t find the source for this one, but there are easy directions for a somewhat similar one here. You could also make a lightweight prop version with insulating foam (the sort used for prop tombstones) and a long piece of PVC pipe.
Sealed with a Spider
This is attributed to the Zakka Life blog, but I can’t actually find it on that site. It’s certainly easy enough to DIY; just drip some sealing wax on an envelope and press in a fake spider before it cools. These are obviously too fragile to go through the mail, but they’d be a neat touch on hand-delivered party invitations.
Obi Wine Kenobi
This isn’t goth, it just made me laugh. The little glowstick lightsaber is the perfect finishing touch.
Halloween “Wreath”
This was made using an old picture frame and some dollar-store decorations. The netting appears to be cheesecloth.
Halloween Lamp
Similar idea to the frame above, and using the same gauzy fabric. This is a five-minute way to add a little Halloween ambiance to a room.
“A Crow Scout is kind, odd, honorable, spooky, thrifty, and irreverent.”
Daniel and Dawna Davis run Steam Crow, which sells “good monster goods” like T-shirts and prints. A couple of years ago they wanted to foster a community of monster-loving folks, so they created the Steam Crow Scouts:
The Steam Crow Scouts were founded in 1903 by Baron Davis, who created a Monster Scouts organization to help Youth BELIEVE, LEARN and SEE the MONSTERS that surround us.
Today, the Crow Scouts continue DISCOVER and AID MONSTERS against the oppression of vile Monsterology.
MONSTRIFERIS CONFIDIMUS
You can become a Monster Scout–they appear to use “Steam Crow Scouts,” “Crow Scouts,” and “Monster Scouts” fairly interchangeably–and mingle with like-minded monster lovers. They even have uniforms.
Members can earn achievement badges for various activities, chat with other scouts in their forum, and even go camping at the annual Shindig in Arizona.
If you’ve been looking for some way to make life a little more monstrous, this looks like an excellent way to do it. Just remember to abide by their code of conduct:
I shall hurt neither Monster or Man.
I will behave with Uncommon Sense.
I pledge to have fun with my Crow Scout friends, imaginary or not.
I shall laugh first at myself.
I will celebrate my flaws, oddities and broken nature.
I will strive to make the 2 worlds less ungood.