Damsel in This Dress – Artfire shop featuring all sorts of gothy loveliness.

The Mymble’s Daughter – Etsy seller who makes interesting jewelry inspired by steampunk, fairy tales, Victoriana, and whatnot.

Thorn Manicure – Not particularly practical, but undeniably dramatic.

Terror-iums – Ideas for using carnivorous plants as temporary decorations.

Bones Sprinkles – Little edible bones for decorating cakes. (They also have ghosts and spiders.)

Midnight Pastoral – What appears to be traditional toile fabric is actually covered in skeletons. (via Old Fashion Halloween)

Anatomology – Jewelry and other items based on human anatomy, heavy on the brains and hearts. The store also has some embroidered spider webs which are just lovely.

Ultra-Creative Halloween Cocktails – Obviously, you don’t have to limit your creativity to Halloween. Some fantastic garnish ideas.

The Cracked Dresser – Three whimsical (expensive, unfortunately) dressers. The “melting” one is very Goreyesque.

Pirate Booties – Well, the listing calls them “pirate,” but with a skull on one bootie and crossbones on the other, they’re sufficiently generic to just be gothy.

Bellevues – Wonderful retro shoes that would be perfect for steampunk ensembles. I’m particularly taken with these. (Hat tip to Kitten Herder)

I’ve previously linked to some neat DIY tutorials for spiked heels, such as these chain heels and these Christian Louboutin knockoffs. If you’d like to extend the spikes beyond your feet, here are a few other items that seem ripe for the DIY treatment.

Incidentally, the studs and spikes required for these projects can often be found at craft and sewing supply stores. They’re also available online here and many other places (search “jewelry supply spike” for other sources).

Sunglasses – It’s hard to tell for sure from the photo, but these appear to be wrap-around sunglasses. Choose a style with a fairly wide side piece (such as these) to give you room to decorate, and use jewelry adhesive to attach spikes and other decoration. Obviously, you’ll need to be mindful of weight limitations, since too many spikes will make it hard to keep the glasses on your face.

Bracelets – These photos are nice in that they show what the back of the piece looks like, although I do question how comfortable those screw heads would be against one’s skin. The construction should be relatively straightforward: Get a metal cuff bracelet blank (available at craft and jewelry supply stores), decide on the placement of the spikes, mark each spot with a grease pencil, drill the appropriate holes, and screw in the spikes.

Top Hat – Seen in several photos in this gallery. This project seems like it’d be extremely easy: Get a top hat and stick spikes in it. Mark the desired placement using tailor’s chalk (which is easily rubbed off if you change your mind), use an awl to punch a small hole, and then carefully enlarge it with a small pair of scissors until the spike’s screw back will fit properly.

Hair Accessory – Last photo on the page. There’s no real detail on how these are anchored, but attaching the spikes to a strip of sturdy ribbon and then braiding the hair around it would probably be sufficient.

Handbag – I love the medieval look of this thing. If you can’t find a spherical handbag to embellish (I couldn’t), this would probably have to be a DIY effort from beginning to end. Given the weight of the spikes I don’t think you’d be able to use fabric for the body lest it sag, so hard plastic would likely be the best bet. Carefully saw a hollow plastic ball–something like a costume ball and chain might work–in half, attach a hinge and clasp (available at craft stores or search “pursemaking supplies”), drill holes to accommodate the spikes, and use jewelry adhesive to attach the studs and other bits. Add a leather strap (such as a thrifted belt) to the top, embellish with a few more spikes, and you’re in business. Quite a bit of work, to be sure, but I’m willing to bet that it would be significantly cheaper than the designer version.

A while back the HiLoBrow site ran an article titled Hoodoo You Know, about the “Lucky Mojo” company. It’s an interesting enough read, but what really caught my eye was the accompanying examples of product labels.

The site has dozens more, and they’re all marvelously kitschy. The simple line drawings and primary colors remind me quite a lot of images from Golden Age comic books. I think they’d be splendid re-purposed as labels for homemade bath products, spice mixtures, or potpourri blends. A variety of items labeled in a similar style would make a unique gift.

