I ran across this poem by Louisa May Alcott the other day, and it occurred to me that the first stanza would be perfect for a gothy baby announcement.

Oft, in the silence of the night,
   When the lonely moon rides high,
When wintry winds are whistling,
   And we hear the owl’s shrill cry,
In the quiet, dusky chamber,
   By the flickering firelight,
Rising up between two sleepers,
   Comes a spirit all in white

I like this verse because it sounds a bit spooky but is tame enough not to upset your more mainstream relatives. You could put it inside some pretty stationery from someplace like Lilac Twist or Purple Fairy to create unique personalized announcements.

There’s an article on the HGTV site about making handmade announcements if you need some inspiration, although the procedure itself is obviously pretty straightforward.

If your tastes run toward the morbid, there’s no reason why you have to resign yourself to icky-sweet lambs and duckies on your birth announcements. Just take care with the card design and you can include darker elements without offending Aunt Bessie from Shreveport.

That Lucky Girl is a fan of Alice in Wonderland, so for her birthday her boyfriend made her a “Wonderland Expedition Kit.”

In 1867 a biology professor was sent to investigate a mysterious fire at the Liddell household. This kit is full of samples and documentation from the final known trip down the rabbit hole.

Included in the kit:
-Card Guard specimen, mounted
-fetal Mome Rath
-caterpillar, preserved
-rose painted red
-raven’s feather (like a writing desk?)
-pocket watch
-key
-looking glass
-Cheshire Cat teeth
-Cheshire Cat fur samples
-framed photo of Lewis Carroll
-various photos of Wonderland inhabitants
-Eat Me and Drink Me bottles
-vial of water from Pool of Tears
-bottled mushroom bits, one from each side
-map of nonsense occurrences in England, leading to rabbit hole
-map of Wonderland
-typed copy of “You Are Old, Father William”
-typed letter from Professor Lake, detailing his journey to England
-half-burned print of the courtroom scene (removed from the scorched remains of the Liddell house)

That’s some true devotion right there.

The entire kit is simply wonderful; I love all the thoughtful little details.

Link (via BoingBoing)

The best way to end an argument with a significant other is to light some candles and run a hot bath. Once they’re in it you add a toaster.
— AinsleyofAttack

The Rogue Entomologist’s bug art, particularly the Off with Their Heads series, featuring praying mantis corpses dressed up in little costumes.

ZombieHarmony – “Because the Apocalypse doesn’t have to be lonely.” (Viral ad for a real dating site. Still funny.)

Scary Sleepover – Addictive little online game in which you try to scare a kid out of a haunted house using various “props” like talking portraits and flocks of bats.

Adopt a Microbe – “Hi there, I’m VZV. My family is the Herpesviridae family….”

Although I can accept talking scarecrows, lions and great wizards in emerald cities, I find it hard to believe there is no paperwork involved when your house lands on a witch.
–Dave James

Recent spam headlines I have received: “Set your wife on fire,” “Fondle all her internal nerve endings,” “Blow your lady’s mind into bits.” I’m clearly being spammed by H.P. Lovecraft.

In 2007 author J.K. Rowling created seven copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a work referenced in the final Harry Potter book. She gave six to people who were deeply involved with the Potter series and auctioned off the seventh for charity. It was ultimately purchased by Amazon.com for nearly $4 million. Part of the cachet of the books was that there were only ever going to be seven in existence.

Uh huh.

You will perhaps not be shocked to learn that the book is now going to be published and widely available. It’s available for pre-order at Amazon now. The standard edition will feature the five stories and several illustrations reproduced from the original handcrafted book, plus commentary on each of the tales “by Professor Albus Dumbledore.” (Isn’t he dead?)

There will also be a collector’s edition which more closely replicates the design of the original books, including the cool skull on the cover and all the metal clasps. Yours for a mere $100.

The book is very pretty. I’m nowhere near sufficiently Potterphilic to buy one, but it might be fun to decorate a blank leather journal with similar hardware.

You know that part of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” where the brooms just keep on dumping buckets of water? That’s my relationship with my Drafts folder.

Office Poltergeist – Little software widget to help you “haunt” a co-worker’s computer.

