Lady Blackbird – Cool-looking adventure module full of steampunky goodness. There are a number of video playthroughs online if you want a sample of gameplay. (Hat tip to Bruno)

Roasted Facehugger – This is the best Thanksgiving dish imaginable.

Poor Devil – The fact that not only was Sammy Davis Jr. interested in the Church of Satan but that he made a Lucifer-friendly sitcom pilot is somewhat mind-blowing. (Hat tip to Pixel Pixie)

Loch Ness Plush – These li’l Nessies made from upholstery fabric are adorable.

Meet Doug Jones, One Of The Biggest Movie Stars You’ve Probably Never Seen – Interview with the actor who played Billy Butcherson, Abe Sapien, the Pale Man, and many other heavily-costumed characters.

Sam Sykes and Chuck Wendig – It’s worth having a Twitter account just to read their exchanges.

15 Mini Horror Stories – rockpapercynic has been writing ultra-short stories prompted by photographs. There are some nice ones collected here.

Fox Letter Grades – I love everything about this “fox rates” Twitter thread. (Hat tip to Bruno)

The Edible Body Farm – Death- and decay-themed confections. I think my favorite is the “five stages of decay” cupcake.

What We Do in the Shadows Original Short Film – The short that led to the mockumentary. (Hat tip to Pixel Pixie)

Illustrations from Walt McDougall’s ‘Good Stories for Children’ – These are awesome. I want all of them as pets. (Hat tip to xJane)

70s Dinner Party – I have long suspected that the entire decade of the 70s was an incursion from some alternate universe, and this Twitter feed of 70s-era food does nothing to dispel that notion.

One of America’s Largest Collections of Memento Mori Is for Sale – This will be of interest to a lot of my readers.

Wiccapedia – I have no idea if this “modern day white witch’s guide” is any good, but the title is dynamite.

Something is Wrong on the Internet – “Someone or something or some combination of people and things is using YouTube to systematically frighten, traumatise, and abuse children, automatically and at scale, and it forces me to question my own beliefs about the internet, at every level.” (Hat tip to Bruno)

#FolkloreThursday – Neat hashtag, often featuring original art like The Gurt Dog.

Gorey’s World – The Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, CT will be presenting an exhibit of Edward Gorey’s work. (via Pixel Pixie)

Brimstone Bread – Recipe for black-and-red bread that would be perfect for a party. See also the artist’s main site.

EasyPrintAndCut – Etsy shop full of creepy dollhouse miniatures, many of them downloadable papercraft.

Hilary’s Vanity – Goth clothing and accessories, including some lovely parasols.

him: you’re a riot
me: which one
him: haha it’s an expres-
me: i am the haymarket riot of 1886
him: ok…
me: im not some potato riot
— tamizdatum

Everyone forgets Poundfoolish, his less successful younger brother who flunked out of evil clown college.
— muskrat_john

I made voodoo dolls of my dogs just so I could still rub their bellies while I’m at work.
— drinksmcgee

Fun: watch any old movie and note when you could stop the plot cold with a cell phone.
— MJMcKean

Seriously, though, fanart has been, like, 80% of art. It’s just that for a long time Jesus was the only fandom.
— SamSykesSwears

EVERY DOG LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE JUST INFORMED IT THAT IT IS A DOG AND THE NEWS IS VERY EXCITING
— SICKOFWOLVES

an app called airDnD where traveling nerds can find a role playing group to join for a night
— rebeccawatson

A creepy guy in the mall just winked at me and said “Hey doll” so I was like fuck you pig I’m an ACTION FIGURE.
— OhNoSheTwitnt

concept: old necromancer grandma brushing down all of her skeleton minions every night before bed with a toothbrush and a shit ton of toothpaste
— l-nobby-l

Concept: Werewolves with irregular shifting cycles
“Yeah, I haven’t shifted in, like—” *checks app* “—42 days? So I’m just chaining myself up in the basement every night, you know? A bit annoying, but it saves on mess.”
— krfabian

A Mortician’s Tale – Wired reviews a game where you play a funeral director preparing corpses. (Hat tip to Bruno)

WeRateBats – Twitter account similar to WeRateDogs, except for sky puppies.

Opening Lines of New “Odyssey” Translation – The Odyssey has recently been retranslated into English by Emily Wilson and the beginning is amazing.

Furniture Porn – Well-done parody of an old 90s porn site. Hat tip to Pixel Pixie)

Fantastic Beasts and How to Rank Them – Are harpies more or less implausible than mermaids? Feel free to leave your own rankings in the comments. (You can rank a few of them online here and see how your choices compare to others’.)

The Necronomnomnom – Kickstarter for “A Cookbook of Eldritch Horror.” (Hat tip to xJane)

Terrifying Japanese Ghosts That Will Haunt Your Dreams – An amusing roundup.

I Illustrated 31 Phobias For Feartober – These are nicely creepy.

Dragon Crochet Pattern – Downloadable pattern for a super-cute dragon.

If Star Wars Were an Icelandic Saga – “That’s no island,” said Víga-Óbívan, “That’s a warship.” (Hat tip to Bruno)

But, what are we to wear? – Links to some vintage fancy-dress ideas. (Hat tip to Bruno)

@SamSykesSwears and @ChuckWendig – This Twitter conversation is a thing of beauty.

Neil Patrick Harris Family Halloween Costumes – A roundup of Harris’ family costumes over the years.

Largest Witchcraft Collection in North America Opens at Cornell – The exhibit will run through August 2018.