If you’re sufficiently artistic you might draw your own illustrations for your labels. If you’re more like me,* it should be reasonably easy to adapt clip art. Since their garishness is part of their appeal, you don’t have to worry about fine detail or subtle shading.

The various “purposes” of the nostrums sold at Lucky Mojo should be a rich source of inspiration. I may re-label all of the spice jars in my kitchen with names like “Aunt Sally’s Lucky Dream” and “Jinx Killer.”

*I have the artistic ability of Rembrandt. If he were hogtied and trapped in a sack of live weasels.

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

1. The first substantial vampire fiction that approximated a novel was a long-running serial (popularly known as a “penny dreadful” or a “penny blood”) published between 1845 and 1847. When finally compiled into book form, it stretched to 868 pages over 220 chapters. What was the name of this Gothic epic?
2. In the Halloween movies, the mask worn by Michael Myers was actually fashioned after the face of what famous TV actor from the 1960s?
3. What 1764 novel by Horace Walpole is generally regarded as the first Gothic novel?
4. “The mouth, so far as I could see it under the heavy moustache, was fixed and rather cruel-looking, with peculiarly sharp white teeth. These protruded over the lips, whose remarkable ruddiness showed astonishing vitality in a man of his years. For the rest, his ears were pale, and at the tops extremely pointed. The chin was broad and strong, and the cheeks firm though thin. The general effect was one of extraordinary pallor.” What character is described here?
5. Who wrote the horror tale “Lamb to the Slaughter,” in which a housewife bludgeons her husband to death with a frozen leg of lamb, then cooks it and serves it to the police?
6. H.P. Lovecraft’s fictional town of Innsmouth is located in which state?
7. What is the first title in Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries series?
8. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again” is what Gothic novel’s opening line?
9. Which is the first sequel to the 1960 film Night Of The Living Dead?
10. Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809 and married his cousin, Virginia Clemm, in 1835. How old was Virginia when she said “I do” to Poe?

(Answers below the fold)

Read the rest of this entry »

Oh, wow; where was this book when I was ten years old?

A.R. Rotruck used to have grand imaginary adventures when she was a child, with the help of props she made herself.

When she wasn’t reading, the ten-year-old me (we’ll call her “Tamie”) spent a lot of time playing in the woods and making crafts. For all the books she read, she never found one that would help with this particular hobby. Most of Tamie’s ramblings involved imagining various fantasy scenarios; grand quests and adventures. Tamie made a burlap sack to carry into the woods because it seemed like something the fantasy version of Tamie (maybe call her Fatamie? No, that’s getting a bit ridiculous.) would carry. It was bulky and scratchy, but it also, to Tamie’s ten-year-old brain, seemed authentic. Tamie would cobble together bits and pieces of crafts from books on Native American and colonial/pioneer folk art. Tamily only had one children’s book in this genre; the rest of the crafts were far too advanced for a ten-year-old. With Young Wizards Handbook, I wanted to write a book for the children like Tamie: fantasy fans who want to make things to help their imagination come alive with physical tools.

You can read the rest of the “big idea” behind her book here.

I love this idea. I want to go back in time and give myself a copy.

It’s great that the projects are both age-appropriate and engaging: It not only encourages imagination, it sounds like a great crafting primer for kids.

If you’ve got a young adventurer who yearns to track vampires to their lair or hobnob with hobgoblins, this would be an excellent gift. (Shadowboy will be receiving one shortly.)

Sock Zombie – Video tutorial for making weird little zombies out of leftover socks.

Limbo – Xbox game which features a small boy tapped in a forest of horrors. (Hat tip to xJane)

Killhouettes – Victorian silhouettes depicting a variety of macabre scenes.

10 Abandoned Psych Wards That Photographers Love Sneaking Into – Lots of nicely atmospheric photos.

DIYFluffies – Etsy store specializing in patterns for plush toys. Yoki the Dragon is particularly adorable, and it appears that the seller also does custom patterns so if you yearn for a stuffed tarantula or something you may be in luck.

Whoops I think I broke it… – Small collection of tutorials for making props (with entertaining photo captions). I particularly like the Thing in a Jar.

