Instead of a regular post today I thought I’d try something a little different and let the readers take over.

Tell us about yourself in the comments–plug your blog or your business, or just introduce yourself.

I know you guys are out there; I can hear your virtual breathing. Come out of the woodwork and say hello!

It’s about time. Shadaughter had a summer job at Bath & Body Works, and several weeks ago she brought home a bunch of miniature Halloween-themed hand gel samplers for Shadowboy.* I’ve been waiting to mention them until they were finally released at the store and online, and it looks like BBW has finally got their autumn act together.

The online Boo-Tique seems to only carry a subset of what’s available in stores, but they’ve got several cute items that are worth a look; I particularly like the little bat fragrance plugin; it would be an appealing year-round accessory in a bathroom or kitchen.

If you’ve got a store near you, look for hand soap and sanitizer in fragrances like “Bat Bite” and “Zombie Squad” (the minis are perfect for slipping into a purse or pocket), plus lots of pumpkin/spice items like candles and air fresheners.

The seasonal items don’t hang around very long, so if you want your house to smell of Vampire Blood** in April, you’d better stock up now.

*Which he loved beyond all reason. For two solid weeks he reeked of candy corn.

**Vampire blood smells like plums. Who knew?

Blood Lollipops – Easy instructions for making lollipops that look like they have swirls of blood inside.

Cthulkhelele – Neil Gaiman posted this Lovecraft-inspired ukelele on Twitter.

6 Boring New England Destinations Made Awesome by H.P. Lovecraft – A roundup from Topless Robot.

Angel and Devil Earphones – Cute “which side are you on?” earphones by Kawaii.

Gothic Egg Cups – Eggcups shaped like skulls with accompanying femur-handled spoon. Very pretty, but well out of my price range.

Take My Hand and Follow Me – Limited-edition monograph of the papercraft art of Mon Petit Fantome

Murder Ink Notepad – Man, FRED is just taking this figures-stabbed-with-various-objects thing and running with it, aren’t they?

Daily Parasite – Your daily dose of squick. (Hat tip to Empress Pam)

Binary Ouija – This just amused me.

…but I’d happily use one of these monsters.

I don’t speak German, but the gist of the ad appears to be that the O₂ phone plan is a better deal than whatever you’re currently using. I think it’s terrible; insert a chip to lobotomize your monster? Never!

(via BoingBoing)

Here’s a unique way to deal with your mortal remains: Have your ashes pressed into vinyl records.

For £2000 UK company And Vinyly will press small amounts of cremains (yours, a relative’s, or even a pet’s) into 30 vinyl records, along with up to 24 minutes of sounds of your choice. For an additional fee, they offer custom portrait sleeves, music composed specifically for you, and a range of other services.

I’m having trouble coming to grips with whether this is a legitimate business or an elaborate prank in the Bonsai Kitten mold. The Website is both extremely sparse and a bit amateurish, plus it includes a prominent link to Death to Vinyl, the record label belonging to And Vinyly’s founder. All mentions of the company elsewhere on the Web seem to be only a few days old–which smacks of a coordinated blitz of press releases–and there don’t seem to be any testimonials from anyone who’s used the service (presumably for a relative or pet). Taken together it all seems rather suspicious.*

Anyway, if it’s legitimate it’s an extremely unique idea. What soundtrack would you include on a record containing your ashes?

(Hat tip to pdq)

*In particular, the section of the Price Guide which mentions that you get the contract to sign after forking over a £500 deposit gives me pause.

This is completely made of awesome. The Midnight in the Garden of Evil blog has some great photos of a wedding with a Haunted Mansion theme.

There are all kinds of clever details–like hitch-hiking ghosts place cards–and most of the decor was hand-made. I’m immensely impressed with how much of the mansion’s flavor they managed to capture with things like the spiderwebbed-candelabra centerpieces, not to mention brilliant little touches like custom-printed M&Ms with an HM wallpaper motif.

They apparently also had a bit of luck in the form of a friend who loaned them a couple of props that he had sculpted for use in his home haunt. That might actually be a great project for a wedding that’s a year or two off: Create custom props for use at the wedding, then use them for Halloween decor afterward.

Go take a look at the photos! They’re fantastic inspiration.

Bonus Link: Check out the Carnivale de Mystique on the same blog. It was a local nursery’s Halloween theme, but there are some great ideas for wedding decor.

(via Creepy Cupcakes)

I’m tending toward ambivalence where posts about zombies are concerned. On the one necrotic, rotting hand, they were never really my favorite monsters even before their recent explosion in popular media left me with a severe case of burnout. On the other hand, their overexposure has resulted in some pretty clever riffs on the subject material. Hollywood is Dead is one such riff.

Artist Matt Busch has reimagined classic movie posters as the products of some alternate universe where zombies are the norm. He’s carefuly re-created the original poster and then given it a severe case of zombification, right down to the tagline and actors’ names.

The artwork is available on T-shirts and posters, which would be a fun way to dress up a bare wall. Shadaughter is a big fan of Audrey Hepburn; maybe I’ll get her the “Breakfast is Tiffany” poster as a gift.

Pinky Diablo – Artist who turns silverplate spoons into skulls. More examples here.

Funeral Cakes – These are…odd.

Eggs with Legs – A whole passel of teeny baby tarantulas.

Dork Tower – This one made me cackle.

Spiderweb Potholders – Easy tutorial for strip-piecing potholders that look like spiderwebs.

Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy – An alternative to the slew of “how to be happy all the time” self-help books on the market, this book argues that melancholia is a necessary ingredient for creativity. Might be a useful book to pull out next time somebody accuses you of being too emo.

Spud Vicious – It’s a punk potato plushie. Say that three times fast.

Agnoistrology – Horoscopes for people who don’t believe in horoscopes.

Sugar Skull Plush Kitties – Cute! Odd, but cute.

Okay, technically you could do this with any image, but c’mon…skulls!

Designer Mark Montano has written the Big-Ass Book of Crafts, and is sharing some of the projects on his blog. He includes this easy tutorial for making fantastic-looking glass plates with a skull motif.

The instructions are extremely straightforward, and the result is just stunning. With a selection of clipart and some paint, you could make an entire set of gorgeous themed dinnerware very inexpensively.

I’d love to see this done with some old woodcuts or vintage anatomical illustrations.

(via CRAFT)

This is the story of four little elves…well, three little elves…wait, two…this is the story of one little elf with a repeat-action pistol.
— TenSecondTales

Swim lessons went well for the boy.I told his dad we should throw him in the deep end.If he swims we save $30.If he sinks he was a witch.
— thefemmenoir

Doesn’t “abominable” sound like you started a word and then fell down a flight of stairs?
— Xytrex

I hope I never meet the girl of my dreams, she’s seen me in a lot of awkward situations.
— theJoeBiz

Stupid zombies won’t stay inside their chalk outlines.
— JerryThomas

Too bad if 90 percent of it is stupid. That’s how creativity works.
— Linus Torvalds

after he passed out we removed everything electronic from his room, stuck in some old books and an ancient typewriter from goodwill. for 20 min. we had him convinced he’d drunk himself backward in time.
— Texts From Last Night