Tales of the Plush Cthulhu – Aaaaaaawwwww. (The FAQ is amusing, too.)

Ubuntu Satanic – Dark and spooky skin for Ubuntu Linux. This is all wrong, though. It’s Windows that’s for the damned.

Pretty Bitter – “Stationery that pushes the envelope.” Features a selection of pretty lacy cards inscribed with sentiments like “Suck It.”

FutureGirl has tips for sewing vinyl, which she once used to make this cute vinyl dress.

Guide to Cold Reading – Tips on how to sound convincing when doing a “psychic reading.”

Gloomy Sunday – Interesting article on the Curious Expeditions blog about a song that supposedly induced suicide in anyone who listened to it. Bonus pics from a funeral museum.

Mixed Martial Arts and Crafts – I love this T-shirt.

After weeding these out of my Drafts folder, I still have 81 draft entries. Yeesh.

Seven Deadly Glasses – Wine glasses based on each of the Seven Deadly Sins. I particularly like “Lust.”

Kindertrauma – Users can share their stories about the books, movies, and toys that scared the heck out of them when they were kids.

Weird Encyclopedia – They bill themselves as “a quick and dirty guide to all things strange.” It’s like wandering around your crazy aunt’s attic.

The 8-Bit Tarot – Tarot cards done in 8-bit video game style.

Tattoos: How Not to Suck – Some excellent recommendations for selecting a tattoo.

I Am Neurotic – Share your (or your friends’) neuroses. This is like PostSecret without the artwork.

Enigmatic T-Shirt – I need one of these. (Contains a naughty word, just in case you’re surfing at work.)

Artist Raventalker is a dab hand at gothic room makeovers. She’s posted before and after pictures of several projects, including a bathroom, guest room, dining room, and entry hall.

Although some of her wall murals might be a bit daunting to undertake (or might annoy a landlord), much of the atmosphere is derived from carefully-chosen accessories and fabrics. If you’re looking for inspiration for a makeover of your own, check out these lovely designs.

Link

A friend recently sent me this link, which has some gorgeous photos of cemeteries but is down about two-thirds of the time. I decided to look around for other photography pages, and oh, there’s a lot of lovely stuff out there.

In addition to the drinking-from-the-firehose results you get from searching for graveyard or cemetery on Flickr, there are many sites that specialize in this kind of photography. For instance:

Graveyard and Dark Photography – These are mostly black-and-white photos from the UK and Romania, along with some dark and unsettling portrait shots. The photographer sells prints, if you’d like some unique framed artwork.

Northstar Gallery – They describe their work as “sensuous, fine art,” and there are some lovely photographs. Mostly color, heavy on the statuary rather than tombstones.

The Cyber-Cemetery – Lots of artsy black-and-white images.

Taphophilia – In addition to photos, this site includes other funeral- and death-related curiosities.

Gardens of Light, Dark, and Stone – Some very pretty, evocative photos. There’s even a downloadable screensaver featuring some of the photographer’s favorites.

There are also at least two webrings devoted to cemetery photography, here and here.

It’d be fun to cover a wall with a collection of framed graveyard photos. There should be plenty of inspiration here to get you started.

Scott Stoll has taken papier mache and made it his bitch. His creations over at Stolloween are simply breathtaking.

His site is a wonderful resource, with tons of pictures and step-by-step instructions about his projects. Even if you don’t have the gumption to tackle a big sculpture, there are many wonderful little details which might make a great small project: The Apt Pupil, for instance, is completely beyond my sculpting abilities, but I think I could make something similar to the book he’s holding.

Go look, and prepare to be astonished.

Link

No, really. This site started out as a used bookstore for cavers (spelunkers), but at some point veered sharply into bat-themed merchandise.

They’ve got clothing. They’ve got jewelery. They’ve got household accessories and plush toys and vintage artwork and books and candles and desktop toys and sculptures and stationery and…let’s just say that if it’s got a bat on it, they probably carry it.

Some of the bats are cutesy (natch), but many of them are elegant and lovely. They have many unusual items from all over the world. I particularly like the Art Nouveau bat brooch and the Bat Faces vintage print.

The Christmas cards imprinted with, “I Guano Wish You A Merry Christmas” alone are worth a trip to the site.

Link