Seymour’s Custom Doll House – Rather sparsely furnished but lovingly detailed spooky mansion.

Halloween Cake – This is a lovely, elegant orange-and-black layer cake with cute little fondant pumpkins on top. Lots of photos, if you want to take a crack at making one.

6 Famous Unsolved Mysteries That Have Totally Been Solved – Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?

Hilum – Creepy marionette performance. (Hat tip to pdq)

Name a Roach – I’m sorry I missed this. The Bronx Zoo was having a Valentine’s Day promotion where a $10 donation allowed you to name a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach after a loved one. Hope they bring it back next year.

I…got nothin’.

Artist Helen Altman coats little skulls with glue, then covers them with various spices. The results are really quite charming.

This kind of thing should be reasonably simple to DIY, and several skulls made from different spices would be a cute decoration for a gothy kitchen. Covered with sweet spices like cloves and bits of cinnamon, they might also make unusual Christmas ornaments.

I’m also wondering if it would be possible to make edible versions as gifts. A molded sugar skull covered with dried orange peel, cloves, and cinnamon could be presented with a bottle of red wine as a mulled-wine kit.

Savory skulls would probably be a bit more perishable: A mixture of butter and flour could be molded into a skull and coated with ground herbs, then used to thicken sauces. Skulls made of plain butter could be covered with chopped fresh herbs and spread on bread or used to top fish.

A selection of skulls molded from soft cheese (like goat cheese) and then coated with chopped herbs, cracked pepper, or chopped nuts would make an arresting cheese plate for a party.

This is an easy idea with a lot of potential. I’m going to have to dig out my sugar skull molds and experiment.

(via CRAFT)

Rest assured that the more animated my Grandpa is when he begins a story, the deader a person is at the end of the story. #oldpeople
— biloon

Every time you masturbate, God says, “YOU’RE WELCOME.”
— sween

My 3yr olds obsession with death makes me wonder if there is such a thing as a Gothling.
— MyTwistedVision

What do the Brits say when there’s actually blood on something?
— mikey_m00n

Michael J Fox should be the spokesman for a line of vibrators.
— NathanBacon

It’d be awkward if the Apocalypse came, but it was the Apocalypse of a dead religion? “Oh, uh, we’ve been waiting for this other dude…”
— Aimee_B_Loved

He’s Just Not That Manitou #sinisterfilms
David Cronenberg’s The Bad News Brood #sinisterfilms
Harold and Kumar Go to Hanging Rock #sinisterfilms
Yogoth Bear #sinisterfilms
— pattonoswalt

Preparing for the weekend’s big snowstorm by pruning the hedge maze.
— badbanana

When you burn your last bridge, the island that remains is really quite peaceful.
— peterbyrnes

“Bitch be crazy.” –Black Swan in tweet form.
— SethMacFarlane

A while back I did a post listing several holidays which provided excuses to party in a Halloween-like manner on dates other than Halloween. I keep meaning to expand that into a proper Goth Calendar with celebrations throughout the year, which at the rate I’m going will probably be completed some time in 2017. In the meantime, here are a few notable dates which might be worth hanging a celebration on.

Some of these don’t seem to have any sort of “official” imprimatur, but have at least made it far enough into the collective unconscious that you can pull up Google and say, “See? It is too a real holiday!”

January 3 – Memento Mori Day

January 5 – Befana Day

January 19 – Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday (1809)

April – The first week in April is Be Kind to Spiders Week

April 4 – World Rat Day

April 30/May 1 – Walpurgis Night

May 3 – Paranormal Day

May 11 – Twilight Zone Day

May 22 – World Goth Day

July – The first Sunday is Build a Scarecrow Day

August 7 – Erszebet Bathory’s birthday (1560)

October 15 – Jack the Ripper’s “From Hell” letter is received (1888)

October 20 – Bela Lugosi’s birthday (1882)

November 2 – Plan Your Own Epitaph Day

November 5 – Guy Fawkes Night

November 8 – Bram Stoker’s birthday (1847)

December 5 – Krampusnacht

Feel free to leave additional suggestions in the comments!