I recently ran across some pretty skull-print damask fabric, and upon poking around discovered that the designer has quite a number of goth-friendly patterns. Here are some of my favorites:

Skull Damask – This would be wonderful for upholstered items.

Fairy Frost – Pretty all-over pattern that would be nice as part of a quilt. Comes in several contrasting colors, including blood red.

“Pirates” Fabric – Cotton fabric featuring skulls and knitting needles. There’s also a version with scissors. (And may I just comment at how tired I am of skull-and-crossbones imagery being so thoroughly co-opted by the “pirate” crowd?)

Luna Moth – I love how delicate and lacy these moths look.

Bonehead – Kitschy, colorful skulls.

Ornate Crosses – Gorgeous gothy crosses on a black background.

Petals – Black fabric with a subtle rose design. I’d love a dress made out of this. There’s also a really dramatic red version.

Venice Floral Script – Black flowers on a cream background. This would be another lovely fabric for a dress.

Zelda – Black-and-white floral design that looks like patterned lace.

Delovely Damask – Another very formal fabric that would be great for home decor. Available in a number of shades including onyx, linen, and cherry.

Knitmare on Elm Street – This is just sort of bizarre, featuring a repeating pattern of Chinese take-out with knitting needles instead of chopsticks, dogs and cats interacting with knitting, the skeleton of someone who appears to have died whilst knitting and rotted right where they sat, and an annoyed-looking kid in a hoodie who has no noticeable connection with knitting; perhaps he’s annoyed because he accidentally wandered into the wrong fabric. I’m assuming drugs were involved in the development of this design.

Knitty Gritty Skully – Vintage-looking skull and crossbones on a rather formal background pattern. (And this one doesn’t mention pirates. Yay!)

There are lots of other patterns that would be great for quilting, crafts, or home decor. If you’re looking for some unique fabric for a sewing project, go take a look.

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

1. In the novel Dracula, what nationality is Abraham Van Helsing?
2. Edward Parker was stranded on a nightmarish island with a mad scientist called Moreau and his tribe of half-beast, half-human creatures, in what 1933 Charles Laughton film?
3. Which serial killer was also known as Pogo the Clown?
4. What was the name of Grandpa Munster’s pet bat?
5. “They all agreed that it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral. I have cross-examined these men, one of them a hard-headed countryman, one a farrier, and one a moorland farmer, who all tell the same story of this dreadful apparition, exactly corresponding to the hell-hound of the legend. I assure you that there is a reign of terror in the district, and that it is a hardy man who will cross the moor at night.” This describes what horrible creature (which is also the title of the story it’s from)?
6. Complete the title of this H.P. Lovecraft story: “Herbert West: _______ “
7. What was the name of Nick Cave’s band before he formed the Bad Seeds?
8. The movie Maximum Overdrive was adapted from a Stephen King short story titled “Trucks,” in which machinery comes to life and begins murdering humans. What causes the “possession?”
9. What terrible discovery does “Young Goodman Brown” make, in the short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne?
10. The tradition of carving Jack-o’-lanterns hails from Ireland, but what vegetables were most commonly used before pumpkins became popular?

(Answers below the fold)

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You may remember the viral video of the cute little British boy whose baby brother bit him. Director Jeff Chan has “reimagined” this as a short film.

(Caution: Mild gore, jumpy-out things.)

(via Blame it On the Voices)

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making – Interesting young-adult “fairy tale.” There’s a useful review by Cory Doctorow toward the bottom of the page, and here’s the author explaining her “big idea” at John Scalzi’s site.

The Costume Mercenary – Blog devoted to “photographs, sketches and concept art of pseudo-historical, fantasy, steampunk and scifi costume.” Gorgeous stuff. (Hat tip to Kitten Herder)

Rejected Young Adult Books – The first one cracked me up.

Living Dead Doll Pencil Sharpener – Amusingly gruesome.

Hobble Belt – Quality leather belt that converts into handcuffs, should you find yourself in need of such a thing.

Joyeria Osea – Etsy shop specializing in silver “bone” jewelry, like hand necklaces and finger bone rings.

Spiderweb Scissors – Needlecraft scissors with handles reminiscent of spiderwebs. This looks like the sort of thing that Morticia Addams would use when darning socks.

Memebase: Neville Sexybottom – Puberty can occasionally be very kind. (Hat tip to Empress Pam)

Wicked Bugs – New book by the author of Wicked Plants which explores the most “diabolical” members of the insect world.

Monster Tooth Pillow – Super-easy tutorial for making a cute pillow to hold children’s lost teeth until the tooth fairy can claim them.

How have I never encountered this site before? It is utterly splendid.

How to Be a Retronaut is run by historical consultant Chris Wild. The site’s tagline is “Ever get the feeling you’re living in the wrong time?” and it is an almost inexplicable collection of vintage/time-travel/steampunk/godonlyknows photos and minutiae, ranging from Victorian surrealism through eternally-cuddling skeletons to memorial effigies.

There are videos which purport to show time travelers and photos of Australian criminals from the 1920s and anatomical drawings of mermaids and…let’s just say you’re going to be here for a while.

Danish artist John/Don Kenn* has “a set of twins and not much time for anything. But when I have time I draw monsterdrawings on post-it notes.”

The drawings are all wordless and don’t even have titles, and they are all creepy as hell.

