The Silver Needle is taking pre-orders for this cute etui kit by Just Nan. Bats, ghosts, and spooky trees adorn the outside, and there’s a pumpkin pincushion and straps for scissors and other supplies inside.
The shop also sells Victorian mourning pins for use with the kit, although these might be nice to use for everyday sewing as well (you can never have too much black, in my book).
The kit isn’t cheap–nearly $80–but even if that’s currently out of your price range you can still use it for inspiration. A similar box might be made out of squares of plastic cross-stitching canvas; stitch a spooky motif of your choice on each one, then stitch the pieces together at the edges. There’s also a free pattern for a simpler needlework “book” here; just replace the swan with a bat or a spider.
If you enjoy doing needlework, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have a sewing kit that reflects your personality. I love all the little details on this one.
Here’s a really brilliant decorative idea: Walls covered with scientific illustrations. The bathroom shown here is decorated with pages from Albertus Seba’s Cabinet of Natural Curiosities, but you could use anatomical illustrations, Dürer or Bosch artwork, or pictures of mementos mori.
If you didn’t want to do a whole room, you could cover one wall and use it as your focal point. I’m really impressed with how eye-catching yet soothing this decorating scheme is.
Freelance artist Matthew Woodson was recently bitten by a poisonous spider, and the wound became badly infected. In order to pay his medical bills, he’s taking commissions for artwork.
Any possible commission you could have for me; gifts, wedding invitations, cards, wall art, tattoos, anything. I am interested in the job. I will also definitely consider larger personal commissions, considering the work involved. I would prefer to only be working in black and white, but don’t be afraid to ask about color. I haven’t exactly figured out how pricing will go yet, but obviously pricing will be negotiable and varying, but for small to medium sized drawings I was thinking between $100 – $500 through paypal.
His drawings are lovely (portfolio here), so if you’ve been yearning for a unique piece of spooky art, this might be your chance.
I turned up this site in a Google search for something entirely unrelated. It’s a Web Zine that appears to have lasted a grand total of one issue (either that or they’re going five or six years between publications), but it’s got some articles about maintaining a perfect Goth pallor that are worth a look. There are suggestions for sunscreen, skin lightening techniques, and makeup recommendations.
It’s hard to look like a frail consumptive with a tan, so if you want to have any hope of being mistaken for someone named Lenore you may want to check out these tips.
Artist M. Mararian juxtaposes innocence with the macabre in his Inky Dreadfuls artwork. The hand-inked drawings remind me of antique photographs. Except, y’know, for the butcher knives and stuff.
If you’re in the Southern California area, he’s got a new exhibition entitled “Phobias, Foibles & Fiends” at the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City.
Featuring over thirty macabre ink renderings, his new body of work is a dark comedy of psychological fears, character flaws and complexes of the human id. Using black India ink, archival brush pens and rapidographs, Mararian continues to create narratives that transform traditionally cheerful images and concepts into frightening yet humorous tableaus.
I’d like him just because one of his drawings is called “Sweeney Toddler.”
Morbid Anatomy mentioned this menu a while back; it’s a 1907 menu for a convention banquet held by a chapter of Skull and Bones.
I think a do-it-yourself version would be splendid at a Halloween-themed dinner party or goth wedding.
The menu could be made of heavy cardstock; the slightly-smaller layer on top could be a contrasting color of cardstock or perhaps something soft like felt (it’s hard to tell from the picture, but the contrast layer looks kind of softish). I wouldn’t recommend using velvet because of its tendency to fray at the edges and get “dust” all over everything.
You will cut out:
Two pieces of heavy cardstock for the menu front and back
One piece of cardstock, colored paper or felt, slightly smaller than the menu front, which will be the top contrast. (I guess you could do a contrast on the back, too, if you’re feeling motivated.)
Two pieces of colored paper, the same size as the top contrast, for the inside contrast.
One piece of a light-colored paper, slightly smaller than the inside contrast, which will be for your menu.
Here’s a pattern to help with your dimensions. It’s at half-size, so print at 200%.
Use a glue stick to attach the top contrast to the menu front, leaving an even border on all sides. Do the same on the inside with the menu front and back and the inside contrast pieces. Let dry.
Now it’s time for the menu itself. Depending upon your level of ambition (and your handwriting), you can cut out the paper and then hand-write the menu on it. You can also print the menu before cutting out the coffin shape as long as you make sure your margins won’t intrude on the pattern edges. Alternately, you can write or print the menu on a rectangle of cardstock and just glue it inside. Once you’ve written or printed your menu, glue it on top of the inside back contrast piece. (Note: If you’d like to re-use your menus, use something like 3M’s Spray Mount or other artist’s adhesive to stick down the menu. Then you can peel it off and stick down a new one later.)
