Just in time for back-to-school shopping, the Skelanimals line of toys is offering backpacks.

At 12″ high they’re closer to oversize purses than functional backpacks, but you have to admit they’re mighty appealing. The packs are available as skeletal rabbits, cats, or bats.

I wish they’d had these when I was in grade school. I wouldn’t have had to work as hard to make my teachers vaguely nervous.

Link

(hat tip to Herding Kittens)

My dad wrote me the other day:

You know, every time I watch “Poltergeist” I am struck by how the music seems so out of place for a scary movie. I was watching it the other day and I happened to let the DVD run through the credits. Underneath the credits there’s a girls choir singing and I found out the theme is actually a lullaby. So I looked it up on the Internet and it’s quite pretty.

I might disagree with the music being out of place; for my money, there’s nothing creepier than the juxtaposition of spooky imagery and small children’s voices. The lyrics are a nice fit for the movie’s theme, too.

Bless This House (aka Carol Ann’s Theme)

As evening shadows grow deep and long
Reaching across the bed
Mother and father hear children’s prayers
Now as they bow their heads
Bless this house
Bless this house
And the souls within
Through the night til it’s light again
Guide our hearts
Through the dark
To the breaking day
Bless this house
Bless this house
We pray

Save me from bad dreams
If they should come
Raging into my heart
Keep us together one family
Nothing can tear apart
Bless this house
Bless this house
And the souls within
Through the night til it’s light again
Guide our hearts
Through the dark
To the breaking day
Bless this house
Bless this house
We pray

Give us arms to hold that are right and strong
When the night goes on too long
Bring us a morning wide as the sea
Where love will be our ark
Standing together one family
Nothing can tear apart
Bless this house
Bless this house
And the souls within
Through the night til it’s light again
Guide our hearts
Through the dark
To the breaking day
Bless this house
Bless this house
We pray….

Incidentally, you can buy the song; it’s part of the Fantastic Journey soundtrack compilation.

(Note: Immediately after writing this post, I read that they’re planning a Poltergeist remake. Dammit, leave the classics alone. A remake implies that there’s something in the original that was lacking. There was not. Go ruin something else instead. Oh, wait. You are….)

Artist Beth Church creates lovely, intricate beaded jewelry with a vintage-gothic vibe. There are some really unique pieces, and I love how complex they are; there’s always something new to draw the eye. I particularly like her bat choker and this vintage cuff.

She does bridal work, too, so this might be a good place for the goth bride to find the perfect accessory.

Link

The University of Iowa’s John Martin Rare Book Room has just added Hans Holbien’s The dances of death through the various stages of human life: wherein the capriciousness of that tyrant is exhibited… to their online collection.

The Dance of Death, often referred to as “Danse Macabre” is a gruesome medieval and renaissance symbol of the all-encompassing and universal power of death. Originally a 14th century morality poem, written shortly after the plague of the 1340’s that wiped out a high proportion of the European populace, images of the allegory made their way into print shortly thereafter. The most famous of these was a series of wood cuts by the German artist and printmaker, Hans Holbein, the younger (1497-1543).

The university’s version is an 1803 republication of copperplates based on Holbein’s work, made by Scottish artist and engraver David Deuchar.

These are nice, high-quality scans which would be great for use in art projects. A decoupaged TV tray, end table, or folding screen would be lovely decorated with little dancing skeletons.

Link (via Morbid Anatomy)

The Curious Expeditions blog has a neat article on The Art of Mourning, including some of the odder memento mori like Victorian hairwork.

Published in 1860, Art Recreations is a thorough guide to artistic pastimes for Victorian women. It offers detailed lessons in many standard art forms, like pencil drawing, grecian painting, and watercolor, but somewhere towards the last third of the book, the mediums veer into bizarre and thoroughly antiquated crafts. This back section begins with a deceptively simple guide to taxidermy. It opens graphically with,

“Take out the entrails; remove the skin with the greatest possible care; rub the whole interior with arsenic…after taking out the entrails, open a passage to the brain, which must be scooped out through the mouth…”

In that same vein, check out these gorgeous “memorial samplers” here, here, and here. These are mostly silk embroidery, lovingly detailed. I particularly like the last one; as the Anticraft commented, it looks like an Edward Gorey drawing. I don’t think I’m willing to spend $12,000 for the original, but I’m definitely toying with trying to see if I can replicate the design.

Self-proclaimed “plush-a-holic” Leeanna Butcher was recently asked to interpret Ghee Happy’s Kali art into a plush doll. The results are just adorable. I love the little skulls and all the severed limbs on her belt.

This would be an appealing project to emulate because although there’s a lot of work involved, it can be broken down into simpler sub-tasks. Even better, it doesn’t require special equipment or a skillset beyond the level of a competent home seamstress. Maybe if we ask nicely she’ll offer a pattern on Etsy.

Who wouldn’t want to cuddle a goddess of death? I’m tempted to make up a bunch of the little skulls and stack them in a basket on my desk.

Link (via BoingBoing)

MTV is planning to remake The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I’ll pause whilst you bang your head on your keyboard a few times.

This upscale “reimagining” will feature new songs. Oh, goody.

Although I sincerely doubt that it will persuade any studio execs to change their minds about this little project, those of us who would prefer not to have our sweetly freaky cult classic marketed as faux nostalgia can at least register our displeasure by signing the petition at Stop the Remake.

:::sigh:::

(via Wil Wheaton, whose post includes his memories of losing his RHPS virginity.)

The Corporate Zombies are little desktop toys who resemble office workers, only zombified. They come with accessories such as laptops and cell phones, and they’re ready to sit on your desk and threaten to eat your co-workers’ brains. They even glow in the dark!

I plan to give everyone on my dev team one of these sets for Christmas.

Link

Francesco Marciuliano writes the comic strip Sally Forth. It is rather bland and family-oriented. Medium Large is apparently how he blows off steam. I want this one blown up and framed on my wall.

I could have sworn I’d written about this site already but I can’t seem to find the post so I may be hallucinating. A Softer World combines odd off-center photographs with short narrative text into something that’s as surreal as all get-out. The cartoons aren’t often funny so much as haunting. Mousing over each one will reveal additional “Easter egg” text.

Check these strips out, and prepare to giggle inappropriately.

Here’s a bunch of quick-hit projects that can be bent to darker ends.*

Photo Bookmarks – Zakka Life shows you how to make unique bookmarks out of photographs. You could use the same technique to have a clip-art Cthulhu hold your place for you.

Scrap Scarves – Easy scarves made out of leftover fabric scraps. These would be nice in dark, gothy fabrics.

Pencil Bags – Fabric bags with zippers that could be used for lots of other things (jewelry or lingerie bags come to mind). I love the little skull-print one.

Custom Neckties – This one requires a bit more sewing skill, but it’s worth it. There’s all kinds of novelty print fabric out there just screaming to be made into a necktie. (It’d be particularly cute if you could find a hangman’s noose print.)

Cloth Napkins: These are one of those projects where the result looks like you worked a lot harder than you actually did. They make a great hostess gift, too. Black and Red Napkins, Halloween Cocktail Napkins, Handmade Cloth Napkins.

Ribbon Roses – These are wonderful embellishments for clothing and accessories. Make a bunch in black and dark purple to cluster atop a hat.

*Muwahahahaha.