Read These (Legit Terrifying) Horror Stories by an Artificial Intelligence – An AI named Shelley has been trained on Reddit’s r/nosleep and now writes short horror stories.

Lepidop-Terror – This moth costume is pretty great.

An October Moment – After a long absence, Somewhere on the Masthead returns with a ghost story.

This is Halloween – Cute little ‘toon. (via Pixel Pixie)

Digital Death – Video described by submitterator Bruno as “A hard science take on ‘Professor, what is a Horcrux?'”

Top Ten Hauntings with a History Twist – Fun Twitter thread.

In honor of the very best holiday, please to enjoy this mesmerizingly awful clip from The Worst Witch, starring Tim Curry as The Grand Wizard.

It is spectacular.

It’s time for the annual costume recap! Every year I spend entirely too much time making costumes for Shadowboy and a friend’s niece, then have professional photos taken. Sometimes I’m lucky and can talk them into matching costumes, and since this year she decided that she wanted to be Link from Legend of Zelda, getting my video game-obsessed son on board was a fairly easy task. After considerable thought, he decided that he wanted to be Skull Kid, one of the characters from “Majora’s Mask.”

I will pause here to ask my readers that if you ever hear me breathe one word about making a costume that includes a mask, please slap me until I promise not to.

Anyway!

Link’s costume was reasonably straightforward; I originally got Simplicity 8199 let’s-not-tempt-copyright-lawyers “Gaming Warrior” pattern in hopes of getting most of the pieces that I needed, but it was really quite a strange pattern: The hat attached to the corset, and it didn’t actually include trousers. I used it for just the turtleneck (and you could use pretty much any turtleneck pattern) and gauntlets. I made the trousers using Simplicity 4923, the tunic was a cut-off version of Simplicity 4213, and the hat was done freehand using the instructions found here. I did a little bit of detailing on the tunic sleeves, using green ribbon to replicate the stitching seen in images like this one. The belt was a leather belt I happened to have lying around. I freehanded a baldric out of the same microsuede I used for the gauntlets, just cutting a long strip, sewing it into a tube, and joining the ends.

Read the rest of this entry »

Scarecrow – Cute little ‘toon.

My Favorite Spooky Plants – Twitter thread with lots of cool pictures.

Bat Friendly Tequila – Several brands of tequila are going the socially-responsible route by making their growing and harvesting procedures more friendly to the bats which pollinate them. You can read more about the project here.

Manimal Sanctuary – A “lurking simulator” in which you play a monster who consumes human emotions.

TKC Cozy Pawz – Custom pet costumes. The seller isn’t taking more orders until after Halloween, but there are some great photos. The Golden Retrievers dressed as Greek gods make me especially happy.

Hamburger Helper – I accept this anatomy as headcanon. (Hat tip to Pixel Pixie)

The Legend of the Scarecrow – Touching little animated short. (via Shellhawk)

Brave Chef Brianna – Kid’s book about a young woman who sets up a restaurant in a city full of monsters.

Iguanamouth – Odd, evocative little ‘toon.

MonsterTalk – Podcast which “critically examines the science behind cryptozoological (and legendary) creatures.” (Hat tip to Pixel Pixie)

be the reason why men are afraid to sail past the island you live on.
— SketchesbyBoze

“What’s the point of living?” he asked.
“To help people, however you can,” said the oracle.
“That’s it?”
“It’s working for me.”
— ASmallFiction

Bookworms don’t want stories about heroes. Tell us the backstory of Evil That Does Not Sleep! Why can’t it sleep? Is everything ok at home??
— PaperFury

Guys. I’m here to red-pill you all.
You’ve never heard the actual Monster Mash. You’ve just heard a record *about* the Monster Mash.
Yeah.
— Lawrence_Miles

As his name is not “Biggest Bird”, we are to understand that Sesame Street is home to at least one, perhaps more, truly immense unseen birds
— tomwalkerisgood

every squirrel you see is currently on a dare from another squirrel
— KimmyMonte

Smartest thing I ever did was attach my keyring to this cursed doll, now if I lose my keys they reappear on my doorstep covered in blood
— timpratt

[blind date]
HER: I’m a ghost writer
ME {trying not to look too scared}: When did you die?
— TheToddWilliams

My delusions of grandeur are mostly limited to the belief that I’d be a GREAT addition to a post-apocalyptic scrappy band of misfits
— MaraWilson

what if when Dracula’s fangs came out they made that truck backing up noise
— iamspacegirl

Ava’s Dress – Spooky, evocative illustration done for Inktober.

Animal Guards – This made me giggle.

Cooking Price-Wise – An expanded edition of Vincent Price’s cookbook hast just been released, and includes contributions from his children and some additional recipes from his grandfather.

Stop Buying Dead Bats Online – They’re not ethically sourced and it’s causing environmental havoc.

On Balloons – Some thoughtful pet-rearing advice.

Mash the Patriarchy – Twitter account dedicated to celebrating the history of women brewing beer.

1770s High Wig Tutorial – Tutorial for re-creating an elaborate 1770s hairstyle. The entire Demode site is a great resource for period costuming.

Hellhound Service Animals – Marvelous list of suggestions for making traditionally scary supernatural creatures a little friendlier.

The Glass Hive – Etsy shop specializing in glass boxes and other small glass items. This coffin box is lovely. (via Spooky Moon)

Faith – Extremely creepy “retro” horror game. Free to play.