Put the menu front and back together and use a hole punch to make two holes near the top. Thread some velvet ribbon through the holes and tie the ends in a bow. Make sure you leave enough “give” in the ribbon that your guests can lift the top and read the menu. (Instead of ribbon, you could also use something like heavy jewelry chain as your menu hinge.)
Finally, use a bit of hot glue to affix a skull or other spooky decoration on the front. The popularity of certain pirate movies means that skull-and-crossbones charms are easy to find. (Here’s a cute one from Auntie’s Beads.) You can use any other charm or button that strikes you, just as long as it’s reasonably flat on the back and fairly lightweight.
You could get an assembly-line technique going and turn out a lot of these in a short amount of time. They’d be a neat keepsake for your guests to take home after a special dinner party.
Someone on the Halloween-L Listserv recently wrote that his ten-year-old daughter wanted to start watching “scary movies” and asked the list for age-appropriate recommendations. I thought some of the suggestions were worth a mention.
I’ve divided these into three rough groups, based on how likely you are to have company in your bed after a screening. Nothing in the first group should be too scary for a ten-year-old, and several of them are probably appropriate for younger kids. The second group has some spookier stuff, and the third group is spookier yet; if you haven’t seen them, you may want to pre-screen them for their Nightmare Quotient.
I erred on the side of caution in grouping these, and obviously your mileage will vary depending upon your particular child. One lady on the listserv said her five-year-old’s favorite movie is The Ring. I think I’d be afraid to take my eyes off that kid.
If you have other suggestions, please share them in the comments.
Designer Tord Boontje has created a lovely–and insanely expensive–collection of kitchenware “inspired by the witches and wizards of western lore.” In addition to this utensil set there are some neat black casseroles that are reminiscent of cauldrons, some gothy-looking aprons, and a pair of spooky oven mitts.
I’m not kidding about the expensive part: The salad “hands” in the upper-left corner are $330 per pair, and one casserole will set you back $1,150. Whoooa, doggies. However! Could you ask for a better source of inspiration for a little kitchen witchery? Take a careful look at the style of these items, then keep an eye out for similar (cheaper) kitchenware.
The apron is an easy do-it-yourself job: It’s little more than a carefully-shredded hunk of black cotton.* Similarly, the oven mitts could be copied by buying or making a pair of black cotton mitts and then adding some rough stitching with heavy thread.
Pair your cast-iron cauldrons and pointy utensils with some artfully-decorated storage jars, and you can add a spooky vibe to your kitchen without cleaning out your bank account.
*I would, incidentally, caution against wearing something like this around an open flame. Too many loose floaty bits to catch fire. And flaming goths smell terrible.
Alan Ball, the creator of Six Feet Under, has a new series launching this September. True Blood is based on author Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries books, and details the coexistence of vampires and humans in a small Louisiana town after a synthetic blood substitute hits the market.
As seems to be de rigeur any more, there are a couple of viral sites associated with the series. BloodCopy is a blog which purports to detail the integration of vampires into human society. Tru Blood is a “marketing” site for the synthetic blood. It’s cute; the site is aimed at the young, hip vampire demographic and even includes a Type Finder to determine the blood type you’ll like best. (I’m Type A, the “Cultivated Aesthete.”)
I enjoyed Six Feet Under…well…let me rephrase that: I enjoyed the first two seasons of Six Feet Under and then watched the other three seasons out of some twisted sense of responsibility (did those people ever do anything but whine?), so I’ll be interested to see what HBO does with vampires.
Videographer Tom Stern was tasked with creating a music video for a Mikhail Gorbachev tribute by Russian metal band ANJ. He decided that discretion was in no way the better part of valor and created a video that brings tears to your eyes.
I had a brainstorm to take it way over the top and I think it was just the thing. Suffice to say it’s half Russian History allegory as told through an old zombie movie made in the Soviet Union, and half animated Soviet Propaganda posters.
The Silver Needle is taking pre-orders for this cute etui kit by Just Nan. Bats, ghosts, and spooky trees adorn the outside, and there’s a pumpkin pincushion and straps for scissors and other supplies inside.
Freelance artist Matthew Woodson was recently bitten by a poisonous spider, and the wound became badly infected. In order to pay his medical bills, he’s taking commissions for artwork.
Artist M. Mararian juxtaposes innocence with the macabre in his Inky Dreadfuls artwork. The hand-inked drawings remind me of antique photographs. Except, y’know, for the butcher knives and stuff.
Designer Tord Boontje has created a lovely–and insanely expensive–