That right there is some Grade-A Nightmare Fuel, y’all.
Artist Tracy Ann Lister creates “Reborns:” Eerily-lifelike dolls that resemble real babies. She’s currently got a whole series of Harry Potter-inspired babies in her eBay store, and although Harry, Ron, and Hermione are all reasonably cute, baby Dobby, Lupin and most particularly Voldemort look like the sort of thing you’d hit with a stick if you found it lurking in the cellar.
They aren’t cheap, but if you simply can’t live without your very own baby Tonks or Snape, now’s your chance.
The Fine Brothers, who somehow managed to explain 47 years of Dr. Who in 6 minutes, are back with a (spoileriffic, obvs) recap of all 7 Harry Potter movies in 7 minutes. I think what’s most impressive about these is they actually manage to be comprehensible.
I refuse to be sucked into scrapbooking because the last thing I need is another time sink, but a couple of collections by Echo Park Paper are sorely tempting me. Even worse, the materials lend themselves to plenty of non-scrapbooking uses too.
Their Happy Halloween stuff is sort of cutesy and candy-colored, and would be great for kid-friendly crafts. The Happy Haunting and Graveyard papers would also be wonderful for custom party invitations.
They also have a brand-new collection, Apothecary Emporium, with a vintage look and more muted colors. I can think of a lot of stuff to do with these, from potion bottles using the Apothecary Labels to decoupage projects with Striped Toad or Haunted Forest papers.
The site also has a blog which features suggested projects using their materials, in case your inspiration needs a jumpstart. Neat.
Jessica Joslin – Artist who combines metal and bone to make amazingly intricate “taxidermy” sculptures.
Spine Candles – I like these, but I can’t quite countenance spending $50 apiece for them. I wonder if it would be possible to DIY a rubber mold using a plastic skeleton spine for the cast.
Iron Fist Bikinis – Bikinis with monstrous motifs. In particular, the zombie, “excuse me ma’am but your cleavage is staring at me” design amuses me.
Musical Parody of “Silence of the Lambs” – I think my favorite part of this article is that the description of a chorus of dancing lambs is immediately followed by, “It all comes from a place of respect.”
Dead Beautiful – Cosmetic company Illamasqua is teaming up with a British funeral director to provide makeovers to the dead. (Hat tip to Linda)
A while back I posted a list of events which provided excuses to party in a Halloween-like manner on dates other than Halloween, and made some offhand comment about eventually expanding it into a proper calendar. Several people responded with, “Yes, why don’t you get on that?” so I have.
Behold The Goth Calendar. This isn’t so much a calendar of any particular kind of event (holidays or conventions or what-have-you) as it is a list of dates and celebrations that might be of interest to those of a gothy nature. The calendar is color-coded for birthdays, deathdays, holidays, and miscellaneous.
It’s definitely a work in progress, with events being added as I come across them. Fixed events show up as recurring every year, and events that move around (like solstices) are up-to-date through 2018. I’m sure that there are simply loads of interesting events that I’m missing, so please feel free to leave a comment or drop me a line if you have suggestions for additions.
Blood and Bone China is a slick-looking “Victorian vampire” Web series created by filmmaker Chris Stone for his hometown of Stoke-on-Trent’s Stoke Your Fires film festival. The series consists of 12 5-10 minute episodes which are being released every two weeks.
It is 1897 and a city is in turmoil. In the smoky, dirty depths of middle England, the people are terrified. The once bustling streets of Stoke are empty, the silence is only broken by the whispers of devils, demons and vampires. Poor souls are being taken, vanishing without a trace.
When the local doctor is snatched away, word travels to his brother, a young vet by the name of Newlyn Howell. Spurred on to discover the truth by the enigmatic Alexander Pyre, Newlyn’s dark adventure into the depths of Victorian Stoke begins… and what he discovers is beyond belief.
There’s also a blog which offers behind-the-scenes clips and commentary.
(No prizes, but if you can answer them all without googling you get bragging rights.)
In the short story/essay “The Revenant” by Walter de la Mare, the ghost of what author rebukes a modern lecturer who has made disparaging remarks about him?
The excoriatingly (literally) gruesome films Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula were produced in 1974 by this artist.
The following line opens chapter one of a well-known dark fantasy novel: “The seller of lightning rods arrived just ahead of the storm.” Name the novel.