The artistic style puts me in mind a bit of both Gahan Wilson and Charles Addams, and it’s remarkable how much is suggested by just a single scene. A few of them rather charmingly depict people and monsters interacting playfully, but there’s a definite feeling of, “Oh, this isn’t going to end well,” about most of them.

There are lots of giants and teeth and floating and children being menaced and after you look through the archives you’ll find yourself glancing nervously over your shoulder every so often. Fantastic stuff.

(via ComicsAlliance)

*The URL is “johnkenn” and his profile says his name is John Kenn, but the site is called “Don Kenn Gallery,” so you figure it out.

Fans have been devising recipes for butterbeer since the day after Harry Potter first hit the shelves, and now that the theme park in Florida serves “real” butterbeer, they’re more prevalent than ever. I’ve seen recipes for both hot and cold versions of the drink, and it occurred to me that a base which would work for either might be worth concocting.

I ran across this recipe which suggests that “vanilla butter and nut extract” is essential to an authentic taste. Most of the brands I found were artificially flavored, which I don’t particularly care for. If you’re in the same boat, this brand says it’s “derived from natural sources,” or you can do what I did and make your own: Cover 2/3 cup pecans and 1/3 cup walnuts (or 1 cup butternuts if you’re fortunate enough to have a local source; they’re not commercially available) with boiling water for about 90 seconds to remove their tannins. Drain, put in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid, and cover with vodka. Let sit in a cool, dark place for about three weeks, shaking occasionally. Strain through a coffee filter to remove particles and store in a jar or bottle with a tight lid.

For the base, you will need:

1 C firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 C light corn syrup
1/4 C (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
1/2 C heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp butternut extract (that stuff we just made up above)
2 Tbsp butterscotch schnapps*

In a small heavy saucepan combine brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, and salt. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring and washing down any sugar crystals clinging to the side with a brush dipped in cold water, until the sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer without stirring for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in cream (the mixture will bubble dramatically), extracts, and schnapps. Cool, then refrigerate for up to 2 months. Makes about 1-1/2 C.

A condiment squeeze bottle is handy for storage, since you can squeeze the desired amount right into your beverage.

For cold butterbeer, squeeze 2-3 Tbsp of the base into the bottom of a glass, pour in a small amount of cream soda, stir a bit to dissolve the base, then top up with more cream soda.

For hot butterbeer, bring 1 C whole milk (or a mixture of milk and half-and-half if you’re feeling particularly decadent) to a simmer, whisk in 4 Tbsp of butterbeer base, and pour into a mug.

Either version can be topped with whipped cream (flavor it with a bit of butternut extract for extra punch), and spiked with additional butterscotch schnapps. It might also be interesting–although I haven’t tried it, so take that into consideration–to use the syrup to flavor stout (oatmeal or chocolate).

A squeeze bottle of base paired with a couple of etched mugs might be a nice gift for the HP fan in your life.

*If you’re really, really hardcore about natural ingredients, you can make the schnapps from scratch too: Make butterscotch candy, then use it to infuse vodka to taste.

I have a soft spot in my heart for the original Fright Night (Chris Sarandon, rowr), so I’m approaching the remake with some trepidation. It looks like they’re sticking fairly close to the original material, only removing the camp and making it more of a straight-up horror movie.

We’ll see….

Brutal Knitting – “Creepy sci fi and horror inspired custom knitting.”

Em & Sprout – Etsy shop featuring Mary Janes decorated with things like sugar skulls and vampires.

The Literary Gothic – Extensive site devoted to classical gothic literature.

Death Guy – Novelty Twitter account where each tweet is surely this guy’s last.

Haunted Mansion Font – Designer David Occhino has created a “Haunted Mansion” TrueType font. It’s $30, but he also offers a free Mansion CryptBats dingbat font.

Books – This motivational poster isn’t goth, but I just love it to death.

Geek Chic Cosmetics – Company offering makeup collections titled things like Fang Banger’s Quartet (Purity Burns, Viking King, Blood Bond, and Eyes of the Werewolf) and Geeks vs. Zombies (Grey Matter, Vector, Ugghhh…Brains, and Stay Indoors).

Easy Glass Eyeballs – Tutorial for making faux glass eyes. Useful for jewelry, art, or simply creeping people out.

Several comic novels by Christopher Moore:
Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story
Practical Demonkeeping
A Dirty Job
The Stupidest Angel

The Nebula Awards were in DC this year, and last Friday several authors had a book signing a few miles from my office. Whilst I was waiting for Shadow Jack to have various books signed, I scored a signed copy of Cthulhu’s Reign just for you guys.

Some of the darkest hints in all of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos relate to what will happen after the Old Ones return and take over the earth. What happens when Cthulhu is unleashed upon the world? What happens when the other Old Ones, long since banished from our universe, break through and descend from the stars? What would the reign of Cthulhu be like on a totally transformed planet where mankind is no longer the master? Find out in these exciting, brand-new stories.

If you’re interested in having this for your very own, leave a comment by Tuesday, May 31* and one person will be chosen at random.

*Non-US readers are welcome to play along, although shipping will probably be by banana boat so you might have to wait a couple weeks.

Update:

The contest is over, and random.org spat back the magic number 6, which means The Frog Queen gets the book. If she will e-mail me with her snail-mail address, I will send it out forthwith.

Thanks to everyone who played along!