In the Star Trek episode “Wolf in the Fold,” what historical villain pays a visit to the Enterprise?
Warren Zevon’s immaculately-coiffed werewolf was seen drinking a pina colada at this, then popular, chain restaurant. Name this upscale eatery.
Vincent Price was a renowned master of what cuisine?
A) Chinese
B) Italian
C) Mexican
D) Turkish
E) Romanian
F.W. Murnau’s 1922 masterpiece is thought by many to be the greatest vampire movie of all time. Name the movie.
“It was a terrible, indescribable thing vaster than any subway train – a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and un-forming as pustules of greenish light all over the tunnel-filling front that bore down upon us, crushing the frantic penguins and slithering over the glistening floor that it and its kind had swept so evilly free of all litter.” What story, set in Antarctica, is this description from?
In The Exorcist, Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow) discovered an evil-looking amulet whilst on an archaeological dig in Iraq. What was the name of the demon that the unholy object represented?
Tim Powers wrote about Byron, Shelley, Caligari and the vampiric Lamia in this darkly-dripping secret history novel.
A) The Drawing Of The Dark
B) Expiration Date
C) Declare
D) The Stress of Her Regard
E) On Stranger Tides
I’d never paid much attention to the novelty brain-shaped molds for chocolate and ice cubes, but over on Instructables kristylynn84 is using them to great effect. Her zombie truffles look splendid, and I’m particularly taken with the presentation.
I do have a couple of minor quibbles about her instructions: She suggests dropping a blob of melted chocolate (actually coverture, in her example) into the mold, adding filling, and then covering with another blob of chocolate. This tends to cause small bubbles which will mar the surface of the finished candy, plus quite a lot of hardened chocolate will have to be trimmed off the bottom. Better results could be had by filling and then inverting the molds to evenly coat the interior (you could also use a clean paintbrush to paint the chocolate onto the molds), filling them as desired, covering with additional chocolate, and then using an offset spatula to help smooth the top.
Also, these technically aren’t truffles, they’re filled chocolates. Truffles are made with ganache, which could certainly be used as the filling, perhaps with a raspberry tucked into the center of each one. However, I think the very best thing to make with these would be chocolate covered cherries.
The “blood” appears to just be powdered sugar and food coloring; a tastier version might be made with raspberry or cherry syrup, either purchased (raspberry | cherry) or homemade (raspberry | cherry).
I do love the suggestions for presentation, with each candy individually nestled in red tissue. What better way to tell a loved one that you’re thinking of them than to give them a boxful of brains?
Here’s something that’s been hanging around in my Drafts folder for ages looking for a suitable home, and although it’s probably something more suited to Halloween parties I’m tired of looking at it so you guys get it in July.
These are recipes for shots that have spooky names and look good served in test tubes, a la Evil Mad Scientist. There are plastic test tubes purpose-made for serving shots, but you can also get Pyrex ones which both look more authentic and can be reused. (You could also turn some of these into Jello shots using unflavored gelatin and serve them in syringes.)
Embalming Fluid
1 part Apple Dekuypers Liquor
1 part Vodka
1 part Sweet and Sour (or Melon Liqueur)
TruBlood
1 part Chambord (or Dekuypers Razzmatazz)
1 part vodka or light rum
1 part Sweet and Sour
Toxic Refuse
1 part Vodka
1 part Triple Sec
1 part Midori
Splash Lime Juice
Green Spider
1 part Vodka
1 part Green Creme de Menthe
Smashing Pumpkin
1 part Kahlua
1 part Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 part Goldschlager
Neon Ghost
1 part Vodka
1 part Pisang Ambon
Peach Death
1 part Vodka
1 part Peach Schnapps
1 part Amaretto
Nightmareland
1 part Blue Curacao
1 part Jägermeister
1 part Kahlua
Caramel Apple
1 part Apple Pucker
1 part Butterscotch Schnapps
That right there is some Grade-A Nightmare Fuel, y’all.
I refuse to be sucked into scrapbooking because the last thing I need is another time sink, but a couple of collections by 
A while back I 
I’d never paid much attention to the novelty 
Here’s something that’s been hanging around in my Drafts folder for ages looking for a suitable home, and although it’s probably something more suited to Halloween parties I’m tired of looking at it so you guys get it in July.
